This was a fantastic follow-up after To Have and to Hoax! I loved the witty banter between Diana and Jeremy. Their love story came about in a fun way and I felt invested in their happiness. Martha Waters does a great job of providing a realistic period romance and full character with life outside of the romance. This book made me excited for the third installment of the series!

Actual rating: 4/5 stars

The young widowed Diana Templeton and the charming rake Jeremy, are both members of English High Society and are known for their bickering and flirting. They've been at it for years because Diana is Jeremy's best friend's younger sister. At a ball, they make a bet that Jeremy will marry within the year or Diana will give him 100 pounds. Diana is shocked when Jeremy visits her at her home and proposes a different bet. Jeremy was recently questioned by a recent lover who criticized him in the bedroom. Jeremy wants Diana to help him test his skills in the bedroom and Diana gets a lover with no strings attached during a two-week-long visit. During this visit, Diana is simultaneously trying to fix Jeremy up with a woman while lusting after him herself, and developing feelings for him as she starts to get to know him better.

There was honestly too much going on in this book and I'm not really versed in historicals so I don't know if they normally have this much going on but I wasn't a fan. I liked a lot of the side plots but I think a couple could have been cut down on. I really liked the cozy setting in this book tho and it really added something.

The banter is what really saved this book for me because it was literally fantastic. It had me laughing out loud and Diana and Jeremy had so much chemistry it was radiating off the page. I also love how the author was self-aware and acknowledged a lot of issues of the time. It talked about heteronormative relationships, patriarchal norms, the lack of woman's autonomy, finances, and independence. It was also so sex-positive which I loved.

Thank you to Atria Books, Martha Waters, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was super cute. I think I liked it even better than To Have and to Hoax. I love Diana as a character. I did feel like Jeremy was entirely defined by his brother’s death and his subsequent philandering and I wish he’d had a bit more depth. However, the secondary characters were surprisingly interesting. I loved the Lady Helen subplot, and Jeremy’s grandmother and Diana’s maid were great characters.

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I found this to be an enjoyable read, keeping me on my toes throughout. The storyline was written well and flowed seamlessly. I look forward to reading more by this author!

Diana, Lady Templeton, and Jeremy, the Marquess of Willingham, have always sparred with each other, since she was a child and he became friends with her older brother as a teenager.

Now, after two years of widowhood, Diana decides to make a wager with Jeremy, betting him she can have him married within the year. Not long after accepting said bet, Jeremy, a notorious womanizer of widows, asks Diana to become his bed partner in order to critique his performance. They are to partake in these activities for two weeks at a party at his estate. However, will their finally consummating their sexual spark make them realize there is something more to their rivalry than disdain?

Firstly, the banter between Diana and Jeremy is impeccable from the beginning. You can feel the heat between them, simmering just beneath their barbed words.

Diana found herself an old, agreeable husband to move out of her aunt and uncle's home (having felt her whole life as though she were a burden to them), but her husband soon died after, leaving her with the freedom she had always craved. She is level headed, honest, outspoken, and firm on her beliefs that women are completely mistreated by society.

Jeremy, on the other hand, is a womanizer. Jeremy inherited his title, after the unexpected and preventable death of his older brother. He feels as though he is not worthy, having never expected the role and having never had much expected of him. Because of this he believes he has no rights to burden a woman with himself, being a second prize. So, instead he partakes in pleasure from women who are already married or widowed (as he chooses not to follow in his father's footsteps of getting young maids pregnant). He is honest, loyal, caring, and oblivious to his place in society. He does not realize the power he possesses, or the lack of power the women of society are forced to hold.

This book talks a lo about a woman's place in Regency England. She is property, she has no ability to live her life freely. Any money she has is her families, and she must be married off, so as not to be a burden to them for life. If she cannot be married, than she is cloistered away with little money or frivolities. The novels highlights of this time has me so angry and sad. As well, it pointed out how completely out of tune aristocratic men are to a woman's situation. How even a poor aristocratic man has more power than the wealthiest woman (yuck)! Even worse, the use of young women in service as sexual playthings for wealthy lords, who then just throw them away.

I did wish for more intimate scenes, there was a lot of build up only to end with talking and holding off on the intimacy. Although, this lead to deeper connection and trust between Diana and Jeremy, I think that the same connection could have been achieved with both sexual and emotional intimacy.

I really liked the side characters as well. The friends of both Diana and Jeremy care deeply for them and try to steer them toward each other, observing the love between the two. They are honest, endearing, funny and sly. Each of them try to insert themselves into situations to help, which often does not go the right way. But they are doing it out of loyalty and love.

This novel does involve stupidity on both Diana and Jeremy's party, but they also work to be honest with one another and to honour the boundaries they set from the beginning of their sexual contract. It only happens that they realize they love each other along the way and are so emotionally stunted they do not know how to express themselves.

Adorable, easy to read historical romance! I really enjoyed To Have and to Hoax, and have been excited to read this book. It definitely lived up to expectations! This was a quick and happy read, making me laugh out loud and cry happy tears at points. Recommended highly, as I eagerly hope for Emily’s story!

3.5 stars. Young widow Diana is surprised by a visit from her brother’s best friend, Jeremy, a marquess with an unusual proposal. He’s recently had a bad review in the bedroom, and he’d like to have Diana critique his performance by embarking on a discreet affair during a house party he’s hosting. She shocks herself by agreeing. It should be a fun and harmless romp, unless of course feelings get in the way.

Like the first book in this series, this one felt redundant in parts. There were also some plot lines that never got resolved—beyond setting up not one but two couples for future books—and there was a missed opportunity for a satisfying payoff on at least one of them. Also like the first book, though, the secondary characters were entertaining and the main couple had great chemistry.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. My reviews can be read on my GoodReads account here: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/1335387-kelly

A very sweet read with a fun (although not unique) storyline where a wager about marriage ends with the two characters falling in love.

I'm a huge fan of the fake dating trope and To Love and to Loathe was absolutely perfect. The widowed Lady Templeton cannot help her nonstop banters with Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham. He always knows how to push her buttons which results with more fiery arguments, throwing meaningful insults, sizzling growing intimacy. But their reputations amongst the British elite is at stake - Jeremy needs to marry and produce an heir and Diana is looking to get her needs met after her much-older and dismissive husband dies.

After an encounter with his mistress leads to him being unable to perform in bed, Jeremy suggest to Diana that they start a tryst to 1. help him work on his skills in bed and 2. get the gossip to start that could signal the gentlemen of the ton of Diana's openness to take a lover.

This book was the perfect amount of steam and sweetness while also giving a nice build-up to Jeremy and Diana's romance. I love that the story included more modern issues set in historical times, and the side characters were the perfect sassy edition.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for the Advanced Reader Copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Dnf. Nothing really ever grabbed my attention w this one unfortunately. I felt the writing was also a little too cheesy for my taste. Lovely cover though and plot idea!

I’m so glad I read this! I liked this one much better than the first book. The chemistry between the characters was just spicy enough to keep me interested, but not too spicy to be in bad taste. I think if Bridgerton would have been like this, I would have liked it much more. I can’t wait for book three!

I received an advanced copy. All thoughts are my own.

I was pleasantly surprised! I would classify this as a recency Era rom-com! The characters were witty, sarcastic and so much fun. Diana a Widow who loves her freedom and independence. Jeremy, the Marquess of Willinghqm, the rake. Jeremy comes to Diana after complaints by his mistresses in the bedroom. Jeremy, Diana and their friends escape for a party at his estate and no better better place to start an affair.

This was okay. Not amazing, but I didn’t DNF! I just needed more to be brought into the story. Unfortunately I wasn’t wow’d by it.

I will not be fully reviewing this book. I started it, but was not in the right mindset to finish it. I was definitely appreciative of the content, and will surely pick it up again soon. I will then fully review.

I'm usually not a fan of historical romances so I have no idea why I requested this book but it was really good! I really enjoyed the character building and the whole overall story.

This is such a light hearted regency romance novel and I thorough enjoyed it! It felt a little bit modern but that’s alright, I could easily look past that. This was so fast paced and I enjoyed every minute!

Due to a family illness, and unexpected events, I am very far behind in writing my reviews.I found my self reading one book after another without writing the review -- that was a big mistake. I did enjoy this book very much. I happily give it 4 stars.

An excellent follow up to last year's TO HAVE AND TO HOAX. This was the book that I was really looking forward to, especially since I fell hard for the heroine, Diana, in the first book!

After his latest mistress unfavorably criticized his skills in the bedroom, Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham is looking for reassurance, so he turns to the one woman he trusts to be totally truthful, Diana. They also make a wager (who doesn't love some sort of sex/marriage bet?) that Jeremy must marry within the year or Diana will forfeit one hundred pounds.

What I love about Martha's writing is that her books read like a contemporary sitcom, but in Regency England. It's unlike anything I've read from any other author, so like it or not, there's no denying she's got a unique style to her work (one that personally, I love).

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 1/2

I put this book off for way too long and then binged it all one night last week. It was SO off the charts chemistry wise for this genre and I LOVED that. Such a fun premise - great characters - exactly what I look for in a historical romance. I haven't read the first in the series but I will continue from now on.

I feel so let down because I was looking forward to reading this book and when I did I found it to be a dud. My problem was that most of the book was told through internal monologues. There was not enough scenes between the H and H to make me care for these characters. The plot moved along very slowly with nothing much happening.