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Review: A Duke Worth Fighting For (Isle of Synne #3) by Christina Britton
Print Length: 340 pages
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing - Forever (August 24, 2021)
From Goodreads.com: To protect the dukedom from an incompetent and greedy cousin, Daniel Hayle, Duke of Carlisle, has promised to find a bride in London this season. But the idea of facing ballrooms and card parties is as intimidating as any battlefield in France, including the fight at Waterloo that left him terribly scarred. Perhaps a month on the Isle of Synne can provide him with the practice necessary to find a wife who can tolerate him enough to give him an heir.
Margery Kitteridge has been mourning her husband for four years, and while she's not ready to consider marriage again, she does miss intimacy with a partner. When Daniel asks for help navigating Synne's social scene, and they accidentally kiss, she realizes he's the perfect person with whom to have an affair. As they begin to confide in one another, Daniel discovers that he's unexpectedly connected to Margery's late husband, and she will have to decide if she can let her old love go for the promise of a new one.
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My Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Let me begin by saying that this book, while being listed as book 3 in the series can be read as a stand alone. Yes, there are characters from the prior two novels that appear in this one, but it's not done in such a way that the reader is left feeling lost or as if they have missed something important.
As a widow myself, this story really resonated with me - Margery's journey to realizing she can love one without losing the love she had for the other is a lesson I'm still learning. I enjoyed watching her grow as a person, the way she defended Daniel against those who spoke ill of him, and all the little ways she fell in love without realizing it. I also enjoyed Daniel. His awkward social skills made him endearing (especially when you consider they came from his natural state of being and not due to his war injuries). I felt we saw a lot of character growth with him as well as he learned how to better navigate social interactions and the way he finally stood up for himself against oaf of a cousin.
The main issue that I had with this one was the fact that parts of it seemed to drag on to the point I found myself wanting to skip chapters entirely. At the end of the day, I feel like certain elements could have been left out altogether. Like the blackmail scheme for starters. There could have been many reasons for Margery to offer her help (one of which would be to dissuade her grandmother from attempting to match her with Daniel in the first place). And while I enjoyed seeing Margery stand up for Daniel, the constant meeting of different ladies I could have done without as well (one would have sufficed especially when you consider Daniel seemed to have no preference on bride at the start of the story).
There were however, a couple of well placed red herrings as to the truth of what happened in the past, and who was behind things that made for an interesting twist. I thought for sure I knew who was behind it, only to find out I was way off the mark.
All things considered, I do believe this novel will appeal to those who enjoy historical romances, as well as second chance romances. I would read more from this author!
DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.
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A Duke Worth Fighting For is available from Amazon.com
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