Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

First in the Love By Numbers Trilogy

5 stars
Calpurnia (Callie) Hartwell has always been a wallflower and has always followed the rules. Since meeting Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston, she has been in love with him. Callie is tired of being thought of as plain and passive, so she writes a list of 9 things that break all the rules of what women should do. Callie’s first thing on the list involves Gabriel and that meeting leads to a new adventure beyond what Callie could have imagined. This book was a fun romantic read. It wasn’t serious, but good lighthearted fun. I’ve never really had a taste for historical romance novels until I read Lisa Kleypas. I found this book as an expert in the back of The Vampire and the Virgin by Kerrelyn Sparks and that little expert held my attention for over two years with me wondering if I would ever find this book. I did find this book at my library along with the other two sequels to this series.


The main female character is Calpurnia AKA Callie. Callie was a great character. I love he relentlessness in wanting to finish the list of scandalous things that good women shouldn’t do. There wasn’t a time in this book when I didn’t like Callie and she didn’t bore me.


Kick-Butt Heroine Scale: 9.5

The main male character is the Marquess of Ralston, Gabriel St. John. I hate pleasantries and titles they are always so lengthy so I just call everyone by their first name. Gabriel was a great hero for Callie. He changed his promiscuous ways and it really showed how much he cared for her. I love Gabriel and even though he had his faults I still enjoyed him.


Swoon Worthy Scale: 9.5

I liked how MacLean introduced Gabriel’s sister, Juliana and her possible love interest for her book.

Character Scale: 9.5

I didn’t talk about a villain because I didn’t feel like doing one for this particular book. I’m happy I got a chance to read this book. MacLean is a great writer and I’m so happy I got to read one of her books.


Cover Thoughts: I like the cover. It’s elegant and regal looking. I really like the stepback though it’s so cool and I’ve never seen a stepback take up two pages. 

  Sorry I didn't write a review yesterday. I'll be trying to catch up, but I'm going to be really busy the next couple of weeks, so there might be a long absence.