• Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

  • By: Sarah MacLean
  • Narrated by: Carolyn Morris
  • Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (1,559 ratings)

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Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake  By  cover art

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

By: Sarah MacLean
Narrated by: Carolyn Morris
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Publisher's summary

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....

©2010 Sarah Trabucchi (P)2014 HarperCollinsPublishers

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What listeners say about Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Worth listening again and again....

One of my favorite regency romps! Full of great characters, fun, humor, good feels, some angst and a wee bit of betrayal and all the good stuff that keeps this my favorite genre! Steamy moments and sly sub plots add to the fun.

The narration is superb!

Well worth whatever!

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31 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great read!!

I've read this book years ago and loved it. The audio version does it justice. The narrator does the characters and story justice.

A must read/listen😊.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I THOROUGHLY ENJOYED THIS SERIES

This series was very entertaining. Just the right amount of steamy moments and many moments of laughter. The narrator was very good...just make sure you read them in the proper order..they are not numbered as a series (that point is very annoying) but I would say : Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord and then Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart. I read them completely backwards and still enjoyed them...can't wait for another.

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15 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Winner! 💜

Well this little gem was a pleasant surprise!! The main characters, as well as the many secondary characters, were thoroughly enjoyable. There were a couple “bad guys,” but even they weren’t TOO bad. This book was just plain fun. There was plenty of humor, and I actually caught myself laughing out loud a couple times (the smoking scene between brother and sister still makes me chuckle. Lol). The intimate scenes were somehow very enjoyable. Ive read so many books and they all seem soooooooo the same in those parts that I usually rush through them. Somehow the author managed to write it differently so that it most definitely captured my attention.

Narrator was very good. Had not heard her before, and I’m usually pretty hesitant about trying new narrators. Would listen to her again.

Will definitely continue on in this series!

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Original and inventive! Loved it!

This one was fun -- and had me laughing out loud, and feeling more than a little hot myself!

A spinster takes her destiny in her own hands and decides that if she's not going to land a husband and have a conventional life, she'll settle for an unconventional one. Fortunately for her, there is a sexy rake hanging around who's willing to show her the ropes.

The scenes Sarah MacLean wrote for Calpurnia as she breaks every rule of acceptable behavior for a lady, are inventive, sexy, and thoroughly enjoyable, and the heart of this book. This is some of the most original writing I've seen in an HR in a long time. And Gabriel was super HOT!

The secondary characters are great and I enjoyed them very much. They are as unconventional as the leads, believably so. Can't wait to listen to more about them as the series progresses.

Carolyn Morris does a fine job with narration (her male voices are stellar.)

This one is highly recommended!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

An OK book..

Any additional comments?

I usually like SM's books but, like I've said time and time again, I'm part of the real world and when I read a book I'm looking to go somewhere else. I see people in life that are too plain, too plump, too skinny, too whatever. So, it's not something I want to read about in a book. Especially when it's said over and over again and the hero is described as "devastatingly handsome." I mean, she was called a "piglet" once. Really? I gave it 3 stars because I did like Ralston and Calpurnia (UGH, what a terrible name,) should have just called her Callie throughout the book. I, also, liked Mariana, Benedick and Nick, Ralston's twin. I'm going to see what the other two books are about and if they are filled with someone being too plain and too plump I'll probably pass on them. I'm too plump and I have no desire to read about someone like me in a romance novel. Just sayin'

As to the narrator: Ms. Morris did an alright job, not great but not as bad as some I've tried, and failed, to listen to. There wasn't a time when I wished it were someone else. I would listen to her again.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story

wonderful and enjoyable story line. Excellent narration by Carolyn Morris. I will look for m

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Laughed, cried, loved!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was quite an adventure. The chubby heroine who has been beaten down by society's judgements and expectations breaks all their rules under the sharp eye of her hero of a decade who, while not initially heroic, becomes sufficiently lovable. There were some moments where her pain hit close to home but she never lost her resolve to be loved or nothing. This was so enjoyable that I wish all my romantic novels were this satisfying. Full stars, one of my favorite listens in a long time (excellent narration as well!).

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Good Story

I only gave it 4 Stars because although it had a good story-line, it was drawn out too much. I didn't care for the hero, Gabriel St John, the Marquess of Ralston, but liked the heroine, Lady Calpurnia Hartwell, and secondary characters, except for the ones we were not suppose to like--the gold digging dandy. I think the Dandy should have been hit by Gabriel or Calpurnia's brother when he told Calpurnia about the bet in a most demeaning way, although the Marquess did call him out--pistols at dawn.

It has detailed sexual content, not suitable for under 18 years of age.

The narrator did not do male voices well.

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10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Callie is sooooo adorable

I love it when a wallflower tries to regain some power and control over her life and tries to live her life the way that makes her happy when society does not approve it. I enjoyed every minute of this book. So parts of it are a bit forced by having the hero run into the heroine every time she decided to cross something off of her list but if you try and go beyond that you’ll find the story heart warming. A must read

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10 people found this helpful