Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake (The Ralstons #1) by Sarah MacLean

Title: Nine Rules To Break When Romancing A Rake

Author: Sarah MacLean

Series: 1st in The Ralston's series

Pages:  397
Published: March 2010 by Avon

ISBN: 9780061852053

Source: Personal Copy

 

Description: 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 Give This ...

I usually stay far away from romance novels.  Especially those that I think might fall under similar category as Harlequin romances.   But, this one seems to get rave reviews and I really liked her young adult novel.  So, I decided to give it a go.

  In all reality, I thought this was historical fiction in a fun way.  I loved the setting, but then I'm fond of most books set in England, and growing a fondness for the 1800s in particular.  Callie was interesting.  She seems to so boring at first, but only because she's spent so long doing what's expected of her.  Once the hat comes off (and I mean that literally lol), it's a whole new ballgame.  She wants to do something scandalous and I wonder if she realizes the consequences if she is caught.  I enjoyed watching her grow out of her spinster habits and realize that she's a remarkable women.  I liked her family as well. 

Gabriel is also an interesting character.   He is your typical ladies man (I had to look up what a rake was because I had never hear the term before).  You know because of the type of novel it is that he's going to fall in love, but I couldn't help but love every minute of his interactions with Callie.  

I think one of things I liked the most was the fact that you could take the sex out of this book and the book would still hold it's own.  The characters and storyline don't depend on it.  I  will be looking forward to more from Sarah MacLean.