Tag Archives: Atria Books

To Marry and to Meddle — Martha Waters — The Regency Vows #3

Genre: Romance, Royalty
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warning: Sexual content, as per usual in this series.

“To Marry and to Meddle”, the last book in The Regency Vows series, follows the sweet Lady Emily Turner and the scandalous Lord Julian Belfry. Emily has found no acceptable suiters in the six seasons she’s been part of due to her family’s troubles, while Lord Julian is still cast off from society as he owns a theater with a dubitable reputation. Emily wants to be married off to someone half decent-not her father’s creditor-while Lord Julian wants his theater to become a respectable one-one where men take their wives, not their mistresses. Settling down for a marriage of convenience, Lord Julian hopes Emily will help bring higher society into his theater while Emily will finally be free of her family’s shame, but they weren’t counting on any feelings that may arise.

As soon as I read that this book would be about Lord Julian, I knew it would be the funniest of the lot, and I wasn’t wrong. I think Lord Julian has been my favorite character and ever since we met him in the first book, “To Have and to Hoax”, I have absolutely loved his quirkiness and his bravery, as I don’t think I would’ve been able to do what he did, leaving his family to own a theater and be an actor, in the period of time that he lived.

I feel like this last book in The Regency Vows series was relatively slower-paced than the books that preceded it… Or perhaps it was just that I had grown tired of the dynamics of these books, as I felt like they all told the same stories to some extent. I would concede that this was the sweetest of them all, but oh well. I’m not sure if I would recommend reading these books back to back. The series was lovely, but I guess somewhat repetitive.

I would recommend this book to fans of the first season of Bridgerton and this series to any lovers of period dramas. It has been a truly entertaining ride, and I am so glad I found this series when I did: a few weeks before the second season of Bridgerton dropped, and just as its third and last book was released.

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To Love and to Loathe — Martha Waters — The Regency Vows #2

Genre: Romance, Royalty
Actual Rating: 3 stars
Content Warning: Sexual content, death of a family member, and grief.

“To Love and to Loathe” follows Jeremy, the Marquess of Willingham, and Diana, Lady Templeton, as they become lovers of sorts. The Marquess and Lady Templeton have known each other forever and their sexual tension has been evident for just as long—but they’d never be the perfect match for the other, the Marquess is a player and Diana’s brother’s best mate. That’s why, when they’re younger, Diana marries someone else, someone much older, becoming Lady Templeton and then just as quickly becoming a widow. Now, years after becoming a widower, Lady Templeton is approached by the Marquess of Willingham because his pride has been wounded. Having a previous lover critique his sexual skills and branding them as mediocre, the Marquess asks Lady Templeton to take him as a lover, as to be reassured that his skills are indeed acceptable and so other men are aware that she’d be interested in taking in a lover. Through a regal friends-with-benefits situation, this book will transport you to the 1800s and make you fall in love (again).

This was a very lighthearted book with the same storytelling, dynamics, and tropes as the first book in this series. Following two characters we met in “To Have and to Hoax”, this second installment was told through different points of view and had some enemies-to-lovers action going on—just like the first installment did. The only reason this book had a lower rating than the first book in the series did is that I got bored at times. Objectively, this book wasn’t extremely slow-paced, but I just lost interest and had to stop reading it. This book did not hook me as intensively as “To Have and to Hoax” did.

In essence, you’ll love this book if you loved the first book in the “The Regency Vows” series, but at the same time, I feel like this book would work well as a standalone. Yes, you’ll understand some backstory better if you’ve read “To Have and to Hoax”, but if you get your hands on “To Love and to Loathe” first, don’t hesitate to read it.

I would recommend this book to readers who like the friends-with-benefits and enemies-to-lovers dynamics.

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To Have and to Hoax — Martha Waters — The Regency Vows #1

“(…) If you are going to insist on losing faith in someone the moment you see the slightest possibility that they have wronged you, you are going to have a very frustrating life.”

Genre: Romance, Royalty
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Toxic relationships and friendships, sexual content and sexism.

Set in what seems to be the 1800s, “To Have and to Hoax” follows Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley, a couple who got married out of love, which was extremely back in the day. After one year of blissful marriage, they get in a fight so great that they barely speak for the following 4 years. Then, Lady Violet gets a letter, telling her her husband has been in a grave accident. As she rushes to where he is only to find he is actually fine and well, she sets to get her revenge, because it isn’t fair that they barely talk and she still cares for him. In a comedic telling, this romance book will transport you to times similar to books like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Sense and Sensibility”.

I pretty much grabbed this book because I was reminiscing how much I enjoy the “Pride and Prejudice” 2005 movie and to start setting the mood for season 2 of Bridgerton. And I must say, “To Have and to Hoax” did a perfect job at that. I loved the tension and scheming and the period language. The first installment in The Regency Vows series is lighthearted, funny, and very heavily focused on character development. For its length, it was a very fast read, even if it wasn’t that fastly paced.

I would recommend this book to lovers of period dramas and to readers who enjoy the enemies-to-lovers trope.

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The Simple Wild — K.A. Tucker — Wild #1

“(…) wanting someone to be something they’re not won’t make it happen.”

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 5+ stars
Content Warning: Discusses cancer and airplane crashes.

“The Simple Wild” follows Calla Fletcher, an Alaskan-born, Toronto-raised 26-year-old. When she was 2 years old, her mother took her and left Alaska for good, leaving her pilot father, Wren, behind. Having never seen her father again and having cut all relationship with him when she was in middle school, she is shocked when she hears he’s—perhaps terminally—ill. Embarking on a trip to re-meet her own father, Calla will find more than solitude and tundra in this romantic, heart-shattering book.

Why was this hidden gem kept from me? This was one of the best reads of the year already. I missed out on this book for almost 4 years, that’s inconceivable. I loved Calla and her inner voice. I loved the adventure K.A. Tucker took us on. I loved the raccoons. I loved loved loved the character development. If anything, I feel like this book ended too soon. Good thing there are more books in this series, I need more Calla and Jonah in my life.

If you like romance: read this book. If you like nature: read this book. If you like books that will make you cry a lil: read this book. If you’re breathing: do yourself a favor and just read this book. It’s so so good.

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“Jonah is Alaska to me.”

The Spanish Love Deception — Elena Armas

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 4.5 stars
Content Warning: Mentions sexual assault, power-imbalance couples, and cancer.

“The Spanish Love Deception” follows Catalina—a.k.a. Lina—Martín, as she sets to find a fake boyfriend that’ll follow her all the way to Spain, to her hometown, for her sister’s wedding. Then bring on her only candidate: Aaron Blackford, her annoyingly smug coworker. Ever since Aaron’s been in the office, Lina’s had the impression he doesn’t like her that much, and so she’s skeptical, to say the least, about him being her fake boyfriend. Set mostly in New York and the northern coast of Spain, this book will engulf you between two cultures and a not-so-deceptive love affair.

First things first: HOW IS THIS ELENA’S DEBUT NOVEL? It’s so well-written, her storyline was clear and well-constructed, and her characters were unique and lovely… Most writers don’t get it this right this early on in their careers. I can’t wait to read her second book, that’s coming out in August 2022—although it won’t follow Lina and Aaron, it’ll be following Rosie (Lina’s friend and coworker) and Lucas (Lina’s cousin) instead.

I would recommend this book to anyone who liked The Hating Game (book or movie, doesn’t matter), or anyone who’s fond of the enemies-to-lovers troupe. It’s a semi-lengthy book (almost 500 pages) but oh God, did I not get enough of those two and their story. I can’t recommend this book enough.

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Love at First Like — Hannah Orenstein

Genre: Romance
Actual Rating: 2.5 stars
Content Warnings: None that I can think of.

“Love at First Like” follows Eliza Roth as she fakes an engagement (and wedding—if she finds someone willing to be her fiancé) in order to safe the jewelry business she owns with her older sister.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. I really like Hannah Orenstein as an author. And it wasn’t that the writing was bad, really, it was more that the story was unbearable. I have seen few characters as manipulative as Eliza, the way she gaslighted everyone around her was impressive. She essentially conned herself into a wedding with a decent guy, and when that didn’t work out, she did it again with another nice guy.

I’m not sure who to recommend this book to. Maybe read it if you have the free time and someone already gifted you this book? Yeah, that’s it.

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Head Over Heels — Hannah Orenstein

Genre: Sports Romance
Actual Rating: 4 stars
Content Warnings: Discusses mental health, eating disorders, and verbal, physical, and sexual abuse.

“Head Over Heels” follows retired gymnast Avery Abrams, who almost made it to the Olympics—but didn’t due to an injury just weeks before the world-class event. Seven years later, after dealing with a rough breakup and moving back in with her parents in her hometown, she is offered the opportunity to help train a rising gymnastics star who is set to make it to the Olympics herself. What she could not fathom was that she’d be training this new gymnast alongside one of her childhood crushes. Will she let herself fall in love again and will she ever come to peace with her past? I guess you’ll have to read the book to find out.

I honestly thoroughly enjoyed this book, it took quite a few turns I wasn’t expecting. Yes, it’s a romance book, but at the same time it’s so much more than that. There are so many important and relevant topics addressed in this book, like eating disorders and abuse within the sports community, and how Olympic athletes lack the resources to work on their mental and sometimes even physical health.

I would recommend this book to anyone who ever dreamed of going to the Olympics (even if they didn’t practice an Olympic sport) or just anyone who’s up for an interesting romance book that’ll tackle more than just sexual tension and romantic relationships.

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