A Rogue of One's Own

Perhaps it was the brawny, shirtless men on so many of the covers, or maybe it was witnessing a lifetime of snobbery against the genre, but until last September, I had no idea how much I loved historical romance.

Then my Book of the Month copy of Evie Dunmore’s debut, Bringing Down the Duke, arrived. Dunmore’s talent for writing crackling dialogue and palpable sexual tension had me hooked from the first page. She made a historical romance disciple of me, and even as I devoured dozens of fantastic novels in the genre, I never stopped eagerly awaiting her next.

A Rogue of One’s Own did not disappoint. Lady Lucie and her fierce network of secret suffragists have just managed to gain part ownership of a publishing house, with the hopes of disseminating information to the women of England in advance of an important vote in Parliament. The only problem is, the other half of the publisher (technically slightly more than half) belongs to none other than Lucie’s longtime nemesis and infamous rake, Lord Ballentine.

Lord Ballentine is willing to sign his shares over to Lucie, for a price he believes she’d never pay: one night together. It’s a fun idea, but the execution is where Dunmore’s talent sparkles. Wherever this book could devolve into clichés, it instead finds fresh, feminist, funny, and complex terrain to tread. I read this book like the pages were burning up in my hands, unable to get enough even as I willed myself to slow down.

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-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…