
Member Reviews

"To Woo and to Wed" is the fifth book in Martha Waters' "The Regency Vows" series. This particular book is focused on Sophie and West, two young people who have plans to marry. However, when West's father threatens Sophie to stay away from West, their plans go awry. As they continue to run into each other over the years, they realize that their feelings never truly went away. Sophie then devises a fake dating scheme as they continue to navigate their feelings.
I've really enjoyed this series by Waters. Unfortunately, this particular couple didn't have the same chemistry or draw me in like the characters from the previous books. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

If you've been following this series, you've been on the edge of your seat waiting for Sophie and West to figure themselves out. Well, dear reader, they do!!! It takes a lot of hard conversations, wooing, and some timeline jumping, but it is well worth the wait. I adore this couple's tenacity and undeniable spark. I would love to give it 4.5 stars as it's almost perfect, but that's not allowed. My only count against this book is that it takes our Heroine way too long to admit her issues even after everyone around her tells her what they are. West knows from the start what he wants, but Sophie's fear is holding her back. She suffers greatly from Oldest Child syndrome and there's a really great conversation between her and one of her sisters toward the end. Really, a wonderful story and all the devious tricks we've come to love from this family.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
"To Woo and To Wed" is the final installment in Martha Waters' Regency Vows series and, in my opinion, it was the best one yet. The emotional depth and growth of our main characters, Sophie and West, and the strategic use of flashbacks made this a full circle story of growing up (and into oneself) and second chance love. It was fun to see the other characters from the series, and the book/series ended on a high note. Loved this one!

It's time to say goodbye to the 'Regency Vow' gang and what a treat of a swan song Martha Waters has delivered with 'To Woo and to Wed'.
Throughout the series we've known West and Sophie were engaged seven years ago, but after an impetuous curricle race left Jeremy's brother dead and West with a permanent limp, Sophie married another man, who has since died. Through flashbacks we learn all the reasons why their engagement fell apart.
Waters masterfully balances the sparkling wit and banter she is best known for, while tackling an underlying serious tone with all the long-held hurts, insecurities and pining. This book has slow-burn Persuasion vibes in the best way. I devoured this book in one sitting because I needed to know what happens next.
I really mourned those lost seven years along with Sophie and West and it was fantastic to see their character growth. Waters understands the neccessity for a second chance romance - that they've learned their lessons from the first time so they earn their happy ending.
For anyone missing the rest of the gang they're forever present, interfering with each other as well as being the most divine found family. There's some developments with a few characters too!
'To Woo and to Wed' is full of the same sharp banter and charm that have made the Regency Vows an auto-buy, while serving up a compelling, slow burn second-chance romance.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC.

I am so sad to see this series end. I've really enjoyed all the books in the series, and am finally glad to see a resolution to Sophie and West's story. There is not a lot new to this story, as we've seen Sophie and Wes throughout the other books, but this book wrapped up their story very nicely.

3.8
I really didn't need the silly contrivance that brought the main characters together here, as it was abundantly clear it would have happened regardless of the circumstances. That said, it was fun...ish.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for a review.
And so we come to the end of the Regency Vows series. I've truly enjoyed all of these books and find them to be delightful and such fun reads. I don't think you HAVE TO read all the previous books in the series before this one, but it will definitely increase your enjoyment of this story in particular. There are a lot of callbacks to previous plots in the other books in this conclusion.
Sophie and West are such a good pair. I love their banter and their camaraderie. I also appreciated how they could bicker and be honest and have vulnerable conversations all in one interactions. I really appreciated the flashbacks throughout this book, since we've been getting hints of their relationships for the other previous books.
Synopsis:
The final installment in the Regency Vows series follows the heir to a dukedom and a young widow, once very much in love, as they reunite years later to fake an engagement for the benefit of her sister.
West, the Marquess of Weston, and Sophie, Lady Fitzwilliam Bridewell, have lately been spending a considerable amount of time together. But West and Sophie are not new acquaintances. In fact, years ago, they had once been nearly engaged until West’s almost fatal curricle accident and his meddling father threw them off course.
Now recently widowed, Sophie has put aside all thoughts of romance. But when her widowed sister, Alexandra, mentions a fondness for an earl, Sophie realizes that she may be holding her sister back. Alexandra won’t move forward with an engagement until Sophie, too, settles down again, and so Sophie approaches West with a plan. They will announce their engagement and break things off once Alexandra is happily married. It’ll be simple. After all, it’s not like she is going to fall for West a second time, not when Sophie has sworn not to risk her heart again.

So I have really enjoyed this entire series, and the endcap of these books does not disappoint. Sophie and West have existed through all the other books and so we kind of know them, but the book really fleshes out their backstory and relationship. I thought that the author did a great job of having flashbacks that increased the stakes for what is otherwise a fairly obvious pairing, and an outside obstacle that the reader knows is fairly easy to overcome.
One side note: I do think that to really enjoy these books, you need to read all of them and in order. I had a little bit of trouble keeping track of who was who because it's been awhile since I read the others, and THEN I realized I HADN'T actually read book 4 of 5 so that was at least partially my fault. But there's a lot of inside joking that's more fun if you're reading them all in order and fairly close together.
I received an advance reader copy of this book in exchange for the possibility of a review.

What an end to a fantastic series! I've been waiting for Sophie and West's story since we first got an inkling of what it might be, and I'm so happy that it lived up to my expectations. Given that this is a second-chance romance (not usually my favorite), there was just the right balance of angst, banter, friendship, and hilarious situations. I really love the found family aspect of this series, and I think it's worth it just for that alone. I'll miss it so much, and I can't wait for this book to come out in audio so I can reread the entire series!
<i>Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC!</i>

I was pleasantly surprised by this book! I have not red the previous installments of the series but it did not affect my understanding of the story. It is very much a stand alone! I loved the premise of love gone awry and overcoming all challenges for love. I especially loved the main characters Sophie and West. The author did a great job of making you route for them! Definitely recommend this quick regency era love story!

I love the intertwined lives of the Regency Era novels. This was the perfect end to wrap up their love stories. A delightful read that I didnt want to put down. The Duke finally met his match and I love that the females if this renegade group are all strong willed and witty. I enjoyed the flashbacks throughout their 7 year relationship to help better understand the complexity of West and Sophie’s relationship.

To preface, I didn't realize that this book was the fifth book in a series. Maybe that would've changed things.
I felt like this story was extremely slow and drug out. What made the pace hard was the lack of investment I had with all the characters. I wish we saw more of Sophie with her sisters (maybe that was in pervious book). I also wish Sophie and west would've had more actual conversations.

To Woo and to Wed is the fifth and final book in the series by Martha Waters.
We finally get the entire backstory and a resolution to Sophie and West’s story. Goodness was it a great ride.
I couldn’t put this book down, which is to be expected after the first four books. The writing is great. The characters are amazing and entertaining as always. I did wonder if I always disliked Diana as much as I do in the last two books when I read her book.
I wanted more of West’s dad’s story. That’s my only real complaint. The author would start to talk about what he’s up to when he isn’t being awful, but then we wouldn’t hear about it again.
I recommend this book, this series, and this author. I received this ARC from Netgalley for my honest review.

I adored this series and Martha Waters' wonderful writing. I am so thrilled to see Sophie and West finally get their happy ending.
Waters has this uncanny ability to write characters with really lovely emotional depth while having fantastic banter throughout her novels.
This was a lovely second-chance romance. West is one of my favorite heroes I've read in a while. His dedication, his wit... THE YEARNING. I was so happy to see he lived up to all of my expectations, and he's definitely my favorite male lead of Waters' yet.
I will truly miss this series, but I cannot wait to see what she writes next.
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Thanks to Atria for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for review.

As I expected, I LOVED Sophie and West's story. And, I am so glad they finally got their HEA.
Sophie's sisters are a hilarious backdrop to all the shenanigans that a fake betrothal is sure to cause. West's father is back to cause problems in the love and marriages of his sons, but the 7-year pause in their relationship added some shrewdness and maturity to both main characters to outsmart him and finally end up together. It was a perfect ending to the Regency Vows series but now I don't know what I'm going to look forward to!

Martha Waters can do no wrong in my book. This series has been one of my favorite historical romance series to read. I love that Martha is a queen at writing witty banter. I'm always simultaneously howling with laughter and swooning. Highly recommend.

I enjoyed this series a lot and have recommended it to my library's patrons. I hope to see more book written by Martha Walters.

To Woo and to Wed is a sweet, ridiculous, histotical romcom. Having not read the previous installments in this series, I never felt lost or confused.
A second chance romance, this book was full of sweet moments and angsty longing. I did get irritated with the fmc at times as she seemed dismissive of the mmc's thoughts and feelings. I understood her hesitation but at the same time wondered if she had a hearing problem because the mmc addressed her concerns basically from the start. Communication issues are one of my last favorite tropes so I struggled to accept that as well as the initial issue from 7 years earlier. But I still enjoyed the book and the relationship progression. And the peaks into the previous characters' lives was fun and convinced me to read the earlier books as well

To Woo and to Wed is the fifth book in The Regency Vows series and focuses on Sophie and West. I enjoyed the second chance and dual timeline aspects of this story. I recommend picking up all of the books in this series!
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication: February 6, 2024

I’ve read so many of this series, and I’ve deeply enjoyed each one! I think the only one I haven’t read is To Have and to Hoax. In To Woo and to Wed, Sophie and West are a fake engagement second-chance romance that’s really sweet and quite funny.
I really loved Sophie and her sisters. Just a lovely light read.