I have loved every book in the A League of Extraordinary Women series, but this one was a bit of a letdown. It maintains the same elements of women's suffrage, strong female characters, and a love interest who sees our main character for who she is and loves her for it, but it was lacking in a few ways for me. The romance itself was a bit lackluster; I wasn't rooting for them in the way that I wanted to. I wasn't indifferent, but I also wasn't super invested in their relationship. Our love interest is also attempting a heist of sorts, which was interesting and also drove a good portion of the plot, but I found it boring at times because, while there was good reasoning for it, it wasn't enough to keep the plot moving as the main driver. The same could also be said with Catriona's part in women's suffrage--important, but not a great plot driver. The book wasn't bad, just a bit boring. I did love seeing all of our characters from the past books, though, and they each get a chapter and are all included in the (amazing!) epilogue. I would still recommend this because it has such important historical discussions and concludes an incredible series, but it wasn't my favorite of the four.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher's for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore!

I love Evie Dunmore’s writing, she really was able to pack to much research and it was beautifully done. Just FYI this is more a women’s fiction, journey of discovery of the heroine and historical fiction than a romance. The romance is there but much on the sidelines.

I really enjoyed this book. It's perhaps a bit "deeper" than others in the series. Clearly well researched. If you care about previous characters in the series, you'll find satisfaction in this novel. This is certainly a series to read in order. The characters were well developed and the book's themes go beyond traditional romance tropes. This isn't your typical historical romance - there is depth here that I enjoyed. The book also provided me much needed perspective on how far we've come as a society. Big thanks to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy, opinions are my own.

I enjoyed this book after reading the rest of the series, such a unique take in the romance genre. I look forward to the author's future work!

"Bookish suffragist Catriona Campbell is busy: An ailing estate, academic writer's block, a tense time for England's women's rights campaign - the last thing she needs is to be stuck playing host to her father's distractingly attractive young colleague.

Deeply introverted Catriona lives for her work at Oxford and her fight for women's suffrage. She dreams of romance, too, but since all her attempts at love have ended badly, she now keeps her desires firmly locked inside her head - until she climbs out of a Scottish loch after a good swim and finds herself rather exposed to her new colleague.

Elias Khoury has wheedled his way into Professor Campbell's circle under false pretenses: he did not come to Oxford to classify ancient artefacts, he is determined to take them back to his homeland in the Middle East. Winning Catriona's favor could be the key to his success. Unfortunately, seducing the coolly intense lady scholar quickly becomes a mission in itself and his well-laid plans are in danger of derailing...

Forced into close proximity in Oxford's hallowed halls, two very different people have to face the fact that they might just be a perfect match. Soon, a risky new game begins that asks Catriona one more time to put her heart and wildest dreams at stake."

Here's to romance and returning artefacts to their homelands!

Evie Dunmore can do no wrong. The Gentleman's Gambit may not have been my favorite of the series but I thought it was the perfect ending and goodbye to the Extraordinary Women and I loved seeing their stories all come to a very happy close.

I loved Catriona's story! This entire series has been a delight and a customer favorite! They will not be disappointed by this one! I loved the friendships, the romance and the continued fight for these suffragettes.

This one was not for me. I think it's me, not the book, though. I just didn't enjoy the writing and couldn't connect to the characters. It will probably do really well, I fully accept that this was a me problem.

I am in tears because the series is over, because this book was perfect, and because Catriona is the heroine of my heart. I had such high hopes for this one, and while I was apprehensive about who the love interest was, this exceeded every expectation I had. Not only did we get to continue our journey in the fight for women’s equality with all of our favorite heroines, we explored a new area for justice seeking in the quest to repatriate stolen artifacts. I really loved this aspect of the book. It seems super relevant with discussions around colonization and colonizers, who owns history, and how badly outsiders rode roughshod over native peoples and lands.
I really liked Elias. (Though, no, no one will EVER top Tristan Ballentine in my heart). But his and Catriona’s delicate yet fiery slow burn romance was just fantastic. And I just don’t have enough words to say how much Catriona holds my entire heart. Her internalized struggles were so relatable to me, her desire to be seen as her very own person speaks to me on an incredibly deep level.
Ahhhhh, seriously I’m so in love with this book. I can’t recommend this series enough. You’ll learn something, you’ll swoon, you’ll cheer, you’ll get angry, and hopefully you’ll fall in love like I did.
All the stars.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced look at the book to review. All opinions are my own.

Catriona does not disappoint, and neither does Evie Dunmore. This latest installment in the A League of Extraordinary Women series is just as entertaining as its predecessors.

Dunmore’s most daring and ambitious to date, both storywise and character-wise. Each woman in the series is vastly different, with varying obstacles, and Catriona’s neurodivergence is explored in harrowing, but not exaggerated, ways. Social, political, and national commentary, some obvious and others enlightening. This is her most comprehensive history lesson yet, all wrapped up in an emotional and passionate story.

Still, with 35% of the book left I was getting bored. I was ready for all the threads that had been set to finally play out. I stalled and it was a bit of a push to make myself stay with it and not take an extended break. However, it also felt like the full culmination of all the books’ efforts. And the end really pushed forward the emotional and mental trials of Catriona and Elias. So, it worked.

The most beautiful and poignant, in several ways, of all the books in the series. It’s almost more than I could take, overwhelming. But that seems like a me problem. Evie Dunmore is in a class all her own with this genre and deserves all the stars anyway. You won’t be disappointed.

3 stars

This series has been fun. “Too historically informative,” but fun. This is probably my least favorite in the series. I didn’t completely feel their connection. The romance was overshadowed by the historical informative stuff that used to add something in the previous books, but here it seemed like it’s the main focus rather than the development of the romance.

Huge Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy.

Enjoyed the way Dunmore brings Catriona's past relationships into the story. Wish we'd gotten a little more about the heist. Loved Elias and Catriona, and appreciated the way the other characters were brought into their story. A thoroughly enjoyable -- and informative -- end to this series.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

DNFing at 50%. I’ve had it with this book and I’m not taking it anymore! Evie Dunmore has done me wrong before, but never to such a perplexing and mind numbing degree that I can’t finish. This book is so dense with history, long as hell backstories, political conversations, and what it does not have is GOOD ROMANCE. I wanted to give this a chance but I just can’t do it. I can’t skip four, five, six pages at a time to get passed the history lesson because at some point I’m just skipping the entire thing. Which I’m now doing. We done, The Gentleman’s Gambit, and I think, unfortunately, I might be done with Evie Dunmore.

DNF at 100 pages in. Story bogged down by focus on history rather than growing romance between MCs Catriona and Elias. Many fans of the series may still be entranced. Will not post this review elsewhere to allow other readers to make up their own minds.

Every single book that i’ve read by Evie Dunmore has been five star quality. I dont even know what to say except to praise every aspect of it. I will always always love her work

This is a very good end to a very fun series. This is Catriona's story, but it also ties in and finishes the other girls' stories. While this is not my favorite installment, there is something very satisfying about it.

Catriona is having a nice swim when she is startled to find a stranger staring at her. It turns out that her father's expected visitor has turned up early. And found her swimming naked in the nearby loch. He is meant to be doing research and needs access to the collections housed at Oxford. That sets up this storyline.

This series is quite fluffy but has enough substance to not be annoying. I definitely recommend it, even if only for the entertainment value.

"It was as though a woman could have either a brain or a heart, and whichever way, she was allowed only half a life"

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for my digital ARC

I have enjoyed every book in A League of Extraordinary Women series so far but The Gentleman's Gambit ended up being the one I enjoyed the most. I was always intrigued by quiet, introverted Catriona with her shy confidence and brilliant mind behind the innocent disposition, she is by far the most complexly constructed and developed character in this series. Catriona managed to perfectly portray an array of things woman have been struggling even to this day from generations past, being pulled in too many direction as we are forced to wear quite a few hats in order to please others, often forgetting what our own heart wants. I loved how she constantly pushed herself to break the barriers that were firmly placed by the patriarchal society around her and managing to pull off things that no body could possibly accomplish in that age and time

The books is fast paced and quite entertaining to the very end, while it is unsurprisingly brimmed with historical elements it is surprisingly also the spiciest romance of all the four books to me personally.I thought Evie Dunmore did an excellent job of balancing both history and romance in this installment, Elias's character is just as well done as Catriona's, his struggle as an immigrant whose heart is torn between two different places resonates with so many of us even in this day. I loved his jovial and charming nature and how he always brings the best, authentic self out of Catriona, their romance is not only a whirlwind but quite unconventional yet was thoroughly enjoyable

Another thing I loved is the appearance of all the four women through out the book, it was so fun to witness glimpses of their lives in this book. The last chapter and epilogue definitely made me emotional as I bid a bittersweet goodbye to this lovely conclusion to this phenomenal series

Review will be posted on Forever Young Adult's blog on 12/5/23

First Impressions: Misleading

I appreciate that all the covers have a similar design and style, even if, at this point, their cheery colors and cartoon drawings don’t really match up with the more serious tone of the novels themselves.

What’s Your Type?

Academics In Love
Class Differences
Forbidden Love
Heists
Neurodivergent Heroines
Feminism
Social Activism
Dating Profile

Elias Khoury is a Lebanese anti-Indiana Jones—he’s out there traveling the world stealing artifacts to return them back to the people they were taken from in the first place. He comes from a family of merchants with a head for business, and he’s been gone from his home in the Levant so long he isn’t quite sure where he belongs anymore. His latest acquisitions are currently being held in the storeroom at St. John’s College, and it’s going to take some sucking up to a scholarly Scottish Earl to gain access.

Catriona Campbell, daughter of said Scottish Earl, has always felt like the odd one out, even when she’s among her dear friends in the suffragist movement. As someone who is easily overwhelmed by interactions with people, Catriona would love nothing more than to be left alone forever to read and write her scholarly works.

Meet Cute: Lady Of The Lake

Growing up in the Scottish Highlands without a mother meant that Catriona has always been a bit more “wild” than some other ladies she knows, who would, for example, never dare to swim naked in a pond even on the teeniest off-chance someone would see them. Someone like the impossibly gorgeous Elias, who decided to do some bird watching after arriving early for his visit with Catriona’s father and got QUITE an eyeful of a naked bird of the non-feathered variety. Talk about an uncomfortable dinner after everyone gets back to the castle! It only gets worse when the Earl gets called away on estate business and asks Catriona to accompany Elias to the College.

The Lean: Smart Is Sexy

There are many things (supposedly) that make a union between Catriona and Elias make zero sense, so despite any attraction they may feel (and there’s plenty), they are penned in by propriety and their own personal expectations of what their lives and their loves should look like. I think Dunmore struck a good balance between the pining and the actual relationship, so both sides who prefer one or the other in their books should be happy with this courtship.

Dirty Talk

In books, it’s an actual fact that sexy times are always sexier when what’s happening is currently forbidden. During their first make-out-and-a-bit-more:

She gripped the warm cotton fabric of his shirt for purchase, and he glanced down at her, his gaze black; his throat sheened with sweat. He’d be like this in bed, above her, steadily moving back-and-forth between her thighs, filling her with frantic energy. “It’s as though we are doing it,” she said, her voice high and strained.

“Not even close,” he ground out, but the image she had painted derailed his rhythm.

And when the, ah, partial deeds are done:

Elias cupped the curve of her heated cheek in his hand. “We will not do this again,” he said.

They took measure of each other’s damp faces and turbulent eyes, and without any more words being exchanged they both knew that they would absolutely do this again.

YES, YOU WILL, YOU SEXY CREATURES.

Ms. Perky’s Prize for Purplest Prose

The day after their first assignation, our couple is playing their usual game of chess—partially as an excuse to meet, because the olden days sucked majorly for personal freedom. I declare things also get an indeterminate amount of sexier when the couple can converse in public in another language to be able to flirt talk about their feelings without anyone else knowing:

Don’t deny me, she thought stupidly. Kiss me again. For a moment, neither seemed to know what to say. Last evening, her numbness after an overwhelm had proven useful: she had fixed her hair in front of Elias’s mirror, and she had returned to Hall in time for pudding. She had reinstated a cordial relationship with Leighton and Miss Regina, and they had furthered their plans to put the Ashmolean pieces into the British Museum. All throughout, she had seen Elias’s face , taut with dark desire as he rocked against her.

Elias’s eyelids lowered. “Don’t look at me like that,” he said in Arabic.

She pressed her lips together, feeling caught. “Like what.”

“Like you did last evening, in my room.”

“I wasn’t,” she said, her tone convincingly prim.

MacKenzie’s needles clanged like foils coming together. MacKenzie, who always seemed to be with her these days, always watching from under critical brows.

We Need To Talk: A Respectable Wrap-Up

I have been waiting for this book for what feels like FOREVER. After the third book in the series was just fine for me, I was a bit apprehensive about how this one would go. Luckily, there was much to love! I really enjoyed Elias and Catriona as characters on their own, and their personal journeys to resolve what was holding them back from being together made sense and were thoughtfully laid out.

Dunmore’s series, from its start, has always been romance AND historical fiction, in that she gives deference to both subjects, and that was no different for The Gentlemen’s Gambit. Securing women’s rights in the eyes of the law is still a big plot point, but special attention is given to the topic of colonizing thievery and the damage it causes to the people who lose their right to be themselves and celebrate their culture. It’s a centuries-long and still on-going issue, and I did find it interesting that this is the second new release I’ve read this year that deals with the topic of returning cultural artifacts to their people. (New publishing trend alert?)

There may still be a bit “too much” emphasis on the non-romance parts of the book for some readers, but there are a ton of frivolous and fun historical romances still out there, so I’m happy that Dunmore continues to give us these occasional palate cleansers.

Was It Good For You? Checkmate

The epilogue flashes forward decades in the future to tell us where our quartet of friends ended up, and it was a sweet moment that brings all four women’s stories to a close, letting us know that Dunmore is officially moving on from the series. There have been a few ups and downs, but overall I’m very happy with the time I spent with these extraordinary women.

FTC Full Disclosure: I received my free review copy from Berkley Books. I received neither money nor peanut butter cups in exchange for this review. The Gentlemen’s Gambit is available now.