THE GENTLEMAN'S GAMBIT

A suffragist meets her match in a handsome scholar who's more than he seems.

Bookworm and intellectual Lady Catriona Campbell has always felt that her mind works differently than most people’s; an introvert, she seeks retreat in the idylls of her family’s remote Scottish home rather than enduring the restrictions of proper society. It doesn’t help that all her past attempts at romance have ended poorly, but it certainly doesn’t mean that finding a new relationship is a priority for her. All that changes when she encounters an intriguing stranger—or, more accurately, he encounters her while she’s swimming naked in the nearby loch, starting their relationship off on a memorable note. The catch is that the gentleman in question, Mr. Elias Khoury, isn’t just handsome; he’s her scholarly father’s young colleague at Oxford, which means he’s certainly not for romancing. When Catriona’s father asks her to escort Elias to Oxford so he can examine some ancient Middle Eastern artifacts, she's forced into close quarters with a man with whom she needs to remain unmistakably professional. Meanwhile, Elias has a hidden agenda for getting close to Catriona—he's actually planning to steal back the artifacts so they can be restored to their rightful place of origin in the Levant. Seducing her isn't necessarily part of that plan, but their attraction to one another, as well as their growing connection, is undeniable. Dunmore has written an exceptional conclusion to her League of Extraordinary Women series. Not only does this story revolve around redefining the types of characters who receive a romance—Catriona seems to be neurodivergent and Elias is more of an outsider than most heroes—but it also refreshingly tackles the question of who gets to be the custodians of history, and the answer to both topics is well worth the journey.

A bold, illuminating finale to a feminist romance series.