I sure do love this world Christina Britton has built here on the Isle of Synne! Willful women and the men who fall hard for them, a gorgeous setting, and Lady Tesh!

This is Katrina’s story, she’s currently Lady Tesh’s companion after her once promising social life was plagued by scandal through no fault of her own. She previously shared a brief flirtation with Sebastian, at the time a lord and more recently a duke, who was torn away from society at the passing of his father. He urgently needs to marry, and well, in order to save his dukedom, but he can’t fight those old feelings for the woman he once flirted with when the two of them are put into a forced proximity situation.

I liked them together a lot, they were very sweet together and I loved how kind they were to each other. I love that we got a lot of Lady Tesh in this one and got to visit with the oddments and some of the characters from the first series as well.

This one did kind of bum me out, I hated their circumstances and they just made me sad. There’s very little time of the couple actually together so I would have loved to see them together a bit more.

Overall I enjoyed it, it just made me sad.

The character development of Katrina is so beautifully done. You can’t help but fall in love with her and want a good outcome. The few twists and tuns toward the end had me rushing to finish. I look forward to more in this series.

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.

Life has been hard for Katrina Denby. She was a popular debutante with a possible love interest until an acquaintance, Lord Landon, broke into her room, accosting her and declaring his love. Her brother discovered them and challenged Lord Landon to a duel. The brother loses an arm in the duel, the family and Katrina are ruined, and brother blames her for everything (not the man who entered her room and assaulted her and not himself for challenging the man to a duel and thereby making his sister's ruination public). Four years later, she's rebuilt her life, works as a companion to an elderly lady, and has made a good group of friends. Then Lord Landon tries to enter her bedroom again and falls to his death, threatening the fragile peace that Katrina has carved out for herself.

Katrina and Sebastian Thorne, the Duke of Ramsleigh were on the verge of falling in love when she was ruined, and his father died unexpectedly, leaving the ducal estate in shambles. Because he was so overwhelmed with trying to save the estate, he wasn't aware of what happened to Katrina. When they unexpectedly meet again 4 years later, he's shocked to learn of what happened to her. He's planning to marry a wealthy heiress to help his estate, but seeing Katrina again throws his plans into disarray.

This book was great. It's very angsty, and there's a lot of things that are keeping the main characters apart. I liked that it's a second chance romance where neither person did anything wrong that ended the relationship. They're just two decent people who were separated by circumstances beyond their control and are trying to make the best of their situations. This meant that they didn't have relationship baggage to work through, just the unfortunateness of their circumstances.

Christina Britton does an excellent job of showing how hard Regency society is for a "ruined" woman. Katrina has done nothing wrong, but everyone blames her and not the man who twice broke into her room or her brother who disowned her. These parts of the book are hard to read, but they're very realistic for the time period.

What's a Duke Got to Do With It is for the angst lovers!

If you can't get enough of mutual pining, will they/won't they and angst, run to pick up this book when it releases.
The angst here is as strong as The Mighty Thor. My heart kept breaking for Katrina and Sebastian. They just wanted to be together but circumstances kept preventing their union. It broke even more so since this book focuses on their second chance at happiness and they are still facing tons of roadblocks.
I think Britton did a great job demonstrating how much they longed for one another. Like I said, the pining and angst here are palatable. Despite all the angst and drama, both Katarina and Sebastian were decent people. They openly communicated with each other and were very honest. It was nice to see in these type of romance.

Well written and delivered on the happy ending.

Historical romance. Regency-era England. Book 2 of the Synneful Spinsters series. We start with a tragic prologue for Katrina, who is the sister of a baronet, enjoying her first flirtatious season. Just as it seems like her flirtation with a young lord might be headed somewhere, he’s called away from a ball unexpectedly. What follows is another lord sneaking into her window uninvited, being caught by her brother, and imminent scandal. Years later, Katrina is resigned to living as a companion to a stern dowager viscountess. And that idiot lord has attempted again to climb into her window, this time falling to his death, and causing tons more scandal for Katrina. Meanwhile, Sebastian (the man called away from that last ball) has been digging his way out of his father’s debts and is on the cusp of marrying a wealthy heiress. He just needs to fulfill one assignment for her father, which is to distract her brother from marrying an actress. Sebastian and his charge find themselves hosted by the dowager viscountess. Sebastian and Katrina have the opportunity to meet again and reconnect, even though both of their circumstances have changed, and for very practical reasons, they don’t have a future together. It was still fun to read how much Sebastian has been pining for Katrina all these years and how Katrina’s odd group of friends rally behind her. And the matchmaking dowager is also the best.

This was a super cute read. It was somewhat predictable, just because both the Duke and Katrina were really in love with each other so from the get go, I just knew they’d find a way to get their HEA. And somehow I just knew it’s be on Katrina’s side where the solution would come from. But I never really understood the other guy’s fascination with her. It wasn’t her fortune, and not only did he try once but twice to get to Katrina. He was so unmemorable that I don’t even remember his name. All in all it was still a cute read.

I loved this book so much. Katrina and Sebastian were adorable, and the epilogue made me tear up with happiness. This is an excellent example of the forbidden love trope being used effectively. I am so eager to read the next book in the Synneful Spinsters series. I rated the first book, Some Dukes Have All the Luck, as 5 stars as well.

This is a second chance romance between two formerly-popular members of the ton whose reputations have both been blighted by scandal. On the night Sebastian (now duke, formerly duke's heir) was going to declare himself to Katrina, both were hit by unexpected blows. Sebastian's father passes away, and it's revealed that the dukedom was propped up by a fake investment scheme. Katrina is the victim of an attempted abduction that not only ruins her reputation, but has serious consequences for her brother's future, too.

Four years later they're thrown together again. Their feelings are as strong as ever - or maybe stronger, because they know they can't act on them. The book is mainly focused on the inescapable gravity pulling Katrina and Sebastian together while they try desperately to keep apart. We appreciated that they were both honest with each other and never tried to hide the truth of their feelings. We also liked Katrina's friend group, the Oddments, who supported her through all of her trials. We have to admit that we saw the twist coming at the end from the very beginning, but we were satisfied with the timing of the reveal!

Pick this one up if you're in the mood for a cozy historical with plenty of pining and decent, honest characters.

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

This had a bit more angst and longing than I prefer. The main characters spent most of the book being sacrificing and sad. However, the ending took the book from three stars to four for me.

Ugh Katrina and Sebastian have my heart. I really enjoyed this book and I liked seeing some of the characters from book one. This was such a slow burn, but I was rooting for these two the whole time. The female friendships were just as good here as they were in the start of the series. I loved how supportive each one of the ladies was of Katrina and encouraged her to not let her past affect her current life. I also loved Mouse and he truly was the star of the show. The characters were nicely developed and I'm excited to see where the rest of the series goes! Thank you to Forever Publishing and Netgalley for sending me an e-ARC to read and review!

4 Stars! I really enjoyed this book! This is the second book in the ‘Synnful Spinsters’ series and can be read as a standalone. The main characters are Katrina and Sebastian and I really enjoyed reading their story. They both had a tough time of it, their reputations blackened through no fault of their own. I do think the book could be a bit slow at times and that had me skimming through some areas, almost like it was being over explained. Other than that, I loved the story! What’s not to love? Ruined reputations, long lost love, wonderful characters, TRUE friendships, second chance romance, plenty of angst with an HEA ending and a surprise at the end! I do wish there was more about Katrina’s brother, I’m still holding out hope that that relationship gets mended someday. It really was a page turner and, at times, a tear jerker. I was getting so worked up on Katrina’s behalf with all the snubs people gave her and she didn’t deserve any of it! I’d have a thing or two to say to those people, if they were real and I was able to tell them off. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!
*I received this at no charge & I voluntarily left this review.*

I was not expecting to get so much into my feelings reading this story, but oh well it happened!
This is my introduction to Christina Britton and I am happy to report that I will keep reading and go back to catch up with the previous couples since it seems like she created a little world on Isle Synne!

The story between Sebastian and Katrina was vere sweet, full of longing and yearning. They met four years prior during the Season and then because of external reasons (and scandals!!) they lost touch with each other and meet again later on in their lives when everything is quite chaotic for both of them.

It was evident from the first moment they see each other again that the feelings that once were tenuous and new are still there and over the course of the story they grow stronger and stronger.

I love a pining hero and the name Sebastian so imagine how much I enjoyed reading his pov eheh.
Katrina was such a sweet babe she deserves all the happiness in the world with her energetic doggie Mouse.

I really liked the first book in this series; mixed on this one. Although the author's writing style remains solid, my beef with this book is really twofold 1. lack of plot and 2. lack of characterization.

The good:
--Mouse the dog
--Lady Tesh
--The Oddments and their undying support of Katrina
--Mr. Bridling. He could have been a flat character, but he was fun and surprising (I actually found myself liking him more than Sebastian)

The not-so-good:
--Sebastian, you're a good guy, but the pining, the "I've racked my brain and I have no choice but to marry for money", and the endless apologizing became repetitive. I'm never crazy about the "MMC/MFC must marry for money" trope anyway, because if you've read this setup before, you know how this is going to end. But the solution Sebastian comes up before that is honestly kind of anticlimactic and silly. (And..........................SPOILER.....................I thought he should have gone after Katrina and not said "let her go to Gretna Green".)

--Oh, Katrina, my long suffering Mary Sue. She spent her childhood with her father and brother tearing her down for no discernable reason, but somehow she still ended up a diamond of the first water (we learn very little about her as the book opens, other than her wariness of rogues and mean dad). Then massive amounts of poop hit the fan, none of it her making. She thinks of herself as worthless constantly. But she's caring, considerate, beautiful. Does she have a character arc? Maybe, around the 85% mark. But the storyline focuses more on how she's willing to be the martyr.
Also, I'm tired of books where it's assumed the MMC is the MFC's sole source of confidence. Why can't the MFC get involved in the world and be her own agent of change?

What I didn't like at all:
--What was up with Landon? Katrina doesn't know, and after re-reading the prologue, I honestly don't either. What could have driven him to first, sneak into her bedroom to seduce/kidnap her, and four years later, to track her down where she is currently a dowager's companion and try to sneak into her room in the middle of the night again? Is he drunk or crazy? There seems to be an entire piece of plot missing here.
--Francis, the nasty brother. Other than Landon, the least developed character. Flies into an unmitigated rage at Landon, pummels him, and challenges him to a duel, even though he's never been close to Katrina. Loses his arm in the duel, throws his life away, blames Katrina for everything. No character arc whatsoever.
--The vicar. I can't stand slut shaming or religious bigotry, and this guy is a piece of work. I get that Katrina needs to have a scene in which she displays some confidence, but this whole setup is way too pat, and I felt emotionally manipulated by it. Do I believe that a man who said vile, unsubstantiated things about his daughter's friend and spread gossip about her in order to ostracize her, was really a "good father" to his daughters, whom he just wanted to "protect"? No, I don't.

Bottom line: I enjoy this writer, but expected more of a plot and less rumination and angst. I also needed the characters to be better fleshed out. I feel like there is a message of forgiveness in here that has some merit, but it's not fully baked.

I read an advanced reader copy of this book and this is my voluntary review. Opinions are my own.

4 of 5 stars


Sebastian Thorne, now the Duke of Ramsleigh, has spent the last 4 years trying to right the wrongs his late father had caused with his irresponsible gambling and the scheme to make up his losses, only to steal the funds for himself. Life had not been easy as Sebastian sold everything he could to give restitution to his father's victims. That was not his only problem. Four years ago, he'd been set on telling Miss Katrina Denby that he wanted to court her. That dream had been dashed, and Sebastian retreated to his country home to do everything in his power to help his tenants and take care of his sisters.

Miss Katrina Denby thought her horrible childhood was finally behind her. She was the darling of the ton and enjoyed every moment, especially the attention from Sebastian Thorne. It all came crashing down when a lord took it upon himself to try and sneak into her bedchamber. Her brother Francis challenged the lord to a duel, and the result was horrifying. When her brother blamed her and banished her from their home, she thought life could not get any worse. How wrong she was.

Being a companion to Lady Tesh on the Isle of Synne had been a wonderful respite for Katrina. The lady had saved Katrina from homelessness. Her life had settled into a pleasant experience until that same pesky lord from four years ago, tried once again to climb into her bedroom window, only to fall to his death. Now, Katrina faced another scandal not of her doing, and the consequences were harsh when the people of Synne began to give her the cut direct. To make matters worse, Lady Tesh's nephew came for a visit accompanied by none other than the Duke of Ramsleigh. Katrina was in a personal hell as her feelings for the handsome duke had never changed. When she finds out he's nearly betrothed to the nephew's sister, she vows to stay away from him as much as possible, but life is never orderly or predictable for Katrina.

I loved how Katrina grew from a timid young lady trying to please everyone to finally standing up for herself. Sebastian was so honorable, especially since he was willing to marry a virtual stranger to secure funding to save the dukedom from bankruptcy. However, nothing could deny Katrina and Sebastian's love for each other, for their love was true and deep. There were many twists and turns in the story, and it was with great satisfaction when they finally got their HEA.

Wonderful story of a love lost and found.
Katrina Denby and Sebastian Thorne, the future Duke of Ramsleigh, were just getting to know each other when he received a message that he needed to return home immediately. Sebastian finds out that his father has passed and left the dukedom with no money.
Katrina became embroiled in a scandal when a lord broke into her bedroom to declare his love and her brother caught him. Her brother and the lord fought a duel, and her brother lost an arm. He sent Katrina off to live with her aunt in a small cottage. After her aunt left, she contacted a friend who helped her get a position as companion to Lady Tesh on the Isle of Synne. Fast forward 4 years and the lord again shows up trying to get into her bedroom only this time he falls and dies. She is now shunned by the town except for a few friends and realizes that she must find someone to marry to become respectable again.
Sabastian has made an arrangement to marry a wealthy baron's daughter, whom he doesn't love, but her father wants him to take her brother on a trip to get him away from the actress he thinks he is in love with before he will give his permission for them to marry. They go to visit Lady Tesh and the attraction between Katrina and Sebastian is as if time had not passed.
I loved the relationship between Katrina and Sebastian as they got to know each other again.
Katrina owns a goofy large dog named Moose who is very endearing in the story.
It is a beautiful, entertaining story.
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and these are my opinions.

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy of this ebook, and this is my freely given opinion.

I was a bit conflicted about this story. I enjoyed the dynamic of the ladies and friendships of the spinsters of the Isle of Synne, and the second chance - but felt like it was doomed not to be - romance between Katrina and Sebastian. But I found I had a strong visceral negative reaction to some of the characters and their actions. Of course, they were meant to be the villains of the piece, in essence, so really that is not a negative reflection on the story telling.

Katrina was at the top of her game, as a belle in Society. Beautiful, dowered, from a noble family. She had caught the eye of Sebastian, a Marquess at the time, and they were lightly flirting, and tentatively stepping towards courting. Sebastian was a cocky rakish man about town at this time, but starting to think that he wants to explore the relationship with Katrina, when he is suddenly called away to attend to his father, the Duke. While he is away, Katrina is felled by a massive scandal, where she is a victim of an unwanted admirer who invades her room, and even though nothing happens she is forced into the center of a massive drama that tears apart her family, ruins her reputation, sends her brother down a destructive, despairing spiral, and sees her exiled to the Isle of Synne, penniless, and taking on employ as the companion of Lady Tesh.

Sebastian is ignorant of all this, because when he was called away all those years ago he ends up in his own spiral of despair and his own family scandal which forces him to inherit an impoverished, indebted duchy, to care for his sisters, and to repair his family reputation which was destroyed by his father's gambling, and actions leading to defrauding other members of Society.

Sebastian has no choice but to try to wed an heiress for wealth, but he is being manipulated by the future bride's father, who uses Sebastian to babysit his wayward son, who has fallen in love with an unsuitable woman. He essentially wants Sebastian to rusticate with the son on the Isle of Synne to help the son forget about his mistress, whom he wants to take to wife.

Synne becomes the romantic backdrop where Sebastian and Katrina rediscover their attraction, find out what they have lost over the years, and fall in love again. But they despair of anything coming from their love, as they both have such burdens to carry - Katrina's reputation takes a hit again as her nemesis from the past returns, and she is being torn to shreds by the Synneful citizens, amongst other ills, and Sebastian has to wed his heiress to save his family.

A charming love story, with wonderfully quirky, and lovingly interfering and intrusive friends. But poor Katrina is so very much wronged and forced to suffer for the actions of others, and then to shoulder their blame and downfalls - the unwanted suitor... her brother and his downfall. Their behaviours directly caused her misery and she had no fault but then was forced to suffer over and over again, and be treated so poorly by others for things that were outside of herself. The injustice of it made me livid. Admittedly, I have angsty angry relationships right now with some brother figures in my life, so that may be colouring my opinions a bit (seriously, if I were to find out my brother in law died tomorrow, I would likely want to dance on his grave.) But her brother needed a serious kick with steel toed boots to the bollocks for his treatment of her and then to show up when she gains something positive. He needed a good club upside the head and there was no satisfaction on that front. At least the dog should have been allowed to bashed his man-bits to pieces a couple of times

Damned patriarchal world where the women have to suffer from the stupidity of men!

4 stars out of 5

Miss Katrina Denby's reputation is in tatters after a scandal not of her making. Sebastian Thorne, her first love, has returned to society as the Duke of Ramsleigh after the death of his father. She is forced to serve as a companion for an elderly viscountess while he must marry well in order to save his estate from financial ruin. The two meet again after 4 years apart and reconnect even though they are not what the other requires to ensure future security.
I enjoyed this book but thought that too many characters moved in and out of the plot, which made it confusing. Katrina has a group of friends who call themselves the Oddments, which apparently was explained in a previous story. In order to really enjoy this story, you probably should read the books in order, which I did not.

I was so excited to read Katrina’s story. She’s been an intriguing secondary character, and I was so curious about her story and how she came to be Lay Tesh’s companion. Her story is heartbreaking, and yet she makes the best out of a terrible situation, one where those she depended on most failed her. Now embraced by Lady Tesh and a small group of women, Katrina has created a new life for herself. But when an old love comes back into the picture and a new scandal puts her reputation at risk, the new life Katrina has created is threatened.

Katrina’s life changed irrevocably, and her reputation is ruined through no fault of her own when a man tries to sneak into her window. With a tarnished reputation and no familial support, Katrina takes on the role of companion. Katrina is a strong woman who has been unfairly treated by society, and I think her story highlights the unfairness and inequity between the sexes at the time. She is a good woman, kind, sincere, and honorable, and yet she is treated and judged harshly for things she didn’t even do. Her story speaks volumes about gender roles and the rights of women.

Much like Katrina, Sebastian’s life is ruled by societal expectations and pressures. It’s clear that Katrina and Sebastian have feelings for each other, but because of life’s circumstances and a tentative betrothal to someone else, their reunion seems improbable. There’s a lot of pining and longing between Sebastian and Katrina, but their selflessness and honor threaten to keep them apart. I so rooted for this couple and hoped that they’d find a way to repair Katrina’s reputation and be together.

The secondary characters are dynamic foils to the protagonists, and I’m really curious about some of the other Synneful Spinsters. They are such a unique group of women, and each has a story to tell, I’m sure. I’m eager to see each of them find love and whatever else they’re looking for. And I love Lady Tesh! She is hysterical and intuitive and meddlesome, and she is so outspoken and endearing. There are great messages about friendship, found family, and sisterhood throughout the novel, especially as Katrina is rebuked and the women all stand with her.

I always enjoy historical romances by Christina Britton. They’re fun and entertaining, and the romances are always swoon-worthy!! Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Publishing for providing me with an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

What's a Duke Got to Do With It is Christina Britton's second book in the Synneful Spinsters series, but may be read as a standalone.

Sebastian Thorne, Marquess of Marsten, and Katrina Denby were on the verge of something special when circumstances separate them, and send each of them away from each other, and out of the eye of society .

Several years later, Sebastian has returned to society as the Duke of Ramsleigh, in search of a wealthy wife to help him save his impoverished dukedom. Katrina, now living in Synne, has been ostracized by most of society, and disowned by her brother through no fault of her own.

When the two meet again in Synne, their feelings are rekindled, and they are drawn together, despite their best efforts to fight their respective feelings.

Second chance romances are not always a favourite trope for me as there's usually a good reason a couple split up, and I usually can't see how they could overcome their original problems, but in this case the couple never really got to start their romance. I really enjoyed reading their story as they reconnected and realized that they still had strong feelings for each other.

I enjoyed the cast of characters in the book but I felt mostly for Katrina as she was treated so unfairly due to someone else's actions. I was happy to see her finally get her happily every after with Sebastian.

I will be looking for the previous books in the series as I had not previously read them, although I was familiar with the authors work. What's a Duke Got to Do With It is a relatively sweet romance, I would recommend it to any historical romance lover.