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Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake
by Sarah MacLean
I came across Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (how fun is that rhyming title!) on a blog and put it on my TBR because I was in the mood for some historical romance.
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is self-described as a wallflower: she is plump, quiet and pretty much disappears into the background of nearly every ball that she's been into. Meanwhile her sister, also known as the Allendale Angel, has recently become engaged to a duke, a most advantageous union for her family. Callie is resigned to being a spinster for the rest of her life but when her brother inadvertently suggests that she should consider breaking some societal rules and having some fun, Callie makes a list of nine rules that she intends to break, which could bring scandal to her family, but which may finally allow her some freedom from Victorian societal constraints.
This list of rules lands her in the path of Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston. The Marquess is a renowned rake, having a reputation for having seduced many fair aristocratic ladies and he's also been the object of Callie's affections ever since her first Season. However, it's a quid pro quo - in exchange for helping Callie with her list, Ralston wants her to assist with his half-Italian, half-sister's first Season as Ralston and his younger brother, have only recently learnt of her existence and Callie's unblemished reputation is likely to assist greatly with that.
Honestly, Nine Rules was a pretty fun book in terms of how much agency Callie is given to decide what she wants to do, including the rules that she wanted to break and the rules were also given some pretty great twists in terms of how they were eventually carried out. I have to say that I wasn't initially much of a fan of Ralston, the aforementioned rake, because there were a few rocky moments where it felt like he was definitely taking advantage of Callie's feelings for him, but things got better once he started to realise how deeply he'd fallen for Callie and how much he was willing to do to prove that love.
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is self-described as a wallflower: she is plump, quiet and pretty much disappears into the background of nearly every ball that she's been into. Meanwhile her sister, also known as the Allendale Angel, has recently become engaged to a duke, a most advantageous union for her family. Callie is resigned to being a spinster for the rest of her life but when her brother inadvertently suggests that she should consider breaking some societal rules and having some fun, Callie makes a list of nine rules that she intends to break, which could bring scandal to her family, but which may finally allow her some freedom from Victorian societal constraints.
This list of rules lands her in the path of Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston. The Marquess is a renowned rake, having a reputation for having seduced many fair aristocratic ladies and he's also been the object of Callie's affections ever since her first Season. However, it's a quid pro quo - in exchange for helping Callie with her list, Ralston wants her to assist with his half-Italian, half-sister's first Season as Ralston and his younger brother, have only recently learnt of her existence and Callie's unblemished reputation is likely to assist greatly with that.
Honestly, Nine Rules was a pretty fun book in terms of how much agency Callie is given to decide what she wants to do, including the rules that she wanted to break and the rules were also given some pretty great twists in terms of how they were eventually carried out. I have to say that I wasn't initially much of a fan of Ralston, the aforementioned rake, because there were a few rocky moments where it felt like he was definitely taking advantage of Callie's feelings for him, but things got better once he started to realise how deeply he'd fallen for Callie and how much he was willing to do to prove that love.