Great historical romance! The characters had great chemistry and I really enjoyed the history of the women's suffrage movement in England..

I'm generally not a huge fan of historical fiction, but this one seemed too good to pass up! I was blown away. This was really fun and I'm very much looking forward to the follow up.

I liked it despite it being clunky. If a problem presented itself, it was resolved in the next scene. Some phrasings were just odd, though I don’t think it’s because I’m American and the author is British.

Just kiss your bedtime goodbye on this one because it's so hard to put it down. This debut novel from Evie Dunmore features a group of super smart feminists, including our heroine Annabelle, and the duke who finds he has to risk giving up everything for the woman who means more than all of it. Swoony, sweet, smart, and fun, this novel has it all. A fantastic treat of a book!

This book has been on my TBR for a long time and it did not disappoint. I love a good fun, swoony, romantic read that makes me happy. I can’t wait till readers get a hold of this so we can discuss it’s awesomeness.

Evie Dunmore’s debut, Bringing Down the Duke, was delightful! Set in England in 1879, when women were still considered their husbands’ property and were not entitled to vote, this book follows Annabelle Archer, impoverished country girl recently accepted into Oxford’s first program for women, and her nemesis, Sebastian, Duke of Montgomery. Annabelle is a part of a group of “radical” suffragists whose mission it is to target men in power in order to persuade them to amend The Married Women’s Property Act of 1870 in order to allow women to own property and therefore have the right to vote. Annabelle’s target is Sebastian, who is uptight, seemingly conservative, and has just been tasked with winning the Tory election campaign in order to regain one of his family’s properties. Annabelle ends up at Montgomery’s property over Christmas, and the two realize they’re not so opposed after all, and their tentative friendship quickly turns into a love affair. Their class and Montgomery’s need to appear conservative force the two to make difficult decisions about their future together when there seemingly is no future. If you liked the grand grovel by Haven in Day of the Duchess, the ending of this book will be so satisfying.

This book was refreshingly different. I loved how Annabelle is a scholar and a (reluctant) political activist, and it’s always fun when there’s specific historical events happening in the story. The writing is funny, and Dunmore does a great job of setting up real opposition to her characters’ HEA and gets them through it. There are great female friendships, and a depiction of Queen Victoria that is, from what I’ve read, very accurately awful. Dunmore is going to an author to watch, and this book looks to be the start of a great new series.

Yay! A fantastic new historical romance author ! Set in the the late 19th century, during the British suffragette movement (loved this period - there was so much going on), Evie Dunmore developed a strong but vulnerable heroine in Annabelle. Sebastian's character raises the issues of class that existed so prominently during the Victorian era. The romance seems doomed. But wait! It's really historical romance at its best. We all know there will be a happy ending, but at what cost? So happy to see intelligent, thought provoking writing that is clear, funny, tender and which adds a whole fresh dimensions to the genre that was growing a bit stale these last few years...
Bravo to Ms. Dunmore - cannot wait for the next one!

A lovely new voice in Historical Romance--this author is a new favorite. I enjoyed the tension between the Hero and Heroine--there was insta-lust, but not insta-love and the build in their relationship was fun to read. I did find the constant harping on how perfect and beautiful and effortless the Heroine was to be annoying--every male she met seemed half in lust with her.

The secondary characters felt well-rounded and you learned just enough about them to want to read full books about them (which is undoubtedly on this author's agenda--and I am hear for it).

Loved the historical notes and the information given regarding Women's Rights and Suffragists.

I did find the cover disconcerting. I like it, and it's so very different than your typical historical romance reads, but I found that I assumed the text and story itself were going to be different than a historical romance as well.