To Love and To Loathe - how do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

First and foremost, this book could be read as a standalone, but I highly suggest/insist that you read To Have and To Hoax first because it lays the foundation, you're introduced to Diana and Jeremy, and it will be love at first read, I promise.

Diana and Jeremy are known among their circle and the ton for their borderline hostile relationship and frequent exchange of barbs. They'd rather die before admit it, but they each look forward to their exchange of sharp-tongued wits at gatherings. So it's not unusual when Diana bets 100 pounds that she'll see Jeremy, who's thoroughly content with short-lived affairs, married within a year. Not one to back down from a challenge (certainly not one from Diana), Jeremy takes the bet. What better time for Diana to lure Jeremy into marriage and win 100 pounds off him than during an extended group stay at his country home? But Diana's plans start to go awry. Jeremy has proposed a mutually beneficial bedroom agreement that's too tempting for Diana to pass up. Jeremy's grandmother sets her sights on Diana as a suitable wife. And as Diana continues to drive Jeremy toward an eligible miss, Diana can't help but feel that more than her plans are changing.

Diana's character is one for the ages: she's a cunning, snarky, feminist that knows where her place in society is and successfully outsmarts it. Jeremy is burdened by the early death of his older brother and hides behind his carefully crafted persona as an amorous rake. Together, they're a combination that you can't help but root for, because both have hidden depths that only the other can see, brought out by the comfortable companionship they've built with each other during years of sharing sarcasm and teasing. Their friendship with each other throughout the novel makes you laugh out loud.

So many things go right with this book. The plot has a twist that I haven't often seen in historical romance. The characters are unique and you're silently hoping the secondary characters will have books of their own. The romance is a slow burn and just enough steam to make you fan your face. I loved how much their relationship was built up over time and the healthy amount of swoon (there is such a thing as too much swoon, as we all know). The dialogue and humor is truly, loud-out-loud funny and also makes you want you to call your own best friend:

"Very well," Violet said through gritted teeth. She looked at Emily once more. "There are–other ways to achieve completion, without the presence of a...um..." she floundered.
"Instrument of love?" Diana said, straight-faced."

Over all, this book makes your heart that's three sizes too small grow three sizes larger. It's a witty, endearing regency romance that will pull you out of a reading rut and put a smile on your face the entire way through.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC!

Let me start by stating two things. 1) I haven't read To Have and To Hoax prior to picking up this book and 2) I used to love historical fiction yeaaaars ago. Granted, I was a whole lot younger then, reading YA books.

So, when I saw "To Love and to Loathe," I thought- why not give it a try? I thought, I'm in my mid-twenties, I can handle not YA for sure. Pride and Prejudice is basically my favorite written work on the face of the planet, so what could go wrong?

Well. Ends up that I don't really like historical romances. So much so that I couldn't really finish this book. I tried multiple times throughout the past few weeks, but just was never quite too pulled into it.

However, there are some things I enjoyed about this read. I enjoyed the witty banter between the two characters, especially in the beginning. I can honestly see this all play out like a good tv drama. I love how Diana just does her own thing and doesn't care- very Elizabeth like from P&P, if you ask me. Jeremy is hecka charming, and right off the bat, I knew he was already smitten with her. Obviously- they're meant to be, even if Diana doesn't want to admit it.

My drawbacks with this book mainly rests on the content. Yes, their banter was great, but at times I just felt like the whole book was drawn out. Yes it was steamy, but I didn't expect it to be that steamy and mostly consist of steam, so that was one big reason why I put it down. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind steam. Buttttttt when it seems that the book is mostly revolved around it, I'm not a huge fan. Give me depth! Give me realistic struggles! Inward battles! Give me a slow burn! Give me a guy with a deeper personality, with his own deep struggles, a guy who cares more than just about what happens in the bedroom! A guy who's passionate- and not just /that/ kind of passion!

*Sigh*

I think this book will definitely have some readers loving it- but it just wasn't for me, and that's alright! Give it a shot, and who knows, maybe you'll love it!

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for sending me a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

To Love and to lothe was definitely a fun romance to read during the pandemic and I enjoyed reading it for sure. I enjoyed Martha Walters' writing and would love to read more of her books!

Fun & clever, this Pride and Prejudice storyline with modern updates is sure to delight! Charming characters with some steamy feels and witty dialogue.

To Love and to Loathe started off strong for me, love a good enemies-to-lovers trope but did start to drag a little bit on for me towards the end.

Diana and Jeremy are complicated characters with emotions they don't know how to express. Making them a volatile but perfect match. After making a wager that Jeremy will marry in the next year, the two establish an arrangement that will suit them both in the bedroom and in society. Their arrangement is going well for both of them until *gasp* feelings come into play. Diana and Jeremy have to work through their own issues and try to learn more about each other in the process.

If you enjoyed Bringing Down the Duke, I think you'd like this one too.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love both enemies-to-lovers tropes and regency romance, and this was an overall entertaining and well-written combination of the two. The characters are charming, and had clear chemistry even though I hadn't read the first book in this series - always a concern of mine when reading something that had a prior context. I liked this book a lot, but ultimately ended up feeling unsatisfied with it. The relationship was the perfect amount of intense and I loved HOW the book ended - just not the pacing of the end. I was very much enjoying the ride of this book, and then felt like it suddenly ended. I was so eager to see how their relationship progressed in the latter part of the book, but it was suddenly over! Ultimately though, I would be interested in reading future books in the series and have been interested enough to check out the first book in the series too.

A fun take on enemies to lovers. I liked the glimpses into Violet and Audley’s reunion. The development and pacing were fun. Like To Have and To Hoax, there was some awkward word usage and some terms that were repeated a little too often such as raising an eyebrow. But nonetheless a fun and entertaining read.

If you are a fan of the Bridgerton series, you'll definitely fall head over heels for this new Regency-set romance. Here, Diana and Jeremy are enemies of sorts in their upper echelon of English society. The banter and poke each other quite a bit. So much so, that they agree to a wager the eligible playboy bachelor must marry within the year or she'll forfeit one hundred pounds. However, he has a counterproposal for her. Embark on a no-strings-attached, secret, affair during his fortnight-long party so she can prove he's not bad in the bedroom as a former paramour yelled at him. Hahaha, oh I love this book already. The widow Diana and Jeremy have so much banter that's so delicious as a reader. This whole book is so freaking juicy, like by the prologue alone, I was so into this story! Told through back and forth perspectives, this very enjoyable book is full of witty, captivating language and all the tropey romance goodness. These two characters have a certain level of tension between them, told through all their banter, that's so delicious to watch play out on the page. It's a compelling read, and one I just couldn't put down. Sure, it ends quite predictably yet it's still fun and cute.

To Love and to Loathe is a fun and refreshing read and I'm so glad I took the chance to read it! I love and enemies-to-lovers romance but wasn't sure how it would work with a historical romance. But work it DID! This is a must read book for 2021 and I recommend it to all romance readers!

Regency-era romance? High society schemes? Flirtatious frenemies? Yes please!

“To Love and to Loathe” by Martha Waters was a delightful, fun, and steamy read that will charm any rom-com or period romance reader. The book hits many classic rom-com plot points—a friendly wager, characters thrown together for an extended house party, heartfelt confessions, and old friends becoming something more. I was pleasantly surprised by the female protagonist, Lady Diana Templeton, who Waters wrote with such care and attention so that the reader deeply understood her internal battling desires for her independence and for the male protagonist, Jeremy the Marquess of Willingham. The scenes with Diana and Jeremy, whether flirting on the dance floor or getting intimate after hours, did not disappoint. I did not think the supporting cast of characters were fleshed out enough, though a few did stand out and provided some much-needed story progression. “To Love and to Loathe” quite funny and much more provocative than I expected. Quips like, “Of course Diana would read some sort of pornographic poetry about fellatio and, rather than being horrified, would think to herself, I can be good at that, too.”

Though a little formulaic, overall, I thought “To Love and to Loathe” was an entertaining read with a few surprising character elements and witty writing. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoyed “A Rogue of One's Own” by Evie Dunmore, “A Lady's Guide to Mischief and Mayhem” by Manda Collins, or “Red, White & Royal Blue,” by Casey McQuiston.

A thoroughly delightful romance. Lots of fun one liners and commentary on the roles of men and women. I really enjoyed that the heroine was a widow and not a blushing virgin.

Oh, wow. Another fabulous book by Martha Waters. Its' got everything I love - witty banter, Regency romance (Elizabethan? IDK. Still - England! Royalty! Fabulousness.), lots of heat, so much wit, and a delicious twist or two along the way. It was nice to see the characters I fell so hard for in To Have and to Hoax, and I can't wait for Emily's story. (IT's COMING, RIGHT????)

As with the first book, "To Have and To Hoax", this book was utterly charming. If I am honest, I think I may have enjoyed this one a tad bit more! I loved the relationship development between Jeremy and Diana. There was the perfect balance between humor and seriousness, and both characters felt so real they came off the page.

I cannot wait to see what couple is next in this wonderfully fun series!

This Regency rom-com is an enemies-to-lovers-to-friends w/benefits story that had so many of my favorite things going for it- snappy banter, saucy steam, and antics. Plus- a bit of forced proximity for good measure since it takes place over a fortnight-long party at the Marquesses country estate.

I enjoyed it, but I wanted more angst. More conflict. I loved the dialogue, but I craved more tension. In the end I am hung up on what I consider to be a character flaw of our heroine. Without divulging a spoiler, Diana discovers a deeply personal, heavily guarded secret of a fellow guest. What she does with this information left a bad taste in my mouth. I wish the author had treated that storyline with more care.

I have not read the first book in the series, To Have and to Hoax, but I plan to.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria for the ARC.

I seriously loved the first book in this series, so I was really anticipating this one! Also, the hero and heroine are set up as sort of frenemies-to-lovers, which sounded like fun. Unfortunately, I had a hard time wanting to go back to this each time I had to set it down. To me, the plot just didn't hold up--the tension and reasons supposedly keeping them apart just didn't play out all that realistically and their reason for getting together at all in the first place was also kind of implausible. I wanted there to be so much will they/won't they tension, but it actually just ended up feeling artificially drawn out. I also wanted to see the development of the characters' new feelings/realization of feelings build, and that fell flat to me, too. I may try the next book, as it seems pretty clear who those characters will be, but I'm even a little hesitant about their story too, based on what we already seem to know of the set-up.

This was a descent historical romance. I enjoyed the humor and some delving into the inner workings of the hero and heroine's minds, but I would have appreciated more depth.

So good. So, so, so, so good. I loved this book; I zipped through this book in a day because I adored the storyline, the characters, and most of all the witty banter. And this was such a quick read, I kept saying just one more chapter and the next thing I knew I was done with the book. I hadn’t read To Have and to Hoax, but immediately checked it out from the library while still reading this one. And, I cannot wait to read about everyone else; I especially hope Lady Helen gets a story, I’d love to know how that ends!

This was a fun, romantic romp with sincere moments along the way. How refreshing to see a male love interest not prickle at the first sign of constructive lovemaking criticism! Anyone would love the escape that reading about Diana and Jeremy provides. Wonderful side characters, as well! Lady Helen, especially.

To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters is a fun historical rom-com with two sarcastic and pragmatical characters tangled up in feelings they refused to acknowledge.

Jeremy was Diana's brother's school friend, and they knew each other forever but never really got along. She despised his carefree and womanizing ways, and he loathed her cold calm and determination in marrying a rich husband.

But beneath all the loathing lay a sizzling attraction that they both fought through endless banter and outright insult.

The story is well written, and the couple's repartee was fun and entertaining. Diana and Jeremy were flawed and clueless about what was going on between them, and it was kind of adorable.

The romance was spicy (definitively adult reading). I was not entirely convinced it was true love between them. They seem too practical and jaded for that, but I was happily proved wrong in the end.

To Love and to Loathe is a delightful historical comedy, great for a light and fun read in these crazy times we live in.

Disclosure: I received an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

*This review will be posted on https://lureviewsbooks.com on 04/06/2021*

Diana bets Jeremy, a known womanizer and a man she has been fighting an attraction to, that he will marry within the year. Jeremy accepts the bet but after having his ego crushed by his last lover, proposes they become lovers. Diana sees the arrangement as a way to help her win her bet.

The book is predictable, but it's a fun comfort read that doesn't take itself too seriously. Readers who enjoyed To Love and to Hoax will enjoy this one too. This also felt like a modern take on Regency romance that gave Diana the freedom to take on a lover.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.