A Rogue of One's Own
2020 • 448 pages
Ratings29
Average rating3.8
15
Ratings29
Average rating3.8
"Rich with subplot, historical detail and beautifully descriptive writing that keeps the pages turning until the delightfully unconventional happy ending."—NPR An Indie Next/LibraryReads pick! An Apple Must Listen Audiobook for September! 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. 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 and London’s undisputed lord of sin, 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-smoldering devotion, the silver-tongued seducer runs the risk of becoming caught in his own snare. As Lucie tries to out-maneuver 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…
Series
4 primary books5 released booksA League of Extraordinary Women is a 5-book series with 4 primary works first released in 2019 with contributions by Evie Dunmore.
Reviews with the most likes.
I really enjoyed the first book of this series, [b:Bringing Down the Duke 43521785 Bringing Down the Duke (A League of Extraordinary Women, #1) Evie Dunmore https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554743971l/43521785.SX50.jpg 67688634]. This one follows in its footsteps, although I've rated it a little lower because I wasn't quite in the same headspace to appreciate it as much as I did with the first book. It was enjoyable and engaging enough, however.The book tries to tackle many different societal issues from late Victorian England, especially the ones that are somewhat relevant until today. Of course, issues relating to women's rights take center stage in the book, although there are also some others that seem to just pop up as cameos, such as some brief thoughts about British colonialism in India with Tristan's valet, Avi. This follows the trend that I enjoyed in the first book, that we are being taught something about society at the time and that there's a bigger issue at stake in the plot besides just the central romance. But I kinda wished that the scope of this book was a little more focused. Instead of raising a plethora of issues only slightly, I would probably enjoy it more if they really went all in on the main issue at hand, the Married Women's Property Act, and maybe with some side servings of some other related topics.The central conflict of the book, which happened around the last 30% of the book, was a little disappointing. I had expected it to, once again, revolve around Lucie's deeply entrenched principles and support for her cause around married women's rights, but it didn't - I was a little let down when she even expressed disappointment when Tristan first told her that he had a reluctance to marry. I had wanted the conflict to revolve more around Lucie's reluctance to marry. The secondary conflict I had wanted sort of happens near the end, it all felt very slapped on and rushed. I think we spend more time seeing steamy scenes instead of having that conflict really soak in before it gets resolved in a couple of chapters.
I was really looking forward to this book but have decided to give it a miss after reading this extremely thorough and well-written review.
The reviewer highlights the same reason that I give most HRs where the hero/heroine was exploring in either Africa or Asia a miss. There is hardly any complex, critical outlook on colonialism. I've heard people make the argument that such anti-colonialist views would be anachronistic for that time period, but I find it hard to believe that there was absolutely no one in England who questioned colonialism, but perhaps even more importantly, let's not pretend that the authors of HR don't pick and choose which period conventions they want to use in their books. There are far more dukes and feisty heroines in romancelandia than there were in that era.
