I enjoyed this hilarious and heartfelt story. The characters fun and charming. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

To Love and To Loathe was a perfect return to Regency England for fans of Netflix’s Bridgerton or Pride and Prejudice. Featuring the trope of enemies to lovers, the story follows the aftermath of a fateful evening between the widowed Diana and the rakish Lord Willingham. From balls to barrooms, this book was chock full of wit, romance, and delightful references to Martha Waters’s To Have and To Hoax (not needed to enjoy this work).

I remembered liking Diana from To Have and To Hoax and so I had been looking forward to reading her enemies to lovers story here but oof, this was way off the mark for me. For some reason it takes so many words to have anything happen ever in this book so the plot (what there is of it) absolutely drags. The dialogue is all over the place as well - it feels most real when Diana and her friends are talking, and her banter with Jeremy can be fun at times, but the rest of the time it often felt overly stilted.

Other reviewers have mentioned this as well but I'm gonna hop on the absolute yikes train of "why would you have your main character out the only queer character in the book twice and still expect us to think she's great." It also felt a little gross in general to have said queer character's storyline used to advance our main characters' plot.

TL;DR - good concept, poor execution.

Ahhh what a great romance. I loved Diana and Jeremy and their fun, witty, banter. The tension that comes with the enemies to lovers trope is such a fun addition and it was so well done. I am slowly becoming a historical romance fan, one book at a time! This was such a fun one to read and get started on this journey with!

Thanks to NetGalley for this eARC!
I liked this better than book one. I loved the banter between Jeremy and Diana. I love the house party setting. I can’t decide if the next book is about Emily or west and Sophie.
I didn’t adore the last minute drama but whatever hahahaha

Read if you like: enemies to lovers, fun and witty romance.
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I absolutely loved this one. I typically enjoy the enemies to lovers trope in romance, and this one did not disappoint. We have two main characters, Diana and Jeremy, and they make a bet that Jeremy, a notorious rake, will marry within the year. The two have a history of arguing with each other, but this bet brings them a bit closer together.
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I loved Diana as the protagonist. She is a widow who married during her first season because she knew that this was the only way for a woman to gain any semblance of freedom in society. Now that she is truly free, she is reluctant to give up those freedoms by marrying again. Jeremy was also an interesting character as he was not quite what he seemed on the outside.
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Overall, I loved the witty banter, and it was a bit silly but a great read.

I loved this book! The enemies to lovers trope is such a fun one, and it’s hard not to get caught up in the relationship between Diana and Jeremy. Their banter is delicious and the heat built up between them throughout the novel is so good; just enough of a wait to make the resulting love story satisfying without it feeling like it lagged! I hope there is a continuation of their story because I would love more!!!

3.5 STARS
Lady Diana Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham, have known each other since they were children and even now, they both tend to behave as such in each others' company. Diana and Jeremy are known throughout the upper crust English society for their verbal battles as well as their flirtation. As a widow, Diana has a lot more freedom to do as she pleases within the rules of her Regency Society. While attending another of the numerous balls that is part of their life, the saucy adversaries enter into a wager that Jeremy will marry within the year, or Diana loses one hundred pounds (about four thousand dollars in today’s money).

Diana already has plans to attend a two week house party at Lord Willingham’s country estate where she is presented with an improper proposition by him. Jeremy’s reputation as a rake has taken a hit from an unsatisfied mistress who spread the word of his lacking bedroom skills. He wants to have an affair with Diana to prove or improve his prowess because he believes her to be truthful. Diana is interested because she wants to have lovers but feels inexperienced since her marriage only lasted two years.

The house party comprises family and close friends including Jeremy’s daunting grandmother who is determined to see him married. She has her own plans in play pitting Jeremy against an eligible lady he cannot abide. Diana is determined to help the Dowager Marchioness in order to win her bet. When Jeremy and Diana begin their complicated dance of an illicit affair, their feelings become more than causal though neither wants to admit it. Diana chaffs at the freedom men of her society have to do whatever the heck they please with little to no repercussions because of their power and money. She vows never to marry again so as not to be ruled by a husband.

The dialogue this enemies to lovers is witty, and the situations are comical at times. I find it challenging to get past how worthless Jeremy and his ilk seem as their reprobate lives are spent going to fancy balls, bed-hopping, hunting, and having numerous illegitimate children with the household staff and mistresses. Jeremy has some hidden qualities that help to make him more likeable. Diana is in the minority for women of her times having the ability to live her life mostly on her own terms. Second in the Regency Vows series, this story which is called a historical rom-com, can be read as a standalone.

Loved the first one, and loving this one too. I definitely hope there are at least three more. Can't wait to hear stories for West, Emily, and Penvale

Huge thank you to Atria Publishing, Martha Waters, and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

To Love and to Loathe is a fun and inventive historical romp featuring a fantastical assortment of characters, set against the backdrop of a familiar historical town. This was a super anticipated April release and it did not disappoint! It was witty, heartfelt, and included some of the best characters written!

I read To Have and to Hoax last year and fell in love with Diana and Jeremy as side characters and could not wait to read about them from their point of view. Martha Waters definitely delivered on this story and exceeded my already sky high expectations!! This is a dual perspective book (my favorite!) and I loved getting to read about both Diana and Jeremy’s interactions with each other! Diana is such a fiery character and I loved being able to see her vulnerable side whenever she was with Jeremy or painting. I also adored their quick witted banter and always get the last word attitudes! Even with most of Jeremy and Diana’s interactions being playful, there were still heartfelt moments in there that really made me connect with the characters and fall in love with them even more.

I’ve never been a huge historical romance reader but authors like Martha Waters are game-changers! To Love and to Loathe is a book that I think should be on everyone’s April TBR! It’s fun, flirty, and full of the best banter and group of characters! A must read for all readers!

Thank you to Atria (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

This was a lot of fun. A great follow-up to To Have and To Hoax, and I might actually like it better! Just because romances with established relationships, like the first one, are never my favorite. This one, though, is about Diana and Jeremy (who have many more names and titles that I couldn't always keep straight) who have known each other for ten years. Diana is a widow at 23 and Jeremy is determined never to marry, and at 28 has been successful thus far. They travel in the same social circles and have always enjoyed picking on each other, in a good-natured way. But, of course, things change when they enter into a wager: Diana bets Jeremy 100 pounds he will be married within a year, a wager he gladly accepts. Then, however, things get messy when Jeremy approaches Diana with a proposal of his own: he wants to enter into an affair with her after receiving some rather harsh criticisms from his last fling and what starts out as something purely physical doesn't stay that way for long.

Diana and Jeremy are both super sarcastic, which I love. They are both also idiots. They think they actually hate each other, when everyone around them can even tell that there is something going on beneath the surface. One of my favorite dynamics in romance novels! I like to call it idiots to lovers because they're not actually enemies to begin with. There's no real hate or malice there, it's just that neither of them really understand their own feelings for the other person.

I like that both of them used their sarcasm as kind of a shield. Both of them had pain in their pasts that they hid from even their friends, and it was only around each other that they were able to take off the masks they wore in polite society and really examine how those respective pasts may have affected the people they had become.

As I said before, a great follow-up, and a super quick read! I read most of it in one cold, blizzard-y day, and it was the perfect book to curl up on the couch with. Best enjoyed with a cat in your lap and a mug of tea nearby.

This releases April 6th, so pre-order it now or request it at your library! I'm excited to see what comes next in this series :)

I truly wanted to love this one more than I did. I mean a sex pact with sex lessons with the roles reversed from what has been typical in the genre? Yes, please. While I enjoyed the banter at times, I just had a hard time getting into it like I normally would have with a romance, especially an enemies-to-lovers romance. I also had a hard time looking past the use of outing another character (and supposed friend) as a plot device. This is not something to take lightly or use to help a character grow. There are real consequences and often very dangerous ones. It just felt so utterly wrong.

Overall this one just wasn't for me but I truly appreciate the publisher providing an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

Diana, Lady Templeton, and Jeremy, the Marquess of Willingham, are always at odds. One particular argument leads to Diana betting Jeremy that he will be married before the year is out. After getting a bad review from one of his bed partners, Jeremy seeks Diana out because he knows she will tell him the truth. The wager and the agreement come to a head when both attend a house party.

Waters is a good writer, and while I normally enjoy an enemies to lovers story, this one just wasn’t my cup of tea. The dialogue between Jeremy and Diana led to bickering and I prefer bantering. I also found myself wanting to know more about each of them and what made them tick. I did appreciate that the first time the two made love, it wasn’t perfect from the start. I’d like to see more of this in romance.

I have to start by saying that I would've DNF this book around the halfway point had it not been for the fact that I received a copy on NetGalley.

I went into this book wanting to love it. The premise was super interesting and it contains everything I love in a regency romance. However, the execution wasn't up to par and I ended up being disappointed.

I love the "enemies-to-lovers" trope, but it didn't work for me in this instance. I didn't really believe that they hated each other (despite them repeating constantly that they dislike each other *sigh*) and I couldn't connect with them and their relationship.

One aspect of the book I really liked was that, for once, the hero isn't a sex god who knows everything about pleasuring women.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

One of the things I really enjoy in historical romance is when we have female characters who know and do their best to survive the male dominated world they live in.

These characters are fresh, and the ability of both Diana and Jeremy to be open to each other in the bed room, is not something we see often in historical romance.

I did not love that the main character essentially outed another character to the heroines friends. Up to that point I was very pleased with the representation in the book, and then my view of the heroine took a dive.

I really wanted to love this book since I'm a historical romance fan, but I didn't like the characters from the beginning or quite frankly, the entire premise of the story.

I would still recommend this to fans of the historical romance genre. Just because it didn't work for me doesn't mean it won't work for another reader. The story does have some lighthearted, fun moments.

The second book in Martha Water's The Regency Vows series, To Love and to Loathe features two side characters from the first book and their love story. Diana Templeton is a widow, and currently in the market for a super secret love affair. Jeremy recently was given a negative critique on his bedroom performance, and is looking for an ego boost with someone he trusts to give it to him straight. These two have always had a hot and cold relationship, fraught with sexual tension, so it seems they both suit the other's current needs. But are they both in danger of falling for the other as well?

The plot of this book is very similar to Evie Dunmore's second novel in her regency series, A Rogue of One's Own, which wasn't my favorite of her two. However, I enjoyed To Love and the Loathe even more than To Have and to Hoax. Loathe brought everything that I was missing from Rogue. I loved both of the characters so much, and there were even more antics and societal intrigue (along with a secret LGBTQ love affair!), and Loathe seemed to set up a love story for a third book - which I would be super excited to read.

You also got to see Violet and James in this story, and see bits and pieces of the aftermath of Hoax. I do think the plot line of Jeremy needing to be reassured on his bedroom prowess was a touch cheesy at times, but it led to interesting, feminist dialogue between the two in regards to relations between men and women in this time period - or what I would imagine they were like! I also just love the idea of a 2 week house party?? Like YES, sign me up now.

I highly recommend this romance, regency series by Martha Waters and I will just be here, impatiently waiting and hoping to hear that another will be coming!

**Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

Like the rest of the world, I’m suffering from a severe Bridgerton hangover. Heck, even my iPad and iPhone are suggesting that title anytime I type a “b” word in a text! I have been hankering for historical romance my whole life, but even more so now. They provide the BEST escapes, be it in book, tv, or movie form. That said Martha Waters’ debut novel To Have and To Hoax was one of my favorite romantic reads last year and her sophomore novel To Love and to Loathe featuring once again some of the characters from To Have and to Hoax, filled the Bridgerton sized gap.

Going into this one, I honestly wasn’t 100% sure this wouldn’t be anything more than a friends with benefits story focused on the physical aspects of Diana and Jeremy’s relationship, but it actually is so much more. For one thing, yes, the chemistry is off the charts, but the easy conversations and banter just make the leap from friends to lovers more believable! Also, I won’t spoil it, but the ending in the gallery room is hella romantic. BRB, am swooning.

Did I mention the supporting characters? Jeremy’s absolutely fabulous meddlesome grandmama? If you are a Lady Danbury stan, rejoice! There are also a few secondary relationships with a few additional characters that I’m intrigued by and hope to see expanded in detail in future books. I’m kind of sad that I read an arc of this in January since that means I’ll have to wait that much longer for book 3. :(

4 out of 5 stars

* I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not obligated to provide a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.*

Oh my gosh! This book, with all it’s originality in a genre that can be repetitive at times, was absolutely wonderful!

I adore a friends-to-lovers trope so I was instantly interested in this one after reading the blurb. There is no way I could have known how unique this story was going to be. With a hero and heroine that didn’t hesitate to say what was on their minds to each other. I was gobbling up the banter between them as fast as I could.

Once Diana had been married and soon widowed, she really came into herself. She embraced the freedom her place in society gave her and along with it came the opportunity to accept a scandalous proposition. Gah! I love scandalous propositions! And I loved Diana. She was bold and feisty, never hesitating to speak her opinion. She was exactly what Jeremy needed.

I struggled just a tad with Jeremy’s reason for the proposition. Afterall, here’s a man who has been horn-dogging around for years and the premise didn’t feel authentic for either him or Diana. However, I’m a lenient reader and I pushed that aside and had no trouble at all embracing everything else about these characters and the plot.

With secondary characters that I became just as invested in as Jeremy and Diana, I was pulled completely into the story. The laugh out loud moments were frequent, the chemistry believable and absolutely sizzled when this hero and heroine were alone together, and the ending absolutely perfect.

This is my second book by this author and I’m finding her writing to be fresh and original. These are not your typical historical romances. With characters that feel very modern in their behavior and beliefs, they, nonetheless, still fit very well in the historical setting where they’ve been created giving this a new, edgy feel. I love it!

I did not enjoy this book because the characters were too divisive and predictable. I enjoy a enemies to lovers trope, but the characters were not willing to let go of their hate towards each other for the sake of their happiness.