A Scoundrel for the Suffragist by Melissa Oliver

Tracy’s Rating: 3 / 3.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Disreputable Marsden Brothers

Release Date: February 24, 2026

Cecily Duddlecott is not your typical Victorian heroine; she was one of the first women admitted into Oxford and is a pioneer in the suffragist movement as a founding member of the Women’s Enlightened Reform Movement (TWERM) which supports the right to education for all women. She is passionate about education, but after a scandal that forced her to leave Oxford before she earned her degree, she had to return to her brother’s home and tried to give the appearance of conformity. It isn’t until her brother marries that things become difficult and her brother pushes her to marry newspaper mogul Samuel Millington. And if that was not enough, her best friend’s annoying brother-in-law, Dominic Marsden, seems to be stalking her!

After being raised as golden boys of the ton, only to be cast out of society after their father died and the truth of his bigamist marriage to their mother came to light, Dominic “Dom” Marsden and his brothers lost everything. But instead of giving up, the brothers fought back and created an empire of their own in the form of Trium Impiorum, an exclusive and wildly successful gaming club, and Dominic enjoys his new persona of scoundrel. The last thing he expected was to be dragged into service of the Intelligence Office, Sir Algernon Pendle has commanded Dom to keep his eye on Cecily, as her brother is a known cohort of Samuel Millington, who is suspected of treason. But Dominic never anticipated developing feelings for Cecily or that she would insist on putting herself in harm’s way to help him complete his mission.

I am not sure how I feel about this story; I liked the idea of the book and found both Dominic and Cecily to be relatable and likable. But I struggled to stay immersed in the story due to the author’s use of overly descriptive explanations, for example, there is almost a whole chapter about how to play the game of Loo, while interesting, this information did nothing to move the story along and was boring. There are other instances of this throughout the book, and it made it hard for me to stay focused on the real story. This book has a bit of mystery, a bit of spice, a smart and strong heroine, a hero with a true heart of gold, a book that has been thoroughly researched, a surprise twist and finally a happily ever after. Overall, I liked the story and found some of the history to be very interesting, so while I am glad, I read the book, I don’t think I would read it again. This is the second book in the series, but it could easily be read as a standalone title with no problems.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher/author. All opinions in this review are my own. *