Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake (Love By Numbers, #1) in Crazy Challenge Connection

Aug 02, 2010 D.G. rated it it was ok

Shelves: reviewed, historical-romance

First of all, please know that I’m picky. For a romance to grab me, it has to have a compelling plot, interesting characters and internal consistency. This last quality is what I called when the elements of the story come together to form a cohesive whole. If one of those elements is missing, I start having problems with the book.

Nine Rules has a compelling central plot – a wallflower who decides to eschew convention and her reputation to do things she always wanted to do because she wants to li First of all, please know that I’m picky. For a romance to grab me, it has to have a compelling plot, interesting characters and internal consistency. This last quality is what I called when the elements of the story come together to form a cohesive whole. If one of those elements is missing, I start having problems with the book.

Nine Rules has a compelling central plot – a wallflower who decides to eschew convention and her reputation to do things she always wanted to do because she wants to live instead of merely existing. Those nine things have nothing to do with ‘romancing a rake’ so the title is a total misnomer.

After a promising beginning when the heroine realizes she wants to be passive no more, the book becomes very predictable and it falters in the other two areas (characters and consistency.) The characters are likeable but they are cookie cutter historical romance, people you’ve seen over and over in similar stories: the plain but voluptuous wallflower, the rake, the fortune hunter, the badly dressed Mama, the gorgeous mistress, a couple of beautiful and lively sisters (one of the hero’s, one the heroine’s), etc. The characters spew historical romance clichés one after the other so it’s no wonder I had trouble differentiating from others of their ilk:
Hero: I’ve never met a woman like her before!
Heroine: It won’t fit!

Worse, the book has lapses in logic that defy the imagination – the heroine is described as voluptuous but is able to pass as a man by binding her breasts with scraps of linen (!?!) After doing the deed, the ‘smart’ heroine doesn’t worry for a second about the possibility of being pregnant and when the hero brings it up, she tells the hero that the risk is small (what the heck does she know?) There’s never a cohesive explanation as to why she’s a wallflower – she’s rich, titled, engaging and generously endowed so she has a few things going on for her…it amazed me that no man seemed interested in a fortune attached to a pair of large breasts.

All in all, this is not the worst historical romance book I’ve read but I expect to forget everything about it in the next few weeks.
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Apr 16, 2010 Juliana Philippa rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 0-to-reread-romance, romance, 4-half-to-5-romance-historicals, romance-historical, romance-historical-georgian, 0-reviewed, 4-to-5-stars, 0-this-is-main-gr-edition, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form, 0-own-in-dead-tree-form-mass-market

Yay!! Finally a good new release, a wonderful new author, and a fantastic shy-wallflower-heroine (4.5 stars)

Summary
"Plain" and spinsterish 28-year-old Lady Calpurnia "Callie" Hartwell is sick of being seen as an old spinster, on-the-shelf, passive, and uninteresting - and thus THE LIST is born. On this list of nine things are activities that normally-shy Callie would never have dared to even contemplate, let alone actually do (gamble at a gentleman's club, drink scotch, smoke a cheroot, attend a ...more

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May 13, 2010 Barbara ★ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, zz-cover-white, read-2012, music, x-set-in-europe, romance, x-set-in-europe-uk-england

Gabriel St. John is one of those men who refuse to fall in love because of something that happened in his past. Lady Calpurnia Hartwell is a 27 year old spinster who decides she's had enough of being a wallflower and takes her future in her own hands. First up, get a kiss from the man she's been in love with for ten years, Gabriel St. John. This starts a round of adventure and scandalous behavior from them both.

This is my first book by Sarah MacLean but it certainly will not be my last. It was ...more

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Jun 21, 2019 Marla rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, with-reservations, series, romance, chick-lit, adult, made-me-laugh, challenged, girl-power, sexy

3.5 stars. Scandalous story about proper Lady Calpurnia Hartwell making a bold list of everything she wanted to do. There were several scenes that irritated me and what noble in his right mind would retain a social guide for his sister who is engaging in ruinous behavior? I liked that the gorgeous womanizer falls for an average looking curvy female, (view spoiler) ...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Krissy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: title-number, imperfect-heroine, lawlz, pgs-400-499, read-before-2015, 5-motherfucking-stars

Loved it. Great book! The heroine is on the curvy side. But those are the best ones IMO :)

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May 28, 2011 Sarah Dizon rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, library, read-in-2011, 4-stars

I wouldn't say I've read a lot of historical romance, or a lot of romance in general so my view has not been tainted by many, many readings of similar plot styles.

I will say though that this book makes me want to read more historical romance!

I enjoyed Callie's independence, boldness, and courage. She is a woman to be looked up to and admired. I enjoyed her witty comebacks (even if she didn't always mean what she said) and her sense of humor. She is a hopeless romantic and has plenty of time, as ...more

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Dec 09, 2011 Shan ~A~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 1st-in-series, audio, romance-humor, humorous, historical-romance, favorites

Reread December 2016
My original review still stands. I read it again to refresh myself, because I never finished the entire series. It was still just as good as I remembered it being the first time around. Only difference is this time around it was on audio and the narrator Carolyn Morris was awesome.
Originally read April 20, 2014
I am in awe of Ms. Sarah MacLean. I laughed and I most certainly had tears in my eyes a couple of times. I felt every emotion that Callie felt. When she was happy so wa ...more

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