We have a widow who's marriage bed was unmoving and a rake who wants some advice after receiving some not so high praise. Our two characters are known to spar at any event so why not work create an arrangement that helps them both with no strings attached. what could go wrong?
Things I loved about this story is that it does have some great funny moments. I laughed out loud a few times. We have a hero who takes criticism when it comes to his bedroom skills. I do not think I have ever read a historical romance where our rake is not a skilled lover and that was refreshing,. I liked Jeremy's real feelings about becoming the heir. Truly a great fun historical romance that wasn't too heavy on the details so to make it overwhelming for those that are not use to the genre.
I think miscommunication is a hard trope to pull off but this one did an admirable job. There were moments I was eye rolling but overall it felt like something that could happen with these two characters.
I understood the need to introduce more of Emily's story for the next book but some parts we are in the dark (understandably) but, I wanted to get back to Diana and Jeremy. The setting felt small with only being at the house party, and I did want more verbal sparing out in the open with others watching. Diana felt too stuffy at moments, I truly disliked her in "To Have and To Hoax" but I am sure it can be apart of her character and I liked her more here.
Overall if you liked "To Have and to Hoax" then you will enjoy "To Love and to Loathe" it is funny, sweet, and positive in the best ways. Historical romance is a fun genre that Martha Waters succeeds at.

I am a fan of the enemies to lovers trope, so I was very excited to read this book. Unfortunately, I couldn't connect with Jeremy or Diane. The author did a good job of explaining why Diane chose an arranged marriage to wealthy lord. She wanted to live a comfortable life and not be a burden on her family. She also didn't take Jeremy's first proposal seriously because of his rakish reputation. It was after she became a widow that the whole story goes to pieces. Their actions toward each other just didn't make sense with their personalities. None of it matched up and I just couldn't get invested in the book. Thank you #NetGalley for my copy.

To Love and to Loathe is the second book in the Regency Vows series but was good as a stand-alone. It was an enemy to lover’s rom com with main characters that create sparks with their witty banter. They are the epitome of a love-hate relationships. The tension filled banter is intense and overshadows their attraction to one another.
Widowed Lady Diana Templeton and Jeremy Overington, the Marquess of Willingham, were known to dislike each other. A wager that Jeremy will marry within the year or pay Diana, is a wager that Diana thinks she is sure to win. So, she’s shocked when Jeremy approaches her to have a short affair at his house party to critique his bedroom skills. They both go into the affair wanting it to be a short-term fling to help themselves with their own goals. But as they spend more time together, they start to realize that they actually enjoy spending time together. They begin to open up to each other and see the truth of each other.
I enjoyed reading this book and found it to be a perfect book to add lightness to this strange time of the epidemic.
I received an ARC and am willingly leaving a review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was the perfect rom-com I needed in my life. I loved the wittiness and the Jane Austen fell to this book. I definitely need more books in my life like this one.

I struggled with book 1 in this new series (I have book 1 only 3 stars), and so I was a little worried this would also fall flat with me. But I’m so glad I was wrong! The synopsis sounded perfect to me - frenemies to lovers no strings attached hook up? YES! 😍 And it was everything I was craving! The witty banter, the innuendo, the sexual tension! They were all perfect. It also was steamier in general which was something I wanted more of in book one. I absolutely adored this one, and I cannot wait for the next one! (Please tell me we are getting more! I need Emily’s story. And Penvale’s!!)

I didn't love the high schoolish antics of these characters but I did enjoy their arc to happiness. I think Martha Waters has a great way of showing her characters growing and maturing so they, eventually, deserve each other.

So, I really enjoyed this. I didn't read the first Regency Vows book, so this was my first book by Martha Waters. Diana was a confident delight. Jeremey was your typical misunderstood rake. And honestly, the entire plot of this book felt like a regency bodice ripper meets a YA summer camp tale of gossip and hookups and outdoor adventures. And a bet, of course. I did feel like the pacing went a little wonky near the back two-thirds of the book. Perhaps Diana and Jeremy didn't have enough time together for the finale to seem as urgent? It was still a light and enjoyable read.

This book was right up my alley. I love me some enemies-to-lovers banter and this book delivered. The teasing, witty banter, and sexual tension made this book sexy and passionate, but also heartwarming when the characters finally do realize they are in love and perfect for each other. I have not read the first book in this series, but will definitely be going back and doing so. Definitely check this book out!

I loved the characters but it did drag in the second half quite a bit. At first I was in love with the chemistry but there were definitely too many interruptions and incidents to allow them to finish their deal that i got bored with it by the time it actually arrived. still cute, still will recommend to readers who are quite reading to dive into regency romance.

When I finished “To Have and to Hoax” by Martha Waters, I hoped I would see more of Lady Diana and Jeremy in the future! I was delighted to find them the subjects of the sequel! “To Love and to Loathe” follows them and their group of friends (many of whom will be familiar to readers of “To Have and to Hoax”) at a fortnight long house party in the country where feelings and relationships take many turns! This book is charmingly fun, and different from the usual regency romantic story. I was surprised at the twists, and the characters are lovable, yet have flaws like the rest of us, I hope to follow these characters in future Martha Waters books!

Lady Diana Templeton is on a mission: do everything in her power to ensure that the Marquess of Willingham marries within the next year. If she succeeds, she will be one hundred pounds the richer. If she fails, then she’ll still have twelve months to torture her brother’s friend with every eligible miss she can find.

Meanwhile, Jeremy, consummate rake and the Marquess of Willingham, has other things on his mind. Most pressing is a recent complaint from a paramour. To reclaim his peace of mind, Jeremy must turn to the one woman he can trust not to sugarcoat the truth: Lady Diana Templeton.

I appreciate the close relationships between the main group of friends in this series. Both the men and the women have people they can talk to and confide in who will tell them when a scheme is completely crazy, but still be supportive.

You do not need to read the first book in the series (To Have and to Hoax) to enjoy this one. That being said, I actually enjoyed James and Violet’s story more than Diana and Jeremy’s. Also, you learn more about some of the minor characters in the first book and that knowledge makes it easier to understand some of the actions of those characters in this book.

Interesting and fast-paced. Although this was predictable and the characters were shallow, this was a perfect light pandemic read.

This regency romance (in the vein of Bridgerton or Bringing Down the Duke) started off ok. The first half of the book was boring, what the author clearly thought was humor was not really funny or witty. However, what would have been a 3 star book took a turn for the worse. ***Spoiler alert*** The main character finds out someone is gay and going straight into outing them to all her friends. This is not okay! This was a terrible plot device and made me hate everything about that character (who I only sort of cared about before) after that. How did this book get past it's editing like this?? It was so insensitively dealt with and made this just ok book a total failure for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy for review.

This book gave me Bridgerton vibes. The two main characters Loathe each other but slowly peel back layers of each other. The reason for the 3 stars was because I don't usually read historical romances which made it difficult for me to get through it quicker. Though the love story was cute it was not an epic love story. I wasn't at the edge of my seat like I expected to be.

Truly delightful book, couldn't stop grinning at the writing and scene plotting and even though parts of it felt.. far too modern for a historical setting I couldn't care less because of the pacing and the vibrancy of every one of the characters in the book. The lead pair is fascinating and the enemies-to-lovers & childhood-friends-to-lovers trope combined makes it that much more powerful.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader's e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the book. The plot and settings are great. Like the characters. The author did a great job describing them and linking them to each other. I discovered this title while looking for historical fiction books and was not disappointed.

This is cute and I think I would have loved it more if I hadn't already read ‘A Rogue of One's Own,’ because I just couldn't help but compare the similarities.

I liked the idea of the plot, the setting, the writing and dialogue - all help make this a quick and entertaining read. But I honestly don't have much to say other than it's decent. Nothing really stood out to me other than just the basic pleasantness of it all.

This is definitely a fun and enjoyable story, perfect if you are looking for a easy going historical romance as it can be read as a standalone, but it just happens that I've already read another book that does this kind of story slightly better.

This book was delightful. I really enjoyed the complexity of the two main characters. They were both a bit messy and had solid backstory to support the decisions they were making. I really enjoyed the set up and couldn't wait to find out what happened next. There was a third act plot point that I'm not sure I liked/it could've been handled better. Overall, really enjoyed getting to know these complex characters.

31/2 stars

4.5 Stars

Sometimes there’s a danger to requesting ARCs. For example, I requested To Love and To Loath while I was looking for historical romance to satisfy my craving after watching “Bridgerton.” By the time my ARC came in, I had read three historical romances and been disappointed by all of them. So I was thinking that I had issues just with the genre as a whole, and was kind of regretting reading another one.

But boy am I glad I was wrong.

To Love and To Loath features the witty, widowed Lady Diana Templeton and her ongoing bickering with Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham. First, Diana bets Jeremy that he will be married within the year. Then, Jeremy comes to Diana with a proposition. He needs some assurance on his...bedroom skills. He proposes they embark on a short affair. But of course, nothing goes as planned as the two of them try not to lose their bet or their hearts.

This book read like Much Ado About Nothing fanfiction. And I mean this in the absolute best way possible. Martha Waters perfectly captured a Beatrice and Benedick style relationship based on bickering to hide true feelings. Enemies to lovers where it’s not really enemies to lovers, they just argue and antagonize each other because they actually like the other one but don’t want to even admit it to themselves? It’s absolute gold. This is the exact type of romance that I am interested in reading.

The romance and the plot were definitely well written, and overall I really enjoyed the book. The reason I can’t bring myself to rate it 5 stars is just because of the politics? And this is an issue I have with historical romance. Or, white historical romance I guess. It makes sense for the book to address the gender politics of the time. But all of it is so white-upper-class-feminism it feels icky. Like, there’s a whole plot about Diana having to marry rich in order to not continue to be a burden to her relatives and about her having financial freedom as a widow, which will be retracted if she remarries. And like, I get all that and women shouldn’t be their husbands property, etc. However, there’s also this whole thing where she’s seen as benevolent for not firing her maid because her maid likes to talk back. It comes up multiple times where she’s like, “I should really fire her for talking to me that way, but I am weirdly attached to her and also don’t want to go through the hassle of finding another maid.” I mean the privilege is insane and glaringly obvious. It attempts to talk about class but only in a manner of dividing the middle class from wealthy, not ever mentioning lower classes even though they are right there serving them the whole time. And really there’s no reason Diana couldn’t have been a proponent of workers right she just wasn’t.

However, I did still really love the romance and will be re-reading it in the future because it is my favorite type of romance done extremely well, which I appreciate.

"Busy ladies had no time to dwell on kisses." — To Love and to Loathe
To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters is beguiling in the best of ways. Completely charming from the first page, I immediately got lost in the pages and found it hard to say goodbye.

Diana is a woman who not only knows what she wants, but will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Jeremy is the friend of Diana’s older brother. He is also an impossible rake and determined to win every verbal sparring contest he and Diana enter into. To Love and to Loathe reads like a combination of the matchmaking schemes of Jane Austen’s Emma, with the banter and obliviousness of feelings of Pride and Prejudice.

What surprised me the most is that even though Jeremy and Diana have always been at odds with each other, they both hold a great deal of respect for the other. Simple banter turns into a wager as to when Jeremy will find himself a wife. Diana becomes determined, and Jeremy equally so. When Jeremy finds himself in need of some reassurance of his bedroom skills, he takes it upon himself to solicit Diana to help him. They both agree to terms that guard their hearts and reputations, but when Jeremy’s Grandmother starts to scheme in order to help Diana win her bet, both Jeremy and Diana begin to realize that their feelings run deeper than what they had thought.

Watching Diana and Jeremy’s chess match of a relationship play out was wrought with romantic tension. The chemistry together was full of combustible energy, which made the culmination of their story really and truly a Happily Ever After. The one point of To Love and to Loathe that I felt was fumbled, was when one of the characters entrusts another with keeping a secret that would be in the height of scandal for the time. Unfortunately, that secret is not kept, and while that particular plot device was never resolved, it struck a weird chord for me.

Overall, I truly enjoyed To Love and to Loathe. I loved the setting, the vibrancy of the surrounding characters, and every interaction between Jeremy and Diana. If you love historical romance, specifically Regency Romance, then do not miss out on this one!