Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for making this book available to me for review.

I love the cartoon illustrated covers in this series! I really enjoy historical romances, especially Regency era stories. I have read a number of second chance romances as well. However, I did not enjoy the plot of this one as much as I expected to. Lying to each other under the guise of "pranking" for attention just isn't a trope I'm fond of.
I prefer not to dismiss a series based upon one book, so I will give their other books a try too before making any decisions that this author isn't for me.

2.5/5 stars! So I love a good regency romance. I had high hopes going into this read. I haven't read many regency romances featuring an already-married couple, so I was excited to see how it went. My biggest issue is that I felt like they should just get divorced for about 75% of the book. yes I know divorce wasn't a thing commonly back then, but they should have done it. Why? Because neither of them seems invested in actually changing/learning/growing to be a better partner. They have repeating patterns of discord and it made me not like them as a couple. I'm going to put this down and think carefully before deciding if I'd like to read another book by this author.

I received an advance review copy for free through NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a fun read, and fairly quick. There is a lot of banter between the characters and I liked how independent the female characters were, and how they defied society in their own ways.

I was a little frustrated at how long the misunderstanding and tensions went on between Violet and James. It was obvious that the loved each other, but they both continued their separation due to stubbornness. It would literally have taken one honest conversation between them to set things to right, but they insisted on trying to deceive and one-up each other to teach the other a lesson.

That being said, they were a perfect match for each other.

Disclaimer: I received a DRC of this book through Net Galley on behalf of the publisher for review consideration. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I adore this series! I discovered The Regency Vows on NetGalley: I started with To Love and to Loathe, the second book in the series.

To Have and to Hoax is a great introduction to the world of these characters, and is funny and full of shenanigans and friendship. So enjoyable, and truly a comfort read I can return to.

Martha Waters’ story is absolutely charming and inspiring. A second chance romance and no longer being at odds with the one who held your heart before you knew it

Quick and Dirty
-Regency Romance
-miscommunication & lovers-to-enemies tropes
-full cast of characters
-Open-door scenes
-spice level 🌶️🌶️🌶️/5
-book 1 of the Regency Vows series
-great on audio!

What Worked
This is my third Regency Vows novel, and I’m now fully convinced of the power of Martha Waters! These books are pure perfection. I’ve not read them in order yet, but I still find it easy to follow. The stories from the books build on each other in such a unique way, as they seem to be happening almost simultaneously or very shortly before or after each other. And this one delivers the angst and frustration you expect from a miscommunication trope romance. I enjoyed the wit and charm of the various characters, something the author seems to have mastered. And once again, the Regency-era rules are center-stage, elevating the hijinks and creating some LOL moments. The romance was very believable, and how the story progresses is highly satisfying if you know what I mean. 😉

What Didn’t Work
This was a little more open-door than the other two Regency vows novels I’ve read, which isn’t always my favorite. It wasn’t a huge turnoff, but it was noticeable. Miscommunication isn’t my favorite device, so that was also a little bit much at times. But the charming cast of characters and intertwined stories more than made up for any faults.

Read This If
Regency romance lovers who enjoy a bit of comedy in their romance will enjoy this one, as will Jane Austen fans.

Similar Reads
All of the Regency Vows series, Manda Collins books, and The Worst Woman in London

I wanted this book to be a five star read, but it didn’t quite get there for me. It was described as “steamy” but I found the heat level to be lower than I expected for that description. Also, I ended up becoming a bit frustrated with the main characters’ refusal to communicate properly.

That said, there was a lot that I loved about this book. I loved the author’s writing style. The dialogue was witty. I love a good second chance story within a marriage, so I found that bit very satisfying. Finally, the found family element of James and Violet’s friendships was superb. I’m looking forward to the rest of the books in this series.

Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own.

I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more in the series! It’s the perfect read for anyone that loves bridgerton/ regency era time frames!

While I felt like 4 years of no communication between the Audleys seemed a little excessive for the fight that they had it made for a great story line. I thought their pranks were funny and truly enjoyed the supportive characters. This book really have us a great outline of each of their personalities and I’m looking forward to following their individual journeys along with this series and hopefully getting continues glimpses of the Audleys moving forward!

Unlike so many other books, I can truly said the ending here was not rushed and while I appreciated that- it anything it could have been sped up a bit.

I love a good enemies-to-lovers story, and the Bridgerton vibes made it extra fun! Overall, this wasn’t my favorite romcom, but I think it’ll be a good fit for fans of lighter stories that are full of British high society themes.

The antics between the husband and wife are to the point of … she doesn’t know that he knows that she knows that he knows… but the serious side is about the disastrous results parental influence and interference can have on one’s marriage. Until, the pair learns to trust each other and themselves as a couple. Hilarious but also illuminating read.

I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and leaving my review voluntarily.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This series is so so so much fun! Sign me up for anything Martha Waters writes. I loved being able to go back to the beginning of this series to see how it all began, after loving some of the later books I received as ARCs.

I love historical romance and period drama movies. I thought I may feel the same way about reading a book in this genre but I found myself wishing it was a movie so I could avoid reading the constantly quippy and clever inner monologues. The MMC was far more likable than the FMC, which isn’t unusual, but the calculating and planning associated with Violet’s scheme was just hard to read. It was all a huge miscommunication which started the book and that was hard to get into. Since I didn’t love it, I did not share my thoughts socially—I only like to post glowing reviews.

I read this when I was trying to expand my reading genres a little bit and wanted to try some historical romance, and I think this is a great place to start. The characters are a little immature, but love makes people do and say stupid things all the time, and was a cute, easy read when I read it in 2020. The plot is a little silly but the characters felt like real characters, flaws and all, and was a fun read.

Many thanks to Atria Books, author Martha Waters, and Netgalley for providing me the eARC. This is my honest review and opinions.

3.5 STARS

What a fun reading experience! The prose is sharp. I loved how lighthearted the tone was consistently through the whole story. The banter between the estranged married couple, Violet and James, is a highlight.

Surrounding the couple are their friends. They aren’t necessarily strongly developed side characters but serve as something of a peanut galley/Greek chorus. Although Violet and James venture out into society, the plot is tightly focused on them and their push-pull relationship.

The hijinks were a little underwhelming. I was expecting fast-paced War of the Roses or Home Alone type pranks. To Have and to Hoax instead was largely just adults refusing to communicate with each other and instead being passive aggressive and petty. Mileage may vary, as the deceptions mainly perpetrated by Violet come off as supremely childish and annoying if you think too hard on it—but can be enjoyable if you don’t think too hard. Speaking of bad pacing, I king of thought the resolution scenes of conversation were drawn out too long.

I had a hard time believing the context of their marital estrangement. Violet and James had one blowout fight and have lived as polite strangers for four years since then without anything happening?! Whatever. I did appreciate how well the author conveyed in both of their POVs how much they still secretly loved and desired each other. It didn’t veer into gross levels of objectification but to me was sweet.

Despite my issues with the book, I found To Have and To Hoax a super fun, enjoyable read. I like Martha Waters’ writing style and ideas for the historical/regency romance space and want to read more from her.

I can't describe what a joy it was to revisit To Have and to Hoax years after originally reading it (and after reading To Woo and to Wed). It makes me emotional to think about the journey all the characters went on throughout this wonderful series and to get to experience the very chaotic start to it all again. Martha Waters's writing is hilarious and charming and full of so much love, and it brings Violet and James to life in a way I want every romance to do.

This was such a fun and hilarious book and I recommend for my historical fiction and romance lovers!

Violet and James are a married , but both have been estranged ever since an argument years ago caused a drift between them . But after Violet gets a scare that makes her realize she may still care about her husband, she decides to play a trick on James by faking an illness, so he, too, can know what it's like to worry about your estranged spouse.
James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?

I had really high hopes for “To Have and to Hoax” by Martha Waters. I kinda like the Regency trend and hoped this would be a bit of escapism. Then I read the online reviews and realized I’d need to reduce my expectations. I’d say that this book is okay … kinda. It deals with a couple married for five years, four of which have been full of basically non-communication and hurt feelings. Unfortunately, this book’s main theme deals with my least favorite trope - miscommunication. Toss in a character who comes up with the oddest plan and both sides know the plan, so it gets rather tiresome reading about the whole poorly thought out trick. While I liked that the main character, Violet, was a bit of a rebel and constrained by “the times” to act properly, I probably rolled my eyes more times at her antics than her friends did. High hopes, high expectations, but in the end the book was rather meh … though if you like good steam, this book has it.

Enjoyable read, these characters are such a joy to read. The writing is light and fun and the wry good structure. The secondary characters bring a fresh perspective into the MCs lives.

I read the fourth book in this series before the others, because I also received an ARC of that book. I enjoyed it so much, and this first novel certainly didn't disappoint!

James and Violet are perfect and there's something so angsty about a marriage in crisis and two people finding a way to overcome and save their love and their companionship. The perfect romcom!

To Have and to Hoax was such a fun read! Set in Regency England, it follows the exploits of Lady Violet, Lord James and their circle of friends. Violet and James have spent the last 4 years of their marriage basically separated, but when Violet rushes to James' side after an accident - and then finds him completely fine - she devises a plan to get him to pay her a little more attention. I really enjoyed the cast of characters here and some of the ridiculous ways they ended up part of Violet's plot. The friends truly were some of my favorite people in the book, and I was excited to see that later books in the series will be following a different set of characters more closely. There was a lot of silly banter, and some definite laugh out loud moments for me. I also liked the different family dynamics for both Violet and James' relatives and thought it added some depth to the story. The author did a good job of including period details that immersed you in the setting without it being overwhelming. Overall, a quick, fun read with a little bit of spice that is perfect for any Bridgerton fan!

Thank you to Atria Publishing and Netgalley for providing the eBook!