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

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
Regency Historical Romance
Avon (March 30, 2010)
ISBN13: 978-0061852053
397 pages
Copy provided for review by publisher

Synopsis from Amazon:

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 . . .

Last fall I picked up The Season, by then newcomer Sarah MacLean, and was thoroughly pleased to find a story that bore the Regency flavor of some of my favorite romance novels but managed to imbue it with a youthful spirit. Once I found out about Nine Rules I was anxious to read a more grown-up tale from MacLean and she didn't disappoint.

The tale revolves around Lady Calpurnia Hartwell, a well-behaved spinster aching to experience life, and Gabriel St. John, Marquess of Ralston, a notorious rake looking to improve his image for the sake of his newfound sister. Character types like Callie and Ralston pepper the genre, but MacLean manages to at least make Callie more original. Her dogged determination to step outside of her role is admirable and one can't help but root for her. The same can't be said for Ralston, however. While he is an attractive and sympathetic hero, he still comes across as a bit too much of the stereotypical rake at times.

I found myself intrigued by the secondary characters, especially Nick (Ralston's twin) and Juliana (their younger sister). They are both extremely likable characters with their own quirks and unique histories - Nick, with his mysterious scar and parent-less childhood with Gabriel, and Juliana, with her abandonment and marriage issues courtesy of their mother. My appetite is sufficiently whetted for their respective, upcoming stories.

Nine Rules has an intelligent humor and and a touching premise. MacLean beautifully renders a tale about two people, and their families, all growing and coming together out of love and respect. The romance between Callie and Ralston is simultaneously sweet and steamy and the love scenes are well-done. The language used during the more physical parts isn't odd or awkward and doesn't distract from the goings on, although I did do a double take at this bit about "sweet rain": 

She gasped and nodded as he repeated the motion, drawing more of her sweet rain down to moisten the soft, swollen lips that cradled him. ~ p. 287

Overall, MacLean has come out the gate with a great Regency romance. I'm truly looking forward to the next two stories in this series, including the October release Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord

Grade: B+
_________________
*I'm an Amazon Associate. Feel free to use my links to purchase items - the commission would be greatly appreciated and help me with paying the shipping costs on future giveaways.*