✨ Review ✨ The Gentleman's Gambit by Evie Dunmore

The fourth and final book in the A League of Extraordinary Women series, this book goes out with a bang! Maybe my favorite in the bunch for how it works in discussion of repatriating artifacts and neurodiverse characters in an earlier era.

Pros:
-Loved the discussion of artifacts taken from the East by colonial powers and the ways it poked at assumptions (e.g. "we" can care for these better, "they" don't even want these) and overturned these. It also pushed beyond the previous book in thinking more expansively about class / race / gender.
-Catriona's a scholar in a time when women's intellect wasn't celebrated and that really felt special in this book even more than the previous ones
-as the second book I read this fall to make chess into flirting, I'm kind of obsessed.
-overall, I really enjoyed the relationship between Elias and Catriona and the ways they grew around each other.
-it felt like it wrapped up this series in a fun and interesting way.

Cons:
-I really hated the epilogue and thought that it undid a lot of the decolonial thinking it had set up in the first 390 pages. It ended very rah rah Britain and meh I could have done without.
-I'd have loved for it to go further in thinking through the role of class and the privilege these women have. Sometimes it gets there and sometimes it doesn't (e.g. talking about nannies)
-some plot lines didn't quite come to fruition or felt a little shorted in the end.
-it teased at back story throughout the book -- some of it revealed quite late. The way it was done left me confused if I missed something (e.g. Catriona's time at boarding school, her chimpanzee story), and that felt a little frustrating.

With that said, I still gave the book 5 stars because I loved it. It brought me joy while I was sick with the flu and something to look forward to each day. Thanks for this delightful series, Evie Dunmore!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: f/m historical romance
Setting: rural Scotland, Oxford, London, (what's now) Lebanon
Reminds me of: the rest of this series!
Pub Date: 05 Dec 2023

Thanks to Berkley and #netgalley for the gifted advanced copy/ies of this book!

A fun and sexy read with a heroine you're going to root for, and a hero you'll fall in love with. An intriguing story about ancient artifacts and women's suffrage based in truth.

I have really enjoyed this series and wish it ended with a bang but it was more like a sizzle for me. I believe this is the last installment and while it was still a fun journey to go back in time, I wasn't very connected to Catriona. The tension and steam that Dunmore writes on the page is unmatched though. Definitely hot! I recommend this book in print. The audio, which worked well for me for the other 3 books, was not my favorite. I think the accent the narrator was trying to do for Elias was distracting and frankly, pretty terrible. Made me cringe after a while. A fond farewell to this series, I've really enjoyed it!

I'm obsessed with this series. Consistently emotionally rich heroines, absolutely breath-taking romance and suffragist challenges and wins.

Catriona is especially precious to me. Just delightful and swoony!

This book was a great conclusion to a series that I have enjoyed a lot! Catriona was a fun character to get to know better and watching her relationship develop with Elias was awesome. Love and relationships have always ended badly for Catriona and so she has relegated all such notions of romance to her head. There she can keep them safely locked away. This proves to be challenging when Catriona finds herself quite literally exposed to a new colleague after a swim. Attraction builds between them but Elias isn't there for the reasons he claims. He is determined to get back artifacts that have been taken from the Middle East by whatever means necessary. Catriona and Elias are very different people but they may just be a perfect match.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 3.5, rounded up.

This was another excellent (final?) installment in the League of Extraordinary Women series - if you loved the previous three entries in this series, you'll almost certainly enjoy this one, as well. I loved that this book gave us some nice representation - Catriona is confirmed neurodivergent AND queer? Hell yes! It also gives us a Middle Eastern love interest, along with a nice history of the region. However, there were times when the history lessons seemed to interrupt the flow of the story and went overlong. But the romance was still very swoon-worthy, and the epilogue at the end that tied up the whole series was such a beautiful touch.

4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Dedicated suffragist, Catriona Campbell, has a lot on her plate: writer’s block, the demands of the women’s rights movement, an estate in disrepair, and a quiet, nagging discomfort brought on by her friends’ recent commitments to family life. Though hosting her father’s handsome colleague, Elias Khoury, is the last thing Catriona wants to do, she discovers the potential for a deep connection with Elias as they navigate their differences and undeniable attraction while at Oxford. But while Elias knows exactly what he wants, Catriona has some inner demons to wrestle with before she can confront her desires and share her true feelings.

I loved this entire series, and I think Elias and Catriona were the perfect couple to wrap up A League of Extraordinary Women. Evie Dunmore’s ability to weave historical cross-cultural conflict through her stories was impressive as always, and I really appreciated how she used the plot to draw attention to the important issue of artifact repatriation. I also enjoyed the short glimpses into the lives of Lucie, Annabelle, and Hattie. It’s smart, it’s sexy, it’s vibrant, what’s not to love?

I love this series and thought this was a strong improvement over the third book in the series. A fun ending and a great blend of romance and historical fiction.

Catriona is busy working on her research and book while also helping promote women's suffrage. Into the mix is thrown Elias Khoury who presents as a scholar but who is focused on redirecting stolen artifacts back to their original homeland. While they're both intrigued by each other, Catriona is determined not to fall into another situation that will break her heart and Elias is unsure how much of his flirtation is due to his mission to retrieve the artifacts or if it's ultimately love. Overall, a more understated romance as they learn more about each other, their desires, and their strengths. This one is bit more on the historical and political side, as much of the book focuses on women's rights and the looting and plundering of archaeological sites.

This was a good ending to the League of Extraordinary Women series. I enjoyed the epilogue where we jump fairly far in the future to actually see women casting their votes for the first time in 1928.

This book focused on Catriona and Elias as they wrestle with their feelings for one another and the concept of artifacts of historical significance being taken to England. I would say that Catriona and Elias’ relationship is more of a slow burn as Catriona really fights against her feelings as she’s been burned by previous romantic feelings.

I also like that each of these books focuses on a real-life issue that affected women, children, and people of lower class at that time. The issue in this book was about English archeologists or academics in other countries taking items of historical significance under the guise of the country and its inhabitants being unable to adequately protect them. This is even an issue that is still a topic of conversation today. I will say that this issue and the subsequent, planned heist to restore artifacts took up a lot of the second half of the book and caused the romantic conflict in the third act. While everything was resolved well, it definitely felt like it took over the general plot of the book, instead of the romance.

Watching Dunmore grow as a writer throughout this series has been so captivating to watch. She's my gateway author into the genre and I'm so sad to see this end! This was as romantic as the last and the setting (as much as the characters) made we swoon.

I love this series and am sad to read the final one. This one focuses on Catriona and a handsome man named Elias Khoury, who may not be quite who he says he is. I love the historical fiction aspects of these books combined with romance and the fight for woman’s rights through the Suffrage movement. I liked the forced proximity and getting to know more about Catriona who is the introvert of the friend group. I also loved seeing the other friends back in this book. It was a little slow paced but I adore this Victorian romance. I can’t wait to see what she writes next:)

The fourth installment in Evie Dunmore's League of Extraordinary Women picks up with Catorina-- our resident bookish suffragete, who is suffering from a case of writers block.

Welcome academic Elias, pitched as an assistant to her father, but is he really?

The opening scene in this book will have you squealing for more and the rest is just lovely. It's is always wonderful seeing our favorite gal-squad and this one doesn't dissapoint.

I enjoyed this series and this book was a fun wrap-up with all our favorite fictional suffragettes. While this is a bit more of a historically accurate fictional romance than I normally dive into I found it such a fun way to digest information and all the romantic dynamics were fun and flirty. While Catriona Campbell was not my favorite character out of the group I enjoyed the depiction of historical autistic fem who is trying to navigate academia, romance, and the political times. I also loveeed Elias Khoury ( although I have issue with his actions in the last three chapters ). I also really appreciate that Evie Dunmore always provided a strong historical context for her political commentary ( along with the romance ).

Four stars simply because I felt that the climatic and overly emotional ending felt a bit forced and I really wanted more from both the characters.

5 Stars

I cannot believe this series is over and that epilogue 😭😭😭

This is the fourth and final installment in the Legauge of Extrodiabry Gentlewomen and features Catriona’s romance with a gorgeous Lebanese gentleman, who is needing her help to get precious Persian artifacts back to his home land. Elias is gorgeous and also so freaking supportive of Catriona’s independence and introvertedness and UGH I LOVED HIM.

I will also say, their meet cute is QUITE the introduction and sets such a fun tone for the book.

I really appreciated all of the dialogue and research Evie put into this book around colonization and stealing artifacts from other cultures and how we should handle that in addition to her ongoing historical references to the suffrage movement and impact that women had in gaining independence and equality.

I am not ready for these stories to be done, but the epilogue really does tie in so many fun little breadcrumbs for the future of these four incredible women, and we get several singular scenes for each of the former characters that will satisfy your itch for their page time.

If you are into audio, I highly recommend the audio because the voice narrator has so many unique accents for the characters and they are wonderful!

Evie once again hits this out of the park and is a powerhouse in the historical romance genre and I’ve loved reading these stories and cannot wait to see what she cooks up next!

Late on leaving my review, but I really enjoyed this latest--and apparently the last for now--entry in the League of Extraordinary Gentlewoman series, and have been recommending it in all the usual places. I particularly liked the hero in this one, and who doesn't enjoy a good art heist for all the right reasons? I also loved getting to see cameo scenes with all the couples from the previous books, especially Lucie and Tristan. For anyone who's somehow been sleeping on this series for the last four years and wants to add some diverting historical romance to their reading over the holiday break, THE GENTLEMEN'S GAMBIT is for you!

The Gentleman’s Gambit by Evie Dunmore is the fourth in the series A League of Extraordinary Women. Catriona Campbell is a brilliant woman fighting for women’s rights who perceives the world differently. She longs for romance, but does not see her as someone who deserves this. Elias Khoury has a passio9n for bringing back artifacts to his homeland in the Middle East. He visits with Catriona’s father in Scotland and meets Catriona.

Catriona is one of the most interesting characters I have read about this year with her intelligence and neurodivergence. Elias’ understanding of Catriona made him a great hero. I enjoyed the banter between Catriona and Elias especially during chess matches, the historical context of antiquities, and the history of the women suffrage movement. I found the story even more fascinating after having visited the British Museum. I could picture some of the pieces that they described.

This was a long story with many details that were sometimes challenging to keep track of. The ending was fabulous and tied everything together nicely. I think fans of the author will enjoy wrapping up the series. I recommend.

I was given a complimentary copy and not required to write a positive review.

I am sad to see the end of this series, but I adored every book. I love how Evie can somehow add a different element of women's suffrage and this concept that everyone, not only women, needs to be free, such as children and POC.

In this book, we explore women's suffrage. But also the lack of care for a native country's artifacts and how art and history are taken for individual greed

Catriona Campbell has every intention of being single forever. She doesn't want to be trapped or have no freedom - her passions are writing and gaining women's freedom.
Elias Khoury has a mission while in London to get the artifact stolen from his homeland back - little did he know that his interactions with Catriona would change his heart so much.

I gabbled this story up and finished it within a short period- This was another great one - beautifully done.

We have come full circle with this final installment in the A League of Extraordinary Women series, and I may have had tears flowing down my cheeks when I finished it.

Dunmore will always be one of my favorite authors, and this book solidified that statement. She lovely brought the series full circle in a way I don't think I have seen in an interconnected romance series. While the focus of this story was all Catriona and her journey to finding love, Dunmore also gives the readers snippets of how our other favorite suffragettes are doing. And it's safe to say this made me a reader who has been hooked since Bringing Down the Duke released super emotional and happy.

But what I really loved about this book was watching Catriona, find herself and in doing so learning that it is okay to want two things at once. She is allowed to crave following a path that society frowns upon, while still finding love and someone who won't force her into a mold she would never fit into. And I absolutely loved watching her go on this journey. Watching Catriona overcome past heartbreaks, and learn to let herself feel the butterflies that come along with liking someone again, was something magical.

Many of us know how hard it can be to move past a heartbreak, and realizing that it is worth it to feel those feelings again. So watching her go through this was relatable and endearing. Especially when you realize Catriona, doesn't necessarily feel in the way her peers do. She has to learn to process her thoughts and emotions in a way others may never understand, and for that I fell in love with her even more as someone who also doesn't process the same as most people.

This paired with her love interest being Elias, someone who had his own past to move on from was a perfect choice. Not only did Elias have to come to terms with things he dealt with in the past, but also had the added depth of being someone from another country. There was a lot of him that realized he would never fully feel like he belonged both abroad and at home, and watching that play out brought to mind things going on in the world today. Especially when he is trying to find a way to return artifacts to their origin countries where the belong.

I absolutely loved watching this part of the plot play out and see characters discuss this idea of whether museums have the right to hold artifacts when they came through sales from ruling empires and not the actual region themselves. I think it is an important thing to talk about, especially in context to today's world, and loved that Evie Dunmore added it to this story.

Overall this story was everything I could have hoped for in the ending of this series. We had the discussion of if a woman could have it all... pursuit of their freedom to do what they please and love in a time where society didn't think it should be possible. In the end we see the culmination of the suffragettes efforts end in victory, and we see them ready to pass the baton onto the next generation. Along the way they all found men who loved them for who they were, even if it went against society's idea of a perfect wife. And this was especially evident in Catriona's story, where she was taught to believe she could never have both. But in the end she learned how to open herself up to love and found her own happily ever after along with her friends.

A delightful end to a charming series! Catriona and Elias are a perfect pairing. After meeting in a highly uncomfortable situation, neither can deny the attraction they feel for each other. Neither of them are looking for a relationship however and spend most of the novel trying to avoid situations where they might act on their attraction. Dunmore does an excellent job of creating vast, multifaceted heroines and Catriona is no exception. Her insecurities and struggles are adeptly conveyed to the reader, and one loves her more for it. Dunmore does an excellent job at writing her neurodiversity. I was glad that Dunmore explored more of the male perspective in this book, Elias is a wonderful character and my sense of loss from Peregrin was soon soothed by him. I was hoping for a queer storyline for Peregrin, but alas no such luck. He has been one of my favorite characters from this series, and I don't think he is quite the villain Catriona makes him out to be in this book. Hopefully, we will see more of him in the future.