Title: The Suffragette Scandal Series: Brothers Sinister #4
Author: Courtney Milan
Published: July 15, 2014
Genre(s): Romance: Historical
Page Count: 260
Rating:
Summary from Goodreads:Miss Frederica "Free" Marshall has put her heart and soul into her newspaper, known for its outspoken support of women's rights. Naturally, her enemies are intent on destroying her business and silencing her for good. Free refuses to be at the end of her rope...but she needs more rope, and she needs it now.
Edward Clark's aristocratic family abandoned him to die in a war-torn land, so he survived the only way he could: by becoming a rogue and a first-class forger. When the same family that left him for dead vows to ruin Miss Marshall, he offers his help. So what if he has to lie to her? She's only a pawn to use in his revenge.
But the irrepressible Miss Marshall soon enchants Edward. By the time he realizes that his cynical heart is hers, it's too late. The only way to thwart her enemies is to reveal his scandalous past...and once the woman he loves realizes how much he's lied to her, he'll lose her forever.
Courtney Milan, oh Courtney Milan. How I love you. I have very, very few authors who I can trust to always deliver a good book. The Suffragette Scandal lived up to all of my expectations and more. I’d honestly rank it as my second-favorite of the series, after The Duchess War (and we know how I feel about that book).
Unlike previous Brothers Sinister books, The Suffragette Scandal doesn’t actually feature a member of the Brothers Sinister “club”. That was definitely a change from the norm, though I didn’t in any way feel that Frederica’s story was disconnected or out of place. Characters from previous novels did make appearances, and as Free is the younger sister of Oliver from The Heiress Effect, everything fit together nicely.
Free, then, is a suffragette. She has started a newspaper “by women, about women, for women” that’s making waves in England. She is a very outspoken and dedicated proponent of women’s rights, and now someone is seriously trying to shut her up. Enter Edward, the most honestly dishonest man Free’s ever met. For reasons of his own, he offers to help her evade whatever man (because of course it’s a man) is trying to run her out of town. And then, naturally, the romance thing happens.
The great thing about Milan’s female characters is how empowered they are. Over the course of this series, we’ve met a woman who married outside her race, a female scientist, and now, a radical feminist. Sure, maybe these women are slightly anachronistic, but as a modern reader, I find a lot to appreciate about Free and her goals. Milan definitely didn’t try to sugarcoat things and pretend that sexism didn’t exist, or that in 1877, the fight for universal suffrage was easy or had its goal in sight. Honestly, the situation presented in The Suffragette Scandal didn’t seem too far off at all.
Our male protagonist, Edward, was equally satisfying. He was absolutely hilarious, for one thing, but also very good-hearted, and entirely devoted to Free and making her happy. I also really appreciated how Milan was able to poke fun at herself in having Edward be the only truly “sinister” male out of the whole series, which he points out, quite derisively, in the presence of the actual “brothers”.
There was also a point when Free and Minnie from The Duchess War met and had a hilarious coversation that was very inside-jokey for any reader who read the other novel. I died. It’s so great when an author can be humorous in reference to her own work.
Actually, come to think of it…The Suffragette Scandal shares some similarities with The Duchess War, more than anything else in the series. That’s probably why I enjoyed it so very, very much.
When I’m searching for a great romance novel, I look no further than Courtney Milan. The Suffragette Scandal is a look at what happens when a Victorian-era feminist falls in love with an honest scoundrel. The result is hilarity and mayhem, but also a strongly written, believable romance.
