Review: To Woo and to Wed

To Woo and to Wed by Martha Waters
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Three and a half stars.

Sophie, Lady Fitzwilliam Bridewell, is a widow and the eldest of five daughters, three of whom are happily wed, the fourth of whom, Alexandra, is also a widow. When Sophie realises that Alexandra has found love with someone but is putting off getting married because she doesn't want Sophie to be lonely, Sophie realises she must take action, after all as the eldest it is practically her job to ensure her sisters' happiness.

Seven years ago, before her marriage, Sophie was in love with the Marquess of Weston, and he with her. But because Sophie's mother was from a wealthy merchant family rather than the ton, West's father was against the match and blackmailed/threatened Sophie. Sophie and West have been avoiding each other ever since, but their recent sojourn in Cornwall with Viscount Penvale and his new bride Jane has thawed the ice somewhat. So Sophie concocts a plan, since her sisters believe she still holds a torch for West, she will persuade him to enter into a fake engagement which they can cancel once Alexandra and her beau are happily married.

After a fatal carriage racing accident which killed his best friend, West has been lamed. He blames himself for his friend's death, and was devastated when the woman he loved married a mutual friend while West was still recovering from his injuries. Now his only joy is thwarting his father's succession plans, to which ends he had led his father to believe that his accident had made him incapable of fathering a child (ie an heir). Now his father has learned the truth and his threatening to sell West's late mother's estate unless West gets married. Whilst initially resistant to Sophie's madcap plan, he sees that an engagement to a woman his father deems unsuitable whilst fulfilling his father dictat to marry would be delicious revenge.

However, Alexandra is a schemer and soon inveigles Sophie into agreeing to have a joint wedding, where the grooms will arrive, on white horses no less *horror*. As the hoax continues Alexandra's demands become increasingly unhinged, but Sophie can't say no. In the interim, West has decided that he will use this opportunity to renew his courtship of Sophie, seven years have passed and he has never felt a fraction of the love he felt for Sophie for any other woman.

I recently read the previous book in this series,To Swoon and to Spar, and enjoyed it so when I saw this available as an ARC I jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, some of the issues I had with the previous book, but overlooked, felt a bit more jarring in this book. Whilst there are half-hearted attempts at chaperoning Sophie and Alexandra, they also have an intimate dinner with West and Alexandra's fiancé which just would not have been permitted. Similarly, when Sophie and West first meet they are alone together which could have led to Sophie being compromised. I know these are modern takes on historical romances but there seem to be some inconsistencies around the way in which Sophie and West being left alone is viewed compared to when one of Sophie's younger sister's is viewed when she is found alone with a young man.

My other gripe is that I found it hard to understand Sophie's reluctance to marry West.

But anyone who knows my reviews knows I focus on the negatives, overall I enjoyed this novel, although I found the four other couples quite difficult to distinguish between which was not such an issue in the previous book I read.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for an honest review.

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