This was a funny and entertaining little story about two people who married young, fell out due to an argument, and took forever to realize they should own up to their own failings and apologize. There was a bit of “comedy of errors” about the whole thing, with James and Violet trying to outdo each other for attention. I enjoyed the back and forth, and thought the characters came along nicely. I did find myself skimming at points, and thought the story took some time to get going. I am looking forward to the next one, though!

This type of book was totally out of my norm, but because I jumped on the Bridgerton bandwagon this winter I wanted to slowly introduce myself to reading a historical romance. To Have and to Hoax was a perfect intro for me. As reader of chick lit, contemporary romance and rom com's this book helped blend all my favorites yet all in the regency era background. Some of it was just plain silly between the two main characters, but it was great escape reading. I wouldn't be mad to see a series of these books.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to discover such a fun book.

I have mixed feelings on this book. Did I enjoy it? Yes. I’m in love with the premise - married couple who fell in love at first sight and married right away, but only one year into being happily married have a fallout that causes them to not speak for four years. Until they start a battle of tricks and fake illnesses to get revenge on one another/get the other’s attentions. It’s basically my favorite episode of friends (they don’t know that we know they know we know 😂). However, I don’t think it was executed as well as it could have been. First, there was NO sexual tension until about 40% of the way into the book. I’m sorry, a couple who is still in love/find each other attractive, even if they refuse to admit it, and have been celibate for four years, and there’s no tension at first? No. There should have been tension from the get go. And the reason for the fight was so ridiculous, that that would have caused a four year stalemate, it just made me very frustrated. It’s one of those cases in which the entire problem of the book can be resolved by just simply communicating. As well the writing was often repetitive, and went back and forth way too much. I think with a little more editing and a few tweaks to plot this could have been amazing. As is, it was a read that while I enjoyed it and did laugh at most of the humor, and enjoyed what little steam there was, frustrated me overly too much to completely fall in love with.

Who doesn't love a Regency Rom-Com? TO HAVE AND TO HOAX was delightful, funny, and filled with wit. Water's has a new fan in me and I cannot wait to read her next book in the series.

Violet and James fell in love at first sight and married young. The first year of their marriage was idyllic until a misunderstanding caused a rift for 4 years. When James was briefly injured but didn't let her know, Violet decides to enact revenge by having him think she is sick. A comedy of errors as they try to outdo each other. Of course a simple conversation would've solved all their problems, but it was a fun story getting to that point.

I loved this book. A little comedy and a little sweetness, it made for the perfect read. This romantic comedy is perfect for anyone who wants to a heart warming second chance romance.

This started off strong with great banter and a fierce heroine, but it ended up dragging on way too long. The reveal of the big conflict was done poorly and the characters seemed very immature and lacked emotional growth. On the plus side, I thought this was good for new historical romance readers.

Thanks to Atria and Netgalley for my copy to review.

This book was funny, sexy and a light, quirky Victorian era read. Thank you #netgalley for allowing me to review this book (better late than never - I have a long list to get thru).

Light-hearted, romantic Regency fun! A very enjoyable story about a battle of wits between a husband and wife who love each other, but can't get over a devastating argument.

I had put this book off for a long time because of the mixed reviews. I also a lot of people had DNFed and I wasn’t sure if I’d end up liking this. But I’ve since learned that I can’t let the opinion of others color my own. So I finally gave this book a go. And oh my goodness, I’m so glad I did!
To Have and to Hoax was a surprise for me. Although it started out a bit slow, and the lack of communication between James and Violet was at times, aggravating, in the end, I feel it was all so worth it!
People often complain how Violet and James are immature in their actions, and it’s true, they are. People keep telling them to talk to each other and you wonder what’s so hard. But the further you go into the story, the more you understand their situation. And often I think modern readers forget that things were not so simple in historical times. There was no communication classes and marriage counseling.
When the story reaches its conclusion, both James and Violet learn how immature their actions throughout the book were and they ADDRESS all their actual problems and learn how they need to communicate and trust each other and it’s not just about forgiving and having great makeup sex (even though we get some of that as well.)
Ultimately, all the drama and Immaturity is worth it and you get a lovely second chance romance with some funny, bitter and tender moments.
I’d say it’s about 4.5-5 ⭐️

It’s rare when you receive a romance novel that it’s focused on a couple that already been married for a significant amount of time. After all, don’t you want to hear about how they first met and went from enemies to lovers? But Waters takes a new approach in To Have and To Hoax and it pays off in tenfold.

Lady Violet Gray and Lord James Audley fell in love the moment they met and got married quickly after. They had a whirlwind first year of marriage, the worst fight (the world war three of fights), and they have barely spoken in the last four years. But Lady Violet is ready to end this fight and teach her husband a lesson.

The result? A novel filled with ridiculous antics, hilarious pranks, ongoing manipulations, and ongoing flirtations. Waters did an excellent job with creating fun characters in this novel that you want to continue hanging out with. I can only imagine who her next novel will be about and I’m already counting down until it’s arrival.

To Have and to Hoax is an adult historical romantic comedy by Martha Waters. I love romantic comedies, but I have not read to many historical rom coms, so when I saw this one on netgalley, I was intrigued to say the least. And I have to say, To Have and to Hoax was a lot of fun, and it was really very funny! It is a big game of one upping each other between a husband and wife that had me laughing several times while reading. I did have some minor annoyances, but overall I thoroughly enjoyed myself while reading To Have and to Hoax. 

In To Have and to Hoax, we meet our married couple, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley. They have been married for 5 years, but we soon learn that they have not had a great marriage for most of that time. But that all changes when Violet thinks her husband has fallen off a horse and was badly injured. When she finds out that is not true, she decides to get even and tell him that she is sick. And from there the games begin. They keep trying to one up each other. It kind of reminded me of a historical version of the Friends episode where Rachel and Phoebe find out about Monica and Chandler dating, and they decide to play pranks on Monica and Chandler stating "they don't know we know". And then Joey gets involved and Monica finds out that they are pranking them and that they "know" so they decide to prank them back, stating "they don't know we know, they know!" and the whole thing spirals out of control...in a funny way. That is exactly this book. It is a lot of fun, but I do feel like it went a bit too far at times. I liked their interactions and their flirting, and I really liked the two of them, but I kind of wish the grew up a bit and each apologized to each other. But they are both so stubborn that I understand why it didn't happen that way, I just wish it did. 

Which brings me to my other little annoyance. It felt like James took the brunt of apologies, when I firmly believe that the fault lay squarely on both of their shoulders. But other than those minor issues, I really did have a lot of fun while reading To Have and to Hoax. I think there are so many funny scenes that will have you giggling and laughing out loud, and rooting for our couple to just admit that they do care about each other. All in all, this book was a total good time! If you are a fan of historical romances and of Romantic comedies, I think you will enjoy To Have and to Hoax.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was an easy read! I blew right through it. I enjoyed this so much. I really enjoyed this so much. Such a flawless easy read. I loved the characters and the plot. 10/10

Thank you kindly to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this review copy.

This book was not what I expected it to be. I was thinking fun, snarky conversation between them but it was not that at all. It just was flat and a little bland. I had a hard time finishing this book, and skimmed a lot of it. The blurb did not live up to the expectation I put on this book after reading it. I was so disappointed in the heroine character, at one point I just put the book down and picked it up a few months later. I got hung up on the actor who is playing a doctor but then leaves her husband his real card, I was like what? This makes no sense at all. So I put the book back down and a few months later picked it up again. It just wasn't funny at all and what was the hoax? I missed so much of this book because I just couldn't keep reading on at some points then when I picked it up months later I forgot how bad it was then started reading and remembered why I put it down. It just wasn't for me.

To Have and to Hoax is the fluffy, silly, comedic romance that we all need right now. Sometimes books described by marketing as romantic comedies aren't actually that, but this one absolutely fits the bill, and it made me smile all the way through.

I'm so deeply impressed with Waters' debut, because this book so easily could not have worked. The idea very easily could have been terrible, because it's about a couple who instaloves on one another only to immediately get trapped in a marriage of convenience who is super happy for a year before they have a VERY DUMB fight and proceed to freeze each other out for four years. Most of the book takes place after they've been kinda sorta separated for four years, but also they're still living together most of the time despite having two houses because they both still love each other and can't bare to be apart. Basically, hero and heroine are stubborn idiots. Thankfully, they're also charming, stubborn idiots.

Why does this plot based on an idiotic failure to communicate work when most of them are frustrating as hell?

1) The timeline takes a fresh perspective on this. In a typical romance novel, they would have had the big argument maybe halfway into the book, and then another quarter would have been the fighting, followed by a quick reunion in the last quarter. Because of the lack of time devoted to it, none of it would feel earned, either the drama of the fight or the reunion. Since Waters skipped all of that, aside from some quick back story recaps, the reader's connected to this adorable couple from the first chapter who instaloved and bantered, and things can only go uphill from there. The failure to communicate is a presupposition rather than a midway plot point.

2) Although Violet and James are pissed as hell at each other, it's also cute as shit how he doesn't like to sleep in a different house. They eat silent dinners together for YEARS, because that's better than not eating together. They snipe at each other constantly, and they both hate it but also love/respect the other one's quick wit. Normally, a major failure to communicate makes me feel like the couple does not belong together, but these two are so weird and stubborn and similar and obsessed with each other that they honestly don't seem like they could ever be with anyone else. Also props for neither ever considering being unfaithful in any real way. They're basically in a state of holding themselves back from the tension of a NOW KISS the entire book, and I ship it soooooo much.

3) This book is silly, hilarious, and bantertastic from start to finish. It's madcap. It's a romp. It does not take itself seriously. As yet, I haven't found too many historical romance authors that can do comedy well enough to sell a ludicrous plot, but Waters has that magical element. Is it hard to believe a couple like this could be real? Yeah, but who cares! This book is about fun! It's a rom-com to the bones, and it's so damn fun to watch Violet and James scheme it out.

Violet and James both spend the whole book trying to win a war to prove who was right in that big argument that estranged them, and their tactics are syndicated comedy stupid wonderful. If this book wasn't inspired in part by the Friends episode where Rachel and Phoebe hassle Chandler and Monica who they've realized are secretly dating, I'll eat my bonnet.

Even better than the fact that Violet and James are lovely dumb dorks, I adore the secondary cast, which imo is the true sign of an absolutely amazing romance. They have two best friends each, all of whom I love and want romances for DESPERATELY. I would also like more about West and Sophie. It can be tough to keep that many characters straight when they're not well-developed, but I could tell you about all of their friends. Obviously, everyone is constantly meddling and snarking and bantering, and it's the best.

My only complaint about this book is that THERE IS NO SEQUEL ANNOUNCED. Excuse me, I need my book about Jeremy and Diana. Drop that book deal announcement. We all need joy in quarantine.

A "hoax" is defined as a humorous or malicious deception. Neither description fully fit the tricks these characters played on each other. They were just grasping for attention.

While the period vernacular and costumes were amusing, the main characters were mostly just annoying. That would have been okay, if they’d learned their lessons and moved on. Instead, this book felt like it was ending at least four times before it actually did. It sounded like even their friends were getting tired of pointing out the obvious to them—“Did you try talking to him/her?”

Overall, the writing was good and the characters could have been redeemed, but the plot started feeling too loose to just wrap up. The best part of this was that they got steamy every time they almost made up, and those scenes were well done. A few of the characters also hinted at future conflicts—will there be a follow-up? I’d give this book 3 out of 5 stars and recommend it for those who enjoy period fiction and romantic comedies.

I was invited to read the ARC of Martha Waters’ book, To Have and to Hoax, by the publisher Atria Books of Simon and Schuster in exchange for an honest review. It’s a historical rom-com that is funny and sometimes sexy, but simultaneously sad and maddening.

Violet and James married for love, completely clueless they were set up by their parents. As the parents continue to manipulate them, they begin to distrust each other. James begins spending more and more time away from home working with his horses, and is determined to convince his domineering father he is a good manager of their estate.

When Violet receives a note saying James has been thrown from a horse, she panics and rushes to be at this side. His friend forgets to send another note that James is unhurt. When Violet stops at a tavern to change horses, who does she see but James and his friends?

Thinking he doesn’t care that she was so frightened, she becomes more distrustful, and hatches a scheme to teach James a lesson by faking consumption. He, of course, sees through her charade, and plays it for all it’s worth.

This is a fun, easy read and, if you’re like me, you will find yourself wanting to yell at both of them to stop being stupid, and tell each other the truth. If you want a good laugh, and a lesson on how not to conduct a marriage, To Have and to Hoax is one you will definitely enjoy.

What made The Grumpy Book Reviewer grumpy?
Granted, this was an uncorrected proof copy, but most of these things should have been caught earlier:
• Non-English words not italicized;
• Excessive unnecessary use of “that”;
• Referring to people as “that” instead of “who”;
• Multiple missing commas;
• Incorrect verb usage: wasn’t vs. weren’t,
• come vs. go, bring vs. taking, come vs. go
• wasn’t vs. weren’t;
• Multiple split infinitives;
• An occasional typo.

There were some really cheeky and fun parts of this that I loved but ultimately, the childish charades from both Lady Violet and Mr. Audley went on a little too long. I thought the premise was really good and I liked the whole cast of characters, but I felt like I needed a little bit more realism/sense of setting. I also wished Violet and James had reconnected a little sooner.

3.5

Thank you for an advance copy of To Have and To Hoax. Unfortunately I DNFed this book. I just couldn't get into the plot and wasn't able to connect with the characters. Reading is a struggle during COVID.