First off, much thanks to Martha Waters and Atria Books for gifting me with an eARC of this book through NetGalley.

I enjoyed reading this one! It had my favorite trope which is a plus. The characters were great, the storyline is good, I just felt that the story really focused a lot more on the lustful aspects of the relationship more than the actual romance.

The actual romance was maybe the last... 50ish pages? Maybe not even that many, that may be generous. I wish that Martha Waters would have written this so that these characters would have understood their feelings a lot sooner, and we could have explored their character growth and relationship more.

Overall, the story’s premise is good, I like the writing style, and the overall story works well. Just wish that the romance would have been longer or we had seen more in that aspect.

I really enjoyed this book! It was fun and entertaining from the get go and the couple had a lot of chemistry

I thought that the whole idea of Jeremy really being upset about his skills being questioned in the bedroom by a jilted mistress was a fun twist! That was hilarious and it really added a funny moment and aspect to their wager. It also added to their chemistry and their banter moments. Which speaking of bantering between them, I loved those moments too! They were great with each other and really knew how to push each other's buttons! I think my main concern with the book was that there wasn't much going on with the characters under the surface. They all felt really flat and really just surface level. I wanted there to be more to the characters. I know it was a comedy but I just wish there was more depth to the characters. I also felt that while it was a great fun novel, and I loved the writing and the dialogue, nothing much stood out to me besides the premise of the book. I just wanted more from the characters.

I didn’t like Diana’s character when it comes to Jeremy. She is mean towards Jeremy but when he says something similar then she gets upset. I just didn’t like the vibe in between these two main characters and this book didn’t work for me.

I received this ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review*

3.5 rounded up. A fun, steamy Regency romance full of great banter and chemistry and sex-positive female characters interested in their own pleasure despite the restrictions of the social mores of the time. An enjoyable, fast read. I'll be checking out the first one in this series. Recommended for fans of The Bridgertons.

This is the second book in the Regency Vows series. I really enjoyed this book, maybe even more than the first one. The first book left me with wanting more, and this one picked right up from that. This book had a few twists that I did not see coming. I enjoyed the witty banter in this book and the chemistry! I recommend checking this series out!

To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters, is a fun, light, flirty entertaining novel. Thank you NetGalley, publisher and author for the copy for review. All opinions are my own.

Diana and Jeremy are acquaintances of long standing and every meeting they can’t resist sniping at each other. This is why Diana is surprised when Jeremy makes her an indecent proposal to commence at his upcoming house party. In this second book, Martha Waters demonstrates her mastery of witty dialog and romantic moments that will have you swooning.

Historical romance about two long time acquaintances trying to figure each other out. There was always something there between them and they’ve spent their lives denying it.
Diana’s a widow now and Jeremy is basically a rake. The main part of this happens during a house party. I love house parties. But this thing went round and round. They almost got together a million times. Well if felt like a million. Anyway, it had a lot of potential but never delivered in a heartfelt happy experience for me.
I really wanted to like this but it just fell flat for me. And it did feel like a historical Romance to me.
Thanks Atria Books via Netgalley.

First and foremost, thank you so much to Atria for the ARC of this book. I was super excited to read this book especially after having finished To Have and To Hoax. I was excited to see what Jeremy and Diana were gonna be up to in this book. I love a good secret love Foe into Lovers book. Of course when its a "sexual" relationship only, I knew the love match between Diana and Jeremy was going to be great.

I love the twist and turns with Lady Helen and the Dowager, they kept me guessing as to what was going to happen. I also really enjoyed reading about Diana and Jeremy open up to each other about they issues they have faced in life and they kept to themselves.

I hope there will be a third book in the series covering Emily. I cannot wait to read it!

Thank you Atria.

Jeremy, Marques of Willingham, and the widowed Diana, Lady Templeton, are infamous in British high society for their sharp-tongued bickering, so it’s no surprise when one of their arguments results in a high stakes wager. Jeremy will marry within a year or Diana will pay him 100 pounds. Then things get even more complicated. After a mistress criticizes Jeremy’s skills in the bedroom, he proposes that he and Diana embark in a brief affair while at his house party- Jeremy can receive honest critique of his skills, and Diana can use the resulting gossip to signal to other gentlemen that she’s interested in taking a lover. Can these enemies keep it strictly physical or will their conflicts of interest result in them losing their hearts?

There’s a lot I liked about this book. I liked the enemies to lovers trope. Jeremy and Diana’s banter was excellent, and the evolution of their feelings felt like a natural progression of their relationship. I loved the feminist undertones of the story. Diana and Jeremy’s grandmother, the Dowager Marchioness of Willingham, were both strong, intelligent, and calculating women. The conversations around sex and female pleasure felt very modern, and it was refreshing to read about a man coming to a woman to ask for help in the bedroom. The LGBTQ representation and the measures that the women of that era took for the chance to live the life that they wanted were also wonderfully captured. And the ending was incredibly sweet!

What could have been better? The pacing of the book. The middle of the book felt like it dragged and the chapters were way too long. A lot of what happened felt unnecessary to the story progression or the character development. But once I got through that middle portion, I was hooked!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley.

This was a cute Regency romance that readers of the author’s first book will enjoy. The author mentions the main characters from the first book often, while often setting up characters for future books as well.

I enjoyed the protagonist of this book - she is a widow who is reluctant to marry again and give up the freedoms that this affords her. While it was of course obvious how things with her love interest would end, I still enjoyed reading to see how things would unfold. I also enjoyed the subplot of Lady Helen.

This book doesn’t do much to break the mold, but if you’re a fan of Regency romance this one is certainly worth picking up.

Funny, sexy, witty and sparkful. It's a fun read, and a definite recommendation. I love the story and characters and enjoyed the dialogue. Good writing and fun storytelling

While I've heard great things about the first book in this series, I was underwhelmed by the romance in this one. The two main characters were enjoyable, but the storyline did not keep me hooked and invested in their HEA.

Definitely more of a 3.5 but I’m rounding up.

Now that I think a bit after finishing this book, I realize that I haven’t actually read a romance novel in almost four months. And it has mostly been because I seem to have totally lost interest in reading anything contemporary. But today, I was just in the mood for some love and decided it was better to choose a historical romance instead and it was definitely a better decision.

I haven’t read the previous book by the author and I have no idea if the two are companion pieces, but I had no trouble understanding the world this was set in and all the important players. The author is good at writing banter full of tension and humor, and I was really looking forward to the conversations, not just between Diana and Jeremy, but between the side characters as well. I liked how both of them were not afraid to go toe to toe with each other, whether verbally or in bed and it made for an interesting dynamic. The author also has written good female friendships, and I particularly was pleased to see her avoid pitting two women against each other. Jeremy’s grandma was another colorful character and I was truly hoping she had more of a role to play coz she was loads of fun.

This was an overall fun and entertaining romance and probably just the right thing I needed to take my mind off other things in my life. It’s always nice to see intelligent and independent thinking women characters in historical romances and I think this couple are well matched in that sense. While the sexual tension was there, I just wish there was more to convince that they were actually in love. As a very rare reader of this genre, I would probably keep a lookout for the author’s next work, because it just might be the perfect one based on my mood.

I loved To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters! This is all the fun of regency, but with a modern heroine who isn't afraid of a man or to share her opinion! I especially loved the dowager duchess which every good regency romance needs! Our story stars two star crossed members of the Ton: the widowed Lady Templeton and the rakish Marquess of Willingham. The two make a bet that he will marry within the year and then each do everything in their power to win.

I loved the house party setting and the size of the cast of characters! Enough to keep it interesting, but not too many that you need a chart to remember who everyone is. If you love Austen retellings and binged Bridgerton, do yourself a favor and pick up To love and to Loathe!

I often don't love historical romances so I was nervous to read this book but decided to give it a shot because I was intrigued by the plot summary -- and I'm so glad I did.

I loved the complex and complete personalities and real struggles the characters had. I appreciated the way grief was handled and how feminism (or lack of women's rights) played in.

The banter was incredible and I even was caught off guard by some plot twists.

I now need to immediately go and read Waters' prior book!

I love a good enemies-to-lovers story and this one did not disappoint. I am not big into regency romance, so this was a first to me. That being said I think I should keep my review to a minimum since I am so new to this specific genre. I may not continue to read more, but I do not blame this book. It was a fun read for what it was, but I think this historical romance is just not my cuppa.

I love a good enemies to lover trope, and this one did not disappoint. The set-up of the bet between the main characters, followed by the twist of a former mistress being critical of the hero's performance in bed, was a fun and different way to set the stage for the evolution of the relationship between Diana and Jeremy. I particularly enjoyed the batner and chemistry between them; it was done with a deft hand and was really enjoyable to read.

This was a fun read that still managed to serve up some commentary on social constraints (patriarchy, misogyny, etc) and also did away with the romance novel trope that all heroes are incredible at sex, in a way that contributed to the development of the characters and their relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for providing an advanced reader copy.who provided me with a copy of this book, All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

To Love and to Loathe is a sequel to To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters. While this is a stand alone story, I'm glad I read it second because I already know the story of Violet and James. You see quite a bit of them in this story, so it was nice getting to re-visit them and catch up. As for Diana and Jeremy? I don't know. I'm not as sold on them. I feel like Diana is just not an overly nice person. Sure, she's nice to her two closest friends, but there were things she said or did that really took away from her character. Jeremy came into this story an immature man whore, but as you get to know him he grows on you quite a bit. He also grows as a person as he realizes things about himself. I love the overall frenemies to lovers theme.