Avon authors seem to have a thing for silly titles lately and as I stated in my review of Sarah MacLean's previous book, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake, I wish they would get over it. Having very much enjoyed MacLean's Nine Rules however, I had no intention of being put off by this equally silly title. I found Nine Rules both charming and entertaining and I had high hopes for the second in this trilogy. As it turns out this one is pretty good as well.
Our story begins when Nicholas St. John, the twin brother of Gabriel from Nine Rules, is named one of London's Lords to Land by a ladies magazine. A silly premise I agree, but it does provide Nicholas with a reason to run off into the countryside to avoid all of the match making mamas of the ton, who are in such hot pursuit. While helping a friend investigate a missing relative, Nicholas meets Lady Isabel Townsend, who has some serious issues of her own to deal with. Isabel is trying to hold together a house that is falling down around her, while caring for her younger brother and a ragtag house full of women to whom she has offered sanctuary. Nicholas and Isabel meet and of course, sparks fly. He is determined to have her, one way or another, she is equally determined to avoid him and to maintain the distance needed to protect all who are in her care. Initially, I was terribly interested in the idea of Minerva House as a sanctuary for women who had no where else to turn. Of course, historically this isn't terribly plausible, but I thought it provided a more serious underpinning to what felt like a lighthearted rom com type of book. In some ways I think it worked well, but as Isabel constantly used her role as caretaker to deflect Nicholas's attentions and deny her own feelings, it began to wear on me a bit. There were times while reading when I found myself wondering why Nicholas was hanging around and that isn't usually a good sign for a romance novel. I do think that MacLean made it work in the end, but I can't say that I enjoyed this book nearly as much as Nine Rules.
In her defense, MacLean's funny, breezy tone, which seemed so very fresh in her previous book, is also on display in this one. The dialogue is witty, the characters sympathetic and the love scenes are hot, so obviously MacLean's style is consistent. I would say the difference for me as a reader, involved the fact that Nicholas and Isabel just did not engage me as much as the main characters in Nine Rules. I found myself impatient with them both at different times throughout the book. That said, I still enjoyed the book overall. It is a quick read and well worth the time. If you loved MacLean's Nine Rules, you are probably going to love this one as well. I will look forward to the third book in the trilogy, even though I cannot help dreading the title.
I can't wait for this book to come out. I've taken to preordering a book if I think I'll forget about when it comes out, but I've decided that first, @sarahmaclean and various other twitterati won't let me forget on the day, and second, that it's way more instant gratification when I walk out of a book store with a hot off the presses book in hand. Whew, that's a mouthful.
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