What’s a Duke Got to Do With It by Christina Britton is a historical romance and the second book in the Synneful Spinsters series (3.5/5 stars)

What’s a Duke Got to Do With It by Christina Britton is a historical romance and the second book in the Synneful Spinsters series. We alternate points of view between our two main characters.

After a scandal four years ago, Katrina Denby has worked as companion to the irascible Lady Tesh and is part of the strong friend group, the Oddments, on the isle of Synne. When the man responsible for her ruination comes back and this time dies from a fall from her bedroom window, scandal rears its ugly head again. Seeking a husband on the island to save her reputation, the only man Katrina ever loved–Sebastian Thorne–returns to Synne as well, but he is about to become engaged to someone else in order to save his dukedom.

An enjoyable read, and though it is the second book in a series, it could absolutely be read as a standalone. I forever love the ladies who make up The Oddments, and I’m excited to eventually read their books in this series as well. I also love Mouse, Katrina’s pet doggo, and I did greatly enjoy Lady Tesh as she maneuvered people around on a chess board to help matchmake.

There’s a wee bit of steam, with a handful of explicit scenes. They’re not that long and there isn’t much detail.

In the end, I definitely preferred the first book in this series, Some Dukes Have All the Luck to this one, mostly because that one had more of my favorite tropes (especially bluestocking, marriage of convenience, rebellious wards, and forced proximity). Second-chance romances are typically a harder sell for me personally.

We also didn’t get to watch them really get to know one another here, as they had prior history that we got glimpses of in this installment. That pulls me out of their romance a bit, as I’m told they had a friendship that grew into love, but if I don’t see it, it doesn’t pull on my heartstrings as much as it could. Instead, we mostly see them pining over each other after having already fallen in love four years before.

Thankfully, they are pretty open to each other about their feelings, which I was happy to see. Typically the pining happens while feelings are concealed, so I liked that they had enough trust in each other to be honest.

Tropes in this book include: second-chance, friends to lovers

CW: sexual assault, toxic relationships, domestic abuse, grief, death, violence, gaslighting

I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

The Synneful Spinsters series includes:

• Some Dukes Have All the Luck
• What’s a Duke Got to Do With It
• The Duke’s All That

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