To Love and To Loathe by Martha Waters
We recieved this ARC from Edelweiss!
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Normally, here at L. Skyford, we stick to Contemporary Romance, but the blurb for this drew me in. I was expecting sexcapades galore, and then “whoops, we caught feelings.” The latter definitely happened, but the former - not so much. That’s not to say I didn’t like it. I did. But it did not meet my expectations.
Diana is a widow and consummate flirt, but she cannot catch a paramour. Her long-time verbal sparring buddy, Jeremy is an eligible Marquess (don’t ask me what that means, beyond he’s like a kick-ass Duke) whose carefully cultivated public persona leaves everyone expecting nothing from him, just how he wants it. He happily flits from lover to lover until his latest lover implies that he may be less than exceptional in the bedroom. The only person he can think of to give him an honest opinion of his “performance” is Diana. A deal is struck between them that for an honest review, Jeremy will allude around town that Diana is “open for business.”
With as much talk about sex in this book (it’s constant when they aren’t talking about marriage), I thought there would be more sexual acts, but there aren’t. That’s my one complaint about this book. It’s incredibly charming, well-paced, lots of characters to get to know, but the sex scenes (the few there are) are glossed over/Vaseline on the lens.
Will I keep trying Historical? Yes. Will I read more Martha Waters? Probably. -Ford
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How do we, as feminists, reconcile the Regency marriage plots and the needs of women in the current time. That is the question that kept going through my mind as I read this book.
This book reads like Martha Waters wanted to answer that question as well. Her heroines are self-sufficient, well aware of their power over men, and cleverer by strides. They are also sexually much better educated than the Lords and Marquess' of the time.
The setup made me wonder if this is what is necessary for us to enjoy a historical romance without being trapped in the helplessness of the "fairer" sex.
The banter was funny and the characters well developed. I particularly enjoyed Jeremy's emotional arc. Our discovery of his hidden depths was touching and engaging.
Where this book fell short for me is in the liberated sexual escapades. Though the plot is entirely based on Diana and Jeremy exploring a sexual relationship for the benefit of getting better at bringing their partner to orgasm, those scenes are glossed over, without explicit sexual descriptions.
If this world were raunchier, dirtier, and harder it would work for me better. As is, the book was fine and fun, just not great.
This book also fills us in on the characters of To Have and To Hoax, in case you are wondering if you need to read that one before this one. You do not, but it is fun and maybe you should. - Sky
