Review: What to Do with a Duke [Spinster House, book 01]

Title:       What to Do with a Duke [Spinster House, book 01]
Author:   Sally MacKenzie
Rating:   ★★★

Availability: iBooks | Amazon
*ARC received via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I had mixed feelings about What to do with a Duke. Surprisingly, my uncertainty had more to do with the secondary characters than the leads...

Welcome to the charming, fatefully named village of Loves Bridge, where a woman destined for spinsterhood can live a life of her own choosing—or fall unexpectedly, madly in love…

Miss Isabelle Catherine Hutting would rather be lounging in the library than circling the ballroom in search of a husband any day. So when Cat hears that the town’s infamous Spinster House is open for a new resident, she jumps at the chance to put all this marriage business behind her. But first she must make arrangements with her prospective landlord, Marcus, the Duke of Hart—the most handsome man she’s ever seen, and the only man who’s ever impressed her in the least…

With her wit, independent spirit, and not least of all her beauty, Marcus can’t help but be stirred by Cat. It’s terribly unfortunate he’s not looking to marry, given the centuries-old curse that left his family with the Spinster House to begin with. No duke shall live to see his heir’s birth. But is there a chance the curse could be broken—in true fairy-tale fashion—by an act of true love? The race to Happily Ever After is about to begin…

I love Sally MacKenzie's books. The stories are usually funny and witty, and it's the case with What to do with a Duke. I was able to empathize with the female protagonist, Isabella Catherine Hutting ('Cat'). I especially loved Marcus because he was so manly, and especially in the ending when he stayed away from Cat because that's what she wanted (hashtag relate).

I finished this smiling because the story of how Cat and Marcus fell in love was pretty cute, but it was slightly overshadowed by Cat's friends, whom I can't even consider true friends of hers because they try to ruin her reputation just because Cat wins their competition. And I don't get how Cat could still be friends with them afterwards.

So even though I liked What to Do with a Duke -- and I love Marcus' friends -- I'm not looking forward to reading the sequels featuring Jane and Anne.

Have you ever read a book where you didn't want to read the sequel anymore?