This book is perfect for Bridgerton fans!

I usually don't read historical rom coms but this book has changed my mind about them! It was so fun and sweet, sexy and light-hearted. And Diana is one of the best heroines I've ever read. She doesn't mind making jokes, she speaks her mind, along with societal norms and is just an overall delight to read.

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to witness a heroine that speaks her mind or lets a man know of her feelings first! You don't see that often and I wish I did!

It reminded me a lot of Bridgerton (the only other historical romance I've read) and I love that fact. I'm sure fans of the historical romance genre would love this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the earc in return for an honest review.

This was a really cute story but the time spent talking about Jeremy’s past was overkill. I liked the writing style and will have to check out more of her books

I was so excited to get the chance to read To Love and To Loathe! I loved Diana and Jeremys relationship, they really brought out the best in one another without even knowing it until they realized they were in love with each other.
3.75

I was so excited when I saw Martha Waters was writing about these two! I absolutely loved To Have and to Hoax and her new one, I feel, is even better!! To Love and to Loathe was such a great read! I loved the clever, witty dialogue between characters and how fast this book read. I didn’t want to put it down!

The storyline follows Diana and Jeremy. They have great chemistry and it’s everything you want in a frenemies with benefits troupe. I thought their banter was spot on and THE HIDE AND SEEK WINDOW MOMENT!!

This was a really fun read and I can’t wait for the next one!!

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I. Am. Obsessed. Martha Waters has my heart. I read To Love and to Loathe right after I finished the first one (To Have and to Hoax), and I don't know how but this one was even better. This book follows Diana (Lady Templeton) and Jeremy (Marquess of Willingham) after they make a wager that Jeremy, known town rake, will marry within the year. The two cannot stand each other, or so they thought... What follows is a hilarious, steamy enemies-to-lovers regency story that I could not put down. I would highly recommend to anyone that binged Bridgerton or just love a good enemies-to-lovers book as much as I do.

This book, as many others have said, is the perfect antidote after finishing Bridgerton. From the very start of the book, I adored, hated, and laughed with Diana's character. I understood her fears, her rejecting and careful calculation of how she was going to lead the rest of her life.

I also understood Jeremy, and his fears due to his grief, and his position in society.

This book made me laugh, it made me angry, it made me swoon. It made me do all the things a good book should do. Walters does an exceptional job of painting the perfect picture of early nineteenth century high society. So much so that it makes you feel as though you are right there beside her beloved characters. Laughing with them, rooting for them, even scolding them when it's needed.

This is the first of Martha Walters books I have read, but after completing this, my next stop is go to and devour every other piece of work she's written.

SWOON!
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A charming rom-com sequel to the splendid TO HAVE AND TO HOAX. This time sparks fly between two sharp-tongued flirters: lovely widowed Lady Templeton, and the bad boy Marquess of Willingham.

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Will Diana and Jeremy just exchange barbs, or will this thing spark into love true love? Ah heaving-bosomed reader, let me not spoil the fun but direct thee to the funny, sweet, sexy pages of TO LOATHE AND TO LOVE, out April 6. Perfect next read after watching Bridgerton!

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5 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 06 Apr 2021
#Toloveandtohold #AtriaBooks #NetGalley

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Thanks to Martha Waters, Atria Books and NetGalley for the review copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

I love an enemy to lovers romance book and this was no exception. Diana and Jeremy are not your typical Victorian romance characters. Diana is very happily divorced and Jeremy is very happily single when they decide to embark on a mutually beneficial partnership to improve their skills in the bedroom.
This book is a delightful and quick read with unexpectedly diverse elements and interesting viewpoints. I cannot wait for the next book in the series.

If you love Bridgerton or Bringing Down the Duke you will love Martha Waters books. After reading To Have and To Hoax I was worried this second book would be a disappointment. Guess what? It wasn't! Martha Waters is quickly becoming a must read author for me.

this is exactly what i needed after binge watching bridgerton. the enemies to lovers trope will always hold a special place in my heart and this arc also marks the first historical romance ive read and it sets my expectations for the genre very high. this was a very good book for me to branch out with and to get a feel for the genre. the characters were very witty and i loved the back and forth banter between jeremy and diana as well as their interactions. and the slowburn between diana and jeremy made me so happy when they finally confessed.

The blurb is wonderful which is why I was so happy when I was approved. The story started promising telling the story of Diana, Lady Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham and their slow burn of years to get to the point where they were ready for each other.

There is a lot of witty banter and this done well, it is too easy to cross the line in to meanness which the author didn't do and that takes a deft hand.

The premise too is fresh. Jeremy is having bedroom problems and wants honest feedback, who better than his sparring partner who is a widow who is looking to begin a few discrete affairs but needs to figure out how to begin the process. They can help each other out. So far so good!

However this is where it falls apart. There is too much time talking about Jeremy's past. It is jarring and takes the reader out of the romance, did we need to know how many housemaids? When he lost his virginity? And everything in between?

Diana meanwhile is spirited but somehow lacks warmth. I think more time should have been spent in fleshing her out in to a person instead of a composition of traits.

Jeremy fairs better if you overlook the constant talk of his past.

I loved Jeremy's grandmother.

I felt this had the seeds of a really good story but it needed another revision to fix some of these issues.

A delightful mix of a Regency romance with a modern rom com feel. The sexy sweetness gives way to steamy swooniness with plenty of laugh out loud dialogue. With plenty of unexpected twists for good measure. I am smitten!

The excellent follow up to ‘To Have and to Hoax’, we follow the widowed Diana, Lady Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham who are infamous among English high society as much for their sharp-tongued bickering as their flirtation.

After an argument ensues that turns into a serious wager—Jeremy will marry within the year or Diana will forfeit one hundred pounds. 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 bedsport (it’s great seeing a woman destroy a man’s ego!), Jeremy is looking for reassurance, so he suggests that they embark on a brief affair because he knows Diana can provide him an honest critique of his bedroom skills and the widowed 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. Now cue in the swoon worthy moments, funny banter, unexpected twists and turns, and most importantly (in any romance) panty melting chemistry that had me going woo-wee!

I am more than pleasantly surprised by how much I actually liked this considering my dislike for the friends to lovers trope (only a few have succeeded) and after finding ‘To Have and to Hoax’ to be just an okay read. It didn’t exactly leave a lasting impression on me so when I received this ARC, I was a bit apprehensive. But thank the book Gods above for this was better than my wildest dreams. Marta, you've nailed it girl!

I will mention that the only drawback to this novel was the lack of sex scenes. Considering that the main characters entered an 'arrangement', we've received hot moments but what I was really anticipating were some steamy erotica or borderline erotica. Based on the premise, I had assumed we would have gotten more.

Nevertheless, the underlying attraction and sexual tension between Diana and Jeremy was everything. The characters were strong, fearless, shameless, bold, don’t give a fuck attuide had me wanting more. This couple honestly made this one of the best historical romcoms I have read all year and it’s well worth the wait, especially if you didn’t care much about the prequel.

Side note, with a premise such as this—this would make a great historical (romance) erotica piece in case there are some authors out there looking for inspiration. *hint hint*

To love and to Loathe: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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When you put two of my favorite genre , historical fiction and romance together and it will always be a Yes for me ! I didn’t read the first book, but the characters were mentioned in this one and now I need to get my hands on To have and to Hoax.
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This is an enemies-ish to lovers romance story , with a bit of steam. This writing was great, it was so easy to read and everything flowed. Now, let’s get to the plot. It was ok, but i wanted more from Diana’s and Jeremy story , more character development . Diana was not my favorite.
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My favorite part of this book was the friendship , the witty banter and interactions between the three ladies were goals.

If you, like me, watched Netflix’s Bridgerton over the holidays and now need a replacement Regency love story—without the Vitamin String Quartet covers of Taylor Swift songs—look no further than Martha Waters’ To Love and to Loathe. Echoing the show, Waters writes a regency romance about two wealthy, smart, beautiful people who enter into a friends-with-benefits, sex bet scenario. I’m picky about romance, and this author lives up to the task: tight, delightful writing; strong characters full of backstory and wit; enough mentions of the word “ton” for “town”; and zero gross anatomical metaphors. I read it in a day and longed for a sequel.

I included this in my preview of winter and spring titles for Book & Film Globe: https://bookandfilmglobe.com/fiction/seven-books-to-look-forward-to-in-2021/

Thanks to Atria and NetGalley for the ARC.

Absolutely delightful! Martha Waters is an absolute must for anybody who is looking to get into the historical romance genre (I’m looking at you, folks who are enjoying Bridgerton!).
Lady Diana is the leading lady that we need, Jeremy is swoon-worthy, and the banter abounds. What more could you possibly want? A must read!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a e-arc of this for a honest review. I liked this one more than I thought that I would I am trying to get into more historical romances and this one didn’t disappoint, though I did enjoy it the only thing that I had a slight problem with was it felt like the romance was a little rushed to me but other than that little thing the rest was good

First and foremost, I would like to say that I often find myself not wanting to be seen reading a romance novel because of the covers. This cover is beautiful and it makes my day to see a romance cover that can be taken seriously when on display in a store or bookshelf. 👏🏻

I loved everything about this book. It was a welcome transport from the emotional turmoil that has been the past year. I connected so much with the main characters of Diana (aka the widowed Lady Templeton) and Jeremy (aka the Marquess of WIllingham) and throughly enjoyed every moment of their bickering, flirting and overall chemistry. When they are in public together, it seems like they are constantly at each other's throats over trivial things, but it is a ruse for the electricity between them. In private their dialogue pulls readers into the characters themselves. We are shown what makes them tick and what is behind the masks they present to society.

I tend to give too much away if I carry on with the full plot , but I found myself sincerely hoping that this would be made into a movie at the end. Upon finishing this book, I immediately purchased Martha Waters' first book, To Have and to Hoax. I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Atria Books for the ARC of this book. I loved it so much
and have already preordered my own copy. 💗

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. This book is well timed with all of the current buzz about Bridgerton as it reminded me very much of the same era. While parts were entertaining with the back and forth love story, I felt it seemed slow to get to the ending that we knew was coming.

This book was just what I needed after watching Bridgerton. I adored the bickering and the sparks between Jeremy and Lady Templeton. The chemistry was flaming! This was a great beach read and just what I needed to escape world events.
Many thanks to Atria Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.