DNF. I really tried, but I couldn't connect with the characters. I love historical romance and reunited lovers is a trope I enjoy. But because Violet and James came off as vapid, frivolous, privileged, spoiled children with bad dads, I found little enjoyment in this book.

This book is described as a rom-com though I didn't find it to be such. James and Violet were so petty and immature to each other I felt no sympathy for either of them and found little humor in their actions. Really, all they needed to do was sit down and TALK.

I read to relax and for escapism, but as I read further through this book I kept getting irritated and more annoyed, definitely not relaxing.

I loved the whole book from start to finish. Violet wants to teach her husband a lesson after she runs to his bed side, thinking he is near death only to find him up and about at the same inn she has stopped at. This leads to a humorous back and forth between husband and wife. I read it so quickly wanting to find out how their marriage would over come each mess the two seemed to put each other in. So funny and real!

And to think I almost didn't read this book. I have rarely ever had a publisher reach out to me via e-mail with a widget for a book that I didn't already request or show interest in. As I was going through my g-mail last night I stumbled across an e-mail from a person in marketing from Atria and saw they were giving me the chance to read this book. I kind of grumbled to myself at first because well, I'm always in way over my head with ARCs to read but THANK GOD I decided to read the blurb. This cover is....not my favorite...and I tend to judge books by my cover even though by now I should know better. THE BLURB THO YOU GUYS. I am not a person who reads historical romances. I don't know why, obviously, since I loved this book but it's just not been a thing that has interested me in the past. Again, thank God for the blurb. It piqued my interest IMMEDIATELY. I mean like, go read it yourselves. How can you not be intrigued???!?! A second chance romance with kind of a love to hate to love element thrown in??!? Something about it sounded very appealing last night.

We get a prologue of how these two meet...and of course it starts out with possible ~Ruination~, a balcony scene, and quite an unexpected proposal. Immediately sold. If there's one thing I will NEVER, EVER get enough of, it's a quality fucking balcony scene with illicit behavior and witty banter. Fast forward five years. Violet and James, after a whirlwind proposal, marriage, and first year madly in love, have become estranged. They barely see each other, speak to each other, or touch for that matter. After receiving a letter than James has been in a riding accident and is possibly in a coma, Violet rushes to go see him. The two pass each other on the road and Violet finds out that James is fine.

What ensues is a pretty messed up, hilarious, and also frustrating war between the two. Violet pretends to have consumption, James pretends to want to take on a mistress (in front of Violet), and the two go round and round. Throughout the book we get snippets of *The Argument* that happened between them to set them on this path of silence and misery. Ugh. There were certainly times that these two pissed me off. They were two of the most STUBBORN characters I've ever had the pleasure reading about. All of their friends were constantly telling them to JUST TALK but noooooooooooooooooo. One of them has a breakthrough and the other immediately shut that shit down. It was torment. But. For some reason it didn't get to me in the slightest. I ate that crap up and hungered for more. Like it just built up and built up and FINALLY...that first kiss. I melted. The tension between the two was so palpable by the end I loved it. And even though it did take them the entire length of the book to work their problems out, I loved how it all finally went down. It took time and effort and they sorted EVERYTHING out before completely reconciling. Honestly I haven't devoured a book so fast in AGES and I pray there are more coming. If I could voice once complaint it would have to be that the writing took some times getting used to. There's quite a few (in my English major opinion) run on sentences at the beginning that I felt like I had to re-read a few times to truly understand the gist of but that seemed to get better as time went on!

P.S. I need Diana and Emily stories now, plz thanks.

Huge thanks to Atria books and NetGalley for allowing me to review a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion! ♥

A delightful romantic comedy from a debut author. After a whirlwind romance. Lady Violet Audley and Lord James Audley got married and lived happily ever after for about a year. As a result of a huge fight, the two have been living separate lives for the past four years. After being called to James' side, only to find that she wasn't actually needed, Violet is determined to strike back. Violet decides to be struck with consumption in order to incur James' concern. James quickly sees through the ruse, but plays along leading to increasingly ridiculous ploys, neither one of them ready to call it quits. For the first time in four years, the two are paying attention to each other, and they are having trouble remembering why they no longer together. This is full of witty one-liners, appealing secondary characters (maybe a lead-in to novel two?), and some delicious sexual tension. Any lover of historical romance will gobble this up in one sitting.

Pretty funny. Could’ve been funnier actually. I like absurd, screwball comedy, and this didn’t get that crazy, but I liked it. Good cast, which I expect to see in subsequent volumes, though no series has been officially planned. Give it a shot.

1812, In Regency England Lady Violet Grey is 18 years old “with a respectable fortune and unimpeachable bloodline” and quite curious in nature. Warned by her mother that her curiosity would only ruin her.

It seems as her ruining process starts with Jeremy Overington, Marquess of Willingham and “notorious rakehell.” Before she knows, his mouth is covering hers. Then over the Marquess’ shoulder, she sees the most handsome man she’d ever seen. In “a shaft of light,” she recognizes the handsome face to belong to Lord James Audley, the second son of the Duke of Dovington.

1817, Violet Audley has been married for 5 years and estranged from her husband for 4 years. Her consolation are her two friends, Diana and Emily. While having tea with her friends, Violet receives a message informing her of her husband’s fall from a horse.

Afterwards, Violet with her friends plot different scenarios to attract Violet’s husband back to her.

I knew this was going to be a frivolous read and I picked this book for its humor. The prose and humor are superb. This part deserves 5 stars.

However, the plotting and the game between husband and wife get tiring. After a while, it’s like – come on, enough is enough. I understand we’re dealing with aristocrats, who have plenty of time for such games, but still I couldn’t take it after a while. The plot gets 3 stars.

So how do you rate phenomenal prose and humor, but annoying plot? Compromise is 4 stars.

What a fun twist on a traditional historical romance. All the typical tropes and elements are there, but the element of deception (that isn't really deception) gave the whole thing a fun turn.

Great title. Fun plot setup. I wish it had leaned harder into having its characters rise to the silliness of this premise. James and Violet do try to one-up and aggravate each another, but part of me wanted it to be bawdier and kookier all around.

The biggest problem I have with historical romances is that the characters have to be human anachronisms. No Victorian sense of religion, ethics or morals, or class attitudes are allowed to creep in, because modern audiences would hate everything about that. Usually the only one allowed to be psychologically Victorian is the bad guy.

So it's better to think of historical romances as fantasies instead. From that point of view, James and Violet are cute, their romance charming, but their war STILL really needed to up the ante. What about a nice laudanum prescription or some leeches? Cod liver oil? Laxatives? Victorian medicine such amazing quackery, so it's a huge loss that Waters didn't go all the way down that rabbit hole. (Though neither of her characters ever bother looking up consumption's symptoms, either.) Rumor has it that some doctors treated female patients diagnosed with "hysteria" by, uh, handily providing <i>la petite mort</i>, if you know what I'm saying.* Total missed opportunity!

*So lots of articles say that's an urban legend, but this is a fantasy we can do what we want.

A funny rom-com of husband and wife trying to outwit each other while standing stubborn on a years-old argument. Sweet and worthwhile read!