Name: dija's review of To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters
Item: To Marry and to Meddle
Rating: 4
Author: dija

Martha Waters

The “sweet, sexy, and utterly fun” (Emily Henry, author of The People We Meet on Vacation) Regency Vows series continues with a witty, charming, and joyful novel following a seasoned debutante and a rakish theater owner as they navigate a complicated marriage of convenience. Lady Emily Turner has been a debutante for six seasons now and should have long settled into a suitable marriage. However, due to her father’s large debts, her only suitor is the persistent and odious owner of her father’s favorite gambling house. Meanwhile, Lord Julian Belfry, the second son of a marquess, has scandalized society as an actor and owner of a theater—the kind of establishment where men take their mistresses, but not their wives. When their lives intersect at a house party, Lord Julian hatches a plan to benefit them both. With a marriage of convenience, Emily will use her society connections to promote the theater to a more respectable clientele and Julian will take her out from under the shadows of her father’s unsavory associates. But they soon realize they have very different plans for their marriage—Julian wants Emily to remain a society wife, while Emily discovers an interest in the theater. But when a fleeing actress, murderous kitten, and meddlesome friends enter the fray, Emily and Julian will have to confront the fact that their marriage of convenience comes with rather inconvenient feelings. With “an arch sense of humor and a marvelously witty voice that rivals the best of the Regency authors” (Entertainment Weekly), Martha Waters crafts another fresh romantic comedy that for fans of Julia Quinn and Evie Dunmore.

A Novel

To Marry and to Meddle

Keira 💫

Genesis (@whisperingchapters)

The “sweet, sexy, and utterly fun” (Emily Henry, author of People We Meet on Vacation) Regency Vows series continues with a witty, charming, and joyful novel following a seasoned debutante and a rakish theater owner as they navigate a complicated marriage of convenience. Lady Emily Turner has been a debutante for six seasons now and should have long settled into a suitable marriage. However, due to her father’s large debts, her only suitor is the persistent and odious owner of her father’s favorite gambling house. Meanwhile, Lord Julian Belfry, the second son of a marquess, has scandalized society as an actor and owner of a theater—the kind of establishment where men take their mistresses, but not their wives. When their lives intersect at a house party, Lord Julian hatches a plan to benefit them both. With a marriage of convenience, Emily will use her society connections to promote the theater to a more respectable clientele and Julian will take her out from under the shadows of her father’s unsavory associates. But they soon realize they have very different plans for their marriage—Julian wants Emily to remain a society wife, while Emily discovers an interest in the theater. But when a fleeing actress, murderous kitten, and meddlesome friends enter the fray, Emily and Julian will have to confront the fact that their marriage of convenience comes with rather inconvenient feelings. With “an arch sense of humor and a marvelously witty voice that rivals the best of the Regency authors” (Entertainment Weekly), Martha Waters crafts another fresh romantic comedy that for fans of Julia Quinn and Evie Dunmore.

dija

Sheena

Uneventful, to say the least. Maybe it was just me but I didn’t get much out of this book. Sure I enjoyed seeing the MCs from the previous installments and the chemistry amongst the cast but the lack of plot, dull romance, and storyline was uncompelling and overall put a damper on my reading experience. 
 
To put it short and sweet: not worth your wild.

Nikki

one of my anticipated reads and they served your honor!

ngl i was super intrigued by julianemily when i first read to have and to hoax early this year. by then i already knew they were going to have a book and they were going to serve marriage of convenience trope (which i truly love) but the combination of julian's rakish and reckless character and emily's prim and proper self definitely hooked me to this book and i loved reading it. add in the fact that both of them were keen on being the opposite of what they want each other to be. that just made this whole book chaotic, and i mean that in the most positive way.

one part that i really like is the fact that even though emily was raised to be the primmest and most proper lady, she had no qualms in enjoying consummating their marriage and even took part in enjoying it. that whole scene was funny and charming to me. cecil's addition was so funny and adorable and i loved how he was incorporated to julian and emily's life and household. yay demon cats!

i think this book's best part is how julian and emily dealt with their family (both found and real). tt was refreshing when we came towards the end and julian found out the truth about his father and emily stood her ground to her mother. 

overall, i love this book and definitely recommend it to anyone who's game for a regency romance with marriage of convenience. 

thank you to netgalley and atria books for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was delightful. 
But it was more of a character book than plot based. 
I still did love the characters and their development. 
Their issues are similar to the ones I go through. So this is actually a comfort read now. 
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The premise of the book was good. Unlike the other books, this is a marriage of convenience and we see these two being super "convenient" and utilizing this marriage to the fullest. 
They have no rules or boundaries as such, except maybe not going into extreme detail about Julian's relationship with his father which I think is fairly understandable. 
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Anyways, the banter in this book is just delightful and I really think Emily might be my fav girl. 
She struggles initially to be her own person but when she goes down her own path, she turns out to be this wonderful and soulful girl that really makes you laugh so much. 


Heather Harrington

I loved the other two books in this series, so I was very much looking forward to this one. I don't think the plot was as solid as the previous books, but I still liked it a lot. Emily and Julian are complete opposites-- she being very reserved and his rather rakish reputation--, but they worked so well together. They had great banter, and there were so many times I was either laughing or swooning over their interactions. Waters did a nice job balancing the steamy moments with genuinely adorable moments (aka every moment between Julian and his tiny kitten nemesis), and I loved watching the pair fall for one another. Aside from their relationship, I loved the dynamic between Emily, Violet, and Diana. Their friendship is what truly shines throughout these books. They're so hilarious, and I love how they champion one another so much. If you like historical romances that have a more contemporary feel, I can't recommend this series enough.

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters

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Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters

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Join the club

Genesis (@whisperingchapters) &
To Marry and to Meddle by Martha Waters