Martha Waters
Martha Waters has published 7 books across 2 series. The recommended reading order starts with To Have and to Hoax (2020).
Martha Waters, author of historical romantic comedies, made her debut in 2020 with To Have and to Hoax, a novel that earned three starred reviews and introduced readers to her signature style. This blend of sharp humor and genuine heart, set against the backdrop of Regency-era England, draws on Waters's lifelong love of storytelling, which began in South Florida where she devoured British children's books and filled notebooks with her own tales. She studied history and international studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before earning a Master's in library science. Waters now works as a children's librarian in Maine, channeling her passion for narrative into both her professional life and her novels. Her books, like the companion novel To Love and to Loathe, are known for their witty banter and historical detail.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Standalone Novels
- TagsromancefantasyDescriptionThere is something about the particular alchemy of Christmas and romantic possibility that makes even the most guarded hearts vulnerable, and Martha Waters understands this delicate chemistry with the precision of someone who has spent years observing the ways people circle around what they want most. In this standalone novel, the season itself becomes a character—twinkling lights and forced proximity, family obligations and the strange courage that comes from knowing time is limited, all conspiring to push two people toward a reckoning they've been avoiding. Waters brings her signature wit and emotional intelligence to a story that unfolds against the backdrop of holiday chaos, where every decorated tree and awkward office party becomes an opportunity for connection or catastrophe. The romance here is built on the kind of sharp dialogue and simmering tension that makes you forget you're reading about something as potentially saccharine as Christmas, because what you're really watching is two fully realized people navigating the messy, terrifying work of letting someone in. It's a book that captures both the magic and the melancholy of the season—the way December can feel like an ending and a beginning at once, and how sometimes the best gift is simply being seen by someone who actually bothers to look.Publication dateOctober 22, 2024Amazon rating3.8/5Print length302LanguageEnglishPublisherAtria Books
- Tagsmysteryromancehistorical-fictioncrimeDescriptionA woman stands at a crossroads, caught between the life she's built and the one she thought she'd left behind, and Martha Waters invites us into that tender, uncertain space where the past refuses to stay quiet. In this standalone novel, Waters moves beyond her signature Regency wit to explore the modern ache of second chances, the weight of choices made and unmade, and what it means to find yourself when you thought you already knew who you were. This is a story about the quiet courage it takes to unravel the careful threads of a life that looks right on paper but feels wrong in your bones, and the messy, hopeful work of stitching something truer in its place. Waters writes with her characteristic warmth and emotional precision, crafting characters who feel like people you know—flawed, funny, achingly real—and a romance that earns its ending through honesty rather than convenience. It's a book about becoming the one you were always meant to be, even when that means disappointing the person you thought you had to be, and it lingers long after the final page.Publication dateOctober 14, 2025Amazon rating4/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherAtria Books
Order of The Regency Vows Books
- Tagsromancehistorical-fictionDescriptionViolet and James have been married for five years, but they haven't spoken in one. Not really. Not since a bitter argument shattered their once-passionate union and left them living as polite strangers under the same roof. She's furious. He's stubborn. And neither will be the first to bend. Then Violet overhears James expressing concern about her health to a friend. It's a misunderstanding, but it sparks a wickedly brilliant idea. If he wants to believe she's dying, let him. She'll stage the performance of a lifetime, complete with fainting spells and dramatic decline. James, realizing he's been duped, retaliates with his own theatrical illness. What follows is an escalating war of deception, each trying to out-hoax the other while the ton watches with bated breath. But beneath the schemes and stratagems, old feelings refuse to stay buried. The more they plot, the more they remember what they've lost. This is Regency romance with bite—sharp, funny, and surprisingly tender. Waters understands that love isn't always about grand gestures. Sometimes it's about two people stubborn enough to fight their way back to each other.Publication dateApril 7, 2020Amazon rating3.7/5Print length368LanguageEnglishPublisherAtria Books
- Tagsromancehistorical-fictionDescriptionThis is the second book in the Regency Vows series. Martha Waters returns to the ballrooms and country estates of Regency England with a story built on wounded pride and sharp tongues. Diana, Lady Templeton, and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham, have been sparring partners for years. Their banter is legendary among the ton. When Jeremy's pride takes a hit—his skills as a lover questioned—he proposes an unusual arrangement. Diana will instruct him. She will be his tutor in the bedroom. It's transactional, practical, and absolutely not romantic. Except proximity has a way of complicating things. What begins as a battle of wits becomes something neither anticipated. The rules they set dissolve. The walls they built crumble. Waters writes enemies-to-lovers with precision, letting physical chemistry ignite slowly while emotional stakes rise. The Regency setting provides structure, but the real architecture here is the push and pull between two people who've spent years deflecting feeling with cleverness. The result is a romance that earns its heat and its heart in equal measure.Publication dateApril 6, 2021Amazon rating4/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherAtria Books
- Tagsromancehistorical-fictionDescriptionLady Emily Turner finds herself in a predicament that requires an unconventional solution: a marriage of convenience to Julian Belfry, the Viscount Willingham, who happens to own London's most scandalous theater. He needs respectability to silence the critics threatening his beloved establishment, and she needs escape from a mother determined to marry her off to a tedious, appropriate match. The arrangement seems straightforward enough, a practical exchange between two people who understand the terms, until proximity begins to blur the careful boundaries they've drawn. What distinguishes this Regency romance is its refusal to take itself too seriously while still honoring the emotional stakes at play. Waters crafts a world where theatrical ambition and aristocratic expectation collide with genuine wit, where a heroine can be both proper and daring, and where a hero's passion for the stage becomes as seductive as any declaration. The banter crackles with intelligence, the chemistry builds with patience, and beneath the frothy surface runs a deeper current about choosing one's own path, about the courage required to want something beyond what society prescribes. It's a romance that understands the genre's pleasures—the longing glances, the accidental touches, the moment when convenience transforms into something far more dangerous—and delivers them with both charm and conviction.Publication dateApril 5, 2022Amazon rating4.2/5Print length336LanguageEnglishPublisherAtria Books
- Tagsromancehistorical-fictionDescriptionThis is a Regency romance that understands the fine art of banter as foreplay, and Martha Waters delivers it with the kind of wit that makes you want to reread pages just to savor the verbal sparring one more time. At the heart of the story is a marriage of convenience that's anything but convenient, where two people who've agreed to a practical arrangement find themselves caught between what they promised each other and what they're starting to feel. The tension builds not from external drama but from the delicious friction of two sharp minds circling each other, testing boundaries, discovering that proximity has a way of turning polite distance into something far more dangerous. Waters crafts a world where the drawing rooms and country estates of Regency England become stages for emotional revelation, where every loaded glance and carefully chosen word carries weight. The romance unfolds with the kind of slow-burn intensity that makes you ache for the characters to just admit what's becoming obvious to everyone but themselves, yet you're grateful for every page that delays the inevitable because the journey is so satisfying. What makes this work is the balance between humor and heart, the way Waters lets her characters be funny and flawed and utterly human even in their empire-waist gowns and cravats. It's a romance that reminds you why the genre endures: because watching two people fall in love despite themselves never gets old.Publication dateApril 11, 2023Amazon rating4.1/5Print length336LanguageEnglishPublisherAtria Books
- Tagsromancehistorical-fictionDescriptionLady Sophie Fitzwilliam has sworn off love after one too many disappointments, but when her meddling grandmother threatens to choose a husband for her, she needs a solution fast. Enter West Audley, a charming rake with his own reasons for wanting to appear respectably attached—he's trying to prove to his family that he's finally ready to settle down. A fake courtship seems like the perfect arrangement for them both. What starts as a convenient charade quickly becomes complicated when real feelings begin to surface. West is surprised to find himself genuinely captivated by Sophie's wit and independence, while Sophie discovers there might be more to the notorious rake than his reputation suggests. But both of them are guarding secrets and old wounds that make trusting each other—and themselves—a dangerous proposition. As London society watches their courtship with keen interest, Sophie and West must decide whether to stick to their original plan or risk everything for something real. Martha Waters delivers another delightful Regency romance filled with sparkling banter, simmering chemistry, and two people who are perfect for each other if they can just get out of their own way. It's a story about second chances, the courage it takes to be vulnerable, and discovering that sometimes the best love is the one you weren't looking for.Publication dateFebruary 6, 2024Amazon rating4.1/5Print length334LanguageEnglishPublisherAtria Books
Frequently Asked Questions about Martha Waters
Martha Waters writes books in series and standalone novels. The Regency Vows series consists of five books: 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. These should be read in the order they were published. Waters also has standalone novels, with Christmas Is All Around and And Then There Was the One coming in 2024 and 2025 respectively. If you are new to her work, starting with the first book in The Regency Vows series, To Have and to Hoax, is a good entry point.
A good place to start with Martha Waters is with the first novel in her Regency Vows series, To Have and to Hoax, published in 2020. This historical romance introduces readers to the engaging style and witty dialogue characteristic of her writing. Following this series in publication order, from To Love and to Loathe through To Woo and to Wed, will provide a consistent reading experience. Her standalone novels offer further opportunities to explore her work.
While Martha Waters's standalone novels can be read independently, her Regency Vows series is designed to be read in order. The books follow interconnected storylines and character developments that are best appreciated by reading them sequentially as they were published. Starting with To Have and to Hoax and continuing through To Woo and to Wed will allow readers to fully engage with the progression of the narrative and the relationships within the series.
Martha Waters writes both standalone novels and series. Her most prominent series is The Regency Vows, which includes five books published between 2020 and 2024. She also writes standalone novels, such as Christmas Is All Around, published in 2024, and And Then There Was the One, scheduled for 2025. This variety allows readers to choose between immersive series experiences or individual story explorations.
As of late 2024, Martha Waters has written seven books. This includes the five novels in The Regency Vows series, published between 2020 and 2024, and two standalone novels: Christmas Is All Around (2024) and And Then There Was the One (2025). The Regency Vows series represents a significant portion of her published work, with each installment building upon the world and characters introduced.
The first book Martha Waters wrote was To Have and to Hoax, published in 2020. This novel launched The Regency Vows series, a collection of historical romances set in the Regency era. The book introduced readers to Waters's signature blend of humor, sharp dialogue, and romantic tension. It set the stage for the subsequent books in the series, establishing the tone and style that readers have come to expect from her work.
Martha Waters's most recent book is To Woo and to Wed, published in 2024. This novel is the fifth and final book in The Regency Vows series. Prior to this, Christmas Is All Around was also released in 2024. Her upcoming novel, And Then There Was the One, is scheduled for release in 2025, continuing her contribution of standalone stories.
Martha Waters writes historical romance novels, often set during the Regency era in England. Her books are characterized by witty banter, engaging characters, and intricate romantic plots. She has published both a series, The Regency Vows, and standalone novels, all within this genre. Her work focuses on the intricacies of relationships and societal expectations within a historical context.
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We verified the reading order for Martha Waters's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: April 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Martha Waters Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/martha-waters