Sometimes you gotta toss your whole life into a burning dumpster to find what’s most important...

Beatrice Archer has done everything pretty much by the book her entire life. She has read the end of giving any effs and now has no filter which makes for a really entertaining story. Throw in a sexy cop and a lot of spice, and you've got this funny, steamy read. So many laugh out loud moments.

This story is based on a decent concept - big city female ad exec dumps her job and unfulfilled workaholic life for a change of scenery and attitude in a random small town in eastern Colorado. Filled with many likeable characters and interesting storylines, I would have enjoyed this book so much more if it didn't have so many corny and graphic sex scenes. Romance novels don't need crude and sexually explicit language, though some people like that sort of thing and this author is certainly talented at turning a good lewd phrase or two. Not my jam, though. Thank you Netgalley for offering the me the opportunity for an early read. I would suggest stressing more of the erotica in your book description to better find your target audience.

Quick charming read! For anyone looking for a small town romance you will enjoy this book. The big city girl is looking for an escape from reality and all rules after a big set back at work. Then the small town cop comes in and helps bring her out of her shell and help her discover more that the rules she wants to break.

I enjoyed this book. It had a hint of steam, sweet romance, and dual POV. I love that! The characters were lovable and you really root for them!

Overall, I enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who is looking for a quick quirky read. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this story.

There are many admirable things about this book. I can appreciate the character development of Beatrice and the way she finds herself when she allows herself to live without the judgement of others. I can also appreciate the overall support from the love interest even when things do not go the way he hopes at times. Still cringing at the overuse of the word "panties" but overall a decent romcom.

Don’t we all want to be Bee?

Laundry is optional, rescue pets are not.

Pie is its own complete food group.

Zero bras and zero responsibilities.

So few age-gap romances are done well. This is one of them. It’s sweet, and sexy, and not at all problematic. Do I wonder at the maturity of a guy whose brain is only just fully cooked? Maybe, but I’m happy his prefrontal cortex will grow and change with her in his life.

The only thing I didn’t love was the father/daughter relationship rescue. I’m happy they’re cool, obviously, but one second, she’s terrified she’ll disappoint him, the next, they’re besties and all he wants is her to be happy. It was a little forced.

The whole small-town dynamic, with the colourful cast of characters, was my absolute favourite. Not only did it add humour and warmth and community, but it means there will be more in the series. I cannot wait. Well, I can wait, but I don’t wanna.

4/5

Honestly I was expecting more from this one, but it just turned out to be just another romcom. I appreciate the author creating a female lead that defies the patriarchy, but it was almost like the author tried too hard, and Beatrice just ended up feeling childish and irresponsible.

BREAKING ALL THE RULES was just what I needed to read after so many heavy, hard-hitting books lately.

I loved the small town, age gap romance between MC Beatrice Archer, and Officer Austin Cooper. Their playful; banter was so fun to read, and provided the humor and heart that I love in a romcom.

The audiobook was great and I really appreciated the narrator.

*many thanks to netgalley and RB Media for the gifted audiobook for review

𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬
𝐁𝐲 𝐀𝐦𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐬
𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫: 𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐀𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐚
𝐏𝐮𝐛 𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞: 𝟏.𝟐𝟒.𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟑


Thank you @tlcbooktours @entangled_publishing and @amyandrewsbooks for a spot on tour and a gifted copy.
Thank you #recorderbooks for the gifted audiobook.

Bea Archer is fed up! She’s been passed up for promotions, working long hours, wearing shoes that hurt and eating nothing but lettuce leaves. Literally throwing a dart at a map, she heads out of L.A. to a small town in Colorado to start fresh.


Bea is set on breaking all the rules, living free from all the years of being constrained by the corporate world. So she now wearing sweats, no bra, and eating the world’s best pie at her new favorite diner.

But it’s a young local law officer who has Bea’s head spinning. The thing is, Bea came to nowheresville, Colorado with a bad taste in her mouth for men, and now Officer Austin Cooper is serving her pie off his ripped abs! But he’s young, and Bea still needs to decide about her future, so falling in love is against the rules. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘴?

Holy handcuffs y’all, this was a fun one! I loved Bea’s attitude and her confidence. Although this is an age-gap romance- only about ten years, I think, I liked that Austin was mature enough to handle Bea and her crises.
Super Sexy, flirty and great characters - I closed the book craving… pie. 😉

What a FUN book! My first Amy Andrews book but it won't be my last. Love a romantic comedy with sassy spice, then check out this one.

Beatrice Archer is used to life in the fast lane. Devoted to her job in L.A. she worked her way up the corporate ladder only to be overlooked because she was a women. Fed up with the life she was living, she throws caution to the wind quitting her job to take time to do whatever she wants. Beer for breakfast, why not. Bea decides she is going to eat, drink, binge watch her favorite show, and live life without a care in the world. Until she meets Austin Cooper..

Bea swears she will not get involved with a man ten years younger but Officer Austin Cooper pushes all the right buttons. Can she settle down or will the pull of her career suck her back in to life in the fast lane?

I loved the witty back and forth banter in this book. There were many laugh out loud moments throughout the book. Not your typically sappy rom-com.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ALC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely adored this audiobook. Beatrice’s inner dialogue is beyond hilarious and I found myself snort-laughing on more than one occasion. Plus I’m a sucker for a book set in Colorado, and the small town of Credence was just perfect—not to mention super hot cop Austin Cooper. Hello Officer!

Beatrice Archer has always followed the path she was supposed to. Worked hard, earned her own money, did everything she was told to do. But when she is passed over for another promotion she decides to throw caution to the wind and leave her LA life behind. She throws a dart at a map, and moves herself to Credence, Colorado. She eats carbs and sugar for the first time in forever, ditches the pencil skirts and heels in favor of sweats and no bra, and she’ll drink beer for breakfast if she damn well chooses. In fact, she’s going to break as many rules as she can for once. Turns out, hot cop Austin Cooper might be just the one to help her break those rules, surprisingly enough.

The audiobook narration was pure gold. It was performed by Mia Barron who was a new-to-me narrator. I will 100% be looking out for more books read by her. It comes in at 10 hours and 10 minutes and I flew through it.

If you like hilarious, spicy, small-town, age-gap, starting-over romances then you absolutely can’t go past this one.

I'm rounding my rating up from a 2.5. This one had me hooked in the very beginning. I love small town romances and cozy Credence, CO was the perfect setting. Main character Bea has just moved there to start over after leaving her fast-paced workaholic life in L.A. She's decided to break all the rules and eat a lot of pie. Soon after moving she meets Austin, a much younger sexy local cop. There was so much potential about all of this which made the rest of the book so disappointing. I can't precisely put my finger on why but the flirting, sex scenes, and their romance itself were so cringey to me. I feel like I would be rich if I had a dollar for every time "nipples" or "panties" were mentioned. Bea was likable at first but as the story progressed she just seemed really immature for her age.

I did enjoy the narration and will look for other audiobooks by her. Thank you to NetGalley and RB media for allowing me to listen to this book. All opinions are my own.

I LOVED this book!
I liked the style of writing with dual POV but the majority of it is from Bea's view.

What a character! I loved her 'not going to give a flip' attitude. The fact that she eats pie and wants to drink beer for breakfast lives in sweatpants, and wears fuzzy slippers outside... I think she is my kindred spirit. As someone in my 30s, I liked how Bea decided to not give two flips and do more things for herself.
This book had me laughing and it also had me crying...I hate a turn that took place and I didn't expect part of it, but I loved the ending.

One thing I would have liked more on... the relationship with her parents. There were snips throughout the book but then again maybe that was the point...

I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was captivating and drew me into the storyline.

I could totally see this as a movie.

Thank you, Amy Andrews, Netgalley, and RB media for my copy.

While this was a really fun, entertaining read that made me want to eat all the pie, I had a really hard time with the narration. Bea was a very relatable and likable character with spunk and grit and I love a good age gap romance.

This is getting good reviews so if you like small town romances with a bit of spice check this one out

3 stars

Thank you @netgalley and RB Media for the early copy!

Beatrice Archer finds herself in a small town after leaving LA when she did not get the promotion she should have been given. She is done -- she doesn't care about squat. She is no longer going to worry about the carbs she should not eat - she will eat pie and beer for breakfast and no one can tell her it is a bad idea. No one can tell her anything she does is a bad idea, so when small town cop, Austin Cooper, responds to a complaint about her eating ice cream (one cone for each hand) in her pajama's, in public... well she is not going to give two forks about that either -- he might as well arrest her... in fact... she tells him to go ahead and put her in the "pokey." And so begins a relationship between the two of them -- there is undeniable attraction there, but Beatrice is not about to date a younger man... or will she?

I loved the idea behind this book. I wanted to love the book, too... but I didn't. Likewise, I could not get into the characters. I loved Bea's spunk and attitude and some of the silly things she did, but she never felt real to me. Austin fell flat for me, as well. The sex scenes didn't do it for me either -- maybe I prefer different kinds of descriptions or maybe I was just listening to this book at the wrong time, I don't know, but I found myself wanting to fast-forward past the scenes (I did not -- but I did consider it.) I was not in love with the narrator, either. She did a fine job, but somehow the book did not come alive with her narration, for me.

Sometimes, books come along at the wrong time. This might have been the situation with this book. So, I recommend you make your own judgements, if the book itself piques your interest.

Thank you to RB Media and Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this book.

This was such a fun, entertaining read. I loved Bea! The dialogue and humor in this book were wonderful and had me laughing out loud. The only thing that fell flat for me was the inevitable "breakup". The dialogue and actions just didn't seem to fit the characters from the rest of the book. I loved the narrator for this one. She really brought Bea to life!

If you’re like me you listen to audiobooks while you do things around the house, while walking the dogs, driving, or other tasks. Well, I was so invested in this story that at night when it was time to get in bed I was frustrated because I couldn’t keep listening. 🤣

With that said - I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Bea is such a badass! She’s strong, independent, and is fed up with climbing the corporate ladder and living only for work. SHE NEEDS A BREAK and that exactly what she gets when she quits her job in LA and moves to a rural town in Colorado.

This was fun, HILARIOUS, and super steamy! Filled with lovable main characters and side characters as well. It will have you swooning for a saucy police officer and also the town of Credence.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this arc! Wonderful book and Mia Barron was a fantastic narrator.

My reading is very much driven by tropes, with 'my favourite' changing regularly.

Recently I've read and enjoyed many age gap romances but never a reverse age gap where the MMC is younger than the FMC but omg I'm hooked. Amy Andrews did such an amazing job with BATR!

However, that aside, Breaking All the Rules is so much more than just that.

Moving to Credence, Colorado is Bea's first step into a new life after, justifiably, giving the finger to her boss and her job!

No longer will she toe the line, do what is expected or follow the rules and Credence is just the place to aid her rebellious actions.

You will laugh out loud at her antics. You will swoon at Deputy Austin Cooper. You will taste every morsel of pie that Bea eats.

Above all you will be hooked on Amy Andrews ability to create a town and characters that I want to visit again and again.

Breaking All the Rules by Amy Andrews was an easy book to listen too! A story of a burnt out marketing exec who needs a break from LA and explores life in Colorado. A steamy story of love, pie, one eyed cats and adventure. I caught myself laughing at Bea's take on letting loose and trying new things. It is a light hearted easy book that is well narrated.

This is a fun read. I enjoyed it and often found myself laughing and the main characters. The author, Amy Andrews brings wit and banter throughout this book. Bea is a corporate girl who has had enough of being looked over for a promotion and having it handed over to a man. She opens a map and picks a spot. She packs up and moves to a small town and decides it is time to break all the rules.

Right away Bea meets young Austin, the small town cop and sparks fly! As the two become friendly Bea discovers that she is just having a good time with Austin as well as what she does and does not enjoy in life. Will she eventually have to go back to making grown up decisions? I found Bea's character to be a little wild and free and I loved her like this! #BreakingAllTheRules #netgalley #amyandrews #bookstagram #bookclub #book9of100 #2023goals #ilovereading #goodreads #goodreadschallenge #readwithmslucy #mslucysliteracycorner

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to listen to the audio and review.

Romcom is the new chicklit, or chicklit was the old romcom: chicken-egg, does it really matter when entertaining, light-hearted, heartfelt romance is being written? Because that’s certainly what you’ll get in Amy Andrews’s standalone, Breaking All the Rules. Andrews loves a life-restart-romance, especially on her heroines’ parts: Beatrice Archer has burned bridges big-time and docked her life-shambles in small-town Credence, Colorado with resolve to burn even more by “breaking all the rules” which held her rigid and controlled in the past. No more of that, baby, is her ‘tude! The publisher’s blurb will fill in some further details:

Sometimes you gotta toss your whole life into a burning dumpster to find what’s most important…

Beatrice Archer has always done everything she’s supposed to ―worked her ass off, ignored her non-existent personal life, and kept her mouth shut. Now she’s over it. The rat race, respectability…the underwire bras. She’s taking her life back. Starting with moving to Nowhere, Colorado to live life on her own terms.

Now Bea gives exactly zero forks. Beer for breakfast. Sugar for everything else. Baggy sweats and soft cotton undies FTW. Then a much younger and delightfully attractive cop is called to deal with her flagrant disregard for appropriate clothing outside the local diner (some folks just don’t appreciate bunny slippers) and Bea realizes there’s something missing from her little decathlon of decadence…and he might be the guy to help her out.

When it comes to breaking rules, Officer Austin Cooper is surprisingly eager to assist. He’s charming, a little bit cowboy, and a whole lot sexy. But Bea’s about to discover that breaking the rules has consequences. And all of the cherry pies in Colorado can’t save her from what’s coming…

It’s easy to overlook a romance’s flaws when the protagonists are as likeable and root-worthy as Austin and Bea, when the humour flows, and the conflict is more inner than outer Big Mis, when obstacles are overcome by taking emotional chances and being honest, making mistakes, taking wrong turns and righting them. All of which one can lay at Bea’s feet: refreshing. Austin, at 25, is gorgeous and has his head on so straight, he’s a teensy bit not to be believed. As Bea reassesses everything she’s missed: sleeping in, eating pie, living free, dancing, riding a horse, Austin is there to help her “live a little”, nothing so major that anyone with an undergrad life would find unusual. And Bea, with humour and humility, embraces it all. She and Austin burn up the sheets with healthy, open-hearted lust. And this carries the com in the rom for quite a long while. Bea also discovers or rather re-discovers that her advertising exec life took everything away from what she’s always loved but thought too unattainably impractical: being a visual artist.

Then Breaking All the Rules takes some serious turns, which made it all the better. To start, Bea’s good girl, straight career path, please dad and grandmother comes from a sad family background: her mother, an artist, suffered a mental illness even while she was a talented artist. When her mother died, her father and grandmother raised her with a constant cautionary litany of advice to not be like her mother, to aim high career-wise and ensure her financial stability. But Bea, no matter her successes, comes smack up against the “glass ceiling” and is overlooked for a promotion she well-deserved: this is what induces the post-bridge-burning arrival in Colorado, the bunny slippers, binge-watching, and pie eating wallowing. And the taking on of younger lover Austin.

But I liked how Andrews embroils Bea in more than indulgence: Austin is a wonderful person, funny and engaging, supportive and affectionate. Credence is fun and filled with warm-hearted people. Austin’s family offers Bea a glimpse of family life unfamiliar to her. When troubles come for Austin and Bea, they come not from an excess of drama, or misunderstandings, but the natural progression of Bea’s existential crisis: what does Bea want and what does Bea deserve? A subtle difference that Andrews navigates beautifully via Bea’s own conflicted feelings. Andrews doesn’t make Austin’s 25 years to Bea’s 35 too much of an issue, but Bea’s dismissiveness (I’ll stop here not to spoil) of Austin’s feelings is understandable, cynical but understandable. I liked that the younger man is the put-together one and the older woman is the one who has to learn to read her own heart, to know the difference between what she deserves and what she wants. It’s great that Bea eats pie, but it’s humble pie that makes the romance’s HEA.

As for those flaws, they’re pretty minor. Breaking All the Rules doesn’t break any rom-com ground, but it sure does well what it sets out to do and I enjoyed every minute of listening to it. I could have done with fewer Austin’s sexual prowess scenes, but there’s enough tenderness there to make up for them. I could have also done with fewer pie-eating scenes: if anyone were to eat as much confectionary as Austin and Bea seem to, it would be a sure-fire way to some kind of sugar-induced illness. I wish Andrews had balanced their diet with the occasional burger, grilled cheese? fries? My teeth hurt by the end of this novel and I have quite the sweet tooth.

The narration by Mia Barron was terrific. She has a lovely timbre to her voice and just the right shifts in tone between light and weighty to make it a pleasure to listen. I also thought she pulled off the love scenes with a casual flare that are too often, by too many narrators, too intensely emoted. She managed to convey Austin and Bea’s keep-it-light-keep-it-fun-but-feel-deeply. Thanks to Miss Austen, we can say Breaking All the Rules offers “real comfort,” Emma.

Amy Andrews’s audiobook of Breaking All the Rules is recorded by RB Media and has been on offer since January 24th. I received an audio-book file from RB Media for the purpose of writing this review, which does not affect my opinion, via Netgalley.