One of my reading-adjacent goals for 2024 was to find an in-person book club. I have been a part of a couple over the years, but I hadn’t taken the time to find one since moving to St. Louis. Luckily for me, my local independent bookstore just opened a romance bookstore and added some new clubs to their schedule… including a weekend option. Hooray! The club’s first selection was Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean, so I was 100% down for this.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] follows a spinster named Callie. When we first meet her, she’s hiding at a ball during her first season out. That’s when she meets the Marquess of Ralston and he offers her a little encouragement. Callie spends 10 years mildly obsessed with him at a distance, and that’s where our story really gets going. During a slightly inhebriated conversation with her brother, Callie starts rattling off things she would do if she had the same freedom a man did.

She decides to write them down and start acting on these scandalous items…. beginning with a passionate kiss. The only logical place for her to go to be kissed is Ralston’s home, since she’s thought about him for 10 years now. Ralston agrees and she is off to the races on her list.

Oh, and Ralston also places a bet on her, but that’s a plot point most people in the book club forgot about until it becomes a very big deal later in the book.

This book was such a daggum delight to read. I really want to talk to Sarah about her process of constructing the list and the plot to make those items happen. It’s such a fun list that works well with the story. Ralston is a rake, so he behaves like an idiot sometimes, but that’s to be expected. Overall, the only critique I have of this book is the repeated use of ‘watery smile’. That annoyed me after the third time and just kept coming. Otherwise, this is daggum delightful. It’s hard to believe it’s her adult debut because most characters are well developed, this spice is wonderful, it’s entertaining with the shenanigans, the relationship between the heroine and her sister is so sweet, the fat representation is appreciated, and this is just a fun read, period.

Note: I can receive compensation for purchases through qualifying links on this site at no additional cost to you. Your support of this site is greatly appreciated.