{Review} Bringing Down the Duke by Evie Dunmore

Page Count: 356

Published On: September 3, 2019

Published By: Berkley Romance

Genre(s): Adult historical romance

Source: Hardback bought through Book of the Month
Where To Find It: Amazon// Book Depository

My Rating: 4.75 stars

Goodreads synopsis:

England, 1879. Annabelle Archer, the brilliant but destitute daughter of a country vicar, has earned herself a place among the first cohort of female students at the renowned University of Oxford. In return for her scholarship, she must support the rising women's suffrage movement. Her charge: recruit men of influence to champion their cause. Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. Her challenge: not to give in to the powerful attraction she can't deny for the man who opposes everything she stands for.

Sebastian is appalled to find a suffragist squad has infiltrated his ducal home, but the real threat is his impossible feelings for green-eyed beauty Annabelle. He is looking for a wife of equal standing to secure the legacy he has worked so hard to rebuild, not an outspoken commoner who could never be his duchess. But he wouldn't be the greatest strategist of the Kingdom if he couldn't claim this alluring bluestocking without the promise of a ring...or could he?

Locked in a battle with rising passion and a will matching her own, Annabelle will learn just what it takes to topple a duke...

~ ~ ~

Hey guys!

I had the pleasure of reading this for a book club that I joined thanks to my friend Bethany. It's called @romancethequebookclub on Insta. In April we are reading a really fun romance that I also enjoyed reading. Stay tuned for my reading wrap up and review!

Bringing Down the Duke is a historical romance that follows a brilliantly developed cast of characters. The novel follows Annabelle. A young woman who has traveled from the country to attend Oxford with a scholarship from a women's group. To keep her scholarship, Annabelle must take part in the suffragist movement. To keep her spot, she is entrusted in convincing the intimidating Duke of Montgomery to fight for their cause and give them a voice in the assembly. What they don't expect is developing respect and romantic feelings for one another. 

I'm usually not the biggest fan of historical romance. I usually find the characters to be extremely unrealistic and lacking historical accuracy, the romance is usually steamy, but gross and borderline non-consensual, and the language and writing style is usually so basic and lacks the depth that I enjoy. However, this wasn't the case for this book. I really enjoyed every aspect of this book. The only issue I had was that it took a minute to click into my brain and interest me. It was just a slightly slow build-up. Once the Duke and Annabelle began to actively interact and banter, I couldn't put it down.

The romance in this book was so beautifully developed. It was a sort of slow-burn situation, but mainly because of the society that they lived in. Class plays a large part in this romance because of the trials that the lower class faced when faced with interactions with the upper class and obscenely wealthy. There were many moments throughout this book that made me cry because I could physically feel the heartache and heartbreak that Annabelle could feel when she faced the trials and troubles that followed her attraction to the Duke. This was so well done. You will love it.

In the previous historical romances that I've read, the historic aspects that make up the character's personalities and the setting and the conflict that comes from whatever situation they are put in -- the history is always so lackluster and badly written. However, in Bringing Down the Duke, Evie Dunmore has managed to integrate the history that so heavily influences the character's way-of-life so flawlessly. I cannot gush enough about how fantastic her efforts and how much they were appreciated. The inequality that women faced back in the day wasn't skipped over or sugar-coated for the sake of the romance. The class-ism, the sexism, and the controversy that surrounded the suffragist movement weren't just suddenly okay to the messy society -- it was handled as it would have been handled back then. I loved it so so so much. 

This was just the perfect mixture of the wonderful tropes that I love in my romance. I absolutely recommend it. I cannot wait for the sequel/companion. The story follows two of my favorite characters.

You can get a hardback copy of this book through Book of the Month for $5 with {this code}!

Other Romance Novels You'd Love:

• Well Met by Jen DeLuca
• Hate-to-love, renaissance romance (give me all of the kilts and leather-clad pirates!)
• Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
• Chronically ill, curvy, black heroine; love interest recovering from an abusive relationship; forbidden romance (not co-dependent and gross), and delightful banter
• The Bromance Book Club by Lyssa Kay Adams
• Repairing a marriage; macho-baseball men reading smutty romance novels book-club-style; adorable family dynamics; lovely bromances
• Roomies by Christina Lauren
• fake romance trope; a marriage of convenience; stunning romantic chemistry
• The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
• Hate-to-love/enemies to lovers romance, office romance
• The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang
• #ownvoices for autistic representation; fake relationship trope; diverse casting

I love all of these authors, so definitely check out the rest of their work.

I've been on a massive romance kick lately. My COVID-19 quarantine has caused me to search for all of the best romance novels. All recommendations are welcome!

Please stay well out there, friends!
Olivia
~Liv the Book Nerd~
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