Book Description 

Lady Emily Turner has been a debutante for six seasons now and should have long settled into a suitable marriage. However, due to her father’s large debts, her only suitor is the persistent and odious owner of her father’s favorite gambling house. Meanwhile, Lord Julian Belfry, the second son of a marquess, has scandalized society as an actor and owner of a theater—the kind of establishment where men take their mistresses, but not their wives. When their lives intersect at a house party, Lord Julian hatches a plan to benefit them both.

With a marriage of convenience, Emily will use her society connections to promote the theater to a more respectable clientele and Julian will take her out from under the shadows of her father’s unsavory associates. But they soon realize they have very different plans for their marriage—Julian wants Emily to remain a society wife, while Emily discovers an interest in the theater. But when a fleeing actress, murderous kitten, and meddlesome friends enter the fray, Emily and Julian will have to confront the fact that their marriage of convenience comes with rather inconvenient feelings.

With “an arch sense of humor and a marvelously witty voice that rivals the best of the Regency authors” (Entertainment Weekly), Martha Waters crafts another fresh romantic comedy for fans of Julia Quinn and Evie Dunmore.

My Review 

I enjoyed the first two books in this series, so I was looking forward to seeing Julian and Emily, who both appeared in the earlier books, finally get upgraded to starring roles. 

The marriage of convenience trope is the historical romance antecedent of the more modern fake dating trope wherein a couple decides to enter into a marriage for Reasons. This is strictly a business arrangement and they aren’t going to develop feelings for each other at all, no sir, full stop. 

What I liked about Lord Julian was that he was the “bad boy” of the group. Those quotation marks would be air quotes if I was speaking instead of writing because Lord Julian is hardly the dissolute rake he presents himself as. His misdeeds include defying familial expectations by owning a scandalous theatre. So it was interesting that he turned into a bit of a stick in the mud after getting married and returning to London to establish himself as a Not Scandalous gentleman. 

Emily, however, is simply a delight. All she needed was to get away from her awful parents. The newfound independence suited her nicely as she established herself as a married lady. 

Cecil Beelzebub the kitten stole the show at every possible opportunity. 

I would absolutely recommend To Marry and to Meddle. I would recommend beginning with the first book in the series, as doing so will help gain a deeper understanding of the characters as events from the previous books shape their personalities over the course of the series. Martha Waters is quickly becoming one of my favourite historical romance authors. 

I received a digital ARC of this book from Atria Books/NetGalley.