Victorian England gets steamy in debut historical romance

     Evie Dunmore’s debut novel, Bringing Down the Duke, was a September Book of the Month choice, and has been receiving accolades throughout the past couple of months for being one of the bets romance and debut novels of the year. This historical romance set in 1879 England is alight with passion, wit, and humor and will have readers hooked on every word.
    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 and is tasked to 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...
     Who knew the 1880s could be so steamy!?!? This debut novel really hits the nail on the head with this Victorian Era romance. The time period the novel is set in is refreshing. It’s an antiquated love story, yet it appeals to modern-day readers, feminists, and Victorian scholars alike!
     The slow burn of the romance in this novel is paced out perfectly and keeps the reader engaged. The characters are just fantastic! The headstrong and persistent woman, the cold-hearted and brooding duke, and the rest of the cast of characters really pulls this whole novel together. Readers will devour this book and be obsessed, wondering how Annabelle and Sebastian’s romance will play out.
​     With the feel of an Austen novel (but with more steam), Bringing Down the Duke is a creatively written story that will have the reader turning page after page wanting to see what’s going to happen next!

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