Review: To Have and to Hoax by Martha Waters

To Have and to Hoax
by Martha Waters

April 7, 2020

352 pages

Goodreads     Indigo

Goodreads Summary:
In this fresh and hilarious historical rom-com, an estranged husband and wife in Regency England feign accidents and illness in an attempt to gain attention—and maybe just win each other back in the process.

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.

Review

As a big historical romance lover To Have and to Hoax was so amazing! The story, the characters and the relationships hit all the marks for me.

To Have and to Hoax was an outrageously delicious story. I could not get enough of Violet and James's verbal sparring. The polished snark and heated banter between them was perfection. Even when they weren't trying to one up another they were on fire.

I was actually not expecting much in the steam department but phew were there some sexy content in To Have and to Hoax. The explicit scenes were super sensual and full of passion. I definitely had to fan myself more than a couple times ;)

There's a great cast of side characters in the book and I found myself just as invested in their relationships as I was with Violet and James's. Each had their own personality and story that I look forward to seeing expanded on. In particular I'd love to see Diana and Emily find their happily ever after.

To Have and to Hoax was such a pleasant surprise of a read. I feel like sequels were heavily hinted at in the story so I have all my fingers crossed for them. Please give me more!

*I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own and not affected in any way. Any quotes included in my review were taken from the ARC I received.