The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan

The Basics:
The Suffragette Scandal by Courtney Milan
Self-Pubbed
Book 4 in the Brothers Sinister
Historical Romance
Published July 15, 2014
Source: Received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Amazon.ca Kobo.com

Why I picked up this book:

I've enjoyed Milan's books in the past, and I love clever heroines in historical romances.


Blurb:

An idealistic suffragette...

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.

...a jaded scoundrel...

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.

...and a scandal seven years in the making.

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.

My thoughts:

Courtney Milan does not disappoint. She's one of my go-to historical romance authors - I find she reliably writes engaging, entertaining romances with smart heroines and men who are fantastic matches for them. The Suffragette Scandal was no exception.

The pairing of Free, an outspoken, bold woman who has put everything on the line for the causes she believes in, and Edward, a cynical criminal who believes that striving for more out of life is hopeless, is brilliant. I loved these two together - they're witty, they're bold, they have fantastic chemistry that pushes them both to be flirtier and to develop a much stronger connection than either desires. I absolutely loved the back and forth between these two in terms of both dialogue and the emotional coming together and backing off that happens across the story. 

Now, there were some themes in this book that felt pretty familiar, but the only one that kind of tweaked me was the harassment of the newspaper and, without spoiling anything, the forms that took. But this is such a small element of the larger plot that I can't find fault with it. Really, the ways to strike at a newspaper owner/operator are fairly obvious, I think, and for the villain of this book, I would have been shocked if he'd come up with something really clever or complex. 

Something else I really enjoyed about this book was the connection between Clermont - a character from previous Brothers Sinister books - and Free. There's a couple of scenes that are very touching, and the same for anything involving Free's own family, her parents in particular. Really, this is just a world that I want to spend more time in, full of people I wish I knew. 

Bottom line:

I'm a fan of the Brothers Sinister series and The Suffragette Scandal was a fantastic addition. This is a series that I can see going back and re-reading for the warm fuzzies.

I look forward to Milan's forthcoming "Worth Saga" with two books slated for later this year.

4.5 stars
For fans of historical romance, Courtney Milan

** NOTE!  The novella that starts the Sinister Brothers series - The Governess Affair - is available for free so you can dip a toe into the series before investing, and Milan's first five books - most of the Turner Series and the Carhart Series - are all on sale for 99 cents a piece until July 25th.