Sparks fly! But the only possible relationship she could have with a man of such high status is that of his secret mistress, which is hardly an acceptable fate for an ambitious young woman.

Naturally, Annabelle and the Duke wind up encountering each other again.

Lucie admires Annabelle’s bravery but informs her that the Duke is a lost cause. Instructed to identify “men of influence,” Annabelle boldly hands a pamphlet to the cold, fearsome Duke of Montgomery, one of the most powerful men in England. Lady Lucie Tedbury and her fellow suffragists are lobbying Parliament to overturn the Married Women’s Property Act, which forced female property owners to surrender everything to their husbands when they wed. Attending Oxford seems like an impossible dream for an impoverished young woman, but a surprising benefactor appears: the National Society for Women’s Suffrage, which will pay Annabelle’s way as long as she promises to work for the cause. Annabelle Archer is in her midtwenties, stuck working as a maid for her vicar cousin, when she learns that Oxford University has opened a women’s college. The blurb on the front cover of Evie Dunmore’s Bringing Down the Duke calls it a “celebration of the power of love and the passionate fight for women’s rights.” Sounds promising! I’m always up for a historical novel featuring strong female characters-there were a lot of amazing women who fought hard against extraordinary odds to bring us the rights we enjoy today.

Bringing down the duke review