I am a huge fan of historical romances.
I love all of them. I love all the tropes. I love them all—gorgeous women, handsome dukes, convenient marriages, traveling to roadside inns with one bed. I love them all.
I also am an ardent feminist and a loud and unapologetic screamer for equality for women in all aspects of life.
Evie Dunmore’s series “The League of Extraordinary Women” is precisely the mix of swoon-worthy romance and women’s rights that we all need.
There are three books in the series:
Bringing Down the Duke
A Rogue of One’s Own
Portrait of a Scotsman
The series follows a group of suffragettes studying in Oxford and their struggles with wanting romance and love in their lives while understanding the implications and hazards of marriage during their time, especially with the Married Women’s Property Act in full force.
How do you reconcile your desire for a happily ever after, knowing that your happily ever after will probably not be so happy?
How do you reconcile your desire for an education, career, and life while still desiring a romantic story of your own?
Each of the three books deals with these questions as each of our lovely ladies has their own romance story.
Evie Dunmore manages to deal with these issues while giving you an absolutely perfectly satisfactory ending.
A few notes: the series is pretty steamy.
The series discusses some of the darker aspects of being a woman in the 1800s and does not shy away from some of the hazards of being a woman in a time with very few rights. However, I did not find it too explicit to make it hard to read. I think Dunmore does a great job discussing some of the unsavory parts of history without removing the reader from the romancey feel of the series.
Overall, the first three books in the series are must-reads, and I am eagerly, desperately awaiting the next installment, which is set to be published in 2023.
The following are affiliate links, meaning if you purchase these books, I will get a small percentage at no extra cost.