Member Reviews
To Woo and to Wed is the fifth and final book in the series by Martha Waters.
We finally get the entire backstory and a resolution to Sophie and West’s story. Goodness was it a great ride.
I couldn’t put this book down, which is to be expected after the first four books. The writing is great. The characters are amazing and entertaining as always. I did wonder if I always disliked Diana as much as I do in the last two books when I read her book.
I wanted more of West’s dad’s story. That’s my only real complaint. The author would start to talk about what he’s up to when he isn’t being awful, but then we wouldn’t hear about it again.
I recommend this book, this series, and this author. I received this ARC from Netgalley for my honest review.
I adored this series and Martha Waters' wonderful writing. I am so thrilled to see Sophie and West finally get their happy ending.
Waters has this uncanny ability to write characters with really lovely emotional depth while having fantastic banter throughout her novels.
This was a lovely second-chance romance. West is one of my favorite heroes I've read in a while. His dedication, his wit... THE YEARNING. I was so happy to see he lived up to all of my expectations, and he's definitely my favorite male lead of Waters' yet.
I will truly miss this series, but I cannot wait to see what she writes next.
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Thanks to Atria for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for review.
As I expected, I LOVED Sophie and West's story. And, I am so glad they finally got their HEA.
Sophie's sisters are a hilarious backdrop to all the shenanigans that a fake betrothal is sure to cause. West's father is back to cause problems in the love and marriages of his sons, but the 7-year pause in their relationship added some shrewdness and maturity to both main characters to outsmart him and finally end up together. It was a perfect ending to the Regency Vows series but now I don't know what I'm going to look forward to!
Martha Waters can do no wrong in my book. This series has been one of my favorite historical romance series to read. I love that Martha is a queen at writing witty banter. I'm always simultaneously howling with laughter and swooning. Highly recommend.
I enjoyed this series a lot and have recommended it to my library's patrons. I hope to see more book written by Martha Walters.
To Woo and to Wed is a sweet, ridiculous, histotical romcom. Having not read the previous installments in this series, I never felt lost or confused.
A second chance romance, this book was full of sweet moments and angsty longing. I did get irritated with the fmc at times as she seemed dismissive of the mmc's thoughts and feelings. I understood her hesitation but at the same time wondered if she had a hearing problem because the mmc addressed her concerns basically from the start. Communication issues are one of my last favorite tropes so I struggled to accept that as well as the initial issue from 7 years earlier. But I still enjoyed the book and the relationship progression. And the peaks into the previous characters' lives was fun and convinced me to read the earlier books as well
To Woo and to Wed is the fifth book in The Regency Vows series and focuses on Sophie and West. I enjoyed the second chance and dual timeline aspects of this story. I recommend picking up all of the books in this series!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication: February 6, 2024
I’ve read so many of this series, and I’ve deeply enjoyed each one! I think the only one I haven’t read is To Have and to Hoax. In To Woo and to Wed, Sophie and West are a fake engagement second-chance romance that’s really sweet and quite funny.
I really loved Sophie and her sisters. Just a lovely light read.
“No one forced you to do this, you know.”
“Perhaps you might have noticed that I have a peculiar difficulty in saying no to you,” he shot back.
——
He lifted a brow. “I’m finding it’s the pretending not to be in love with you that is the problem, actually.”
——
-fake engagement, regency setting, second chance romance 💍
-Sophie, a widow, decides to scheme with West, whom she was nearly engaged to 7 years prior
-West and Sophie had my heart! What a precious relationship 🥹🩷
-the chemistry between these two was so instant and adorable, you bet I was rooting for them since the beginning!!
-special shout out to when West calls Sophie a potato 😭🥔 that scene lives rent free in my head
-what a fun and easy read with so many amazing characters
-thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC!
4.5⭐️
I have been such a fan of all of Martha Waters’s Regency Vows books, but this was the story I was looking forward to most! It did not disappoint. I just adored Sophie and West and I am so glad to see that they finally got their happy ending.
The thing I love about Martha Waters is that she writes stories that are both funny and emotional. It’s a hard balance, and I think she’s improved with each book. And you can really tell how much she loves these characters, both individually and as a couple.
Also, I have to confess, if you asked me to describe my ideal regency romance hero, it would be West. Hot, serious, witty, and devoted? Yes, please, thank you.
I’m sad to see this series end, and I really hope to see more from this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc!
I received an ARC from the publisher, thank you Atria Books!
I've been waiting for this one, and it was well worth the wait. It gives Persuasion a new edge, and, as usual, Martha Waters takes regency romance tropes and infuses them with more contemporary concerns. I am grieving, because this is the last book in this series, but I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in romance (even if you haven't gotten through the rest of the series).
Finally - Sophie and West!! This was such a good conclusion to the series. The other stories were reminisced just enough so as not to overpower the main plot and the ending house party makes me wish I could spend a fortnight hanging with this crew!
Thank you Martha Waters for taking us on this journey!
**Thank you to Atria Books via NetGalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my opinion.
I enjoyed this book, but it does touch on all the characters from the first four books enough that I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read them all closer together. I had trouble at times keeping the characters straight (most of them have a title name and a familiar name to make it more confusing) and remembering what their story was.
3.5
This is the fifth and final of the Regency Romance series. As with the others, it’s absurd and cute and a bit more absurd. I hate that I can’t remember all the couples because they really throw the names around and I try to remember who is with whom and the backstory of each of their unions. I’ve vaguely remembered West and Sophia case. I went back to all of the summaries of the other books, but it didn’t cover the details I sought. I guess that’s the trouble with reading a series as it comes out.
Anyway, this is another cute book, though a bit too predictable, if you can even say that. We obviously know what happens in all of them, but this was a little too linear. Still, it wasn’t as annoying as some romances tend to be, so I still enjoyed it.
I don’t remember quite as graphic sex scenes in the previous book. There aren’t many in this (they can’t even be around each other long enough to do that) but the descriptions were a little more vulgar and some of the things they did would not be as common then especially for women. That’s all I’ll say about that.
Still, you know what you’re in for already if you’ve read the others. If not, consider yourself lucky that you can read them all at once and don’t have to try to remember who everyone is. You also get some updated info on the other characters. It’s hard to believe that this all was supposed to have happened within a year where everybody finds the love of their life.
Still, it was enjoyable. I kept going back to reread the previous paragraphs where something especially cute or swoon-worthy happened so that must be a good sign, well, unless you are trying to get through it. I read it within about 24 hours When I needed a positive distraction.
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for providing an unbiased review.
I've read a few of the books in the Regency Vows series and this one was my favorite. I love the story building that Waters has made within this series and the interactions between characters in her other books. It can easily be read as a standalone, but having read the full series allows you to see some of your previous favorite characters (Hi Jane!) I enjoyed that the book followed an "older" (she was like 25 so cmon now) widow who has experienced love and lost. This book is more than just a flimsy light romance. There is depth. West's accident left him with a cripple and some tragedy to hold on to. This aspect of his life is brought up to express concerns in self confidence and in a sexual aspect, showing that you can have a physical disability and still be seen as this sexy, powerful love interest. With Sophie, one aspect of her story that I loved was her opinions on having children. She mentioned how she never had them with her ex husband, but was not terribly disappointed in it. That is a vulnerable side of women that we don't usually get to see. We don't pity Sophie, instead we understand her on a deeper level. Their love was so clear and the tension was so strong. I have just adored this entire series and I'm upset that it is done.
The final installment of The Regency Vows, To Woo and to Wed *finally* brings the story readers are been waiting for: West and Sophie.
Once again Waters is pitch perfect with her humor, snark, and swoony second chance romance. I’m so sorry to see this series end but, man, what an excellent note to go out on!
Sophie and West have a complicated past--one that involves a near-betrothal, a near-death, a marriage (though not between the two of them), and a very brief dalliance once Sophie was widowed. But now, Sophie is facing the fact that her (also widowed) sister is worried about Sophie being lonely, and won't remarry until Sophie does, too. The only way she can think of to get her sister to marry the man she is so obviously in love with is to fake an engagement with West, who has his own reasons for agreeing to the scheme: to protect his mother's family home from his father's spite.
I love a fake relationship, and the fact that these two have a romantic history was a really fun addition to the trope. Watching Sophie fall deeper and deeper into planning the double-wedding of her nightmares, while certain she's not going through with it, and knowing that she and West have feelings for each other was absolutely delightful. This was the perfect ending to the Regency Vows series.
While I’m not ready to say goodbye to this series, Martha Waters did justice to her characters, and we can all rest easy now that Sophie and West are finally happy. I appreciated that the two of them had not just hurt to work through but also awkwardness with each other– they've been through A LOT in the seven years since West’s accident and Sophie’s marriage to someone else. This book is very Persuasion-coded and the second-chance romance plus fake dating is exactly my cup of tea.
Per usual, the wonderful friend group of the soon-to-be-couple act as absolute menaces every chance they get; hinting, raising eyebrows, and generally causing chaos all in service of getting the couple to admit they love each other. Every book has me fondly musing, I love these dummies.
Man it is so sad that this series is finally over because I love Martha Waters and her regency books so much! I've been waiting for Sophie and West's story since the start of this series and they did not disappoint. There was so much tension, just ugh!! I love a good "he falls first and harder" and I think the entire plot could be boiled down to that, which I mean in a 100% positive sense. Bop of a book. Easy to read regency romance. Read it y'all!!
If you're looking for a second chance romance, the hilarious drama between two exes, and all steamy love scenes, yes this is the book for you. Martha Waters, "To Woo and to Wed" is the first book I read from her, and honestly, I wanted to kick myself for never selecting her books. Absolutely amazing writing and a beautiful storyline. I love an all-out battle of the sexes, this is definitely a book for the ages.
10/10