To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Waters

 

Title: To Swoon and to Spar (The Regency Vows novel)

Author:  Martha Waters

Narrated by:  Anais Inara Chase and Joel Froomkin

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Length: Approximately 9 hours and 15 minutes

Source: Review Copy from Simon & Schuster Audio.  Thank you @simonandschuster @BookClubFavorites #BookClubFavorites for the free books!

 

What's your favorite book series?

To Swoon and to Spar by Martha Waters is the fourth novel in the Regency Vows series.  The fifth book, To Woo and to Wed just came out this month.  This is a great regency romance series and I have fun reading a new novel in it every year.

Viscount Penvale has been working and saving for five years to buy back his family estate, Trethwick Abbey, from his Uncle.  He is excited when his Uncle finally agrees to sell . . . if Penvale will marry his ward, Jane.  Jane is socially awkward and seems to have a waspish tongue.  Penvale seems to Jane to be a useless aristocrat.  Once they move to Trethwick Abbey, it seems that the estate is haunted.  Will these two make their relationship work and is the house really haunted?

What I liked about this novel:

·       I loved the enemies to lovers story.  It reminded me of Ten Things I Hate About You or Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew in ways.

·       I loved how Jane is a reader and there is much discussion of books, especially Jane Austen.

·       The haunting of the house reminded me of Northanger Abbey and other Gothic tales.  It was a lot of fun.  I especially loved the set-up of the haunting in the prologue.

·       I enjoyed seeing the couples I fell in love with in the past books show up again.  This book does work as a standalone if you have not read the other books in the series.

·       The humor is fun in this book, especially as it relates to the haunting.

·       The romance in this novel was a slow burn that became steamy.  I thought it was hilarious that Jane had discovered a stash of steamy books in the library left by some previous owner that she read to educate herself.

·       I loved the narrators of this audiobook.  The two narrators were the two different viewpoints in this book, Jane and Penvale.  I especially loved narrator Joel Froomkin’s accent.

Overall, this was exactly the fun, light romantic read I needed right now.  The haunting elements brought even more fun to this regency romance.  I highly recommend this book and this series.