Book Review | Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Series: Love by Numbers #1
Published by Harper Collins on March 30, 2010
Genres: Fiction / Romance / Historical / General, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Regency, Fiction / Romance / Historical / Victorian
Pages: 432
Format: Paperback

Readers will delight in New York Times bestseller Sarah MacLean’s debut novel—featuring her sexy, funny, emotionally rich writing and one of the fiercely feminist heroines that made Entertainment Weekly crown her “the utterly intoxicating queen of historical romance.”

There are things a lady simply does not do. She does not smoke. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never, ever sneaks into a men’s club for a night of gambling and…other excitements.

Calpurnia Hartwell has spent a lifetime following the rules and, as a reward, she’s been forgotten at the edges of society, unnoticed…and unsatisfied. So, what’s a girl to do, but break the rules and get a taste of the life she’s been missing?

Once Callie throws herself into a bold new world, she fast realizes a taste won’t ever be enough. She’s going to need a partner—someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, Marquess of Ralston—charming and handsome, with a scandalous reputation matched only by his wicked smile.

But the further Callie ventures into this new world, the further she gets from her family’s expectations and all she once held dear. Will she be brave enough to leave her old life behind? Because she’s about to break the most important rule of all—the one that says pleasure-seekers should never fall in love. . .

ISBN: 9780061987946

Another book I read for a book club! I have actually never read or heard of Sarah MacLean, but I’m definitely interested in reading the other two books in this series.

First off, I want to acknowledge the elephant in the room. I’m so tired of publishers not fitting the book covers with the actual book. Both with the original and the updated covers, the woman on the cover is not plus size, plump, or any other adjective associated with fat women. The woman on the original cover is pretty skinny and the updated one I’d consider average size. I know this is not the fault of Sarah MacLean and in general, authors have very little (no say) on what their covers look like. This is an indictment towards publishing houses/companies. Please have your artists at minimum read a summary or description of the book/characters before designing the cover or let authors have a bit more say in what their covers look like.

Okay, now that I’m done with my soapbox, the actual review. I really loved this book! I thought it was adorable and fun. Callie deciding that she wants to discover who she really is since she’s been relegated to spinsterhood is such a great hook for the story. I love how the end game is not to find or have a husband, it’s to discover who she is. The other half of our leading pair, Gabriel, is such a grumpy, closet romantic that you can’t help but fall in love with him. Both of them together complement each other.

The other characters are actually well fleshed out as well, and I’m excited to see how Nicholas & Juliana’s stories play out. For Callie’s family, I love the relationships she has with her sister and brother. Her older brother, Benedict, is such a great confidant while also still playing the protective older brother role. With Callie’s younger sister, I love that there’s no fighting or jealousy between the two sisters; Callie’s genuinely happy for her sister, and her sister just wants Callie to be happy like she is. It’s so great to see such well written sibling relationships.

One aspect I hated was the fact that every time someone brought up how Callie and Gabriel wouldn’t work, they never actually explained it. From Benedict to Callie’s maid, they never once told Callie that she’s the one who’s not good enough for Gabriel. I mean I get there had to be the miscommunication but again this is when that trope doesn’t work. I would’ve loved to see someone (besides Gabriel) tell Callie that she’s worth something.

To something that wasn’t horrible but just needed some work, the structure of the book. The beginning has Callie make a list of nine rules she wants to break and throughout the novel I kept forgetting about the rules and what they were. I would’ve loved to have seen more of a structure around these rules, either sections or every couple of chapters list the next rule that she’s going to break. I don’t know, it just felt well established but fell through. Same with the bet, I kept forgetting about that as well while reading this. It also felt like the bet between Oxford and Gabriel was just there to satisfy the duel on Callie’s list.

I know I seem to rag on the book at the end here, but I truly did enjoy the book and plan to read Nicholas and Juliana’s books soon.

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