I love Martha Waters books. I know I can count on her books for some great historical romance. To Marry and to Meddle was no exception. The marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes, and Waters did a really great job with it here. I wish there had been a bit more banter between the two MCs and wish Waters had spent a bit more time on the “oh, I’m actually in love with you” revelation instead of it being a blip before the ending.

Can’t wait to read more by her!

Fun, swoony, and with just the right amount of angst! I adored the banter, and could not love this book more!

TO MARRY AND TO MEDDLE
By Martha Waters

Oh my, do I love a marriage of convenience trope! TO MARRY AND TO MEDDLE is a fun romp of a read that includes scandals, gambling and house parties. With reputations at stake, a creative way to resolve both problems with Emily Turner’s family reputation and Lord Julian Belfy’s scandalous misgivings, a marriage might just save them both.

I love the hilarious situations these characters find themselves in. Though set in Regency, the story felt very modern and timely. The writing was light, fun, and oh so very sexy. The dialogue was perfection, and I really enjoyed how readable the novel was. Reading Martha Waters’ novels always brings a smile to my face and warms my heart. I loved the series.

4 STARS
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

My favorite by Martha Waters so far! Emily and Julian are fantastic characters. And while the plot may felt a little lacking, the characters definitely made up for it.

Will keep reading from this author! Highly recommend

Julian proposes a marriage of convenience to Emily to solve both their problems. Julian, disinherited by his father for owning a theater, wants to attract a classier clientele than the men watching his bawdy comedies. Emily's parents are planning for her to marry the repulsive gambling house owner to whom her father owes money. Marrying Julian will get her out from under her parent's thumb and he will pay her father's debt. The beautiful, kind, always perfect Emily will call on the ladies of the Ton to convince them her husband's theater is respectable. Already friendly, there is no animosity between them. Narrator Joel Froomkin gives Julian a hilarious pompous and stuffy tone. Dual narration with Anais Inara Chase is seamless. I highly recommend listening to the audio book. As Emily works on the realization that maybe she doesn't have to be so perfect, Julian thinks about who he is really trying to impress.

I love a marriage of convenience as much as the next person, but usually there's a bit more tension. In To Marry and to Meddle, they already really like each other at the beginning of the book, although they don't quite know how much. Most of the conflict here comes from their families and how the MCs want their spouse to handle (or not handle) their complicated relationship with family but it just wasn't enough for me. I need a little more angst. Make them work for that happy ever after!

I did enjoy Emily's character arc from people pleaser to a woman who stands up for herself. Julian I feel didn't change or grow that much over the course of the book.

Overall a cute book, but I'd recommend it more for folks who love low-conflict romances.

This is another light and fun romance from Martha Waters. I enjoyed this one even more than To Love and To Loathe. The dynamic between Emily and Julian was perfect. I liked that they knowingly entered their marriage as a consensual agreement and as friends. This was a great slow burn romance. I loved the way Julian subverted expectations of the time and how Emily pushed him even further turning their relationship into a partnership. Each step in their relationship made it all the more satisfying when they finally go to "I love you."

This third installment in this regency series is the best of them so far. I loved Emily as a main character. She’s smart, kind, brave, and logical. I love that she and Belfry talk to each other like equals and share their feelings. They help each other grow into better versions of themselves, support each other’s emotions and desires, and are honest with each other. Yes, it’s an marriage of convenience trope, but it doesn’t have the same horrible power imbalance that so many of them have. This book is a perfect summer read - humor, romance and just a dash of spice!

There are few books that I look forward to for an entire year; To Marry and To Meddle is one of those books. Waters has done the somewhat difficult, and written a group of fascinating and intriguing women who have radically different stories but have the most heartfelt friendship. This particular book focuses on Emily who has somewhat been in the background of the first two novels, and the wait for her story has been totally worth it.

Emily is a badass, and is intelligent. While I feel like we have gotten a decent understanding of Julian as a character in the previous books, Emily felt like a bit of a mystery prior to this. However, TMATM more than makes up for it. My favourite parts of the story are whenever Emily is at the theatre, because although it is Julian’s domain and theoretically not somewhere a lady should be, she owns it.

While I did receive the ebook of this from NetGalley, I will be getting the audiobook on 5 April when it releases, as I always do. These are some of my favourite audiobooks, and I’ve relistened several times!

Note: I read this in January when I had Covid, and it was one of the only things to cheer me up and let me mentally escape! And I read the first book of this series in February 2022 and had a horrific headcold (not Covid…)l, and it also was the only thing to help then, as well. They have healing properties!

"Lady Emily Turner has been a debutante for six seasons now and should have long settled into a suitable marriage. However, due to her father’s large debts, her only suitor is the persistent and odious owner of her father’s favorite gambling house. Meanwhile, Lord Julian Belfry, the second son of a marquess, has scandalized society as an actor and owner of a theater—the kind of establishment where men take their mistresses, but not their wives. When their lives intersect at a house party, Lord Julian hatches a plan to benefit them both."

"With a marriage of convenience, Emily will use her society connections to promote the theater to a more respectable clientele and Julian will take her out from under the shadows of her father’s unsavory associates. But they soon realize they have very different plans for their marriage—Julian wants Emily to remain a society wife, while Emily discovers an interest in the theater. But when a fleeing actress, murderous kitten, and meddlesome friends enter the fray, Emily and Julian will have to confront the fact that their marriage of convenience comes with rather inconvenient feelings."

A delightful escape.

I loved this book. The cover is adorable and its such a sweet story. I don't read a lot of historical fiction but I enjoyed this one. I wish I was teaching high school so I could use it for a book club. It reminded me a bit of Bridgerton which I really enjoyed.

This regency romance is light, fluffy, and the drama is largely limited to the stage. We begin with an unromantic proposal for a marriage of convenience. Julian wants a respectable wife savvy at managing society to help him redeem his public image. It's not so much about his past as a rake, which any historical reader recognizes as common enough, as it's about his outsider status as a noble second son turned businessman. And not just any business. He runs a theater of questionable reputation, highly successful but largely frequented by gentlemen and their mistresses. Emily's need for the arrangement is simpler but comes at a premium. She needs to escape from her controlling parents' machinations, but to do that, Julian will need to help pay off her father's blackmailer and creditor. Luckily, Julian is willing and able to pay that price.

The couple gets along from the start, and they have an easy physical attraction that is transparent and reciprocated, so there's no need for angst (sad news for this angsty reader/person). The tension between them is mature and believable. They have a hard time navigating each other's complicated relationships with their own families and have to learn when to be supportive and when to push. Their marriage of convenience also becomes tangled up with the early arrival of feelings to the party. It makes it difficult for both of them to know what their roles should be and what they owe each other.

This was a perfectly pleasant read for me. I breezed through it and liked both protagonists. Their subtle growth and mutual romantic trajectory were well-paced and enjoyable to watch progress. I personally prefer stronger emotional beats but had fun with this approach nonetheless. Thanks to Atria for my copy to read and review!

Not my favorite book that I have picked up. It seemed to drag and did not truly develop the characters. It seemed that there could have been more to the story between Julian and Emily.

3.5/5 Stars

While all the components of a great story were there, this book fell a little flat for me. There’s a marriage of convenience, adding forced proximity, a great group of friends, a solid pair of main characters, and even a cat. However, there was a lack of spark to the storyline and specifically the connection between the two main characters. The book held moments of clever dialogue and the plot made sense, but I didn’t feel any chemistry when it came to our love birds being… in love.

I still enjoy the friendships and strong main characters in this series. It’s a good quick read for those recovering from a Bridgerton binge, but wasn’t one I feel I’ll pick up to read again soon.

I loved this book! This was my favorite in the series so far, and I loved to see what happened to all of the couples and how their stories developed. I thought this was super fun and sweet and it was a great read.

Another book by Martha Waters was a delight to read, as always. Lady Emily Turner marries renown rake as a matter of convenience to escape the tight grip of her parents and their inevitable match for her. As Lady Emily grows into her own with her husband their match becomes one where the truest of love forms.

A sweet, feel-good historical romance with very little angst and a whole lot of fun. The plot doesn't always make sense, but it's still a delightful read the whole way through.

I wanted to love this book being on the cusp of watching Bridgerton and craving all things period, but it just fell short for me. There wasn't anything terrible about it, but overall it was just ok. The relationship felt meh, their passion... meh. The conflict was kind of silly and didn't even make sense. To me when I think of period romances I think of angst and scandal and forbidden moments... this one was very very tame compared to my expectations.

Another Martha Waters book that I enjoyed. She always has such fun characters. This one was really cute. I appreciate good dialogue between characters.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. I have read all of the other books in this series and this one is my favorite. The series keeps getting better and better!