Bringing Down the Duke - Evie Dunmore

PRAISE FOR

Bringing Down the Duke

“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.”

—Eva Leigh, author of Counting on the Countess

A JOVE BOOK

Published by Berkley

An imprint of Penguin Random House LLC

1745 Broadway, New York, NY 10019

© 2019 by Evie Dunmore

Readers Guide © 2019 by Evie Dunmore

Excerpt © 2019 by Evie Dunmore

Penguin Random House supports . fuels creativity, encourages diverse voices, promotes free speech, and creates a vibrant culture. Thank you for buying an authorized edition of this book and for complying with laws by not reproducing, scanning, or distributing any part of it in any form without permission. You are supporting writers and allowing Penguin Random House to continue to publish books for every reader.

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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.

Identifiers: LCCN 2018060569 | 9781984805683 (pbk.) | 9781984805690 (ebook)

Classification: LCC PR9110.9.D86 B75 2019 | DDC 823/.92—dc23

LC record available at lccn.loc.gov/2018060569

First Edition: September 2019

Cover design and illustration by Farjana Yasmin

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.

Version_1

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