I have been eagerly awaiting Evie Dunmore's conclusion to this beloved series...and she did not disappoint! This might be my favorite one since BRINGING DOWN THE DUKE. Such a great historical romance!

Without a doubt, I wholeheartedly recommend this series to anyone in search of not only an enchanting romance but also a genuine history lesson. Evie Dunmore has solidified her place as an instant-buy author for me. It gave me fireworks what a show I literally wanted to applaud at the end.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review. #TheGentlemansGambit #NetGalley

Normally, I don't read the books in a series out of order — I'm a bit of a completist like that — but I've just been hearing such good things about this installment in particular and let me tell you, it did NOT disappoint. A delightful conclusion, which felt fitting even though I've only read book 1 prior to now (and it was nice getting glimpses of some of the other couples as little interludes, so I know what kind of dynamics to look forward to when I eventually circle back to reading their stories!). Dunmore is doing something truly special here with Catriona and Elias, and not just making a commentary on who gets to have a happy ending but who gets to be the proprietors of history, and it's left me even more eager to see what she'll write next.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

By reading The Gentleman's Gambit, I learned a lot about the hijacking of cultural treasures for “safe keeping”, about the area in and around Beirut, Victorian era Suffragettes, and the Maronites. But I just didn’t connect as well with Catriona and Elias. Individually they were interesting characters but I just didn’t like how their story played out.

I have read and enjoyed the entire League of Extraordinary Women series. The second book was my favorite, the first and third are tied, and this unfortunately was my least favorite.

I did appreciate the epilogue in The Gentleman's Gambit as it had all the women 36 years into the future. Yet, I would have liked an epilogue of just Catriona and Elias as well.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The League of Extraordinary Women Series has meant so much to me and it was bittersweet to read the ending. The series has revolutionized historical romance in such a wonderful way, and I was eagerly looking forward to the final installment.

While I loved the way the author concluded the stories of these 4 wonderful women, this story was my least favorite of them all. I was incredibly excited to learn more about Caitriona who, despite being present in the first 3 books, remained incredibly mysterious. I had a very hard time understanding her. At first, I thought it was fitting that it would take long to understand such a guarded and quiet person, but eventually it got frustrating and to the point where I never totally understood her motivations.

Elias also remained elusive to me, and I think that was in part to the significance of Lebanon to his story. I didn't totally understand what was going on historically and politically in Lebanon, and that was a large part of Elias' story making it difficult to understand.

Because I didn't connect with these characters as much it made it hard to connect with their love story. I loved the premise of Elias getting close to Caitriona and her father to bring stolen artifacts back to his homeland, but felt it wasn't executed well.

In terms of the series, I loved the chapters with the three other women. The epilogue was also extremely beautiful and a wonderful way to end this series focused on female suffragists.

I love these stories about women suffragettes. Catriona, the main character in this book, is interesting. I really enjoyed this title in the series. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

I'd read the first three books in Dunmore's "A Leauge of Extraordinary Gentlemen" series - this, the 4th, is the final book, each focusing on one of a quartet of independent-minded, smart suffragettes. It'd been a while since I read the earlier books in the series, so I don't remember the details of the other 3 women's stories, but I recall generally enjoying them and partiuclarly liking the incorporation of interesting, in depth and thoroughly researched bits of history -- along with an enjoyable romance, of course! The writing is quite good.

This installment felt a bit higgledy-piggledy -- there was SO much packed in -- the group's continued fight to gain women the vote (amongst other rights), Catriona's life and work, and her romance with Elias, and the (very interesting and still pertinent today) issue of repatriation of artefacts looted or taken illegally and installed in museums halfway around the world from where they belong. We also got big chunks of backstories for Catriona and Elias -- documenting all their past failed relationships, and even a random chapter or 2 from one of the other suffragette's perspectives.

I enjoyed the idea of the romance between Catriona, the neurodivergent scholar and Elias the slightly shady tradesman/scholar from Lebanon; and the issue of the artefacts & where they belonged -- but the rest felt like too much - it was all over the place, there were so many and varied little branches and offshoots to the story, and the romance itself hit some good notes, but also some wrong -- kind of stalled out at some points and leaving me mystefied as to how it was progressing so much or not at all at other points? Overall, it dragged a bit -- it felt too long, there was a lot to enjoy, but too much packed in. Glad I read it & finished the series, but it wasn't my favourite of the 4 books. The epilogue also felt a bit too tidy and quite preachy/educational on 'we must continue the fight for womens' rights.' Yes, true, but I don't need a lecture on it right this second.

3 stars.

I really enjoyed seeing Catriona's story unfold. She's by far the quietest of the friend group. There's a great 'meet-cute' for lack of a better term. I would have liked MORE of the friend group being together. The romance aspect felt a bit slow.

I absolutely adored this book and intend to recommend it for purchase for our popular reading collection. I appreciate that it is a well-written historical romance that features a couple from different cultures and a heroine that is coded as autistic (though that diagnosis would not have been given at the time). I believe it is a high-quality title that will interest my college readers.

Whenever someone tells me they don't like romance novels, I ask them if they've read Evie Dunmore's A League of Extraordinary Women. If they haven't, I'm fairly certain that they will love them if they only give them a chance. Evie Dunmore's books are beautiful love stories but also honest explorations of their main characters and always touch on a topic in history that Dunmore deftly weaves into the story. I'm not sure how she manages to make each one of those parts of the story come together, time and again.

The Gentleman's Gambit, the fourth and final installation in The League of Extraordinary Women series, follows Catriona, daughter of a Scottish Earl. Catriona was the quietest of the four MCs throughout the series but she really finds her own in The Gentleman's Gambit. Catriona's attention to detail and sensitivity are assets in her academic field but they have always made things difficult in society. When Catriona's father invites a scholar from Lebanon to see a collection of antiquities at Oxford, Catriona is given the task of accompanying Elias Khoury and making introductions. Elias challenges Catriona's beliefs on many things, most importantly her own deeply entrenched ideas of who she can be and what she is capable of.

I found that Elias had the most to offer his partner of any of the male MCs in the series. While Annabelle, Lucie, and Hattie all opened a new chapter of their life when they found their love story, Catriona really found herself. The Gentleman's Gambit took a bit longer than its counterparts to publish but Catriona jumps off the page as a real and complex person, made right just as she is, and I imagine that extra time really helped her get there.

I was initially put off by the insta-love feels that Catriona and Elias experienced after their awkward first encounter but I really grew to love their relationship and the ways in which they made room for each other to let their stories come together. Catriona and Elias' story is a touching tribute to the idea that the best love story requires its MC to be no one but themselves.

Evie Dunmore gives us a little chapter each for our previous three MCs, letting us see where their lives are in this final installment. With those chapters and the epilogue, the story feels beautifully wrapped up. Readers of the series will find all of the thrills of the previous novels but also the joy in seeing the women's hard fought battle won. My only regret is that I now must leave these stories behind.

Run, don't walk, to pre-order this book. It is a beautiful love story and one of the best books of the year.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this story in exchange for an honest review. The Gentleman's Gambit comes out December 5.

3.5 stars.

A new Evie Dunmore is always a treat. There were parts of this romance that didn’t hang together for me and there were parts that I really loved; but, as always, I consistently appreciated how Dunmore weaves her stories around historical context. I always learn something new.

The League of Extraordinary Women has been a comfort series for me since the first book was released and I have always eagerly waited for the next installment with excitement. The first book is good, the second is great, and, controversially, I find the third book great as well. So, when it was announced that the fourth book was going to be centered on one of my favorite characters, Catriona, I was ready to fall in love with The Gentleman’s Gambit.
Unfortunately, it comes with a heavy heart to say that I didn’t love the fourth installment of the series as much as I hoped.
Let’s get into the pros: I found the romance and banter between Catriona and Elias to be great. Their relationship is one of the saving graces of this book, and their chemistry was fantastic. The writing is excellent, better than the other books of the series. It always makes me happy to read books by the same author, only for their writing to get exceptionally better and grow.
Now for the cons: the plot is slow, borderline glacial. I believe the main reason why that is is because the previous novels have done a good job balancing the romance and historical/social justice aspects. However, the politics in The Gentleman’s Gambit outweigh the romance, which I found a bit tedious. The novel is also a bit too long in length which didn’t help with the plot. The ending was also rushed and a bit too convenient.
By all means, this is not a bad or awful book. I believe I just had high expectations.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for providing an advanced copy of this book in exchange of my honest opinions.

Hilarious and fun! I love historicals that take liberties and have modern sensibilities! The sexual tension between the main two is so tense you could cut it with a knife! Their journey was a wild one, and I'm so glad that I got to experience it

This gorgeous conclusion to the League of Extraordinary Women series is as memorable and sharp as its precursors. Catriona is a singular heroine—neurodivergent and introverted, she isn't sure if the roles of wife and mother will ever fit her. She is an academic and a Suffragist, and the wrong husband would stifle her. Her concern isn't just personal, as Dunmore directly addresses the legal precariousness of married women in this chapter of British history. As with her other romances, Dunmore's historical fiction explores timeless issues of love, family, and power within a patriarchal, capitalist society. Catriona and her love interest, Elias Khoury, must define partnership for themselves, and they do with Dunmore's typical sexy, sophisticated style.

The Gentleman's Gambit tackles another big, timeless issue: the repatriation of cultural relics. Modern readers may know of the British Museum's refusal to return stolen art and artifacts to their nations of origin. Elias Khoury's path crosses with Catriona's when he comes to England in search of pilfered Middle Eastern statues, and she can get him the access to the collection of artifacts at Oxford. It's adds a touch of suspense and international context to a series that has been dedicated to justice from the first book.

I can't wait for the boxed set of this book to come out so that I can buy all four. What an ambitious, important, and swoony series. No one writes historical romance like Evie Dunmore!!

Ahh I adored this. It was a sublime read; sensuous and intelligent, tender and informative - it simmered from the off. In this story of two outsiders, Dunmore’s written the perfect end to her fantastic A League of Extraordinary Women series and done her women proud, with her deft combining of sizzling romance with social and political history. It leapfrogged my TBR pile and now easily demands a reread. Sensuous, smart and completely splendid!

This book gave me serious “Barbie” movie vibes in the best possible way. I bet you’re wondering what does a Victorian romance novel have to do with a modern doll/ movie? They are both trying to get women out of a box! Lady Catriona and her suffragette friends are working hard to pass a parliamentary bill that allows married women to keep their wages, property, and rights over their own body (which feels pretty relevant still today).

Catriona is a bisexual, brilliant linguist, and is very concerned about keeping her individuality even when she falls head first in love with Elias Khoury. The romance is steamy and sensitive. Elias is a wonderful hero who allows Catriona the space she needs to be her own person.

I loved the quote, “A woman matters, married or not, children or no children. I matter, just as I am, right now. I’m a whole human being.”

This book is the fourth of the League of Extraordinary Women and wraps up the series beautifully with a short cameo from the other three couples. The epilogue includes all of the extraordinary women in a poignant future scene.

I will say not my favorite book in the series as I struggled a bit to like the heroine (she's the trickier of the four in my opinion to like) but I enjoyed the romance and banter as always. I particularly appreciated the discussion around repatriation of artifacts in the book. I did find the last chapter a bit jarring but I understand why it was included - it would have been unsatisfying to not see the ladies get their victory lap. I will admit I did not follow who all the kids and grandkids belonged to - the author was throwing lots of new names into the mix at the last minute there.

This one is my least favorite of the series, but I still loved it. So rare to find a truly feminist historical romance, but Dunmore nails it.

What a winning historical fiction hot romance read I loved! I enjoyed The Gentleman's Gambit and this for me was just the best for last. What a delight to read a perfectly executed hate-to-love trope that is witty, angsty, delectable, hot, amazing chemistry, and with great banter. Catriona and Elias are a great couple to read about and this series really solidified Evie Dunmore as one of my favorite authors.

I loved the other title I've read by Evie Dunmore and this was no different. Her character development is great and it makes me fall into the narrative as a reader. I'm excited for each new book she puts out!