Martha Waters Books in Order: All 7 Titles
Martha Waters is an American novelist who writes historical and contemporary romantic comedy. She grew up in South Florida, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and worked as a children's librarian in North Carolina until 2021, when she left to write full time; she has since lived in Portland, Maine and in London. Her debut novel, To Have and to Hoax, was published by Atria in 2020 and opened the five-book Regency Vows series of Regency-set romantic comedies, which concluded with To Woo and to Wed in 2024. Since then she has written a contemporary Christmas romance and a 1930s-set romance-mystery, and has a historical fantasy romance due in September 2026. Her books are published by Atria, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.
Do you have to read Martha Waters in order?
The Regency Vows should be read in order. The five books share a single friendship group, each one pairs off characters introduced earlier, and later books contain resolutions and running jokes set up in the ones before - To Love and to Loathe in particular follows on directly from To Have and to Hoax. Her three standalones are entirely separate from the series and from each other, so Christmas Is All Around, And Then There Was the One and Spellstruck can each be read on their own at any point.
Genres and eras: Mostly Regency-set historical romantic comedy: the five Regency Vows books (2020-2024), which are her best-known work. Beyond that she has one present-day contemporary, Christmas Is All Around (2024), set largely in London; one historical romance-mystery set in the 1930s Cotswolds, And Then There Was the One (2025); and one historical fantasy romance set in an alternate, magic-outlawed 1920s London, Spellstruck (due September 2026). So six of the eight are historical, but only five are Regency.
The Regency Vows in order (2020-2024)
Regency-set romantic comedies published by Atria. The same friendship group runs through all five books and each couple's story sets up the next, so the series is best read in order. To Woo and to Wed is the final book.
| Book | Title | First published |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | To Have and to Hoax | 2020 |
| 2 | To Love and to Loathe | 2021 |
| 3 | To Marry and to Meddle | 2022 |
| 4 | To Swoon and to Spar | 2023 |
| 5 | To Woo and to Wed | 2024 |
Ten Regency romances, one download
If Martha Waters has you wanting more lords, scandal and slow-burning devotion, the Margot St. James collection bundles ten full-length Regency romances into one instant download.
$79.90 $9.99 for all 10
Instant download • EPUB & PDF • DRM-free
Martha Waters: standalone novels
These sit outside the numbered series and can be read in any order.
| Title | First published | |
|---|---|---|
| — | Christmas Is All Around | 2024 |
| — | And Then There Was the One | 2025 |
| — | Spellstruck forthcoming | 2026 |
Where to start with Martha Waters
To Have and to Hoax
Her 2020 debut and the first Regency Vows book, the natural front door to the series that made her name.
Christmas Is All Around
A self-contained contemporary if you want her banter without committing to a five-book Regency series.
And Then There Was the One
Her most recent published book and the best sample of her newer, mystery-inflected historical writing.
Frequently asked questions
Do Martha Waters's books need to be read in order?
The Regency Vows books do. All five share one friendship group, and each book pairs off characters who appeared earlier, so reading out of order spoils later couples. Her three standalones - Christmas Is All Around, And Then There Was the One and Spellstruck - are separate from the series and from each other and can be read in any order.
What order do the Regency Vows books go in?
To Have and to Hoax (2020), To Love and to Loathe (2021), To Marry and to Meddle (2022), To Swoon and to Spar (2023), To Woo and to Wed (2024). That is both publication order and the intended reading order.
How many books are in the Regency Vows series?
Five. The series ran from To Have and to Hoax in 2020 to To Woo and to Wed in 2024, which is the final book. Martha Waters has published no novellas or short stories set in this world.
How many books has Martha Waters written?
Seven published as of September 2026 - the five Regency Vows novels and two standalones - with an eighth, Spellstruck, scheduled for 29 September 2026. All are full-length novels; she has not published any novellas or anthology stories.
Does Martha Waters only write Regency romance?
No. The five Regency Vows books are Regency, but Christmas Is All Around (2024) is a present-day contemporary romance set mostly in London, And Then There Was the One (2025) is a romance-mystery set in a 1930s Cotswolds village, and Spellstruck (2026) is a historical fantasy romance set in an alternate 1920s London where magic has been outlawed.
What is Martha Waters's newest book?
And Then There Was the One, published by Atria on 14 October 2025, an homage to Golden Age detective fiction in which an amateur sleuth and a London detective's secretary investigate a suspicious death in a Cotswolds village. Her next, Spellstruck, is due on 29 September 2026.
Where should I start with Martha Waters?
With To Have and to Hoax, her 2020 debut and the first Regency Vows book, if you want the historical romantic comedies she is best known for. If you would rather not start a five-book series, Christmas Is All Around is a fully standalone contemporary in the same comic voice.
How this list was counted
This guide lists 7 titles — 5 across 1 series and 2 outside them. Full-length novels published under her own name and actually released as of 7 September 2026: the five Regency Vows books plus two standalones. Spellstruck is listed below but is not counted, because its publication date of 29 September 2026 is still in the future. She has published no novellas, short stories, anthology contributions or collections that I could verify from any source. Counting Spellstruck on release would give 8.
Nothing was omitted for lack of verification - her catalogue is small and every title is confirmed by both her own website and at least one publisher or Goodreads listing. Spellstruck is included in the standalones for completeness but is explicitly excluded from total_titles because its stated publication date, 29 September 2026, falls after the 7 September 2026 verification date; if this file is reused later, move it into the count. Its genre is worth flagging for a historical-romance site: it is historical fantasy set in an alternate 1920s London with working magic, not a straight historical. Minor uncertainty on one date: To Have and to Hoax is dated April 2020 by retailer listings, but an interview describes it as released 'just weeks before' the 14 March 2020 pandemic lockdown, which would put it slightly earlier. The year 2020 is not in doubt from any source. Fantastic Fiction lists her Regency Vows series but refuses automated fetches; Simon & Schuster's site returns 403 to automated requests, so the publisher was confirmed via search results and her own site rather than by direct fetch.