To Love and to Loathe
Martha Waters
4/5
The Marquess of Willingham and the widowed Lady Templeton have a pretty rich history. As her brother's friend, she has known him for close to a decade. From a halfhearted marriage proposal in her debut season to verbal sparring sessions and hefty wagers in the ballroom, they have not had the cleanest relationship since. When they make a mutual deal based on physical relations to avoid emotional entanglements I think everyone around them knows that it's going to blow up in some way.
The banter in this book was EVERYTHING. Like I wanted to scream because of their cute little sparring sessions because they really represent everything I think every reader wants in a relationship. The progression of their relationship felt pretty natural, a combination of the physical and the sharing of their emotional barriers. Despite the synopsis it's not overwhelmingly crass, I was a little scared but it really wasn't all too spicy. I think that the real success of the novel was just how great and authentic their dialogue felt.
I was a little thrown by the end. The pacing of it was kind of off of what the rest of the book was. Not in a way that made me hate it or anything, just enough to lose one star. I was still very satisfied by it all and would totally recommend it. Especially for fans of Bridgerton, it's not too intensely into the "regency romance" genre and it still feels like it has modern rom-com vibes but it also doesn't completely throw the conventions out the window. It can also be read as a standalone, I didn't read the first but I understood everything that was happening in this one.
Big thank you to Atria publishing and NetGalley for getting me an ARC! All opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
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