The good thing about arriving late to a great series is that you get to consume it all at once. That’s What I did with Evie Dunmore’s League of Extraordinary Women and here are my takes on the 4 books.
Bringing Down the Duke
Goodreads blurb: 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…. A stunning debut for author Evie Dunmore and her Oxford suffragists in which a fiercely independent vicar’s daughter takes on a powerful duke in a fiery love story that threatens to upend the British social order.
My Take: 4 out of 5. Unlike some other regency books I’ve reviewed recently these series passes the Bedchel test with flying colors. You have empowered women not only talking about the men in their lives, but about changing the world, and getting educated! Don’t get me wrong there is plenty of romance and boys to go around, but it was a refreshing take and the romance with a female empowerment background is quite engaging. Also both the duke and Annabelle are great characters and you cant help but root for them! The audiobook is great and I can vouch for it being a great travel companion discovering Japan.
A rogue of One’s Own
Goodreads blurb: Lady Lucie is fuming. She and her band of Oxford suffragists have finally scraped together enough capital to control one of London’s major publishing houses, with one purpose: to use it in a coup against Parliament. But who could have predicted that the one person standing between her and success is her old nemesis, Lord Ballentine? Or that he would be willing to hand over the reins for an outrageous price—a night in her bed. Lucie tempts Tristan like no other woman, burning him up with her fierceness and determination every time they clash. But as their battle of wills and words fans the flames of long-smouldering devotion, the silver-tongued seducer runs the risk of becoming caught in his own snare. As Lucie tries to out-manoeuvre Tristan in the boardroom and the bedchamber, she soon discovers there’s truth in what the poets say: all is fair in love and war… A lady must have money and an army of her own if she is to win a revolution – but first, she must pit her wits against the wiles of an irresistible rogue bent on wrecking her plans…and her heart.
My Take: 3.75 out of 5. – Second books are hard yet this continues to be delightful and Valentine might be one of my favorite characters. Did I love it as much as Bringing down the Duke? no, because Lucy is no Annabelle, but I thoroughly enjoyed all her antics and her politics. This is definetly a progressive relationship for regency era. I also enjoyed how present all the characters are from the other books and how we get a hint of book no. 3
Portrait of a Scotsman
Goodreads blurb: Going toe-to-toe with a brooding Scotsman is rather bold for a respectable suffragist, but when he happens to be one’s unexpected husband, what else is an unwilling bride to do? London banking heiress Hattie Greenfield wanted just three things in life:
1. Acclaim as an artist.
2. A noble cause.
3. Marriage to a young lord who puts the gentle in gentleman.
Why then does this Oxford scholar find herself at the altar with the darkly attractive financier Lucian Blackstone, whose murky past and ruthless business practices strike fear in the hearts of Britain’s peerage? Trust Hattie to take an invigorating little adventure too far. Now she’s stuck with a churlish Scot who just might be the end of her ambitions…. When the daughter of his business rival all but falls into his lap, Lucian sees opportunity. As a self-made man, he has vast wealth but holds little power, and Hattie might be the key to finally setting long-harbored political plans in motion. Driven by an old desire for revenge, he has no room for his new wife’s apprehensions or romantic notions, bewitching as he finds her. But a sudden journey to Scotland paints everything in a different light. Hattie slowly sees the real Lucian and realizes she could win everything–as long as she is prepared to lose her heart.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5. I was all into this story but i was very perplexed by the last 10% of the book. The first 90% I was obsessed with this relationship. How it happened, how it evolved, all of Hattie’s growth and understanding in Scotland it was so beautiful. However her decisions at the end of the book for me seemed to come out of left field. Spoiler alert , although i was ok with how it all came out in the end, I really did not see the character doing what she did. But lets say alls well that ends well, and I Was very happy to continue the story of these four ladies.
The Gentleman’s Gambit
Goodreads blurb: Bookish suffragist Catriona Campbell is busy: An ailing estate, academic writer’s block, a tense time for England’s women’s rights campaign–the last thing she needs is to be stuck playing host to her father’s distractingly attractive young colleague. Deeply introverted Catriona lives for her work at Oxford and her fight for women’s suffrage. She dreams of romance, too, but since all her attempts at love have ended badly, she now keeps her desires firmly locked inside her head–until she climbs out of a Scottish loch after a good swim and finds herself rather exposed to her new colleague. Elias Khoury has wheedled his way into Professor Campbell’s circle under false pretenses: he did not come to Oxford to classify ancient artefacts, he is determined to take them back to his homeland in the Middle East. Winning Catriona’s favor could be the key to his success. Unfortunately, seducing the coolly intense lady scholar quickly becomes a mission in itself and his well-laid plans are in danger of derailing… Forced into close proximity in Oxford’s hallowed halls, two very different people have to face the fact that they might just be a perfect match. Soon, a risky new game begins that asks Catriona one more time to put her heart and wildest dreams at stake.
My Take: 3.5 out of 5. Although I learned to appreciate Catriona more whilst reading this book, it gave her much more layers, she is till probably my last favorite character of the four and it made sense for this book to be my least favorite book of the four of them. I did really appreciate the international aspect of her relationship and intrigue and there were quite a few things I actually did learn that I had no idea. the best part of this book is the epilogue in the future as a culmination of the 4 part series, it was lovely even though I wanted it longer!
Tati's Tidbits 