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The romance in this book was steamy, tension filled, slow burn and explosive in parts, but it also featured some truly soft and bittersweet moments that just made me love these characters even more. So is the political gap: he is tasked with ensuring a Tory election victory and preserving the patriarchal establishment; she is a suffragist.
Her target: Sebastian Devereux, the cold and calculating Duke of Montgomery who steers Britain's politics at the Queen's command. I admire Annabelle for being willing to give up the man she loves because she doesn’t want Sebastian to lose his reputation, his political standing and everything he has worked for, but thank goodness Sebastian is not willing to give up the woman he loves.
There was so much tension between them, the impossibility of their love made this story heartwrenching. I don't really read historical fiction, especially not historical romance, and I'm not really sure why? When Sebastian sends her a certain book to read, Annabelle realises that a sense of humour lurks beneath his cool exterior. And I loved seeing how these obstacles would affect a pairing that society deemed inappropriate and then the couple more or less saying, ‘Well, you know what? It's not just one instance, either - there's a constant underlying thread of how the Duke is so good and so honorable because unlike the other men of his station, he doesn't take advantage of his privilege (except when he does it, it's For Good), and I'm like.
Have you by any chance missed that class at finishing school where they teach you to feign delightful ignorance in the presence of a man? Not only it had all the "ingredients" I usually adore in a romance book, from the exquisite slow-burn tension to the accurately rendered and smoothly interwoven era bits and manners, but what impressed me the most was how skilfully balanced everything felt, to the point that if I hadn’t previously known this was the author’s first work, I would have ascribed it to a much more seasoned hand. Again, this is 2019, I shouldn't have to say that this sort of language completely erases trans and non-binary/genderqueer people from existence, and even cis people who don't have the right kinds of bodies (curvy cis men and lean cis women exist, amazingly). The developing romance is involving, the by-now obligatory bedroom scenes are enlivened by the dialogue, and the insights into the suffragist movement and the situation of women in universities during the late nineteenth century are enlightening.He is emotionally abusive towards his younger brother in a way that the narrative never recognises—and yet the narrative would have us believe that Sebastian is one of those good feudal overlords who only ever has the best interests of his tenants at heart. She didn't seem to like herself much, and I guess it trickled down because I was pretty ambivalent about her, too. I’m sorry, but Dunmore here used “male,” “female,” “feminine,” “masculine,” and other inane gender constrictions more times than I have ever seen Maas do. I think if she were more adamant in her values and individuality, and if he were served a bigger slice of humble pie and sacrificed more to meet her in the middle, the story would have been more impactful and he would have had more satisfying character development beyond a grand gesture at the end. Pretty much every encounter between the two leads mentioned "feminine warmth" and "masculine hardness", so I had strained my eyes from rolling them so hard before I was very far into the book.
It's the perfect companion and back story to this romance, as it mirrors the value Annabelle places on her independence and her reluctance to hand over any powers to a man. With all the pent-up longing and desire, it is inevitable that they will eventually succumb, and I enjoyed seeing the role reversal of the heroine seducing the hero. And it makes me so angry because the foundation for an intriguing and flawed character is there, but anything interesting about him is overshadowed by his Primal Alpha Maleness the narrative insists on bestowing him. Set in turn-of-the-century England, this is the story of Annabelle Archer, a plucky woman with the opportunity to become one of the first female graduates at the prestigious University of Oxford.I was entertained because I felt like the novel was pulling from books by Austen, the Brontë sisters, etc.
However, the story, this deliciously angst-filled plot, the yearning, the complex characters so reminded me of McNaught's.
I love Sebastian’s struggle to uphold his family name, and I love Annabelle’s struggle to break out of the mold that her financial situation imposes upon her. If Bringing Down the Duke had more interesting and likable protagonists with solid character development and if the feminist aspect was inclusive, then this book could have easily been a winner for me. At the same time, she’s not of the upper class, and must therefore talk to socialites with deference.
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