Series Name: Synneful Spinsters, # 3
“Listen to me, and listen well, Iain MacInnes,” she said through a throat tight with tears, cupping his rough cheek in her palm. “I don’t want some gilded life, nor some stuffy, uptight Englishman for a husband. As for those travels I always wished to go on, I know for a fact that any far-off vista I may see would pale in comparison to the ones I can view at your side. I chose you. You are my future. I made a promise to you, for good or bad, that I would be by your side, and I do not take those vows lightly. You are stuck with me, husband, whether you like it or not.”
The Duke’s All That took me on one wild and romantic ride, and I loved every moment of it.
Iain MacInnes, Duke of Balgair, has spent the last thirteen years believing his wife is dead—until he receives word that she is very much alive and living under an assumed name on the remote Isle of Synne. He sets off with only one goal in mind: bring his wife back to Scotland where he can divorce her and expose her for the liar she is.
After a devastating deception by the man who was supposed to love her, Seraphina did what was necessary to keep herself and her sisters safe. And though she’s still haunted by the events that tore her world apart all those years ago, she’s made a happy life on Synne, surrounded by loyal friends and building a secret career as a popular author. Now that Iain has found her, however, all that is at risk.
Despite their long separation, the attraction between Iain and Seraphina still burns strong. But with so much hurt and betrayal between them, can they possibly find their way back to each other?
This series has been freaking awesome! Christina continues to amaze me with her storytelling abilities. She has created another addictive romantic romp that I read in one sitting. This is the third book in the Synneful Spinster series, and it can be read as a stand-alone. But if you are a fan of Regency romances, I would highly recommend reading the entire series because it is such a fun series to read.
The Duke’s All That focuses on Seraphina, who has been a bit of a mystery up to this point. In her group of friends who call themselves the Oddments, Seraphina has always been more reserved and guarded. She hasn’t shared her past or how she and her sisters have ended up on the Island of Synne. We don’t know much about her. I’ve been excited to learn more about her character, and I am happy to say that Seraphina’s story did not disappoint me. The beginning of the book starts off with Seraphina and Ian getting married in secret. We know that Seraphina’s father disapproves of the union and that these two plan on moving to Canada to start a new life. Before they leave, Seraphina goes to quickly say goodbye to her two sisters, and that is how the first chapter ends. The next chapter picks up many years later, and we learn that Ian has inherited a Dukedom and has just discovered that Seraphina is alive and living on a small island with her sisters. Ian’s hatred for Seraphina leaps from the pages, but we don’t know the reason for this hatred or why these two aren’t together. Then we jump to Seraphina’s POV, and we finally get to see what is going on in her head. She often alludes to dark and painful secrets and events that have happened to her. But those walls she has built are still up, and it’s a bit for us to see what is behind them. When Seraphina first sees Ian on the Island of Synne, she panics because she thinks her father, whom she has been hiding from, may also know that she and her sisters are alive. When she learns that Ian only wants a divorce and that she will have to go to Scotland with him to get it, she feels like her carefully guarded world is starting to crumble. It is also apparent that she hates Ian for what he did to her, but we don’t know what it is that he did. Ian and Seraphina set out to Scotland to get a divorce, but what they both learn on this journey will change their lives forever.
I loved everything about this book. Christina knows how to hook her readers in and keep them engaged and wanting more. I enjoyed this sense of mystery that is woven throughout the story. There are a lot of unknown elements in this book, and Christina does an excellent job at slowly giving us the information we need to solve these mysteries. Fans of second chance, enemies to lovers, miscommunication, and road trip romances will devour this book. All of these tropes come together to create a gripping and captivating story. I’m not always a fan of stories that have miscommunication as one of their main tropes, but it works in this instance. The main hurdle and conflict between Ian and Seraphina is whatever caused them to separate after they got married. For about 50% of the story, these two have an active burning hatred for each other. As a reader, we know that a third party (Seraphina’s father) is most likely responsible for the events that caused these two to separate, but since neither Ian nor Seraphina is willing to talk to each other, it takes a bit for them to figure out what happened. Once things come to light and they realize that it was Seraphina’s father who was the evil mastermind behind their separation, they both have to decide if they can still have a life together or have too much time passed to have a relationship. I knew that these two characters would get their HEA, but I had no idea what the journey to that ending would look like. I went on a wild, fast-paced ride and loved every minute. I also loved that the bad guy, aka Seraphina’s father, doesn’t actually appear until the end of the book. But his presence is felt throughout the whole story; he becomes this ominous threat that helps drive the plot along.
Ian and Seraphina’s characters were all that I wanted them to be. Seraphina is more reserved and has had to do things to keep her sisters safe that she doesn’t want the world to know. This causes her to appear to be distant and aloof. Underneath that hardened exterior is someone who is scared and wants to be loved. And Ian has a hard time getting over past hurts. He has a hard time accepting what happened and this new version of Seraphina. When we first meet these two characters, they are madly in love with each other. We know that they are meant to be together. But their lives don’t go according to plan; now they have to re-learn how to be a couple again. Having a road trip as part of the story allows these two characters to spend the maximum amount of time together, which creates the perfect environment for them to reconnect.
The Duke’s All That is a captivating story filled my heart with excitement and love.
Thank you, Forever Publishing, for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.