It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a somewhat-scandalous theatre must be in want of a wife to remove all hint of impropriety of scandal from said theatre.

Or something like that.  Lady Emily Turner and Lord Julian Belfry have struck a deal: he'll marry her and save her from the odious clutches of Mr. Cartham, and in return she'll use her sterling reputation to improve his and his theatre's.  They'd become good friends after watching two couples from their set fall in love (or back in love) over the summer; surely they can continue being of use to each other?  And really, the role that Julian would like Emily to play isn't so different than the one she's been playing for years for her mother.  Of course, these marriages of convenience are never so convenient, and Julian's learning that he rather likes the Emily he sees in the moments where she's not the perfect society host, and Emily likes her too.  Can they strike a balance between propriety and reality, and still accomplish what they set out to do?

It's official -- I'm a Martha Waters stan.  I loved her first two books, To Have and to Hoax in particular becoming a comfort read during the pandemic.  She's absolutely knocked it out of the park with the third installment in this series.

This book is incredibly funny; Waters has a voice and a sense of comedic timing to rival Tessa Dare, the queen of the historical rom-com.  And it's also quite sweet, as well.  The heroines in the first two books in the series are larger-than-life characters, and while Emily has always been a willing participant in their shenanigans, she's certainly overshadowed by them.  Here, Emily has the opportunity to explore who she'd really like to be, all the while tenderly supported by Julian.  

I love a loud, brash heroine who knows what she wants, don't get me wrong.  But of course there's room for, and I wonder if more people might be seeking this out right now, a heroine who's doing the quiet work of truly understanding herself and her desires.  In going on two years of pandemic isolation, I think many of us have likely had the space to do the same: to evaluate who we've been and for whom we've been that person and why, and where our real wants and needs lay.  Julian does this work for himself, too, but it's particularly poignant to watch a woman evaluate how she's been a pawn to a role in society and decide how she'd like to wield her power going forward.

I've had a huge soft spot for Emily and Julian since book 1, and Waters couldn't have given them a more perfect story.  I'm eagerly awaiting watching the rest of the friend group fall in love now: Penvale and West & Sophie of course, but now I wouldn't mind a book for Julian's brother Robert, and maybe a holiday novella about Julian's friend Bridgeworth and the love notes he leaves on his wife's dressing table?  I love this world Waters has created, and this wild and witty friend group, and I can't wait to spend more time in it in the future.

Thank you Atria and NetGalley for the ARC!