Bombshell (Hell's Belles, #1)

by Sarah MacLean

Sesily’s particular fearsomeness came with being thirty years old, unmarried, rich, and a woman. And worse, all those things without shame. She had never taken herself up to a high shelf to live out her days. She hadn’t even taken herself off to the country. Instead, she took herself to balls. In low-cut, boned silks that looked decidedly unlike pastry. Without bonnets made for either debutantes or spinsters.

And wherever women held power, be it a throne, a club, or a labyrinth, there were men wishing to seize it.

one likes the freedom a woman on the throne inspires—least of all the men who benefit from keeping women under their thumbs.

never know what to do with women who fight. They always forget critical information.” “What’s that?” “That when we enter the fray, we do so to win.”

“Men are ridiculous.” “For wanting to keep you safe?” “For believing that you aren’t the thing from which we are most in danger.” She spread her arms wide. “Look around you.”

you are always ready to fight. It’s your natural state. You’ve battled your sisters and society and the rest of the world, never ceding an inch of turf. Claiming your space and your time for yourself. For your future. For your own path, whatever it may be.”