Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women #1) by Evie Dunmore

In Bringing Down the Duke, Evie Dunmore gives us a rollicking historical romance of the first-order. Annabelle Archer, a working class suffragette who has found herself at the first women's college at Oxford, and the Duke of Montgomery, an old-fashioned eccentric who has the Queen's ear, find themselves interacting with one another over and over again.  As you can imagine, romance happens.

Interesting characters: Oh, I thought this was such a joy to read. Annabelle was so honest about her strengths and weaknesses and her assessment of other people and how they will react to her. She grew up with a father who believed she should read all the classics and become educated, but when he died, her guardian did not share those values. She also has a secret past with a man and now distrusts men. Montgomery is a man with many responsibilities - the thousands of tenants on his lands, his flighty younger brother, and a Queen with huge demands, to name just a few. It is no wonder that he is stiff and uptight and intimidating to everyone. Everyone except Annabelle, that is. 

Believable conflict: Oh, so much here. Different classes, different politics, different priorities. I just adored it. (This was done so much better than it was in An Offer From a Gentleman - Dunmore somehow made Montgomery's declaration about the class differences to be a dealbreaker so much more understanding than Quinn managed to do. I think it's because Dunmore had us convinced that Montgomery really cared about the people who counted on him to do his job appropriately, but Benedict was just a second son who had no real responsibilities.)  I thought the suffragette material was also really fun - I have a lot of quibbles about the historical realities, but I think the suffragette movement is a great place to set a book like this.

Emotional tension: And then some. I really was worried that Annabelle was going to end up alone.

Happily ever after: This is my main criticism. Annabelle and Montgomery take off traveling and that's where we end it. Sure, they're happy right now, but I do think that Annabelle is going to be torn to shreds by the society ladies when they return to London. How is this all going to work out? I'd definitely have preferred a longer timeline so I can see how things are going when they return to a "normal" life.  

Overall, I adored this book. I read it in one snowy, delightful day off. I am super excited to read more in this series and will update as I move along. I think this is what I wanted The Bridgerton series to be - great dialogue, interesting conflict, and non-jerk heroes.  Highly recommend.