To Love and To Loathe by Martha Waters (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

 

Title: To Love and To Loathe

Author: Martha Waters

Publication: 6 April 2021

Format: Kindle eBook

Amazon Description

The widowed Diana, Lady Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham are infamous among English high society as much for their sharp-tongued bickering as their flirtation. One evening, an argument at a ball turns into a serious wager: Jeremy will marry within the year or Diana will forfeit one hundred pounds. So shortly after, just before a fortnight-long house party at Elderwild, Jeremy’s country estate, Diana is shocked when Jeremy appears at her home with a very different kind of proposition.

After his latest mistress unfavorably criticized his skills in the bedroom, Jeremy is looking for reassurance, so he has gone to the only woman he trusts to be totally truthful. He suggests that they embark on a brief affair while at the house party—Jeremy can receive an honest critique of his bedroom skills and widowed Diana can use the gossip to signal to other gentlemen that she is interested in taking a lover.

Diana thinks taking him up on his counter-proposal can only help her win her wager. With her in the bedroom and Jeremy’s marriage-minded grandmother, the formidable Dowager Marchioness of Willingham, helping to find suitable matches among the eligible ladies at Elderwild, Diana is confident her victory is assured. But while they’re focused on winning wagers, they stand to lose their own hearts.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

Back in September I read the first of Martha Waters' Regency Vows series -- To Have and To Hoax.  My favorite part of it was the secondary characters like Diana and Emily. I just requested a preview copy of Emily's story and realized that I still had not gotten my grubby little hands on Diana's. Amazon gift card to the rescue!

The Amazon description tells pretty much the entire gist of the story so there's really no reason to recap any of that. I was so excited when I started this book as I've enjoyed the snarkiness from both Diana and Jeremy ... but especially from Jeremy's grandmother. She's like a combination of Downton Abbey's Violet Crawley and Bridgerton's Lady Danbury and I adore her.

HOWEVER ...

Remember how I said that I didn't think that I could dislike a heroine more than Violet from the first book?

I was so very disturbingly and disappointingly wrong.

Diana is horribly on so many levels to so many people. I believed at first that she was just shielding herself with her snark. About three quarters of the way through she betrays another character by telling a secret that could, potentially, get them imprisoned or even killed and she's just .... so .... just .... ugh. I had a difficult time trying to find any humor or lightheartedness in anything she said or did from that point on. I kept reading her as a mean and vile bit..... bit too much to take.

I finished it, of course, and I was still rooting for a great big Happily Ever After for Jeremy.....

....with just about anyone else in the world.

I have already requested the third from Atria via NetGalley and I'll read it if I get approved for it. If I don't? I may not bother. I'm more than a little terrified of what is going to be done to destroy my other favorite secondary characters when they become the leads.

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As always, Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader

To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters (Tuesday Intros & Teaser Tuesday)

Title: To Have and to Hoax

Author: Martha Waters

Publication: 7 April 2020 - Atria Books

Format: Kindle eBook

Amazon Description: 

Five years ago, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met, fell in love, and got married. Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.

Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.

Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?

With charm, wit, and heart in spades, To Have and to Hoax is a fresh and eminently entertaining romantic comedy—perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Julia Quinn.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff 
I really wanted to love this. 

I really thought it would be one that I flew right through because I couldn't put it down.

Every time I put it down I found myself only picking it back up again because I felt I needed to ... or I needed sleep and figured it might help speed things along.

I cannot recall ever disliking the "heroine" of a book nearly as much as I dislike Violet. If I could have reached into the pages (or screen) of the book and slapped her I probably would have. Multiple times.

So why keep reading? Mainly for the secondary characters .... who will end up being the main characters in the next two books .... which are hopefully less irritating than this one.

"First Chapter First Paragraph Tuesday Intros" is from the first paragraph or two
of a book being read now (or in the future) and is hosted by Socrates' Book Reviews. 

"Teaser Tuesday" at The Purple Booker asks for a random line or two
from anywhere in the book currently being read.