Do you ever fall in love with the first book in a series and then worry that you won’t love the next book as much? What if the magic from the first book is missing? What if, the author has tried to retell the first story just with different names?

Worry not, none of this happens in Evie Dunmores brilliant new novel, A Rogue of One’s Own.

Rogue is the second book in her exciting A League of Extraordinary Women series, and the follow up to Bringing Down the Duke. Duke is a strong contender to be my favourite book of 2020, but Rogue is close behind it!

Following on from Duke (which of you have not already read I highly recommend you do, read my review here), we return to Victorian Oxford where Lady Lucie and her fellow suffragettes are in the process of purchasing the controlling interest in a printing press. They hope to use the printing press to publish a pamphlet and further the cause of women’s emancipation by amending the married women’s property act. Lady Lucie and her committee have almost got the controlling interest of the printing press when Lucie discovers that the other half of the rights have been sold to one Lord Tristan Ballentine.

For those that have read Duke, we are already familiar with Tristan (if only 😉), from his rakeish behaviour towards Annabelle at Montgomery’s Christmas Ball. If you recall, he also asks about Lucie’s cat while dancing with Annabelle??

Lucie and Tristan are childhood enemies, they spent summers together as their Mothers were friends and they were thrown together in the way that children are. Tristan of course enjoyed playing pranks on Lucie which did not endear him to her.

Now, years later, they meet again- Tristan has gone from being the red headed second son of an Earl (who may or may not be illegitimate) to being a decorated war hero and the heir to his family’s estate after the death of his older brother. Lucie is estranged from her family, and it’s only from an inheritance from an Aunt that she is able to support herself and her work. Tristan is as much of a rake and a rogue as one would expect and Lucie is a dedicated blue stocking, too busy to just be another notch on Tristan’s bed post.

But together, they now own and run a printing press?!?!

Lucie’s reason and motivation for wanting the printing press are clear for anyone to see, but why does a gentleman such as Tristan want a printing press? Is there more to Tristan than just his rakish behaviour?

Lucie and Tristan’s enemies to lovers romance is electric, entertaining and very satisfying . I thoughly enjoyed reading it. As with Duke, this is not your run of the mill historical fiction, this is a story that will make you think as well as fall in love with the hero. Likewise, the gift that our hero gives his love his something so beautiful and thoughtful that you will never be satisfied with flowers and chocolates again.

Part of me wants to go on and on about all the different bits that made me love this book so much, however, that would completely spoil the story for you, and I want you to read this book and fall in love with it just as I did.

At the end of the book there is a short snippet from the next book, which will be Hattie’s story, due out next year. My only question is, how am I supposed to wait till next year for my next instalment of these extraordinary women!?!?!

Happy Reading

Kate

xoxo

Thankyou very much to Piatkus for my ARC copy of A Rogue of One’s Own – I LOVED It!