Christina Britton

The Duke’s All That by Christina Britton
Synneful Spinsters series #3. Historical romance. Can be read as a stand-alone. Previous characters show up briefly a couple of times and this would be a spoiler for the previous books in the series.
Iain MacInnes, the new Duke of Balgair, thought his wife of one day took money from her father to leave him and then tragically died. He receives a letter saying she’s alive and he’s determined to find her now and divorce her. Before she finds out he’s a Duke now.
Seraphina was told that Iain just wanted money and when her father paid him off, he left.
They were both lied to although neither knows it. Seeing each other again makes each mad but at the same time the attraction is still there.

Iain and Seraphina have a lot of chemistry when they meet again after many years apart, but there is also ugly history to wade through.
The middle, their travel, is long. Yes, they are reestablishing a relationship and connecting. We find out more about her time away and gradually what happened. We feel their longing.
They are both proud of their accomplishments and rightly so. But stubborn too. A little more openness would have gone a long way with each other as well as family and friends. And less of their travel time would have been fine too. But that’s me gripping.
In the end, we get a well deserved romance for the couple. It is sad they were kept apart but I did enjoy Seraphina’s strength in confronting the past.

When Iain lets go of his anger to re-meet his grandmother and cousin, and to finally establish true family, it brought tears both for the loss in the past and the closeness to be their future.
The pet parrot added a bit of levity during the travel.
I enjoyed the romance and continuity for the series with the secondary characters.
4.25

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.… (més)

The past catches unaware!

The third in this delightful series has all that’s required of circumstances leading to a rekindled romance.
When Lady Seraphina Trew is faced with the man who betrayed her and left her thirteen years ago, she’s panicked and frozen
When Iain McInnes discovers against his will that he’s a Duke, and that he needs to marry, there’s one problem. He’s already married to Seraphina. She betrayed him thirteen years ago and left him to travel as she’d always wanted.
Only she hadn’t. Seraphina had rescued her sisters from their wicked father and fled, doing anything and everything to keep them safe, finally building a business and making a home on the Isle of Synne.
Now here’s Seraphina’s past confronting her and demanding she travel to Scotland to seek a divorce.
After all this would be what they both wanted, wouldn’t it?
A delightful second chance romance with something of the gothic thrown in.

A Forever ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.… (més)

This story sucks you in from the opening in 1808 and holds you prisoner through the main body thirteen years later. I have been anticipating the enigmatic Seraphina’s story since the beginning of the series, and it was worth the wait. Of all of the Oddments (the name a group of friends bestowed upon themselves), Seraphina was the one who seemed to hold the deepest, darkest secrets. Turns out that was true. Finally, we learn all of Seraphina’s secrets – and goodness – there are some doozies in there. After you learn of all she endured, you’ll wonder at the strong, resilient woman she became. However, I believe that strength and resilience was already a part of her makeup or she would never have been able to endure and overcome all she did.

Lady Seraphina Trew, daughter of the Earl of Farrow, had the temerity to fall in love with, and secretly marry, a boy who worked in her father’s stables, Iain MacInnes. Seraphina never cared about the difference in their status – she just loved Iain beyond measure – until he betrayed her. Not only did that break her heart and soul, it cost her thirteen years of terror, hiding, doing unspeakable things, and protecting her sisters to her own personal detriment.

Iain MacInnes loved Seraphina Trew beyond measure – until she betrayed him in a most unconscionable way. Somehow, he’d always known that she couldn’t really love him because he was so far beneath her. Iain couldn’t punish Seraphina for that betrayal, he still loved her – always would – but he could take revenge on the pompous aristocrats of her class. And he did – over and over – he outmaneuvered them at cards and any other way he could and amassed their estates and a fortune to boot. Iain became a very wealthy man.

Seraphina, now known as Seraphina Athwart, has a comfortable life on the Isle of Synne. She and her two sisters own the Quayside Circulating Library where they are finally settled and happy. Until a very bitter Iain shows up looking for a divorce from her. She has no choice but to go with him to Scotland for the divorce.

Iain, now the Duke of Balgair, has recently learned that his dead wife is not dead at all. Bitter pain and resentment drive him to look for her for over a year until he finally finds her. He’ll drag her back to Scotland to prove she is alive – and to get the divorce he wants.

Goodness – what a read! Seraphina has intrigued me since the first book and Iain, WOW! Just WOW. I adored them as a couple and I loved seeing them open up during that road trip and discover what really happened to them all those years ago. I love Iain’s compassion and caring and his ready acceptance that he still loved Seraphina and wanted her to continue as his wife. What I didn’t love was that Seraphina held on to her determination to have the divorce and be done with Iain for much too long. What I would have rather seen was her continuing as his wife and the two of them exacting revenge on her father. That didn’t happen! After all he cost them, after all of the cruelty, he didn’t really get any punishment at all. Anyway, I still loved the book, but I didn’t give it 5-stars because I hated to see her father walk away totally unscathed.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.… (més)

A good duke is hard to find is Lenora and Peter's story to their HEA. Lenora had had a tough journey to matrimony ranging from her fiance dying to eloping with someone else and my heart went oyt to her. Especially with the way her dad treated her. Gah, he made me so annoyed! Fortunately she decided to go recoup at the Isle of Synne where she ended up meeting Peter.

I enjoyed the book,the Isle of Synne was described so gorgeously I wanted to be there. I also really liked the secondary characters. My main con from the book was Peter's attitude. I do not mind a revenge story at all but for a romance book, he was a bit too mean to the FL and he got ove rhis pettiness quite late in the book.

I look forward to reading the next book in series because I really enjoyed Quinton :)

*I won this in a Goodreads giveaway, thanks Goodreads!*… (més)