A review by so_brookeish
The Rule Book by Sarah Adams

5.0

In my opinion, this is Sarah’s best book yet, and that’s saying a lot because I have LOVED her other books! 

I was enamored with Nora and Derek from the very beginning and was grinning like a fool the entire time! I LOVED this love story! It was full of tender moments, flirty moments, funny moments, loving moments, honest moments, raw moments, hurt moments, and real moments! The banter was off the charts, the winking had me in a puddle, the smiles, hard won, were my favorite, and the tenderness of the past colliding with the present was so perfectly done! 

Sarah did a beautiful job of honoring hurts of the past while remaining hopeful for a future in the present. Not an easy feat! I loved how both Derek and Nora were made to confront their feeling then and really do the work to recognize the good and bad that could have unfolded if things had been different! This added so much angst and depth to the plot in my opinion! You ached for the young adult Nora and Derek in this story, wishing more than anything they could be together! 

Present day Nora and Derek are stuff dreams are made of! She’s sunshine and strength and silly catchphrases and he is sports, and hope, and family, and safety! They both bring so much to the table for themselves, those around them, and one another! It was lovely! I loved Derek’s character struggles. My heart went out to him as he grappled with feeling of inadequacy and the uncertainty of the future! 

I adored Nora’s drive and focus on work! I think Sarah did the most amazing job of showcasing the plight of women in the “boys club” that is professional sports. Not only do we get to see Nora fight for her hard earned job, but we also get to see the sisterhood of women in those jobs together, the support of amazing partners who lift up these women and support their drive, and we get the chance to allow those same women to chase whatever they want- be it marriage, family, the lack there of, anything! I was HERE for this part of the story! 

This was also Sarah’s first book with on page spice and can I just say I’m SO HAPPY it’s here! It made sense for these characters, it was well done, there was a content warning at the beginning of the book making it easily skippable for her readers that have been here from when her romances were more on the sweet side, and it was so well written! It wasn’t overly descriptive, it was full of emotion, honestly- it was really well done! 1🌶️

Allison in all, highly recommend! This will be a favorite of mine this year! 

Read this if you like: 

-second chance romance 

-sunshine characters 

-women in sports 

-footballer/sports agent relationship 

-woke up in Vegas married 

-hurt/comfort 

-ice cream and cereal 

-revenge plots 

-dyslexia rep

-tattoos 

-camomile tea 

-The Cheat Sheet crew!