“Evie Dunmore’s debut is a marvel. Set against the backdrop of the British suffrage movement, Bringing Down the Duke is a witty, richly detailed, historically significant, and achingly romantic celebration of the power of love and the passionate fight for women’s rights. A stunning blend of history and romance that will enchant readers.”
—Chanel Cleeton, New York Times bestselling author of When We Left Cuba
“Evie Dunmore’s Bringing Down the Duke dazzles and reminds us all why we fell in love with historical romance.”
—Julia London, New York Times bestselling author of Seduced by a Scot
“Simply superb! Evie Dunmore will wow you.”
—Gaelen Foley, New York Times bestselling author of Duke of Shadows
“Bringing Down the Duke is the best historical romance I’ve read all year. I was spellbound by this story of forbidden love between a spirited, clever suffragette heroine and her straitlaced duke, a man who proves that fire burns hottest when it’s under ice. Evie Dunmore is a marvelous, fresh new voice in romance who is sure to go far. Don’t miss her brilliant debut!”
—Anna Campbell, bestselling author of the Dashing Widows series
“Evie Dunmore’s Bringing Down the Duke delivers the best of two worlds—a steamy romance coupled with the heft of a meticulously researched historical novel. The story of the women’s suffrage movement in Britain is every bit as compelling as the chemistry between Annabelle and Sebastian. Readers will be entranced watching Annabelle, a woman ahead of her time, bring the sexy duke to his knees.”
—Renée Rosen, author of Park Avenue Summer
“I have read the future of historical romance, and it’s Evie Dunmore.”
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Dunmore, Evie, author.
Title: Bringing down the duke / Evie Dunmore.
Description: First edition. | New York : Jove, 2019.
Cover background references courtesy of Shutterstock
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
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Contents
Praise for Bringing Down the Duke
Title Page
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Author’s Note
Acknowledgments
Readers Guide
Teaser
About the Author
For Opa,
who taught me I could take on anything, but don’t have to put up with everything.
Chapter 1
Kent, August 1879
Absolutely not. What an utterly harebrained idea, Annabelle.”
Gilbert’s eyes had the rolling look of a hare that knew the hounds were upon him.
Annabelle lowered her lashes. She knew it would look demure, and demure placated her cousin best when he was all in a fluster. Of all the types of men she had learned to manage, the “ignorant yet self-important” type was not exactly the most challenging. Then again, when her very fate lay in the hands of such a man, it added insult to injury. Gilbert would snatch the chance of a lifetime from her here in his cramped little study and go straight back to admiring his freshly pinned butterflies in the display case on the desk between them.
“What would be next,” he said, “joining the circus? Standing for Parliament?”
“I understand that it’s unusual,” she said, “but—”
“You are not going to Oxford,” he bellowed, and slapped his hand down on the