Review: Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Review by Chronic Betty

A lady does not smoke cheroot. She does not ride astride. She does not fence or attend duels. She does not fire a pistol, and she never gambles at a gentlemen's club.

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried - and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she's vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she's been missing.

But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss - to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston - charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile.

If she's not careful, she'll break the most important rule of all - the one that says that pleasure-seekers should never fall hopelessly, desperately in love...

I really enjoyed this one, mostly because Callie is my favorite kind of heroine-- intelligent and accomplished, but terribly insecure about her appearance and ability to attract a mate.  Read into that what you will, but I love seeing this kind of heroine come into her own and find the man of her dreams.

Callie receives a wake up call the night of her younger sister's betrothal ball, and she make a list of nine things she wants to experience.

Kiss someone- Passionately
Smoke a cheroot and drink scotch
Ride astride
Fence
Attend a duel
Fire a pistol
Gamble (at a gentleman's club)
Dance every dance at a ball
Be considered beautiful.  Just once.

An overheard conversation is the spur she needs to take the list from a fantasy to a project.  By an impulsive act that struck me as out of character, Callie lands in the home of the man she's fantasized about for years, Lord Ralston.  That same day a sister he never knew about landed on his doorstep, and he decides that Callie is the solution to the problem of launching this new sister in society.  I found this a bit improbable also.  But if you can go with the flow, it gives them an excuse to spend time together for the rest of the book.

I liked Ralston a lot, too.  He and Callie had great chemistry, both physically and mentally.  Although a rake and an accomplished lover, of course, he had an endearing habit of saying exactly the wrong thing after fooling around.  Through the filter of Callie's insecurities they were more devastating than charming, but from his point of view he was desperately trying to be the person he felt Callie deserved.

The list provides momentum to the story.  Many of the adventures also become opportunities for Callie and Ralston to advance their physical and emotional intimacy.  But if felt like the last few were accomplished just to be accomplished.  They didn't add anything to the story.  I would have preferred to close the book knowing that they planned to continue their adventures than to rush through them.

Also, there was a side story about a bet that I could have done without.  It never really added up to much in the story, except for one more fall out between the lovers before the final declaration.  It could have been cut with no negative impact to the story as a whole.

Overall, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake was charming and heart wrenching (I might have teared up a time or two), a solid B+.

I downloaded this one from the library (hooray for the library!), and I'm already on the waiting list for the next book in the trilogy, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord.