2023 New Release challenge
ARC Review: What’s a Duke Got to Do With It (Synneful Spinsters #2) by Christina Britton
10:00
Series: Synneful Spinsters #2
Author: Christina Britton
Published July 11th 2023 by Forever
Goodreads Synopsis
Four years ago, a scandal cost Miss Katrina Denby everything. Now, companion to the irascible Lady Tesh and in possession of wonderful friends, she believes her luck has finally changed. Until the man responsible for her ruination returns to England and promptly dies in a fall from her bedroom window. Now the life she had begun to build for herself is in shambles. And not only is she ostracized and vilified, but her friends are suffering as well because of their association with her. Katrina will do anything to gain respectability again and protect those she cares for. But her plans to marry one of the few men who will still have her despite the stain on her name and lack of fortune are thrown into turmoil with the arrival of the only man Katrina ever loved. A man who is now about to become engaged to another.
Sebastian Thorne, Duke of Ramsleigh, was a carefree rogue when he first met and began to fall in love with Katrina. But his father’s horrible actions forced him to give up on his dreams of a future with her. Now, after years of trying to save the dukedom, there is only one option left: to marry, and marry well. But though he has nearly secured the woman—and her fortune—necessary to protect the people who are counting on him, his future father-in-law sends him on one final errand to earn his blessing. What Sebastian doesn’t expect while seeing that job through, however, is Katrina—or that his feelings for her have not faded. In fact, they have only grown stronger, Katrina’s hold on his heart even more powerful than before. With both of their futures on the line and so many lives at stake, will their passion for one another lead to the ruin of them both—or give them a happiness they never dared to dream of?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
After being ruined - at least in the eyes of the ton years ago - Katrina Denby retreated to the Isle of Synne to nurse her wounds. It's been four years, and she now has friends who love and care for her, and helping Lady Tesh as her companion is more than she could ever have dreamed. So when the very man who caused her downfall is discovered dead after trying to climb in her bedroom window, the whole island vilify her, and she risks her friend's reputations if she stays close to them. Thinking it'd be best to leave, Lady Tesh will hear nothing of the sort, and when Katrina considers marrying to get people off her back, the only person she has ever loved returns to her life. Sebastian Thorne has never forgotten his time with Katrina Denby, but the actions of his father forced them apart, and he wasn't strong enough to fight it. Seeing her in Synne, when he's now the Duke of Ramsleigh, and needs to marry well to save the duchy, it's both a dream and nightmare. He wants her more than ever, but can he ignore his potential father-in-law's edict, and be with the woman he loves?
I was so glad when I saw that the next Synne book would be Katrina's, as she's always been a secondary character full of potential, and someone whose story I needed to read. She was so strong, though she had suffered so much at the hands of the ton, and those who relished in spreading false gossip. Her friends were her salvation, and she would do anything for them, just as they would do anything for her. After the latest scandal, she couldn't risk her friends, and was willing to sacrifice herself to consider marriage to some truly awful gentlemen. So when Sebastian arrived with Lady Tesh's nephew, all but engaged, it was heartbreaking for her. I loved that both were clearly in love with each other, but they knew that being together would be a struggle, and didn't want to hurt the other person, even if that meant losing their love. Sebastian took a little longer than I wish he had to realise he didn't need to marry for money, but for love, but everything came good in the end. A truly wonderful addition to the series, and I'm dying to get a hold of Christina's next book!
Dates Read:
April 4-6, 2023
Rating
4 Stars
