I forgot to write something when I pressed publish, and I think that's because it was so obvious in my mind that I forgot it must be written down. This book, a "mere" historical romance, has some of the most inspiring lines and conversations I have read in recent months, if not years. it depicts the struggle for women's rights and grapples them with questions we still ask today, such as... WHY BOTHER? And instead of letting that question settle, it ANSWERS it. The voice of Free is storng and powerful, as she explains to a cynical man with no hope why she will never give up, and why their actions matter
“But we’re not trying to empty the Thames,” she told him. “Look at what we’re doing with the water we remove. It doesn’t go to waste. We’re using it to water our gardens, sprout by sprout. We’re growing bluebells and clovers where once there was a desert. All you see is the river, but I care about the roses.”I, for one, highly encourage you to discover this inpirational lady (and her partner in crime) all for yourself.
Here's why you should read The Suffragette Scandal or any other of Milan's works:
1. If you love historical romances
2. If you love heroes who are head over heels in love with their girl, who would never change a single thing about her, who would sacrifice everything to see her flourish, who are physically attracted to her but more than that are MENTALLY attracted to her. Like, Edward thinks Free is the prettiest thing he's ever seen, but whenever he's with her he doesn't think about burying his **** in her, but rather on how much she surprises him, and astonishes him, and how much he is in awe of her spirit and her mind and her fierceness. A++++ on all accounts.
3. If you love heroes who are broken into cynicism, believing themselves unworthy of trust and love and happy endings, but just can't help themselves when it comes to their girls.
4. If you love heroines who are fierce and strong, in their sexuality and in their mind. Who will not cower, will not hold back, will not accept society roles for them and will fight back. Who will be the smartest and cleverest person in any room, and who will make most people admit the truth of that--even if just in the privacy of their own brains.
5. If you love heroines who are born at the wrong times--too modern, too forward in their thinkings--but who instead of letting themselves be beaten into submission will beat the ton into acceptance. They will change the world, one little victory at a time, and become an inspiration to a generation of women.
6. If on top of all these, you love BANTER. Delicious, flirty, funny banter. Two people crossing verbal swords in a tango, both equally enjoying the others feints and strikes.
7. If you love supporting families, and even MORE if you love forging your own families, the bonds of blood be damned to hell and back. Blood does not make a brother--love, and companionship and loyalty does.
8. If you love LGBTQ+ representation in your historical romances??? Milan is just about the only one I've read who does this pretty explicitly, and I need a Patrick novel (or novella) because there is a story there with the Baron and I'm not even sure if it has started already or not.
9. If you just love a GOOD romance. The coming together of two people who ABSOLUTELY should be together, and it's effortless and easy (for the most part) because it's meant to be so why waste time with meaningless miscommunications?
That's to say... read this one. Read this WHOLE series. It's all about modern women in a time modern women wasn't a thing and treated more as a disease, and the special men who love them FOR their innovative minds and would do everything to keep their women happy, flourishing, and successful.