I can loosely describe this as a second chance romance and after reading the synopsis, I wanted to read the book immediately. Unfortunately, To Have and To Hoax didn't live up to my expectations. The premise was great, the banter needed improving and the length needed shortening. Everything was fine in the beginning but the story lagged too much in the middle and then I kind of lost interest in the book. However, I did not DNF and thank the book goddess for that! because the characters themselves acknowledged that this back and forth so called 'revenge' plans they had were stupid.

Overall, I wouldn't outright recommend this to a historical romance fan or someone who wants to start diving into the genre but it IS a fun book. I loved the writing too and I will definitely be on the lookout for the author's next book! Thanks to Netgalley and Headline Eternal for an arc in exchange for my honest review.

I received an Advance Reader Copy from the author. This in no way impacted on my view.

I first saw this book on twitter when the author was hosting a giveaway, and decided to enter because a Regency Era romance is something I'm always on the lookout for, and was overjoyed when I won. As soon as I got it, I decided to put off the rest of my TBR, and jump right in.

Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met during Violet's debut year, and it was love at first sight. Now married five years, they've fallen apart, living in separate homes, never really speaking to each other, after a disagreement that they were never able to overcome just a year into their marriage. Even so, there is still affection there, and when Violet hears that James has been injured at the country home, in the stables that she hates, she immediately rushes from their London townhouse to be at his side. When she finds James in a coaching inn on the road to London, as right as rain, she is overcome with anger, and decides a little pay back is needed. While pretending to be ill herself, Violet and James seem to grow together again, and could actually be able to rescue their marriage, as long as they can get over their past issues.

From start to finish, this book was amazing! Whenever I could, I was reading it, and I just fell in love with the characters, from Violet and James, to their friends, and to their family - who I loved to hate. Violet and James' chemistry was apparent even with the silent treatment and arguments, and I was rooting from them all the way through. They were end goals throughout it all, and I was just devouring pages hoping for them to reconcile and fall in love again. Yes, they were immature, and stubborn, but it just worked for them, and for the plot. And the plot had a lot going for it. We have the usual action of a regency era romance - going to the theatre, walks in the park, and condescending parents - but we also had the added sub plots of an actor pretending to be a doctor, their friends betting on who would win, everyone seeming to know everything, but don't realise it, and the obligatory drama that sort of ruined the perfection of the book. I liked the drama, but the lack of communication, especially after 4 years, is the main reason this book is 4 stars, and not 5. We don't actually discover what they were fighting about until later on, in drips and drabs, which was a good thing, as it kept up the tension for the reader too. This book is definitely one I would recommend to historical romance lovers, and I can't wait to read more from this debut author!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy. Was very surprised to discover that this is the author’s first novel as she writes with skill. She knows her genre very well and I look forward to reading more of her future novels.

I love a good Regency romance and I also enjoy a estranged spouse storyline so for me To Have and to Hoax had the ingredients of a good novel. I really liked the first half. It was light and amusing, the main characters Violet and James, were likeable. Unfortunately, the second half is where it fell down for me. It became a bit convoluted and absurd. There was a lot of 'she knew he knew she knew he knew about her ploy' and eventually it became confusing and tiresome. The hero and heroine eventually became tiresome with their game playing and lack of honesty. Saying this, I enjoyed the side characters, especially Violet's friends which in part saved the second half of the novel for me so I hope they each get books of their own.

In troubling times Regency romance is my go-to for romantic, funny escapism and To Have and To Hoax fit the bill perfectly. With such a fun idea as the premise, it was easy to speed read this over the course of two days and put the real world to the back of my mind. The connection between the two main characters and the frustrations they felt were very well portrayed. I did find it confusing in the beginning to differentiate between some of the male characters but that may have been my own fuzzy brain, rather than the writing. By the halfway point I had managed to sort them all out and I'm very eager to see how each of the other couples stories will play out if there are other books in the series (I do hope so). The reason behind the Argument which caused Violet and James's rift was kept back initially, and while that helped to draw my interest in the beginning, at times it did make me wonder if Violet was justified in her decision to torment James quite so mercilessly and begin the game between them. By the end, after getting to know the reason and getting to know the characters better though I was happy to say it all made sense. I look forward to reading more from Martha Waters!

In this historical romance we are introduced to Violet and Jamie. They have been married for five years while they avoid each other for four years, after a big argument which took place in their first year as a married couple,

In the present Jamie had an accident while riding which resulted to Violet being worried about him, after that she decided to pretend to be ill in order to make him as worried as she was.

I really enjoyed their banter through the story, seeing as they were both strong willed. There was character development for both of them, they made big steps in recognizing their mistakes and fixing them, while understanding what was most important.

The supportive characters were great, creating a whole universe of friends and family. It made me wonder if we would see their stories developed in future books as well. 

I found at times that some things were repeated which wasn't necessary and it slowed the plot.

This is a debut novel and the plot is very interesting from the start, the trope is a second chance romance for a married couple which is always intriguing.

* I received an arc from Headline Eternal the through Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.

This was a new area of romantic comedy for me, I usually steer away from anything set in the past. This book is set in the Regency period and from the start I felt I couldn’t fully connect with the book. This is no fault of the author and is no reflection of the quality of the book, it’s just personal preference.
The writing flowed well and I liked the style using the two POVs from the main characters.
Thank you NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book 📚

What an awesome read! It had an amazing amount of detail and work put into it. I really liked these characters and the love they had for each other.
I will definitely read more of this author's future books.

Romance is one of those genres where I can sit and devour a good book within a few hours, and that was definitely what I did with To Have and To Hoax. It’s a second chance romance (of sorts), full of the right amounts of angst and frustration and pining that you want from one of those.

The story follows an estranged married couple. After James is injured falling from his horse, only to be right as rain when Violet rushes to his side, she decides to feign an illness to get back at him. Of course, this leads to one-upmanship as each tries to irritate the other more. Meanwhile, they are both realising that maybe they don’t hate each other as much as they believed.

Possibly my favourite aspect of this book is that, while the misunderstanding that causes their estrangement is fundamentally based on a lack of communication and is thus somewhat stupid, the narrative never frames it as anything but stupid. Every character besides James and Violet tries to tell them that this could all be solved by having it out and explaining themselves, but it’s their pride that gets in the way. Which makes it a breath of fresh air from those books which use stupid miscommunications as a plot device and never recognise that they are actually stupid. (It’s a pet peeve…) I also loved that, because they’re so stubborn and prideful, the process of them actually realising for themselves they need to talk is a fairly slow one (even if that did at times frustrate me. But it was a good frustration).

It definitely helped throughout that I loved James and Violet. You get both their POVs, so you get both sides of the story (always good when it’s one like this). And, yeah, James was a little less justified in my mind for being angry (though obviously there were good reasons for that), but you still felt sorry for the both of them. Not to mention that, for once in this genre it feels like, James wasn’t a deeply objectionable jerk at any point (except from Violet’s POV, but you know the sort I mean). That definitely helped with the sympathising with him. (Also, apart from two great main characters, the side characters are all excellent too, and I really really need books for the hinted-at romances now.)

If there was one tiny thing I liked not so much here, it was that, at times, their relationship development seemed to take two steps forward then one step back. They would seem to make some progress, then they would start arguing again. But, while it did frustrate me, especially near the end, it was also mostly understandable, given that their issues were based on a lack of trust. It was just that final case of it that bugged me the most.

So if you’re looking for a funny, but also angst-filled second chance romance, then this book is the one for you.

To Have and to Hoax was great fun and is a warm historical read perfect for fans of Julia Quinn & Stephanie Laurens. Martha Waters has created a warm cast of loveable characters who give lots of scope for future novels which I will be very happy to read. Thankyou to Headline and Netgalley for this free ARC which was a perfect escapist treat.

I would have enjoyed this a lot more had the main characters not been so goddamn petty. I'm all for an arch, teasing relationship; I'm all for wooing-back-an-estranged-spouse plots. But honestly, both James and Violet were so needlessly mean and manipulative here that I found it very hard to root for them or believe in their love. The secondary characters, especially Jeremy and Diana (who I assume will be the subject of the next book) and the hero and heroine's parents, were even worse. Just nasty under the guise of being witty! I also didn't like that we didn't even learn what they were fighting about until about 40% of the way through the book, and then it turned out to be a basic miscommunication - I can let a lot of miscommunication slide in historical romance, for the sake of creating obstacles, but not when something so simple and silly is the fundamental crux of the novel. The writing was easy to read and the pacing was okay, but the quality of the characters spoiled it for me. Two and a half stars.

This book is a new take on the rom-com by setting it in Regency England and making the two protagonists continuously compete to cause each other grief and anguish. Whilst there are moments of interest and it is generally well written, the book never really got off the ground for me. The opening chapter was incredibly engaging, particularly the back and forth between Violet and Audley, yet as soon as it jumps forward, it all feels a little...deflating. Perhaps there was a more interesting angle that this novel could have gone down. It's not bad by any means, I just think I wanted something slightly different when I read it.

To Have and To Hoax is a story about two people very much in love who have lost trust in one another and, through a series of hilarious tricks, need to get back to each other.

It is refreshing to read about an already married couple and the problems that can arise even after the Happily Ever After. The exciting cast of supporting characters makes it a very well rounded story, and dispute some infuriating behaviour, I was definitely rooting for our protagonists to come to their senses!

The book is a little bit long - there were a few places where the plot lulled and there were whole interactions that didn't seem to progress the story at all, but overall the story was charming and whimsical and very, very fun.

To Have and To Hoax is not perfect, but still a thoroughly enjoyable read!

This review is already on Goodreads, and will be posted to Amazon after the books release.