To Have and to Hoax: A Novel

Written by Martha Waters

Narrated by Anais Inara Chase and Joel Froomkin

Named a Best Romance of April by Goodreads, Popsugar, Bustle, and more!

“A laugh out loud Regency romp—if you loved the Bridgertons, you’ll adore To Have and to Hoax!” —Lauren Willig, New York Times bestselling author

In this fresh and hilarious historical rom-com, an estranged husband and wife in Regency England feign accidents and illness in an attempt to gain attention—and maybe just win each other back in the process.

Five years ago, Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley met, fell in love, and got married. Four years ago, they had a fight to end all fights, and have barely spoken since.

Their once-passionate love match has been reduced to one of cold, detached politeness. But when Violet receives a letter that James has been thrown from his horse and rendered unconscious at their country estate, she races to be by his side—only to discover him alive and well at a tavern, and completely unaware of her concern. She’s outraged. He’s confused. And the distance between them has never been more apparent.

Wanting to teach her estranged husband a lesson, Violet decides to feign an illness of her own. James quickly sees through it, but he decides to play along in an ever-escalating game of manipulation, featuring actors masquerading as doctors, threats of Swiss sanitariums, faux mistresses—and a lot of flirtation between a husband and wife who might not hate each other as much as they thought. Will the two be able to overcome four years of hurt or will they continue to deny the spark between them?

With charm, wit, and heart in spades, To Have and to Hoax is a fresh and eminently entertaining romantic comedy—perfect for fans of Jasmine Guillory and Julia Quinn.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Apr 7, 2020
• ISBN: 9781797105284

Martha Waters

Martha Waters is the author of Christmas Is All Around, and the Regency Vows series, which includes To Have and to Hoax, To Love and to Loathe, To Marry and to Meddle, To Swoon and to Spar, and To Woo and to Wed. She was born and raised in sunny south Florida and is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She lives in coastal Maine, where she works as a children’s librarian by day, and loves sundresses, gin cocktails, and traveling.  

Reviews for To Have and to Hoax

[Karina · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Great narration, but the main couple is so boring!
How is it possible for you to live with someone and don't talk to them for 4 years?
And they find any excuse to not trust each other and pick another fight.
The romance was ok, the steamy scenes as well, but by chapter 16, I think the book should've ended, not dragged itself for 3 more chapters.

[chelsie miller · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

DNF with two hours remaining. The couple is so childish. How do you get in one fight and ignore each other for 4 years until you decide to play an elaborate joke to get their attention. I don’t know why I finished this much of it.

[jaraccha · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Meh! DNF. They compare this book to the Bridgerton Really!!!!!!! . that’s the most disrespectful things to say to my queen Julia Quinn.
I don’t get the hype of this book. it’s the most boring HR book I’ve ever read. no chemistry between the two, such a weak plot and the dialogue is so blant. 15 chapters and still noting happened.

[Sandy Benemerito Bailey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Light, entertaining read that filled my post-Bridgerton hankering very well as the style, characters and dialogue struck the same note. The lead couple, Violet and James, fall head over heels in love and into a quick marriage but after a year of wedded bliss, have a blowout fight to end all finds and find themselves inexorably at odds. After five long years, a misunderstanding leads one to try hoodwink the other, taking it in turns until there are multiple hoaxes happening in the name of oneupsmanship. The “intrigue” and dialogue were comical, although the novel started to drag towards the end and I felt it could have been 50-75 pages lighter, hence my 3star rating. Definitely an enjoyable read, however, and I look forward to the sequel, To Love and to Loathe, due out this year.

[Diane Lopez · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Super fun read! I actually laughed out loud at parts

[Melissa Matheson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this audio recording. Funny, extremely entertaining, yet enough feelings of love and sadness over "The Argument" to make me think about my own arguments in my marriage and wonder how they get so out of control. Highly recommend this book.

[Davina Ramirez · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I like cheesiness as much as the next person but the male narrator here is far, far too over-the-top campy … and the contrived drama is just, well, boring. Unappealing couple. Far too many “rather”s and “decidedly”s as well.

[Jason Bradley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I did like the story. Could do without such explicit sexual encounters and maybe leave some things unwritten. I did love Violet and James together. The dialogue in affection Cortines, and their fighting. And all of the learning and realizations they came to. However, the four years was a stretch. I could see that happening over six months or maybe a year four years was a stretch! For their behavior and the outcome.
Otherwise, a great story and I’d be curious to know more about Violet and James before they were married and that first year of marriage

[Jennifer Greenlees · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book! It was great! I thought the reason for the argument was stupid, but I was very glad they realized they loved each other and wound up back together!

I read this book on April 13-14, 2022!

[Nerissa Muijs · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The sound kept cutting in and out (not a problem with my device) so abandoned it.

[ShellyLyn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Funny, fast paced read that had me wanting to keep listening!

[Madalyn Spranger · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Went a couple chapters too long. The story was good but I struggled to finish it.

[A Chapple · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I like all things Regency and read this in 2 days. I was a bit confused in the beginning as to why Violet and James were estranged. This urged me to read on to find out why this once so-in-love couple now despised each other. I didn't like the fact that the narrator kept mentioning that the characters were English and therefore didn't emote readily. It was like saying this is a joke before telling a joke. I liked it well enough and would like to see the characters come to life in a movie perhaps. I liked the back stories of the secondary characters and hope that the author writes their stories as well.

[Bianca Gómez Cadena · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It was a great book. The characters were well developed and the marital trouble were realistic . Loved their loved .

[Thayna Rosales · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Wel. The narrator was boring and not funny and it was not a very amazing storyline. It should start with a little more excitement. It left me hanging and the funny parts started to late for my tast.

[phyllis2779 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Read the first chapter of this and the ending and decided it wasn't for me and I wasn't going to waste my time. It was ridiculous. The characters are supposed to be regency but who knows.

[n.w.moors-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I love Lauren Willig's books and got this based on her recommendation, but I have to disagree with her assessment here: “A laugh out loud Regency romp—if you loved the Bridgertons, you’ll adore To Have and to Hoax!” This was not funny at all. It was contrived with obnoxious characters (excepting West). I very rarely DNF a book, especially a romance (I think this was Regency period but it was never actually made clear). I also read them quickly, usually in one night. This one dragged over three days as I hoped it might redeem itself at some point.Violet and James are toddlers who argue over everything. Okay, some couples like to fight to spice up their relationships, but this was over literally EVERY SINGLE THING. For FOUR YEARS! Though they lived in the same house, saw each other constantly, they still maintained the feud which made no sense to me. Why weren't they living in separate houses if they weren't a couple? Even their friends didn't understand why they were arguing, and honestly, their friends weren't much better, abetting the couple in their petty revenge. There was no character development or growth, and I'm confident that at the end of the book, by the next page they were on to another stupid argument and another four-year-long squabble. It was exhausting to me as a reader.Speaking of which, I had pre-ordered the next book in the series but canceled it by the end of the book as based on their behavior in this book, the hero and heroine are going to be a continuation of this same type of bickering. This is a brutal review for me. I'm inclined to like almost all historical romances (and I read a lot of them), and I'm sure other readers liked the story, but if you really want laugh-out-loud Regency stories, I recommend Lauren Willig's Pink Carnation series rather than this.

[twink_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

How would I describe Martha Waters' new novel, To Have and to Hoax? A Regency rom-com!Lady Violet Grey and Lord James Audley fell madly in love five years ago. That first year was magical. The next four? Not so much. Lady Violet is determined to have their polite stalemate ended and devises a plan. She will pretend to be ill and certainly that will bring them back together. Right? Uh huh. What is that phrase about the best laid plans?To Have and to Hoax follows Lady Violet and Lord James from one hair brained scheme to another. It's a fun journey full of missteps, miscommunications - and the undeniable fact that they are still in love. And yes, some of the plot stretches credulity, but that's the whole idea - just go with it.It was easy to like both lead characters and root for their romance to be rekindled. The supporting cast was just as likeable, with a few quirky additions. But, what I really enjoyed was the dialogue. Waters has absolutely captured the verbal jousting of polite society in the Regency period. The sly barbs that are still perfectly correct, the double entendres that can't be acknowledged, the 'proper' ways of manners and society and more.I chose to listen to To Have and To Hoax. Listening to the audio version allowed me to hear and experience the cleverness of those conversations much more than so than I would have by reading a print copy. The narrators were two 'new to me' readers - Anais Inara Chase and Joel Froomkin. I thought they both did a great job. And I was glad to have two readers instead of one playing both parts. Chase's voice was light and quick and perfectly suited the mental image I had created for Lady Violet. Her intonation is clear and easy to understand. She captures the tone and tenor of the action and situations easily with her voice. Froomkin is an award winning voice actor. I can see (hear) why! He easily captures and portrays the character of Lord James with his aristocratic tone and measured speed of speaking. But he too captures the emotion and action of the book, giving his interpretation lots of movement. The two play off each other very well and are quite believable as a couple. Hear for yourself - listen to an audio excerpt of To Have and To Hoax.To Have and To Hoax was a light-hearted, fun read and a nice distraction from the real world.

[pgchuis · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.This was well-written, with likeable characters and a light, humorous touch, Unfortunately (for me) the whole story was one of a big misunderstanding that had persisted for four years. When the misunderstanding was resolved, this was as a result of the hero having a proper think about things, rather than the revelation of new information, and then immediately there followed a little misunderstanding.I would happily read more by this author, but hopefully exploring a different trope next time.

[barbararogers-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Maybe 3.5 StarsRating this book has put me in a bit of a conundrum. It is the author’s debut novel and I think the writing style is good and the premise of the story could be a fun one. The main characters got on my very last nerve and I had no problem with frequently putting the book down for a while. The main characters themselves, nor their story, ever reached out and grabbed me to drag me into their romance. I caught myself rolling my eyes and thinking back to the days when my children were just newly into their teenage years and experiencing their first forays into romance. Thus, it almost seemed more a YA story.I thought perhaps the book suffered a bit of an identity crisis. With more banter, lightheartedness, and zany situations, it could have been a fun, entertaining read. With less of the absurd and more of the emotional development, it could have been a nice, more serious read. As it was, it didn’t fit either category. I also found it to be a bit repetitive – I couldn’t count how many times either he or she realized they still loved the other. Seems to me if you realize it once, then you know it.Lady Violet Grey, daughter of an Earl, and James Audley, second son of a duke, met five years earlier and fell instantly in love even though she was only 18 and he was 23. They married quickly and had a volatile, rip-roaring first year of marriage. Then, they had a huge row and lived separately, in the same house, for the next four years.Each of them has parent issues and that is a big part – in addition to their own immaturity – of what drove them apart and keeps them apart. The story begins in the fifth year of their marriage and we learn what happened in the earlier years through remembrances and conversations. We are also party to viewing their reconciliation – though neither of them had that as their goal. Each wanted to one-up the other, to punish the other, neither wanted to admit that they could have been in the wrong, neither wanted to talk (or even argue) the situation out. No, the reconciliation sort of just – happened – while they were annoying each other.It was a nice enough read, but I wouldn’t read it a second time. This isn’t listed as part of a series, but I can certainly see some subsequent books stemming from this one because the secondary characters were much more intriguing than the main characters. I’d be very interested in seeing stories for West, Sophia, Julian, Diana, Jeremy, Emily, and Penvale. I’ll definitely check this author’s next book out and hope it will feature some of the secondary characters contained within this book.I voluntarily read and reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.