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rebekah_rei's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Abandonment and Sexism
kshertz's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was adorable. You root for this second chance romance. The footballer is head over heels for this girl! I definitely was grumpy that the smut took forever to happen but it was nice. I feel like the whole story was so fun and sweet.
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
yvo_about_books's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.75
Finished reading: March 4th 2024
"We all make choices in life and some of them are necessarily more gray than others. This is one of those times."
*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Headline Eternal in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***
It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Sarah Adams' writing, so you can imagine that I was shocked when I discovered that my first Netgalley wish granted in years turned out to be for her newest story The Rule Book. I enjoyed the first book The Cheat Sheet back when I read it in 2021, although I admit it wasn't my absolute favorite among her books... Still, I was VERY excited to receive the opportunity to read The Rule Book early. And WHAT a read it turned out to be! I loved every single minute of this enemy-to-lover slash second chance romance, and it's probably one of my top favorites by her.
While set in the same world as The Cheat Sheet and futuring a lot of the same characters, The Rule Book can easily be read as a stand-alone without missing out on too much. This is because this very much Derek and Nora's story, which is completely new. I can't deny that I loved seeing the rest of the characters again though, and their banter and friendship brought back great memories of the first book. The banter in general is one of the things that makes this story stand out; the interactions between Derek and Nora are simply brilliant and especially Nora uses some extremely hilarious phrases.
The Rule Book is part enemy-to-lover and part second chance romance; while the enemy part was shorter than I hoped it would be, there were plenty of funny moments to be found along the way. The story does feel more like a second chance romance during most of the plot, as it is pretty obvious how the two main characters still feel. The building up of tension is really well done though, and I especially loved the whole fake honeymoon and scenes set in Mexico. The whole story seems like an Easter hunt for romance tropes!
Part of the reason this story works so well (and her books in general for that matter) has a lot to do with its characters. Sarah Adams has a way of creating the most fantastic, relatable, flawed and likeable characters, and it was SO easy to start rooting for both Derek and Nora. True, certain aspects of their appearance and personality are quite cliche, but I personally didn't mind as I was having too much fun getting to know them better. The secondary characters are great as well, and already knowing most of them only made me enjoy meeting up with them even more.
The writing is flawless, and I literally couldn't stop reading. The Rule Book isn't just about the romance though, as there are quite a few more serious topics incorporated along the way. I especially appreciated how the story shone a light on dyslexia, parental pressure and gender inequality in the workspace, although they aren't the only topics discussed. The more serious topics helped balance out the lighter moments and resulted in a richer and dynamic plot. The sports/injury recovery angle also made for a great addition.
I might be biased, but I consider Sarah Adams to be one of my favorite romance authors and The Rule Book is one of her best stories to date. There is so much to love in this book, and I cannot recommend it enough if you enjoy the genre!
Graphic: Sexism, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Blood, Abandonment, Bullying, Pregnancy, Sexual content, and Injury/Injury detail
dianaschmidty's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I honestly feel lucky to have gotten to read this so early.
๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ช๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ซ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ญ๐ถ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ข๐บ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐ธ๐ช๐ง๐ต ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ๐ด.
Dear Sarah Adams, thank you! I have been wanting more of this friend group since devouring The Cheat Sheet and I needed this.
This book was amazing. Sarah Adamโs witty banter is always amazing, but it also worked so well for this second chance romance! I believe this is her first second chance romance and I really need her to write another one. It really was the perfect second chance, with plenty of hurt feelings, but also a lot of fixing of miscommunication, healing, and forgiveness. Derek and Nora really felt like real people finding their way back to each other.
I loved Derek. All of his aspects! Heartbroken Derek was simultaneously devastating and heartwarming, Conniving Derek was simply funny, and Lovesick Derek was sweet. The many stages he goes through made him feel so real.
I related a lot to Nora. Her feelings of never thinking sheโs enough while also being โtoo muchโ and refusing to change is something I can say I completely understand. It made her feel so real, because I think characters deemed โtoo muchโ often try to change and I love that she was unapologetically herself. I also love that Derek loved her for those things, not in spite. I think she grew so much in the book, especially in learning to accept Derekโs love.
Also, I loved this as Sarah Adamsโ first open-door. I feel like it made so much sense for this book and these specific characters.
During this entire book, I couldnโt stop thinking of different Taylor Swift songs that fit Derek and Nora so well, so I decided to explain their character arcs in terms of Taylor Swift songs, because why not:
Nora - ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐๐๐ฃ to ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ช๐ก๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ ๐ฟ๐ค๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ก๐ to ๐๐๐ฉ๐จ ๐ฟ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ช๐๐ช๐ง๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ to ๐ผ๐๐ฉ๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ค๐ฌ to ๐๐ช๐ฉ ๐ค๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ค๐๐จ to ๐๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง
Derek - ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ to ๐๐จ ๐๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฌ? to ๐๐๐ฎ ๐ฟ๐ค๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐๐ค to ๐ผ๐ก๐ก ๐๐ค๐ค ๐๐๐ก๐ก to ๐๐๐๐จ ๐๐จ ๐๐๐ฎ ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฃโ๐ฉ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ/๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ฝ๐ก๐ค๐ค๐ to ๐พ๐ง๐ช๐๐ก ๐๐ช๐ข๐ข๐๐ง to ๐๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐ค๐ช๐จ back to ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ง ๐๐๐ฃ๐๐จ
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Sexual content, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Ableism
Minor: Pregnancy
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