This series is my favorite historical romance series, and I am heartbroken that it’s over. I fear I will forever be chasing the high The League of Extraordinary Women gave me. This book, especially, since it’s my favorite of the quartet.
Catriona is by far my favorite of Dunmore’s FMCs, mainly because I relate so heavily to her. She was clearly neurodivergent-coded in the earlier books, and I’m so glad this book really doubled down on that, making it undeniable, and outright confirming it in the authors note. There’s a real depth to the portrayal. It goes beyond quirky or eccentric, really exploring everything from social troubles to sensory overload and burn out. We see it in social situations, in internal monologue, in the sex scenes. It colors every part of Catriona’s experience—it’s a true part of who she is, and I really appreciate that.
Similarly, I utterly adored Elias. Being in his head, watching him scheme and then screw up all his schemes by falling in love.
And the chemistry between the two of them? I was swooning so hard.
The plot in this one also felt especially strong. It was layered, with the artifact plotlines, the suffrage plotlines, and the romance. All of these aspects were braided together seamlessly, and each of them held my interest and kept me engaged. I stayed up far too late reading this book because I simply could not put it down, and then I picked it up first thing the next minute and read for another two hours straight in order to finish it before getting out of bed.
As soon as I finished this book, I wanted to immediately pick up Bringing Down the Duke and do a reread of the series. Dunmore is a supremely talented writer, and as sad as I am to see this series end, I’m even more excited to see what she does next.

I have been so excited for this book to come out! The Gentleman’s Gambit is the fourth and final book in Evie Dunmore’s League of Extraordinary Women series. I enjoyed Catriona and Elias as characters and their love story.

The storyline follows Catriona Campbell working with the other women from the series on their latest effort for women’s rights. She dreams of being a professor at Oxford. Elias Khoury is a new college of Professor Campbell (her father) and is (allegedly) there to classify ancient artifacts. Elias is from Lebanon and is truly here to find a way to return the artifacts from England to their original home. Their paths certainly cross and ultimately begin working together and falling for each other. Also, as the title indicates, there is definitely chess involved.

I can’t speak to how accurate the representation is but I was happy to see a hero from the Middle East in this book. The author gives me the vibe that she does her research.

Portrait of a Scotsman is still my personal favorite of the four books but I enjoyed them all!

I enjoyed this more than the previous book but it wasn't anywhere near as good as the first two. There was something about Catriona that I didn't particularly care for and I couldn't make much sense of her reasoning toward the end of the book. Elias was wonderful and since I have a fascination with the near east, its history, and antiquities I really loved that aspect of the story. I also thought having a couple of chapters from the povs of Annabelle and Lucie, etc,. was distracting and would have rather seen that time focused on Elias and Catriona. I understand that the suffrage movement was a huge part of this series but it took over a little too much in this installment. This was still a solid read and the epilogue tied things up nicely. I enjoyed this series as a whole very much and I look forward to what Evie Dunmore writes next. 4 stars. Thank you to Berkley and NetGalley for the DRC in exchange for an honest review. (shoutout to the artist because these covers have been amazing)

Evie Dunmore you have done it again! I loved this! Elias was so dreamy and I loved finally getting Catriona’s book. It was well worth the wait.

Like Elias IS that man. I loved him and his plot line with recovering stolen items is incredible. The british museum sucks.

This was such a great installment. I loved Cat’s wit and strength and dedication to her work. And Elias was so smitten with her and despite his clear objectives, he fell so hard for her.

They had such incredible chemistry - all the longing and glances godddd!!!

4.5
This was such a great conclusion to this series. I've been a fan since Bringing Down the Duke and I can't believe the series is over. Catriona was such a force to be reckoned with and I really enjoyed her independence. I felt like Elias was a strong contrast to her and I loved his artifact plotline. The cameos from Annabelle, Lucie, and Hattie were wonderful and these female friendships and women's rights activists brought me so much joy. I also enjoyed the open and vulnerable between Elias and Catriona. overall, this was a fab book and I can't wait to see what Evie Dunmore will do next.

Catriona is a professor in all but name, an expert in her field but denied a degree from her beloved Oxford due to her sex. Catriona longs to hide away to finish writing her book but finds many of her days devoted to her friends and the suffrage movement. So when her father Wester Ross bids her come home to Scotland to entertain a new guest, being a hostess is the last thing on her mind, reluctant to make any changes to her plans. But when she meets the charming Mr. Khoury she finds she must change her plans after all.
Elias Khoury has come to Scotland with a mission. To charm Wester Ross and gain introduction to a certain collector of artifacts, artifacts he has been trusted to return to their rightful land. His mission is diverted slightly by the presence of Catriona Campbell, the beautiful but cold lady of the manor. When Wester Ross must leave to settle private business Elias is left in Catriona’s capable hands. Can he trust her her to help him with his mission, or should he seduce her as his cousin suggests?
A Gentleman’s Gambit is a charming conclusion to Evie Dinmore’s A League of Extraordinary Women. I have loved this series following Annabelle, Lucie, Hattie and Catriona as they fight for women’s rights against the backdrop of Victorian London.

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 artifacts, 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.

It's been a while since I was in this world and I feel like I could have used a little brush up. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get back into the swing of these fierce ladies of the suffragist movement. I felt this book started off a little slow but quickly I was interested by Cateronia and Elias' relationship. It's a little forced proximity a whole lot of east meets west opposites attract romance. I love that we still got glimpses of the other women's perspectives and lives, even when Catriona wasn't involved. The last 30% was definitely my favorite and where most of the action took place. I felt the epilogue wrapped up this series so well. It was so nice to have a glimpse into the future and see how everything worked out in the end.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC in return for an honest review. This book releases 12/5!

I had mixed reactions to this book. Some of it I liked. I liked Catriona and Elias, two people trying to figure out where they belong in the world and how to do what they think is right to the best of their abilities. Catriona is a brilliant linguist and suffragist, she's been trying to find the time to write a book but keeps getting pulled into other people's projects instead. She worries she falls for the sort of person who just wants to take from her, never accept her as she is, and leaves her heartbroken- so when she meets Elias Khoury and feels a familiar spark, she is determined not to fall for him. Elias is charming and brilliant, he has ethics that challenge everything the scholars of Oxford and their collections have never bothered to think about. He knows he shouldn't be attracted to Catriona when he's in England to take back artifacts, but the two definitely have a slow-burn attraction that's hard to avoid. The circling they do is interesting, as each tries to figure the other out, and Catriona tries to figure out her own reactions as well.

I loved the discussions Elias brought up about repatriation and who owns artifacts, and the fact that Catriona and her friends could see this in terms of the suffrage work they'd been doing and see the similarities was a great way to bring the two together.

The book did drag in places, and while trying to give Catriona and Elias their own bubble for a romance to grow, the rest of the book felt like it suffered as a result. There were ups and downs to it, since they got to know each other better at the same time. By the end, I was frustrated with Catriona not being brave enough to trust Elias and needing a pretty huge grand gesture to fix things (no further details because of spoilers!). I don't know if that was me being frustrated that the book kept on going when it could have ended earlier, or what. In some ways, this book felt like it was crammed with too many things going on, so not everything got the full development it could have. The result was a bit of a flat book for me, but hopefully, others will like it more.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

This is one of my all-time favorite historical romance series, and The Gentleman's Gambit was one of my most anticipated releases this year. It's truly wonderful! What a stunning, impactful series!

One of the things that I loved most about this book was how well we got to know Catriona. This is a thorough character study, and I *love* character driven romance - so this was the perfect balance of Catriona's inner experience and desires vs art history intrigue and plot.

• A first chapter meet cute that sets the tone for steamy, scandalous conclusion to this series!!!
• Elias schemes to smuggle/return ancient artifacts back to his homeland in the Middle East... Catriona helps!
• A bit of "road trip romance"
• Catriona Campbell: bespectacled, quiet, sensitive, so smart, introverted, neurodivergent, has a fancy, secret piercing, and doesn't show her emotions in her expressions. She's amazing and I'm so glad she fell in love with Elias, who sees her, notices little things, and wants to be what she needs!
• "Whatever is beating inside my chest is not my heart because you have taken it from me"
• Slow burn! And the vibe of the book suits Catriona completely...it's both calm and very deep!
• The epilogue is 1918!! Many years in the future. I absolutely love an epilogue that jumps decades ahead. This one gave me goosebumps. I could barely handle it!

What didn't work for me: There's a long conversation towards the end of this book between the past heroines and Catriona on the topic of motherhood. These heroines were truly privileged enough to hire someone to help them with their children, and that would have been the norm for all of them, but the conversation still seemed to be centered on whether or not motherhood would consume their identity and therefore make their life and work less meaningful. I bristle at this and just didn't like the conclusions that the heroines all seemed to come to. These heroines should have had children who they raised to be just as feminist and powerful as them - not deny this aspect of theirselves so that they could further the cause. Nothing furthers the cause more than raising children to continue carrying the torch. I just feel like Hattie, for example, did not have to choose between women's rights, being an artist, and being a mother. Not one bit. Anyway, I just didn't like the way this section felt. And Catriona's fears about commitment and motherhood were not my ideal conflict to read about-probably because I can't relate at all. Otherwise, I loved this book!

Thank you so much Netgalley and Berkley

Catriona Campbell is a suffragist who loves her work at Oxford in 1882 Victorian England. She is brilliant and has some neurodivergent behaviors. While her father, a professor, is needed to deal with property manners at home he leaves Catriona in charge of a new colleague Elias Khoury. He is from the Middle East (Lebanon) and is supposedly helping Professor Campbell classify artifacts. At well over 400 pages there is plenty of time for flirting, getting to know each other better and more.

Evie Dunmore tackles a lot of extra information in her novels. Often about the suffragist movement but also labor rights and and in this book the repatriation of artifacts. It was nice to see a POC (Elias) as the lead and it is strongly hinted that Catriona is bisexual. I thought some of the historical information slowed the storyline but I did enjoy learning. And I love that the author gives time to all the women (and men) who have been leads in this series. I thought it brilliant that the epilogue takes the leap to when women are finally given the vote.

This is a fitting end to a really interesting series. And I will miss the distinctive covers for the books. Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group for the ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving a voluntary review.

3.75/5

I waited so long for this book after loving the first three in the series. And, sadly, it ended up being my least favorite. Not that it's bad, just didn't live up to my admittedly very high expectations. The book starts out with a great premise but then loses momentum.

Catriona Campbell is a suffragist and a bluestocking. Elias Khoury is determined to get on her good side to ingratiate himself with her father, a professor at Oxford so that he can steal back some artifacts originally stolen from his homeland. There is some interesting politics here for sure, especially in the epilogue. Definitely worth it for fans of the series as we get to see a lot of the previous couples, but it's not the strongest installment.

I have been looking forward to Catriona's story since the very first book in A League of Extraordinary Women and The Gentleman's Gambit did not disappoint.

Heartbreak has led Catriona Campbell to keep her keep longing for love hidden deep inside and instead she dedicates herself to her writing and her work fighting for women's rights. It all changes with the arrival of Elias Khoury, a handsome foreigner, who comes to Oxford under false pretenses.

Elias and Catriona share an immediate attraction after a very awkward first encounter, but have secrets and hearts they need to guard. Their flirting, whether in the form of academic discussions or a game of chess, was subtle and covert, but oh so tantalizing. Eventually they give in to their mutual attraction with the understanding that it cannot lead to anything more than the physical. Obviously, it does.

I loved Elias and his careful treatment of Catriona's feelings, and I loved the fact that Catriona could be her true self around Elias. The foundation of their relationship - even while both are reluctant to allow themselves to hope for more - was solid from the start. Catriona had to learn to risk her heart and trust that Elias wouldn't break it. Elias had to give Catriona the time and space she required to come to terms with her feelings. Elias's constant validation of Catriona's beliefs, his absolute admiration for her, was swoon-worthy and made their happy ending even more meaningful. .

The epilogue was the perfect finale and I absolutely loved catching up with the other extraordinary women of this series.

3.5 stars
A series I still enjoy, but this particular installment isn’t my favorite.

Book pros:
- steamy romance
- lgbtq+ representation
- neurodiversity representation
- interesting historical information

Book cons:
- third act breakup just doesn't make sense
- for a while there I honestly thought the author forgot that one character had a nipple piercing
- I just wasn’t as sold on the romance beyond just physical attraction between the two main characters

I received an ARC of this book for free from Netgalley but this did not impact my rating or review.

I was excited to get my hands on this ARC, as I have loved this series for years now! While I did love many aspects of the book (getting to hear more about Catriona, seeing where the other women in the series are in their lives, a lovely epilogue set decades in the future, etc.), it took me a long time to get through this one. Now, I usually find romances pretty quick reads, but I found I wasn't gravitating towards this one very often. I think the biggest issue for me was how....indigestible the historical content was. The thing that deters me from historical fiction (or retellings) is that it can be easy to fall into the trap of oh-I-need-to-give-context-on-this-event-I'll-just-have-a-character-talk-about-it. But it's so hard to do this well. I zoned out a lot of times when the characters were explaining the historical context of this book, and even though I took my time, I still couldn't tell you exactly what was going on. There was just too much dry exposition, and that really took me out of the novel. I'm fairly certain this is the last book in the series (again, epilogue), which I'm happy about, as I'm really not sure I'd pick up another one of these based on this fourth one. I got through it, and I enjoyed many parts of it, but I've found that I prefer romances that have me invested in what was happening *beyond* the romance, the way the first three of these did.

The basics: if you like feminist historical romance with an emphasis on the "historical," then you'll probably like this book. If you're a big fan of Dumore's, you'll probably like it even more. I have slightly more complex feelings because of course I do.

I liked:
The way Dunmore uses chess (honestly SHOCK AND AWE because usually any use of chess really cheeses me off. You'd best believe I went into this book - named after a chess move! - with a chip on my shoulder);
Catriona as a neurodivergent heroine with complicated feelings about love, a woman's place in a relationship, and her own place as an activist;
Catriona's relationship with her father in all its complexities;
Elias's goals and his willingness to put everything on the line for his relationship with Catriona.

What I was frustrated by:
I wish that the book had been just a little shorter with a tighter focus. There were a bunch of subplots that didn't feel like they got adequate resolution (what happened with the woman who agreed to sue her husband??)
I usually love a dry hump, but I was frustrated with the way this one played out. (God, I love being a romance reviewer and just posting this stuff.)
I wanted more about the heist. I get that part of a heist plot is that you don't see all the moving parts until it's done... but I needed to know more about the preparation and execution. (This could have been the tight focus I wanted.)

I hated:
The epilogue. Maybe if you were really invested in Bringing Down the Duke (I am NOT), you'd be into this one. As it is, the viewpoint character isn't even one of this book's MCs, and I wanted to know more about the resolution of their relationship.

Is this a solid HistRom? It sure is! And look, if a book with such a heavy emphasis on chess won me over in the end, it's definitely got some magic to it.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

After not enjoying Portraits of a Scotsman too much (Hattie is the worst), I was leery going into the newest installment of The League of Extraordinary Women. Have no fear though because Catriona Campbell has saved us.

We finally get to get inside Catriona Campbell’s head in The Gentleman’s Gambit. Catriona is spending the summer at her family’s remote castle to focus on the writing of her book. When her father appoints Catriona to escort Elias Khoury in classifying ancient artifacts, their forced proximity may just ignite a romance neither can live without.

Phew, I’m so glad that Catriona was nowhere near as insufferable as Hattie, and I was rather excited to get to know her more. I loved that she was smart, kind, and always putting others first. Elias, our male lead, was an interesting addition to the cast of characters. The contrast between him and Catriona was excellent, and I really enjoyed the way they balanced each other out. However, I felt that their romance dragged out a bit. I can understand why Dunmore extended the length of this book but at the same time much of the steam, romance, and development took place in the first half of the story. The second half was filled with non-romance items, and even included a few POVs from Hattie, Annabell, and Lucie. The epilogue as well really tied the bow on this series and I loved seeing how our four leading ladies ended up living their lives. However, while I liked the additions and extra POVs, it completely took us away from the story of Catriona and Elias.

While I enjoyed the story, I do think the historical information really overshadowed the actual story and romance. I love learning about The Suffragist movement but out of all the books this one seemed to be the heaviest on historical facts. It really muddied the storyline, took away from the romance aspect, bogged down the pacing, and ultimately made the book seem long. That alone brought this down to a 3.5 star read for me, rounded up to 4 stars for the series overall. Still recommend picking up this series, but Bringing Down the Duke was by far my favorite of the four books.

The Gentleman’s Gambit comes out December 5, 2023. Huge thank you to Berkley Publishing for my advanced copy in exchange for my review. If you liked this review, please let me know either by commenting below or by visiting my Instagram @speakingof.books.

This was a fine book, but it didn’t do much for me. It was very long winded at just about every point. There was kind of a heist plot but it was pretty anticlimactic when we got around to it and it wasn’t enough to hold my attention for fifteen hours worth of book. I definitely didn’t not like it, and the story was good, but I just wasn’t interested.

Catriona and Elias were cute and the beginning was fun when he stumbled upon her swimming, but there wasn’t enough of them when compared to the rest of the plot. They were very romantic, but everything major for them happened before sixty percent, including most of the sex—because the book was SO LONG—so the last chunk of the book felt a bit like molasses.

Now while I didn’t really feel much from the book, the epilogue made me SO EMO. Gah this being the end of the series hit me so hard. I think it was a really lovely ending for all of the characters and I just kinda want to still be crying.

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 🌶️🌶️.25/5



Thanks so much to the publisher for an eARC via NetGalley. All opinions are honest and my own.

If you haven't read Dunmore's A League of Extraordinary Women series yet, please get these books in your life. While the first book in the series, Bringing Down the Duke, still holds a special first place in my heart, this fourth installment did not disappoint. I am so thrilled that Hattie finally got her story and found her true match.

This was another feminist Victorian, opposites attract, forced proximity romance between two people determined to reach their goals but who find themselves falling in love despite their best intentions.

I found this one a bit longer than it needed to be and it wasn't my favorite in the series but it was still definitely enjoyable and featured a strong, independent woman who didn't want to sacrifice herself for marriage and children. I also liked that the epilogue leaves off with English suffragette's winning the vote!

Highly recommended for fans of authors like Amalie Howard or Martha Waters. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy and @prhaudio for a complimentary ALC in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this couple learning about one another. When secrets were kept, it was for thoughtful, rational reasons. I do rather enjoy a good caper mixed in to the rest of the story. I did find the spicy scenes a little off, but that's mainly because I felt like the geography of the locations got lost, which made it hard to follow. She's on what? Where are his hands? Generally enjoyable story, although I had not read the rest of the series. A little bit of a let down that the HEA epilogue is a wrap up for the series more than for these two, as it left me wanting to see them enjoying their lives.