Tag: Christina Britton

The Duke’s All That by Christina Britton

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820), Scottish/Highlander2 Comments

The Duke’s All That (Synneful Spinsters, #3)

Barbara’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Synneful Spinsters #3
Publication Date: 2/6/24
Period: Regency (though it doesn’t feel like it)
Number of Pages: 336

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 were 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, caring, and 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. I would have rather seen 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.

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What’s a Duke Got to Do With It by Christina Britton

On By BarbaraIn Barb's Reviews, Part of a Series, Regency Era (1811-1820)2 Comments

What’s a Duke Got to Do With It (Synneful Spinsters, #2)Barbara’s rating: 3.5 out of 5 Stars
Series: Synneful Spinsters #2
Publication Date: 7/11/23
Period: Regency – Isle of Synne
Number of Pages: 368

This is the gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, slow-moving, excellently told tale of two people whose dreams for a life together are shattered within the space of a day when both are engulfed in scandals, not of their own making. Miss Katrina Denby and Sebastian Thorne had been drawing closer and closer throughout the season and just as he was about to make his feelings known to her, he received a missive that he must return to his father’s country estate. That very same night, a man climbed into Katrina’s bedroom window causing a duel and scandal.

Four years later both Katrina and Sebastian – now the Duke of Ramsleigh, find themselves on the Isle of Synne. Katrina is there as the paid companion to the irascible Lady Tesh and Sebastian is there basically babysitting the grown brother of the heiress he hopes to marry to save his dukedom. Each is shocked to see the other because both are staying at the home of Lady Tesh. Both also realize those old feelings are still there and they also both realize that can go nowhere.

With Sebastian set to marry another and Katrina trying to weather yet another scandal not of her own making, it seems as if they will never work their way through all of their problems and find a HEA. And they almost don’t.

I liked Sebastian and Katrina okay, but I didn’t fall head-over-heels for them. My favorite characters were Lady Tesh, Mouse (a giant-sized dog), Mr. Bridling, and the group of friends known as the Oddments. Lady Tesh has been the glue that has held all of the Synne books together – both this series and the previous one, Isle of Synne. The Oddments is a group of ladies who are ‘odd’ to the world in one respect or another, but they are steadfast and true friends. I was totally surprised to like Mr. Bridling as he could have been such a dud of a character, and instead, he was bright and fun and I might have liked him better than Sebastian.

I can recommend this book because it is well written, but it wasn’t the book I needed to read at the moment. As I was reading, different adjectives kept popping into my head – mournful, morose, melancholy, misery, depressing, woe-is-me, sad, unhappy, martyr, gloom, despair, angst, angst, angst, angst, etc. and the book was all of that. I kept waiting for the happy part and it just wasn’t coming. I know it is a romance, so, of course, I knew the happy would come, but it didn’t get there until about the 90% mark and by that point, I wasn’t terribly interested.

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

View all my reviews