A Rogue of One's Own (League of Extraordinary Women #2) by Evie Dunmore (2020)

Synopsis:

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…

Review

Continuing with the characters we met in ‘Bringing Down the Duke,’ we follow fearless leader Lady Lucie in her further efforts to get the Married Women’s Property Act amended. She and some other Suffragists have created an investing consortium with the purpose of buying a publishing house so they can publish their report detailing how it’s not just poor women like Nancy in ‘Oliver Twist’ who are abused and misused in their marriages. Lucie’s plans are complicated by the rogue Lord Tristan Ballantine when he buys the other 50% share of the publishing company and seems bent on impeding her just for the fun of it.

But this isn’t a new squabble. Tristan has been harassing Lucie for years. Their first encounter came after she overheard a fight between her parents over her father flaunting his mistress, when Tristan’s snuck off to read Wordsworth. He’s bowled over by her beauty and thinks she’s a fairy. She thinks he’s being a pervert and gives him a slap they both remember years later.

We see more what kind of dedication and strength of character women like Lucie had towards the cause during this time period: Lucie’s willing to sacrifice anything for women’s freedom. It’s fitting that this book is published on the 100th anniversary of women gaining the vote. We discover that Lucie’s been cast out from her family because of her life’s work, she gets threats and insults, and she’s regularly underestimated by men and condescended to by ladies.

Tristan is also more than just a bad boy who will be reformed by the love of a good woman. By introducing him to be a sensitive boy bullied by an overbearing father, the adult Tristan becomes more than the typical trope. He’s revealed to be a man who long ago learned to keep special things hidden, who has definitely *earned* his libertine rake’s title (even if many of the rumors are untrue), and who stays true to his convictions and is intensely loyal to those he loves. There’s more to his history of harassing Lucie than just enjoying being irritating.

There’s some interesting subplots, like Tristan being the long-time object of affection of Lord Alexander (someone he and Lucie for years). Tristan’s mother is one of the women that Lucie is fighting for. Peregrine Devereaux has found his feet and isn’t a wastrel any longer. And how does Tristan know Lucie’s cat?

I enjoyed their interactions and shenanigans. Moving from enemies to lovers isn’t what helps them to heal the wounds of the past, but it is the support they get from each other that helps them to develop more quickly into the better people they were already becoming. Best of all, falling in love doesn’t mean Lucie becoming someone she doesn’t respect and Tristan is man enough to respect and value everything that makes Lucie, Lucie. This isn’t a clean read, but would you really expect that in a romance involving a libertine take?

Beyond the romance, we see healthy female relationships: Annabelle, Hattie and Catriona are now her partners in crime (even if Annabelle is now married) so we see them throughout the book. Their friendships have deepened to where they’re her confidantes rather than her foot soldiers. We also get a hint at the romances yet to come: Hattie’s hiding something outrageous (I suspect it might involve her bodyguard) and Catriona has a even bigger crush on the clueless Peregrine.

All in all, a worthy follow up to the first book. 5/5 stars