Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

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 . . . [via GoodReads]

Oh, but I loved this book! One of my fave reads of the year thus far. See, I picked this up because I had read a couple of reviews on it and they were saying how gloriously wonderful it was and yada yada yada. So, I picked it up because I figured it couldn't be that great - but YES, it was that great.

This book has everything that I love in a Regency romance. The heroine is not your average damsel in distress. Oh no, Callie is on-the-shelf, and doomed to a life of spinsterhood. Thus the list is born... to smoke a cheroot, drink scotch, ride astride, fence, attend a duel, fire a pistol, to gamble at a gentleman's club, dance every dance at a ball, be considered beautiful (just once), to kiss someone passionately. And she sets right off and does exactly that... well, kiss someone passionately that is (that someone being Gabriel, the Marquess of Ralston, known as a notorious rake and the man who Callie has crushed on for the past decade) and thus our journey begins.

What really made this book stand out for me from the rest:
The fact that Callie is plain and plump really made her appealing to me. I liked the fact that she wasn't a stunning beauty with a willowy frame. The fact that Gabriel loved her with no prejudice as to her curves and looks really worked for me. As for Gabriel, I thought it refreshing that he wasn't a man running from commitment or love, but instead he had issues with relationships because of his parents' disastrous marriage. All the supporting characters were loads of fun as well - especially the siblings. There were brilliant laugh-out-loud moments, the witty banter and teasing between Gabriel and Callie will leave you smiling, and the tension/romance was just perfect. Oh, and I forgot to mention the hot and heavy scenes were well just that... hot and heavy. Very sexy (something that I rarely find in historicals)... I'm just saying. ;)

Overall, this was a tremendously enjoyable read and one that I highly recommend to lovers of romance (no matter what your favorite sub-genre is) this will appeal to everyone.