Please note that this book is not for me - I have read the book, However I had to DNF and because i do not like to give negative reviews I will not review this book fully - there is no specific reason for not liking this book. I found it a struggle to read and did not enjoy trying to force myself to read this book.

Apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you for the opportunity to read this book

This wasn't what I was expecting. So don't be fooled by the trashy chick lit cover. This is so much more than that. It is a historical romance with a fearless female main character looking to break the barriers of gender norms in Victorian England.
Unfortunatley that's where the joy ends. I enjoyed the fund of this book, but in the end all it was was a woman giving up everything and changing her whole outlook of life in order to get and keep the man. Maybe I'm being too senestivie. I didn't hate this book. I just didn't love it the way everyone else seems to.

Any regular visitors to my blog will know that I read most genres and historical romance is just one of them but it is also one that I love. So when I first saw Bringing Down the Duke I was pretty eager to read it. Not only because it is a historical romance but it also sounded just that little bit different. The story follows Annabelle who becomes not only involved in the women’s suffrage movement but straight into a collision course with Sebastian Devereux.

Bringing Down the Duke has quite a fast pace, one that I could have happily read in one sitting if I had the time to do so. With a story that is full of interesting and vibrant characters I couldn’t help but become immersed in their lives. Each character brought something to the story and I was excited to find out that it is the start of a series so I can catch up with them again, yay!

The historical side to this story was something that I enjoyed especially as I thought that it balanced out perfectly with the story, the romance and getting to know the characters. Annabelle is a strong and determined character one who is ready to fight for what she wants and for what she believes in. Annabelle’s interactions with Sebastian were so entertaining, they were at times fiery but always bursting with chemistry. Both were stubborn characters and at times I wanted to shake them but it also made the story come to life pulling me further into their tangled lives. This book is such a brilliant debut and I can’t wait to see what will happen next in the series!

Bringing Down the Duke is a fun, lively and heartfelt romance!

A book that combines romance and suffragettes - two of my favourite things! They say that the arc of history bends towards justice, and luckily for us, the arc of a romance always bends towards a happy ending, too, which makes this an utterly satisfying read. Of course, in real life, everything isn't wrapped up quite so neatly as it is in a book, but if you can't escape reality with a romance novel, when can you?

An impassioned speech about women's rights is just as likely to move me to tears as a declaration of love, and it turns out that the combination of a fierce bluestocking heroine and a chilly but uber-competent hero is perfect for both changing the world and falling in love. This is the perfect book to cosy up with on a chilly evening, with beautiful descriptions of the magical streets of Oxford, the tenacious sisterhood and suffragettes and the power of love. I was absolutely charmed by it, and can't wait for the rest of the series!

Bringing Down the Duke is a very fun Victorian romance set in and around the fight for women's suffrage. Annabelle, our heroine, is one of the first women to attend Oxford, and due to her cousin's stinginess, she can only afford to go with a grant from a suffragist society. In return, she has to gather intelligence on Sebastian, the Duke of the title, a spy for Queen Victoria (who stands completely on the other side of the debate) - he may well be the key to get their views in front of Parliament in a meaningful way.

Though the book gets off to a slow start, and slows down again at about the 75% mark, both Annabelle and Sebastian are very likeable, and their attraction grows believably. I enjoyed their banter, and liked their initial awkward interactions. I prefer my romance to be shorter and tighter, and I thought this could have been a hundred pages shorter and avoided a lot of the pining and rehashing of reasons they can't be together. But I'd be interested to see what this author does in future. Just under four out of five stars, but I'll round up.

This book wasn’t even close to being on my radar because I got all judgey of the illustrated cover (look, all those folks being drawn in my illustrated covers thinking they’re chick list are like I am except the chance it might be chick lit puts me off some, even though I’ve liked plenty of chick lit in the past). Luckily for me, I saw romance readers I trust talking about this book and I slowly became interested and I am so glad they started talking about this because otherwise, I might have missed out!

Historical romance has slowly become a go-to genre for me. The books may be a little OTT with the drama, but the romance is always swoony and there is something about time periods when male/female relationships were so much stricter which just charms me. And this book was no different and I can't wait to read more from Evie Dunmore if this book is anything to go by she is going to reward us with many a wonderful romance.

Annabelle Archer is attending Oxford University, one of the first women to do so, and she is sponsored in her studies by suffragette’s and must attend meetings to help further women’s cause in gaining the vote. She was the ideal well-educated and passionate woman to help support votes for women. She had spent her time being relegated to cleaning the home and caring for her cousin’s family even though she was far brighter than the role of maid and he didn’t deserve her in his life but she could not leave because she was dependent on the care of her family to not fall any lower in the world. I was there cheering Annabelle on throughout this whole book because she deserved so much better yet men in the world continually gave her nothing and thought they had the right to make decisions for her.

If you’re on the lookout for a powerful feminist read then this is definitely the book for you. Seeing these intelligent women at Oxford campaigning hard for progress made me want to glare at men who made sexist comments and put them in their place. And could it be more anymore relevant when there are politicians passing legislation on women’s bodies thinking they have the right to tell women what they can and can’t do with their own body when they are the reason women fall pregnant in the first place yet they think they can dictate if women can make that difficult decision to have an abortion or not. And it’s not just in America, look at Ireland’s abortion laws. This book hit so close to home in terms of men legislating on women’s rights without ever taking the time to speak to women! I definitely loved this book for being so relevant and so smart about things.

Anyway, the heart and soul of this book is Annabelle and I don't know how you couldn't like her, poor decisions and all. After trying to speak to Sebastian, Duke of Montgomery, about the suffragette movement she gets tasked with trying to learn more about him and ends up at his ducal home right before Christmas. And the rest? Well, it’s pretty awesome. I thought Sebastian was pretty stuffy and boring, much like Annabella did actually. I was swayed by his charms and the fact he rode out in a snowstorm to bring her back to his home rather than let her freeze to death. Admittedly, it was his fault she was out there jumping to conclusions and acting high handed and judgey like some men in her past had, but it was still a little charming. This was especially true when he helped care for her when she was sick (although he did at a distance… societal rules and all that). That man had layers! And under the rigid façade was a soft heart and a passionate man who had taken on a lot of responsibility at a young age and was doing what he viewed as right, not what he needed to do for himself.

Sebastian and Annabella had heaps of chemistry, they were so well matched. They were both very smart and even though they shouldn't have been well suited, they were perfect for one another. They could easily debate politics and philosophy but they also spoke to each other as equals. I was there cheering on their romance, even though they weren't even close to being on the same level when it came to societies expectations and me totally why each of them made some of the choices they did, even when I didn't agree with them.

I cannot recommend this book enough to romance readers... or just readers in general. It was honestly brilliant, which was good because I was wary of the cartoony cover that has become the trend with romances, but this one was a solid read. It did make me enraged at the idiocy of men, and also made me want to march on parliament because the idiocy seen of these men in parliament in this book is the same thing I see of the MPs of today, but that's a whole other debate.

Unexpected and brilliant. This is not your standard historical romance.

I read a lot of historical romances so I went into this thinking it would be the usual, funny, flirty, light and fluffy read I’ve come to expect but this was so much more.

The blurb does make you think it’s going to be a classic enemies to lovers story (which I do love) or maybe a fairy tale romance with echoes of Beauty and the Beast, there is after all an unconventional heroine who is tasked with changing the view of the brooding hero but it goes a lot deeper than this.

Annabelle Archer does have a bit of a Belle feel to her, she’s the brilliant but poor daughter of a clergyman who after her father, who she was very close to, dies is forced to rely on the charity of her not very nice cousin. But Annabelle wants more out of life than being an over-educated scivvy so when she gets the opportunity to be one of the first women admitted to Oxford University she jumps at it. There’s just one problem, her studies are sponsored by the women’s suffrage movement and she’s been given the job of convincing one of the most influential men in the country to support the cause.

Her target is the elusive Duke of Montgomery, a rich and powerful man who has been tasked by the Queen with making sure the very conservative and traditional Tory party win at the next election. He has a lot at more at stake in this than just keeping the Queen’s favour however and regardless of his own beliefs or his growing attraction for Annabelle he can’t risk failure.

Two people on different sides who can’t help falling in love, so far so tropey right? And it does have a lot of the standard romance scenes, there are misunderstandings, arguments, a rescue (or three) and even the trapped together but it plays around with them and openly acknowledges them for what they are. Our damsel chides herself for falling into the clichés and knows she can’t count on a man to rescue her.

I really loved Annabelle, she is not as naive and innocent as she first appears. She knows from personal experience how dangerous this man’s world is for a single woman with no fortune, family or name to protect her. I liked how independent she was but what I loved was how self aware she was. Annabelle knows that with her relatively low social standing a Duke is not going to marry her but she doesn’t want to just settle for the first man who offers protection and she won’t sacrifice her principles or what little freedom she has. I also loved how loyal she was to her friends and how she constantly tries to protect them.

Sebastian (the Duke) is a little more difficult to like. He’s very reserved, principled and thinks that he knows best about everything. He’s unwilling to compromise or risk his position and reputation and holds himself (and everyone around him) to a ridiculously high standard. There are reasons for this and as these are revealed and his character develops he does grow on you but I’m still not wholly sure I liked him.

With their respective positions this is a relationship that’s doomed from the get go and I loved how realistic the story was around that. Any fantasy around love conquering all is quickly dispelled and while there are some wonderful moments between them reality very quickly comes crashing in to sour them. The obstacles between them seem insurmountable and I genuinely had no idea where the story would go. The chances of it ending badly were just as high as everyone living happily ever after.

For a debut novel this truly is impressive. The pacing is spot on and the writing is witty and clever. What I love most though is how accurately it captures the attitudes and issues of the time. I will confess to being largely ignorant of what it was really like to be a woman in that time or even the challenges the women’s suffrage movement faced. Most historical romances tend to pick different time periods when women were happier or at least more accepting of their lot. I think the author did a wonderful job of portraying the challenges of the time without glossing over them.

Overall this was an absolutely wonderful and unexpected read and I highly recommend.

I LOVED this book. It was so cute.
It was a great idea to set the story around the suffrage movement. The romance was very well done. It was not cringy, I loved the female character.
Overall, such fun book! I'd highly recommend it.
I'll definitely check out next books of Evie Dunmore.

I love that the story is set around the suffrage movement and we see a good strong female character. I also love that it isn't the average romantic story this girl can hold her own!

I don't know what I was expecting from this book but I definitely was left a lot more satisfied than i thought I would. Definitely a book I will recommend to friends and re read again in the future.

Can't wait to see what Evie Dunmore comes up with next!

Evie Dunmore writes a smart historical romance set in the Victorian era that takes place amidst the suffragette campaign for women's rights by getting parliament to amend the married women's property act. There is implacable opposition to this from all corners, not just from men alone but other women too, and including the Tory party and Queen Victoria. It is 1879, and the over educated, beautiful but destitute 25 year old Annabelle, inveigles her way to study amongst the first group of women at Oxford University after gaining a modest scholarship, for which she must support the radical political suffragettes led by Lady Lucie Tedbury, and their campaign to recruit powerful men of influence to champion their cause. Annabelle has the task of recruiting one of the most powerful men in the land, the Duke of Montgomery, Sebastian Devereux, a cold hard man whose home Annabelle, and her two fellow bluestockings, Hattie and Catriona, manage to infiltrate.

Things do not go to plan as Annabelle becomes ill and a surprisingly strong attraction between the two of them grows . However, after an affair gone wrong in the past, Annabelle is distinctly wary, determined not to repeat her errors of judgement. Montgomery himself is taken aback by his feelings for Annabelle but he has his future mapped out with the possibility of finally attaining what he has always wanted. Additionally, his hands are full with a troublesome brother, Peregrin, a meddling Queen, and organising a political campaign to ensure the Tories win the next election. This is a time where the upper classes in England used marriage as a tool to secure alliances that enriched them further in the acquisition of more land, money and power. Marriage to Annabelle, a country girl of no consequence would cause a scandal of earth shattering proportions that Montgomery cannot afford. Other possible arrangements for their love are stymied by an Annabelle unwilling to ruin her life, her reputation, or lose her self respect.

Dunmore writes a fun and highly entertaining historical novel that takes account of some serious issues of the day regarding the fight for women's rights, outlining just how much it cost women to fight the ruthless forces arraigned against them, many finding themselves imprisoned, their reputations in tatters, not to mention having their educational opportunities taken away. The characterisation is done well with the smart charismatic Annabelle and Sebastian's character development shifting him fundamentally from the person he was at the beginning to who he becomes by the end. This a a novel that I enjoyed reading far more than I expected to, and would recommend to others. It's the first of a series, and I look forward to the next one. Many thanks to Little, Brown for an ARC.

A great fun read, a story that was fast paced, flowed well, great characters and a lovely historical romance (with a lightly modern feminist slant). A cute romance, it’s nothing hugely original but it’s everything you want in a historical romance so what more can you want from a book. Highly recommended.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

I thought that this was a good story that flowed really well!

I thought that the characters were well suited and it was really good to see how many things have changed over time too. I liked how the story showed the "good and bad" with the plot.

It is 4 stars from me for this one, I thought it was a thoroughly enjoyable story and one I will be highly recommending!

I adore historical romances so I was excited to receive a copy of Bringing Down the Duke to review. Once I began reading the book, I couldn't put it down. The main character, Annabelle is a strong, intelligent woman trying to find independence in a world where women were, for the most part, entirely dependent on the men in their lives. Her chemistry with Sebastian is off the charts and I loved the progression of their relationship. I can't wait to get a physical copy of this book once it's released so I can re-read it and enjoy it again. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

4.5 stars

Hold me, because after reading this, I feel a book hangover coming on. This was a sweep-you-off-your-feet kind of historical romance read but with extra bonuses. What are these extra bonuses I speak of? This was one of the most feminist reads I’ve had in an age and injecting this level of feminism into HR is no easy feat. Second bonus, the battle for equality was on both sides.

Annabelle was low-born, intelligent but encumbered by the will of her cousin for what happened in her destiny. After much struggling she had secured a stipend to be one of the first cohort of women at Oxford. What I hadn’t realised was that life at Oxford for these women was just a smidge of an experience compared to the men. Annabelle joined a suffragette movement and ended up petitioning the Duke of Montgomery, Sebastian.

Sebastian was a stick up his...kind of Duke, a lot cold, obsessed with his duty and roles for the queen and parliament. However, this story is a journey of Sebastian’s unravelling. His character development was vast as he opened up his mind to women’s position in life through Annabelle and also as he opened himself up to being able to feel.

These two had chemistry off the historical charts, with a slow build of kisses and touches. Being together was an undeniable eventuality and it was compulsive reading, beautiful and delicious. I appreciated Annabelle’s prior experience and how this was handled in the book.

"She had tried to climb Montgomery like a cat."

The story took me on a journey of giggles, entertainment, longing and some heartbreak. I have come away from this book so delighted by the content that I immediately pressed pre-order on a physical copy because I will be rereading this.

BRINGING DOWN THE DUKE is a debut of exciting proportions, with a slightly slow start but a pace that will delight very quickly. The story, characters and research underpinning this read make it something rather special. Evie Dunmore is an author to watch and I will be waiting with bated breath for her next book. Rounded up to 5 stars.

Thank you to Little Brown for the early review copy.

Bringing Down the Duke was one of my most anticipated reads for the whole of 2019 and, having now read it, I can safely say it’s one of my favourite books of the year. It’s a book that will leave you wanting more when you finish, either because you want to reread or because you were a fool (like me) and read the sneak preview of book 2 and now want that desperately.

The story is a romance between Annabelle Archer, a vicar’s daughter and one of the first female students at Oxford, and Sebastian Montgomery, a Duke trying to regain his ancestral seat by organising Benjamin Disraeli’s re-election campaign. It’s not quite a hate to love, more like “opposite sides of an idealogical conflict” to love, if anything (although their first few meetings do not exactly go smoothly). Annabelle is trying to dig up the dirt on the Duke in order to target him in the fight around the Married Women’s Property Act when she falls ill at the Duke’s own home.

The thing I like most about romance novels is that they’re character-driven ventures, and the characters here are absolutely wonderful. I loved Annabelle and her suffragette friends especially (hence why I can’t wait for future books, to be honest). I loved that she didn’t take any of Sebastian’s shit, particularly the various times he offered to set her up as his mistress (this is not how you go about wooing someone, my boy). But these characters also show significant character development which I loved. Sometimes I feel like romances don’t do enough to redeem dickhead male characters, but this one did it beautifully.

And just generally I loved how their relationship progressed throughout the story. How they go from people who would be laughable, let alone unlikely, as a couple to one being like here you thought us marrying would be a scandal, I’ll create a whole other scandal just to detract from it. (Kind of.) Basically, what I’m saying is that I loved Annabelle and Sebastian with my whole heart.

Plus the entire thing felt like a proper TV period drama romance complete with confrontations in the pouring rain and refused proposals and that’s just my favourite kind of thing in all honesty.