DEBUT In Victorian England, Annabelle Archer cooks and cleans for her cousin Gilbert's family. Given the chance to study at the new women's school in Oxford, she pursues a scholarship from a women's suffrage group. The terms of the award include participating in marches, handing out pamphlets, and petitioning men in power to change the Married Women's Property Act. One of the men she attempts to sway is the cold and formidable Duke of Montgomery, Sebastian Devereux, who is working hard to remain in the good graces of Queen Victoria in order to restore his family's legacy and reclaim his ancestral home. Both Sebastian and Annabelle are determined to get what they want, and their plights collide when Annabelle manages to get herself and her suffragette friends invited to the duke's house for a holiday party. VERDICT Dunmore's debut is chock-full of verve, history, and passion, introducing a heroine who knows her worth and is determined not to be held back by her past. This series opener provides many opportunities for future installments, which will comfort readers as they reach the enthralling denouement.--Kellie Tilton, Univ. of Cincinnati Blue Ash

A bright, penniless suffragette in Victorian-era England melts the heart of a notoriously icy duke in this delightful romance. Annabelle Archer is granted a scholarship by the National Society for Women's Suffrage to become one of the first women to study at Oxford University. In exchange, she's required to publicly support their cause. When she brazenly offers a political pamphlet to the Duke of Montgomery, it is just the first of many times that she shocks him with her brains and courage. Montgomery is obsessed with getting back the castle his father gambled away and is willing to sell out his own ideals and work with the Tory Party if it will get the queen to grant his request. He is entirely unprepared for a beautiful, radical woman to derail his mission. But when Annabelle finds herself ill and snowed in at Montgomery's home, the pair discover they are more compatible--politically, emotionally, and physically--than either would have believed. Despite their mounting passion, their disparate circumstances make a relationship impossible, but they set out to find a way to make it work. Charming, sexy, and thoroughly transportive, this is historical romance done right. Agent: Kevan Lyon, Marsal Lyon Literary. (Sept.)

Annabelle Archer has been admitted as one of Oxford's first female students, an opportunity she can only take advantage of due to her stipend, which requires her involvement in the suffrage movement. The Duke of Montgomery has been tasked by Queen Victoria to ensure a Tory victory in the upcoming election, but Annabelle's fellow activists want to convert him to their cause. She and her friends finagle a house-party invitation to lobby the Duke, but once at the party, Annabelle finds Montgomery to be much more than his icy exterior and aloof reputation seemed to indicate. Full of witty banter, rich historical detail, and a fantastic group of female friends, the first installment in Dunmore's League of Extraordinary Women series starts with fireworks as Annabelle and Montgomery try to find a path to happiness despite past mistakes and their vastly different places in society. Dunmore's strong debut is sure to earn her legions of fans.--Jennifer Rothschild Copyright 2010 Booklist