The Gentleman's Gambit
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4.2 • 124 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Dunmore is my new find in historical romance. Her A League of Extraordinary Women series is extraordinary.”—Julia Quinn, #1 New York Times bestselling author
A BookBub Best Romance of Winter 2024!
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Dunmore gives her Victorian-era League of Extraordinary Women series a worthy finale (after Portrait of a Scotsman), this time turning the focus on budding author Catriona Campbell, the timid but opinionated daughter of a Scottish earl turned Oxford professor. Catriona is suffering writer's block at Applecross, her father's crumbling Scottish estate, when her father, stuck in Scotland on business, tasks her with accompanying his handsome colleague, Elias Khoury, to Oxford to catalogue ancient artifacts. There's just one problem: Elias doesn't actually plan on cataloguing the artifacts—he wants to reclaim and return them to his native Beirut. When Catriona learns of the scheme, she's in total agreement with Elias's goals and even offers to help—so long as it does not take time away from her and her suffragist friends' plans to persuade members of Parliament to their way of thinking. This subplot offers a welcome chance to check in with the series' previous leads as, all the while, Catriona and Elias inevitably grow closer. Catriona is wary of love, but Elias is determined to convince her of his sincerity. The protagonists are as sharp and forward thinking as series fans will expect, and there's plenty of sensuality to keep the pages turning. It's a top-notch series ender.
Customer Reviews
Too slow and lacked chemistry
I read to escape and I look for stories that draw me in with characters full of personality. It is rare for me not to finish a book. I can tolerate a lot when it comes to writing, and feel fully committed once I begin a story to see it through to the end, no matter how bad the writing is. But this book… while it isn’t “bad” or poorly written by any means, I only got 25% in and I just couldn’t go on. The story was soooo slooooow and the characters lacked personality and chemistry (the writer DID express that there was chemistry, I just couldn’t feel it beyond the writer stating it was there). There was nothing to draw me in and keep me interested. I normally complete 2 books a week, and it has taken me over 2 weeks just to get through 25% with this book because I keep putting it down and looking for other things to do. I miss reading - correction - I miss escaping into what I read. And because of this, I needed to give myself permission to not finish this book.
Slow and uninspiring
Very disappointing, compared to the rest of the series. Slow and hard to get into. I almost never stop reading a book, but I did with this one.