Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

Sarah Maclean makes a good romance, that is steamy to no end. Calpurnia Hartwell had one season, one season that was a disaster to say the least. She met at it the Marquess of Ralston, the biggest rake in London who after he watched his father become a victim to his mother's uncaring, indifferent, attitude when it came to both the children she brought into the world and husbands she abandoned collectively. Seeing him die of a broken heart, Ralston has sworn to never ease drop or love. Taking up the pianoforte to drown out his father's laments until he died. Then one night Callie comes to his house and asks him to kiss her passionately, since she has sworn to no longer follow society's rules any more. Little do they realize this one act sets off a chain of events that will show the other more passion, desire, and joy in the others arms then they could ever dream. From Callie going to learn how to fence and almost being deflowered by Ralston in the fencing club, to him smuggling Callie into White's and introducing her to the gift of Venus. Callie turns out to be good therapy for Ralston, and Ralston is everything she could ever want.

Would have been entertaining had the leading male been less promiscuous and the female less gullible.

I loved the story and cannot wait to read the others in the series.

I loved the heroine instantly! She has such a sweet, but cheeky dynamic with Ralston. It's a classic relationship of rake and lady, but I've never seen it executed so perfectly. 10/10

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is a dreamer, romantic and woman who sees herself as simple and much too uninteresting to ever find a love match. At 28 years of age she had long been put on the shelf to sit with the spinsters when the dancing to begins. Gabriel St. John, The Marques of Ralston is a notorious rake and die hard realist who along with his twin brother Nicholas as a child survived the desertion of their mother and his father's grief at losing her. But watch out because Callie and Ralston are set on a course of interaction from which the Ton may never recover. Callie decides enough with spinsterhood it is time to live life to the fullest and experience some outright fun. So she sets upon devising a list of the 9 most outrageous and daring things that she can do to get the most out of life. Everything will change for her and about her yet that is just what she is looking for - a surprise. Callie understands that the most enjoyment is had by the gentlemen so certain items on her list are going to transform her into something she never could have imagined herself to be, a man. But if you are going to live life on the edge anything is possible. The first item on her list requires her to be every ounce the woman she is to obtain a kiss from the one man she has always loved and longed for, Ralston. She knows this is the last person she should desire let alone love but one cannot control the ways of the heart or the direction of your passion and all paths lead to Ralston. Ralston is more than willing to help her with this adventure but in exchange for Callie's help in getting his recently discovered sister ready to meet London's proper society and he definitely thinks this arrangement should be sealed with a kiss! After taking that first step toward perdition by kissing Ralston the rest of the items on Callie's list seem tame and she becomes more resilient to keep knocking items off one after another. But every time she is embarking on some adventure there is Ralston either by coincidence or intent helping her out by both being in the way and offering too much of his person for assistance. If she were suspicious she would think he was following her to see what she was going to do next. Callie is helping his sister and doing her best to keep things casual with Ralston but that is easier said than done when the man of her dreams and desires is standing right there tempting you every moment especially when keeps finding herself kissing him. There is some faux competition for Callie's attention but Ralston slow, one small step at a time starts to realize that love is not a doomed affair but a wondrous adventure. So who accomplished more of their personal goals the woman with a list or the man without one? This book is a great addition to the historical romance genre because it shows what an empowered woman can and will do when reaching for her dreams. Callie is naïve and shy but once she gets past her inhibitions and starts pursuing

Even though I'm not a romance reader on the whole, I really loved this book. If you read Sarah MacLean's The Season, you know she's all about strong, smart heroines- and in 9 Rules, Callie is no different. Society says she's been put on the shelf, destined to be a spinster. Callie, however, has other plans- which include gambling at the gentleman's club, getting involved in a duel, and kissing Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston. As you might imagine, this causes more than couple problems for Callie, and everyone else! This book is witty, sexy and just plain fun to read. I couldn't put it down.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing A Rake (or 9 Rules for short) is the first ever adult romance novel I have ever read and I think Sarah MacLean may have just led me to a whole new genre to explore! After having read her Young Adult title (and first book), The Season I knew I would read anything else she wrote and this book took my breath away! Coming to 9 Rules from The Season was very natural and just ramped up everything a little bit more. I love that they are both from the same world and time period. Now it's time for some details. Main character Callie is someone that I could instantly relate to, she isn't as young as the other society girls and has been labeled a spinster and has been almost forgotten about. She realizes that after playing the part society has cast her in she really hasn't had any fun and hasn't gotten anything out of being a good polite woman and so the list is born. The whole idea of Callie completing a list of basically un-lady like and scandalous tasks is written in a very clever and funny way. Seeing someone try something new is usually always funny and when they have to sneak around in disguises and in the pitch black night it's all the more fun. And add in Ralston and you are very much set! I loved every single character in this book, pretty much as much as I loved Callie (except for maybe her mother, lol!). From her younger sister Mariana who is engaged, to her older brother Benedick, to Ralston (swoon) and his brother Nick to everyone else. The characters are fabulous. I'm very excited that this is the first of 3 books in this series because I definitely want more where this came from (as if you couldn't tell!). And the romance, how can I say this politely, it was HOT! (And 2 months later having read a stack of romances, it's still the HOTTEST!) I loved all the back and forth between Callie and Ralston too, the misunderstandings, the stubbornness, the flirting and the silliness it was just adorable! I loved how they would end up hidden in corners, empty hallways and all sorts of places just slightly out of range of the ton, it was dangerous! I took my time with this book, a week to be exact because I really wanted to enjoy it. I finished it 4 days ago and I haven't really been able to get into anything else since. This book was a complete and absolute treat! RECOMMEND!