I got a free copy of this from Netgalley and Atria books, along with the first novel in this series. I think I somewhat preferred the hijinks and the angst in the first book compared to this one, but this was still very enjoyable. As usual, Martha Waters is great at putting the com in romcom, and I did get a bit choked up at the end at Diana being so brave to admit her feelings to Jeremy. Love my independent queen.

Such a fun regency romance! I can't wait to read her new one: TO WOO AND TO WED and I'm also sad that this series is coming to an end.

To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters is super cute and such an awesome book.
This book is light-hearted and fun and the perfect read for Regency romance readers who are looking for witty, fun and delightful story.
All of Martha Waters's books in this series is simply the best!

I would like to thank NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read this ahead of its publication date in return for my honest review.

Entertaining and sweet - I really enjoyed the witty banter in this one! Enemies Diana and Jeremy, who can barely say three sentences to each other before one of them riles up the other, make an agreement. Diana will help Jeremy in the bedroom and by being his lover will help Diana attract more suitors. They both are against marriage. After being a widow, Diana wants her independence and Jeremy with is insecurity doesn't believe he would make a good husband. What could possibly go wrong? Seems like the perfect arrangement to involve no drama and feelings... and yet..... I loved the playfulness but also the seriousness in Diana and Jeremy's relationship.

Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for the digital arc in exchange for my honest review.

They annoy each other. Diana is Jeremy’s friend younger sister. They make an arrangement, Diana would critique his moves in the bedroom and Jeremy would act as her lover to attract men. It’s a very entertaining read, lighthearted and a bit of humor.

I wasn't sure if I would like regency romance, but I decided to give this one a shot because who doesn't love banter-y enemies to lovers with a sex pact??!!

Overall, it was fun, but there were times when I felt like it was dragging. I usually don't really care about how realistic a story is, but I was really laughing at some of the girlbossification of the women in this book. It takes place in the freaking 1800s, like I promise you no woman was acting like this.

I loved the sex positivity and communication between the two main characters.

Regardless, like I said, it was fun! I enjoyed it for the most part, and the ending made me feel good, so that's really all I can ask for.

Also, I wish men had thought processes like this in real life because he was so sweet and just went on and on about the littlest things he loved about her. GOD PLEASE GIVE ME A MAN LIKE HIM!!!!!!!!

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for the free copy!

I ended up DNF’ing this book around 30%. This is completely a me thing, but it was during this book where I realized I am not a historical romance girly.

The writing was good, but I’m just not into this particularly subgenre.

This book hook and ropes you in so quickly. You really find yourself picking it up and then not putting it down until its over. I really loved the banter between Diana and Jeremy not to mention this book was just hilarious as well. I am a real sucker for regency romance so not only did I love the characters but the way that Martha Waters described the setting of this really made me fall in love with the book.

I can't believe I forgot to review this one????

It was delightful??????

Y'all know I love some good banter and, gollyyyyyyyy Diana and Jeremy were full of it. Not quite enemies-to-lovers, but also not quite friends-to-lovers, these two were absolutely hilarious and I had a great time while they went through their "we're going to just keep this physical" delusions and realized instead they loved each other.

It was so precious. I love this cast of characters, I loved the open communication in the bedroom, I loved how vocal these characters were about the bullshit boxes women were thrown in, and I just had a great time being with these fools again.

Of course, I wanted to bash their heads in a few times, but they're dumb so it's okay. I knew it was coming.

So freaking fun and cannot wait to get to the next one. Emily and Julian are going to be *chef's kiss* I can already tell.

This book was wonderful. It was fun, sweet, and entertaining. I enjoyed the two main characters and their banter. They were both well developed for a historical novel and had more to them than you originally think. Sure there were some moments in the novel that made me question the character but what would a romance noel be without those moments of why would you do make that choice?

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Tension: ⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋
Intimate Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Scenes): 🔥
Humor: Yes! I found the humor quite delightful in this one.
Perspective: Third person from both the hero and heroine
Percentage which mains are first on page together: 1%
Cliffhanger: No
Epilogue: No

Should I read in order?
You may want to. I didn’t and I found this one fine as a stand alone but the group of friends is established and there’s quite a few mentions of prior events.

Basic plot:
After Diana challenges Jeremy that he will marry by the end of the year, they attend a house party where he proposes a new bargain.

Give this a try if you want:
- Regency (1817)
- London/house party
- childhood friends to lovers
- widow heroine
- unrequited love (might be a bit of a stretch – more like a light crush?)
- artist heroine
- heroine paints the hero
- fun banter
- LGBT positive
- emotionally strong hero (hero cries)
- wager – heroine wagers that the hero will be married within a year
- lower steam – I have it as 1 open door scene but I could have missed something?

Ages:
- I think the heroine is 23, I want to say the hero is late 20s?

My thoughts:
I really, really loved Waters writing style. I found it such a joy to fall into. I loved her bright characters, her dialogue and her humor so much!

Overall I think this would have been such a favorite if there was more steam. I think I was expecting more with the whole plot line being all ‘am I a bad lover?” and I really wanted more from the bedroom scenes in this one. I went back through my notes and I only see one (I guess I could have missed one??) but either way, it was way more of a slow burn and lighter than you would think with this plot.

Jeremy I found to be kind of a unique hero. I rather loved how he wasn’t as legendary in bed as he thought and Diana helps him along with that. I really enjoyed all the characters here.

I think I would try more by this author just because I loved her writing style so much. I’m not sure if all of her books are on the light side – at least I’ll be more prepared for the next one if that’s the case :)

Diana, the widowed Lady Templeton, and Jeremy, the Marquess of Willingham often argue and flirt in ton society. One evening a wager is made that Willingham will marry before the end of the season. At a house party in the country, a counter-proposal occurs. Willingham’s latest mistress criticized his skills in the bed chamber so he proposes a brief affair with Diana to help him gain confidence and stir gossip that Diana is ready to take a lover. However, will their affair help or hurt the wager?

While I’ve liked Diana, and Willingham, in the other books of the series, I didn’t love their story. Their book had too much going on with both plot points and side characters who have storylines then disappear. It seemed a bit rushed overall.

⭐️⭐️💫/5

THE BANTER!

i love this series for the banter alone. this enemies to friends to lovers story was so great! i loved diana and jeremy. you can tell from the very beginning that they're not really enemies so much as two people who love to needle each other and can easily get under each other's skin. when they finally admit their feelings, it's glorious!

i think this one resolved way too quickly and simply. and i definitely didn't like it as much as the first because there was never really that angst and tension. but this was still so great! i know i'm going to continue to love this series and can't wait to jump into book 3!

3.5
I didn't realize that A, this is the second in a series and B, that this was a regency romance, so I was surprised to enjoy this cheeky, entertaining sexy romance!
I loved the cover and yes, covers do sell!!!
Great for a quick and easy read.

I think I read too many of these types of books before I read this one, Nothing really stood out but it was a fun read!

3.5 Stars - I've been meaning to read this for a few years and Diana and Jeremy were quite the entertaining couple for their time period. They'd actually known each other since they were young and had an interesting relationship(if you want to call it that). These two were like a magnet that would bring them together at events but they were not known for being a loving couple. Oh no...these two liked to bicker and with the dual POV's we were able to see how each thought of the other. Personally I was a bigger fan of Jeremy who'd inherited his title after his older brother died and was trying to better his estate. Diana was a strong heroine too but wasn't as likable as Jeremy. It was fun reading through some of the incidents with these two though. There's even one point where he thinks "...she sounded less insulted by the prospect of being his mistress than by that of being his wife..."

She had been a widow for a few years and enjoying single life being solely reliant on herself. Meanwhile he's enjoying bachelorhood and as you can see from the back of the book, they make a wager after an argument which Jeremy then counters with another proposal. They'll have a brief affair and she'll help him in the bedroom. In turn after their affair ends it will look like she's discreetly in the market for someone new.

Sounds simple enough but as they meet at a house party, we find that things don't progress as smoothly. Diana's ultimate goal is to get him married within the year and looks for prospects at the party. There's other characters in this book and after looking up this author, some have their own stories in this series(no, it's not necessary to read them in order). The antics between everyone gave this story more fuel in the second half which I found helped pick up the pace. The first half doesn't have much in the romance sense but then we wouldn't expect it to with the wager. Things progress though with them and you wonder if one of them will finally give in. This book isn't filled with any deep drama but there was quite a bit of banter that kept you reading. What I also liked about this book which is different than many is that Jeremy seemed more in touch with this feelings than she did which doesn't happen often.

Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for the ARC copy which I should've reviewed sooner but life got in the way.

This is a fun series. If you loved the first, I highly recommend you continue. These are fun, sweet, quick romance novels. If you enjoy sinking into a series, this is a good one. The novels stand alone, but I do think it helps to read them in order.

I loved this book.
I've read all of Martha Waters's books in this series, and To Love and to Loathe is my favorite. I've reread this book several times and hope she has another. I felt the love story was realistic and had a natural progression that wasn't forced. I hope her future books have a funny, spunky heroine and charming love interest.

• I am working diligently to catch up on my NetGalley reads. I actually started reading this book quite a while ago, but I put it down at one point and never came back until last week.

• I’ll start by saying that I didn’t know this was the second book in a series, but it reads as a standalone in my opinion.

• I’m sad to say that I didn’t love this book. It isn’t bad, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. The entire premise seemed extremely unlikely and so much of the drama was contrived and unrealistic. I simply didn’t engage with the story.

Thank you @NetGalley and Atria Books for an eARC of this book, which I have reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

Unfortunately, this didn't really work for me. While in theory, this book had all the ingredients to be right up my alley; in practice, it bothered me to no end.

I think the main issue for me here was the main character. The author tried to make Diana an Elizabeth Bennet type. But while Lizzie might be strong-headed, independent, and stubborn, she is also compassionate. Which Diana clearly lacked. Not only does she push women onto Jeremy when he clearly has no interest in them, but she also outed a queer character, for no reason at all. I just couldn't get behind Diana. I struggled to understand what went on in her head and what her motives were for all the scheming she did. That made it really hard for me to root for our main couple.

I also got bored toward the end. The first half of the book was fine, but the events got so dragged out that I couldn't enjoy them anymore past the halfway point. I don't know why the characters kept making it so hard on themselves!

So unfortunately, this book wasn't for me.