Review: To Have and To Hoax
✨Thank you Atria Books for the gifted copy of To Have and To Hoax✨
I have to admit, this book had been sitting idle on my kindle for a long time. I had seen a lot of mixed reviews and DNFs and I’m afraid it made me apprehensive about picking it up.
But I realize now that I can’t let other opinions completely color my own. So I decided it was high time I gave To Have and To Hoax a shot.
And I ended up being completely surprised.
✨ Violet met James under rather unusual circumstances. Not that it was unusual for a young lady to meet a potential husband at a ball, but not while she’s in the arms of another man on a dark balcony. Oh no. No well bred young lady imagines that.
James found Violet in a compromising situation. Convinced that she was being taken advantage of by his rakish friend, James decided to intervene only to be swept up in Violet’s quick wit and charm. In moments the pair find themselves discovered alone on the balcony by Violet’s mother. To avoid further scandal, James doesn’t hesitate to rectify the matter by proposing to Violet.
So the young couple are quickly married and are quite infatuated with each other. But trouble comes to paradise one year into the marriage. After what will be refered to as The Argument...comes the estrangement. And now the real story begins.
Four years later, James and Violet have barely spoken, both being far too stubborn to start a reconciliation. But when Violet receives an urgent letter that James was thrown from his horse and was unconscious, she doesn’t hesitate to rush to his side, terrified that he might not survive. Imagine her outrage when she comes to find that James was not only well, but completely dismissive of his wife’s concern! Violet decides a lesson needs to be learned from this, and hatches a plan to get her husband’s attention. ✨
Now I get it. These two are in serious need of communication! Even friends of both James and Violet are baffled by the couples’ inability to discuss their problems. Honestly, I can understand why some people DNF simply because the idea of poor communication is extremely unappealing. I’m inclined to agree with that thought.
However, I simply had to find out the true catalyst of Violet and James’s ultimate fight. This was a couple who seemed to love getting under each other’s skin. What was the straw that broke the camel’s back? It took some time to get there but when we got to the meat of the matter, everything started to make sense. And I was finally able to empathize with both Violet and James. Both had experienced an extreme emotional blow, and for all the immaturity and hostility...I got it.
Now this probably won’t be enough for some readers. Many were not able to get far enough in the book to even find the rhyme and reason. My theory for this is that to Have and to Hoax is quite...wordy. Martha Waters performed quite a task in creating a narrative with a VERY classic tone. Listening to the audiobook, one might even mistake it for being one of
Austen’s classics at times. This can be both a good thing, and a very bad thing. When romance readers pick up a historical romance...we still expect a novel written in this century. If we want Pride and Prejudice, we can read it. But when it comes to historical romances written by contemporary authors, most of us don’t need/want a passage so descriptive that it takes 20 minutes to read, when it could have been summed up in half the time.
This of course, is not a deal breaker to everyone. I personally found that the writing style kept me in the period that the story takes place. I never once felt these were contemporary characters in historical
costumes. No, we were definitely in regency England. And I think having that constant feeling kept me believing in the fact that times were VERY different back then. Communication between husbands and wives were not like how we expect them to be today. I do believe that THAT is what kept me from completely dismissing our leading couple.
Now don’t get me wrong. The events that occur in this story are immature and unnecessary to say the least. There were moments I was texting Kellisa in frustration because I don’t care for constant poor communication between romantic couples. But there was something there that just told me to keep at it.
✨Also, keep in mind. I was listening to the audiobook! I think this helped A LOT! I can’t say if I would have been able to get through it as fast if I was reading it on my kindle. ✨
In the end, I’m so glad I DID keep at it! As said, once the meat of the issue was revealed, I understood the whole picture so much more! While certain behaviors by both characters are not excusable, one could empathize so much more. And the best part? All issues actually get addressed! We get proper recognition, we get discussion of problems, past and present. Both characters have to learn something and have to listen and grow! I felt there wasn’t a stone left unturned by the end.
The main issue that many readers had with this book was the lack of communication between James and Violet, but it turns out that that was one of the biggest lessons for them to learn. Trust and communication. They also had to learn that not all their problems could be solved through makeup sex! Omg that was refreshing! Sometimes in other books, it seems like sex solves everything 😂 I mean, I know we’re reading romance and love steam but, when a character is facing a real life problem, it’s nice to find a realistic solution that isn’t sex!
By the way, while it takes some time to get there, we ARE rewarded with some great steam! 🔥🔥
So while this book is not perfect, and might suffer from a bit of first novel problems, ultimately, I LOVED IT!!! I actually sighed at it’s utterly romantic ending. It’s one of those books that I feel needs to be finished in order to get the full picture. I understand that it still won’t be for everyone. But personally, I’m so glad I finished it and I can’t wait to read book two! 🙌🏻
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ I rounded up to 5 stars for a beautiful conclusion, lessons learned, and the wonderfully happy feeling I was left with! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
🖤 Katie