The Duke’s All That

Britton’s moving third Synneful Spinsters Regency (after What’s a Duke Got to Do with It) follows Iain MacInnes, Scottish Duke of Balgair, who, believing himself to be widowed, hopes to remarry and produce an heir. His plans stall, however, when he learns that Seraphina Trew, the woman he married 13 years before and who he believed abandoned him and later died, is actually still alive and now an author living on the Isle of Synne with her younger sisters. Iain tracks her down and convinces her to go back to Scotland with him to get a divorce. Seraphina, who believes that Iain abandoned her, has made some tough choices to support her sisters. She’s intimidated that Iain is now a duke and feels unworthy of him. But as they travel together, attraction reignites and they clear up their misconceptions about their relationship’s end, coming to realize that Seraphina’s father meddled in their lives. Romantic tension between Iain and Seraphina simmers throughout, complicated by misunderstandings and supercharged by the passage of time. This alluring, emotionally charged Regency proves hard to put down. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (Feb.)