--- description: Find out why 'Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake' made the list. title: 'Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake' Is on TIME’s List of the 50 Best Romance Novels image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd5bf36c57686402/698a5946b3fce39a070cd6ac/Nine-Rules-to-Break-When-Romancing-a-Rake-Sarah-MacLean.png?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Aug 01, 2024 # Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by [Shannon Carlin](/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  Lady Calpurnia Hartwell, the unmarried protagonist of best-selling author and [_Fated Mates_](https://fatedmates.net/ "undefined")podcast host Sarah MacLean’s 2010 novel, _Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake,_ is a stickler for rules. To stay in society’s good graces she has never smoked, fired a pistol, or gone gambling with any strange men. However, being a good girl hasn’t done much for this still very single lady, who is concerned she may become a spinster without enjoying any of life’s greatest pleasures. To spice things up, Lady Calpurnia shoots her shot with charming womanizer Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston, who is more than willing to help her break all of society’s rules. It’s all fun and flirty games until Lady Calpurnia finds herself falling for the notorious playboy in this swoony, [modern Regency ](https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/sarah-maclean-if-it-feels-scary-youre-writing-it-right "undefined")romance that’s tailor-made for [_Bridgerton_ fans](https://time.com/6976525/bridgerton-family-tree/ "undefined")_._ **Buy Now:** _Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780063230354 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/3XYoX3F "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996631/nine-rules-to-break-when-romancing-a-rake/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996631/nine-rules-to-break-when-romancing-a-rake/"},"headline":"Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake","datePublished":"2024-08-01T12:17:10.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:34:16.569Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996631/nine-rules-to-break-when-romancing-a-rake/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","Special Project"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd5bf36c57686402/698a5946b3fce39a070cd6ac/Nine-Rules-to-Break-When-Romancing-a-Rake-Sarah-MacLean.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltfd5bf36c57686402/698a5946b3fce39a070cd6ac/Nine-Rules-to-Break-When-Romancing-a-Rake-Sarah-MacLean.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996631/nine-rules-to-break-when-romancing-a-rake/","name":"Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Romance Authors Share Their Cringiest Tropes","description":"Romance Authors Share Their Cringiest Tropes","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/WJbhFIWL/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2024-07-30T10:00:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/WJbhFIWL.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996631/nine-rules-to-break-when-romancing-a-rake/","duration":"PT46S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/best-romance-books/6996631/nine-rules-to-break-when-romancing-a-rake/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```