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A review by rjordan19
Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
adventurous
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Readability: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person perspective from both the hero and heroine
When mains are first on page together: Almost immediately in the prologue but then they aren’t together again until about 12%
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes (a few months in the future?)
Format: listened to audiobook from library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
MacLean’s books are set in the same universe but this is her debut so just start here!
Basic plot:
Callie is ready to break the rules and start living – and to start she decides to engage in the help of the Marquess of Ralston
Give this a try if you want:
- late Regency (1823)
- London setting
- bargain – hero will give her her first kiss if she will ease his sister’s entry into society
- musician hero
- unrequited love (on heroine’s behalf)
- heroine dressed as a lad
- full figured heroine
- wallflower heroine
- light other man/other woman drama
- higher steam – 5 full scenes though one is on the shorter side
Ages:
- Heroine is 28, I didn’t see hero mentioned but he was young when his mother left, and that was 25 years ago so I want to say he’s around 30?
First line:
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell blinked back tears as she fled the ballroom of Worthington House, the scene of her most recent and most devastating embarrassment.
My thoughts:
This was a reread for me – I originally read this book around 2018 or so? When I first started getting back into romance after not reading as much from working and having babies. And I LOVED it then. It was perfection to me. And now, 5 years later after I’ve read hundreds of new to me romance I wondered if it would hold up. And it did!
I still adore this story. I think it has some great tension building. I think it has some great angst and emotional pull. I love how they keep getting thrown together repeatedly in the best ways. This go round I did get minorly annoyed with how long it took Callie and Ralston to reconnect ten years later once the story started. There was a decent amount of set up for the series, especially Juliana’s story. Also there was one time that Raston says some hurtful things and almost immediately after Callie is intimate with him – I think she should have told him to f off and he should have had to put in effort for that intimacy. But it was still a very enjoyable reread!
Endearments
The hero calls the heroine ‘empress’ and ‘darling’.
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- Remembrance of abandonment and neglectful parenting – hero’s mother left when he was young and his father emotionally withdrew
- sexual assault – a villainous side character forces a kiss on the heroine
- duel resulting in injury
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: And quotes from sexy scenes
Safe sex: No
2% - heroine watches the hero kiss someone else
14% - kiss
31% - kisses and touches in the carriage
40% - dubious consent kiss against the wall at the opera
48% - 🔥 kisses, breast play, fingering for her at the fencing club
“Are you aching for me here?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Poor, sweet love.” //
“Here?”
She gasped, grasping his forearm with her hand.
He growled low in his throat as he watched her attempt to understand the feelings coursing through her. When he spoke, his voice was rough with his own response.
“I think you want more than that.”
56% - 🔥 kisses in the music room, oral/fingering for her
“I-” Words escaped her as he blew firmly on her – a cool stream of air teasing the exact place where her pleasure seemed to pool. She gasped. He was killing her.
“Who do you think of?”
She couldn’t bear it.
“You.”
63% - kiss at the art gallery
71% - 🔥 kisses, fingering/oral for her, missionary at the gambling club
“I want you naked, Empress.” The words were hot against her ear as he took her lobe in his teeth and sent shivers through her.
“Let me worship you.”
89% - 🔥 light mirror play, threat of discovery, missionary in her bed
Sensing her thoughts, he said, “Touch me, darling.”
She couldn’t refuse the dark, inviting words, and she set her hands to him, running the mover his chest, and down to the part of him that made her so nervous.
92% - 🔥 her on top (a bit short)
“That’s it, beautiful,” he whispered, watching as her voluptuous body rose and fell on him in sweet torment. “Ride me.”
Readability: 📖📖📖📖📖
Feels: 🦋🦋🦋🦋
Emotional Depth: 💔💔💔💔
Sexual Tension: ⚡⚡⚡⚡
Romance: 💞💞💞💞
Sensuality: 💋💋💋💋
Sex Scene Length: 🍑🍑🍑🍑
Steam Scale (Number of Sex Scenes): 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Humor: Yes, a bit
Perspective: Third person perspective from both the hero and heroine
When mains are first on page together: Almost immediately in the prologue but then they aren’t together again until about 12%
Cliffhanger: No, this ends with a happily ever after
Epilogue: Yes (a few months in the future?)
Format: listened to audiobook from library (Hoopla)
Should I read in order?
MacLean’s books are set in the same universe but this is her debut so just start here!
Basic plot:
Callie is ready to break the rules and start living – and to start she decides to engage in the help of the Marquess of Ralston
Give this a try if you want:
- late Regency (1823)
- London setting
- bargain – hero will give her her first kiss if she will ease his sister’s entry into society
- musician hero
- unrequited love (on heroine’s behalf)
- heroine dressed as a lad
- full figured heroine
- wallflower heroine
- light other man/other woman drama
- higher steam – 5 full scenes though one is on the shorter side
Ages:
- Heroine is 28, I didn’t see hero mentioned but he was young when his mother left, and that was 25 years ago so I want to say he’s around 30?
First line:
Lady Calpurnia Hartwell blinked back tears as she fled the ballroom of Worthington House, the scene of her most recent and most devastating embarrassment.
My thoughts:
This was a reread for me – I originally read this book around 2018 or so? When I first started getting back into romance after not reading as much from working and having babies. And I LOVED it then. It was perfection to me. And now, 5 years later after I’ve read hundreds of new to me romance I wondered if it would hold up. And it did!
I still adore this story. I think it has some great tension building. I think it has some great angst and emotional pull. I love how they keep getting thrown together repeatedly in the best ways. This go round I did get minorly annoyed with how long it took Callie and Ralston to reconnect ten years later once the story started. There was a decent amount of set up for the series, especially Juliana’s story. Also there was one time that Raston says some hurtful things and almost immediately after Callie is intimate with him – I think she should have told him to f off and he should have had to put in effort for that intimacy. But it was still a very enjoyable reread!
Endearments
Content warnings: These should be taken as a minimum of what to expect. It’s very possible I have missed some.
- Remembrance of abandonment and neglectful parenting – hero’s mother left when he was young and his father emotionally withdrew
- sexual assault – a villainous side character forces a kiss on the heroine
- duel resulting in injury
Locations of kisses/intimate scenes: And quotes from sexy scenes
Safe sex:
2% - heroine watches the hero kiss someone else
14% - kiss
31% - kisses and touches in the carriage
40% - dubious consent kiss against the wall at the opera
48% - 🔥 kisses, breast play, fingering for her at the fencing club
“Are you aching for me here?”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Poor, sweet love.” //
“Here?”
She gasped, grasping his forearm with her hand.
He growled low in his throat as he watched her attempt to understand the feelings coursing through her. When he spoke, his voice was rough with his own response.
“I think you want more than that.”
56% - 🔥 kisses in the music room, oral/fingering for her
“I-” Words escaped her as he blew firmly on her – a cool stream of air teasing the exact place where her pleasure seemed to pool. She gasped. He was killing her.
“Who do you think of?”
She couldn’t bear it.
“You.”
63% - kiss at the art gallery
71% - 🔥 kisses, fingering/oral for her, missionary at the gambling club
“I want you naked, Empress.” The words were hot against her ear as he took her lobe in his teeth and sent shivers through her.
“Let me worship you.”
89% - 🔥 light mirror play, threat of discovery, missionary in her bed
Sensing her thoughts, he said, “Touch me, darling.”
She couldn’t refuse the dark, inviting words, and she set her hands to him, running the mover his chest, and down to the part of him that made her so nervous.
92% - 🔥 her on top (a bit short)
“That’s it, beautiful,” he whispered, watching as her voluptuous body rose and fell on him in sweet torment. “Ride me.”