Regency era - historical romance full of whitty banter and humor. Romance full of chemistry follows diana as she has a love interest after being widowed.

Given that I am a huge fan of historical fiction, I immediately gravitated toward this “regency-era” romance. This was such a fun read. The witty banter was the highlight of the book for me. I couldn’t get enough of the back and forth, which in turn, always builds great chemistry and fun! If you are looking for an easy read and great escape, this book is for you. I must note that I didn’t read the first installment and it’s certainly not needed to get through this one. However, I’m now dying to get my hands on the first installment. And hoping for a third!

A quick and fun read. I have not read the author's previous book, but with this being a history romance, I knew I would enjoy it and I wasn't wrong. I really enjoyed Diana and Jeremy and their chemistry. While I do wish there was more and more conversations, real conversations between the two characters, I did overall enjoy their chemistry and love.

Diana is a widow, and as she enters back into ton society she is in no rush to remarry. Jeremy is known to be a bit of a rake in these high society circles and is equally uninterested in marriage. The two have historically been at each other's throats, but when an interesting wager brings them together they find that they have more in common than they think.
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This was a lovely historical romance that was perfect for my post-Bridgerton hangover. If anyone out there is like me and craving more, look no farther than this book. I enjoyed Diana's sharp tongue and the witty banter between the two, as well as their blossoming affections. Both characters have some great growth in this story as well. I would say the steam-factor is medium in terms of open door romance, and I always love and good enemies-to-lovers trope. Overall I would definitely recommend this to romance readers, especially if you like regency romance.

Cute, lovable characters, great sequel to the previous book. Entertaining, and will for sure be an easy vacation read. Fun, light, and a must read for those collecting historical romances. Would highly recommend!

I didn't have a chance to read the first book in this series, but To Love and to Loathe was a fun read nonetheless. Fans of Bridgerton will love this Regency-era romance. Witty and entertaining, I enjoyed the characters and the plot was fun!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance copy of this e-book in exchange for a review.

3 Having What It Takes Stars
* * * Spoiler Free-A Quick Review
Whether it is current times or historical times, men are insecure about their performance in the bedroom. How to find out if, in fact, he is terrible in bed, why bed down a widow friend he trusts. She is a widow, wants to start having a partner, and how better to let the men in the ton know she is available than to let the gossip fly by bedding this man during a house party.

Quick wit, banter, and more...seems to draw these two closer than expected.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
To Love and to Loathe is the second book in a series by Martha Waters.
I read To Have and to Hoax and was terribly entertained. The writing was smart, funny and provided a different take on your typical regency romance.
When I started this I was reading the material with that lens in mind. Although the book is entertaining, I feel like it fell short of where the first one excelled. The plot was not as fast paced as the first. I found myself wondering what the overall significance of Lady Helen would be. Enemies to lovers troupes are my jam but this one felt uninspired.
Overall a decent read but don’t expect the same wit and humor as with the first.

(Three and a half stars). I really enjoyed this read and was pleasantly surprised by that even though it was set in times ago, the characters and story had a lot of female empowerment and progressive characters. The witty banter between the two main characters was also quite enjoyable.

This story follows the widow Lady Diana Templeton as she decides to help out her friend the Marquess of Willingham in matters of a delicate nature. After breaking things off with his lates mistress Jeremy learns he may not be as good at certain things as he assumed so he asks Diana for some feedback. The banter between these two was pretty good and I enjoyed the story. I had a few small problems one of which was that after learning something delicate about another character who she says she will tell no one of, she then goes onto blab it to multiple other people. I just found this a bad character trait and took away some of my enjoyment of the book. I am curious as to who the next book will be about but I think I can make a guess and I will pick it up once it comes out. I really enjoyed the setting and characters and will be glad to revisit them all again. If you enjoy friends to lovers with some angst between them then I would recommend picking this one up. Thank you to Atria books for my gifted copy for review.

DNF at 42%

I really tried to enjoy this one but for some reason, I just wasn't as invested as I wanted to be. Diana and Jeremy weren't characters I wanted to continue reading about. Since I wasn't fully invested in the e-book, I decided to wait for release day to listen to the audiobook but I think this one just isn't for me. The premise of it still seems really interesting but I think the execution fell a bit short for me.

Martha Waters' historical romance debut, To Have and to Hoax, was an instant favorite last year for me. It was charming, romantic, and genuinely had me laughing out loud. I was even more intrigued by To Love and to Loathe because it has the sex pact trope. While I don't think I enjoyed this second installment as much as I enjoyed the previous one, this was still a fun read for me. Once again though, I should stop expecting things out of books.

When Jeremy's latest mistress gives him an unfavorable grade in the bedroom department, he reaches out to his frenemy, Diana, to give him an honest critique of his skills. So they begin an affair at this house party and of course, what starts off as an arrangement will soon involve real feelings. I'm going to come right off the bat and tell you my biggest disappointment with this book: the sex. I expected the sex to play a much bigger role here given the premise of the book, but they were all pretty tame. Again, I'm not sure why exactly I expected it out of this book given that it's very typical of trad-pubbed romances, but I was still let down and it took me a long while to get over my crankiness at that.

That being said, what the book does do really well is the banter between the characters. As I mentioned, the two have somewhat of a history of being frenemies, but obviously, they are deeply attracted to each other. Martha Waters writes humor and wit between her characters really well and Jeremy and Diana certainly delivered on that front. Both characters are also endearing. Jeremy is somewhat of a different kind of rake in that he's not obnoxious about it. He's actually pretty much of cinnamon roll - are rakey cinnamon rolls a thing?? I liked that Diana was the one who was a bit more confident between the two of them.

There's a storyline here including a secondary cast and their sexuality that wasn't well-handled. Jen goes deeper into this in her review so I'll urge you to give it a read before you pick up this book. Long story short though there's an outing of the character (by Diana to her friends) and some power imbalance in the relationship that might rub readers the wrong way. Jen does a far better job at explaining it so please check out her thoughts.

All that being said, while this isn't my favorite installment of the series, I'm looking forward to reading Belfry's book. I think that one will be fantastic and I've been waiting for it since the first book.

Fans of The Bridgerton series if you need your next fix, I can assure you this is it!
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The Widowed, Lady Diana cannot help but argue constantly with her brother’s best friend, Jeremy The Marquess of Willingham. One argument escalates until she wagers her won’t be married within a year.
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Jeremy has a counter proposal of his own. What happens when a proposed brief affair turns love? I think you know the answer to that?! This is a historical romcom that I am here for!

I really enjoyed this! I liked the first one, but there was A LOT of "if you'd just talk to each other" nonsense, which the characters pointed out. I much prefer the "we totally are talking, just lying to ourselves." miscommunications.

To Love and to Loathe is Martha Waters' latest smash-hit installment in her world of regency romances. It centers around Jeremy and Diana, both adverse to commitment and large avoiders of the marriage mart. First introduced as supporting friends in To Have and to Hoax, Diana and Jeremy's infamous verbal sparring matches made for a great enemies-to-lovers read! Taking place mostly over the course of a long weekend at Jeremy's estate, the main characters come to an agreement on being partners in the bedroom and nothing more. That is, until both catch feelings and have to sort through what they're willing to give in order to gain more time together.

This second book was SUCH a fun read, and had tons of heart! I greatly enjoyed the enemies-to-lovers plot - if the reconciliation/prank plot of the first book wasn't totally your cup of tea, you should still give this book a go (especially if you love enemies-to-lovers and a good regency read)! Also, for those who haven't read the first book - you could certainly read this book before the first and get the same lovely experience!

If you love - the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn, The League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore, any enemies-to-lovers plots, A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem by Manda Collins, The Wedding Date series by Jasime Guillory, or any regency romances - you'll love To Love and to Loathe!

An ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.

this was a fun and enjoyable story, perfect if you are looking for an easy going historical romance. I liked the setting, the writing and dialogue but honestly I have nothing much to say other than it was a decent read.

Synopsis:

The widowed Diana, Lady Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham are infamous among English high society as much for their sharp-tongued bickering as their flirtation. One evening, an argument at a ball turns into a serious wager: Jeremy will marry within the year or Diana will forfeit one hundred pounds. So shortly after, just before a fortnight-long house party at Elderwild, Jeremy’s country estate, Diana is shocked when Jeremy appears at her home with a very different kind of proposition.

After his latest mistress unfavorably criticized his skills in the bedroom, Jeremy is looking for reassurance, so he has gone to the only woman he trusts to be totally truthful. He suggests that they embark on a brief affair while at the house party—Jeremy can receive an honest critique of his bedroom skills and widowed Diana can use the gossip to signal to other gentlemen that she is interested in taking a lover.

Diana thinks taking him up on his counter-proposal can only help her win her wager. With her in the bedroom and Jeremy’s marriage-minded grandmother, the formidable Dowager Marchioness of Willingham, helping to find suitable matches among the eligible ladies at Elderwild, Diana is confident her victory is assured. But while they’re focused on winning wagers, they stand to lose their own hearts.

This book was perfect as a quick afternoon read.

And as always Happy Reading!!

This Regency romance is perfect on the heels of Bridgerton. I didn't read the first in the series, but I wasn't lost. I love the trope of secret mutual pining that comes off as dislike and cutting banter, and the teaching moments trope, though I think there could've been more.
I loved all the times the characters got deep and real with each other.

The character's banter is a bit over the top, but reminiscent of Johanna Lindsey.
I didn't care much for Lady Helen's character and that matchmaking subplot so it was a relief when her story/reason was revealed.
I wish focus had been more on the teaching moments than the matchmaking/win a bet part.
At first I thought Jeremy was lying about his bad bed skills to get in bed with Diana but then at their first lesson, I was like, op, nope, he wasn't lying lol.
I don't know why Diana needed to out a character to her friends :-/ it served no purpose when she could've ONLY confessed her feelings instead?

The author is setting up the series nicely with all the potential couples.

“Loathe” is in the book’s title, but this story couldn’t decide if the leads were longtime enemies or friends. Jeremy and Diana regularly express shock at their affair, because they assume that they hate one another. But they recognize their mutual attraction from the first flashback scene, they vaguely like one another, and they surprise none of their friends with their pairing. These two may enjoy tussling over Diana’s matchmaking attempts, but they aren’t actually enemies. There was very little of the will-they-or-won’t-they tension that I associate with falling for someone you dislike. At the same time, Jeremy and Diana don’t get to know each other well until mid-book, so they lacked the wellspring of trust that I need in friends to lovers stories.

I nearly threw my e-reader once I got to Jeremy’s ridiculous plan to build a long-term relationship with Diana by using the queer character.

Diana likes to gossip with her closest friends, and I thought these conversations were insipid, and occasionally cruel, especially around the queer character. Diana’s commentary on the uselessness of men made me laugh, and the sexual tension sucked me into the story, but the characters ultimately felt shallow. Treating a queer character this poorly is unforgivable, so I can’t stomach giving this higher than a D

Diana is a widow who always verbally spars with Jeremy every chance she gets. They make a wager that he will be married within a year. When his prior mistress tells him he lacks skills in the bedroom, Jeremy comes up with another proposition. Who is going to win the wager and are they going to lose their hearts to each other in the process?

This is such an enjoyable book. If you love the Bridgerton series, you will be a big fan of this one. It’s got the Regency society along with the enemies to lovers trope. A recipe for fun!

Usually in this genre, the men have all the power but I found this to not be the case in this book. A woman who is a widow has much more leniency in society and independence than unmarried women. I also found the two characters to be enjoyable. Diana is not afraid to speak up and so straightforward. Jeremy was not too angsty and seemed to be a softie underneath his reputation.

When I read it, I didn’t realize it was the second in the series. You don’t need to have read the first book to enjoy this one. There are references to the plot of the prior book so if you don’t want to be spoiled as to how it ends, maybe check that out first.

This is a perfect book to escape in!

Thank you to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the gifted copy.

This series is becoming my favorite. Trying not to fall in love with someone you’re already in love with makes for all kinds of fun shenanigans. Can’t wait to read the next one!