I really liked The Cheat Sheet and was excited to read the second book in the series that centers around Nathan’s friend Derek. The follow up book was fine- nothing special but not a terrible book.

This book really tried to do every single romance trope all at once. We had enemy to lovers, second chance love, forced proximity and fake dating all in one. Overall I found it to be a cute, fun read but also I struggled with how cheesy it was and how over the top Nora was as a person. It just came off a bit too cutesy but was at least a fast, easy read.

If you have liked her other books, you will probably enjoy this one as well. I don’t know if this author is for me as this is my 4th by her and most are 3.5 or lower.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

An easy five star read for me. I was hooked from the beginning. LOVED this one! enemies to lovers AND second chance romance?! The most perfect ending.

THANK YOU NETGALLEY FOR THE E-ARC. I LIKED THE CHEAT SHEET, THE FIRST BOOK IN THIS SERIES, BUT DIDN'T LIKE THIS ONE AS MUCH. IF YOU'RE GOING TO WRITE A SEX SCENE, MAKE IT WORTH IT. DONT JUST WRITE "HE TOUCHED ME THERE, HE DID THIS", WE NEED SOME DESCRIPTIVE INTIMACY. I DON'T THINK I WOULD CONTINUE WITH THIS SERIES BECAUSE OF THE TIK-TOK-IFICATION OF THEM

Sports romances is one of my favorite romance genres and fake dating is one of my favorite tropes. It's more fluffy and light than serious, which is a perfect palette cleanser from some more serious and heartbreaking books.

I wasn't a big fan of the When in Rome series Sarah put out and I almost gave up on her books, but this was a big hit. I loved the characters and the chemistry between Derek and Nora. I loved the way the tropes were incorporated into the story and they felt like original concepts. I'm also so glad the characters actually communicated with each other. Kudos to Sarah for that! One of my biggest pet peeves is when adults in romance books cannot, for the life of them, communicate with each other which then leads to relationship issues.

The only thing I have to critique is that Bree from The Cheat Sheet and Nora felt like the same character in terms of their quirky personalities, but that didn't pull me from the story.

If you loved The Cheat Sheet like I did, you're sure to love this book as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell Books for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Rule Book by Sarah Adams is a sweet rom com set in the sports world - SHOW ME THE MONEY! Sorry, I digress. This is a fun outing especially if you like second chance romance and a guy that is head over heels!

This was the first book I have read by this author and I LOVED it. I had so much fun reading this book and really enjoyed it!

As a non romance reader, I actually quite enjoyed this one! The set up and dialogue are a little YA to start, but once you get into it the plot is quite clever!

I really did not enjoy The Cheat Sheet so I was hesitant to request this book, but my adoration for the Rome series won out so I gave it a chance.

Ultimately, it was fine. I liked it more than The Cheat Sheet because it had actually enjoyable characters. But it does not come close to the quality of the Rome series. I'm not sure what it is about Adams with these two series, but it really does feel like all of her talent goes into the Rome series.

If you had to pick, skip this and The Cheat Sheet and pick up When In Rome. If you wanna be a completionist and read her whole backlist, I bet you'll have no issues getting through this one - it just may not change your life.

The Rule Book by Sarah Adams was a solid second chance romance that I enjoyed reading; However, it was not at all memorable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Nora’s dream of becoming a sports agent is finally coming true, until she realizes who her first client is supposed to be. Her ex-boyfriend. Derek has never understood why his college girlfriend Nora broke up with him, and has never fully gotten over her. Will they be able to set aside old feelings for the sake of their careers?

I found this to be sweet sports romance with endearing and relatable characters. I really liked Nora, her quirky sense of humor and her commitment to independence and her career. Derek was such a wholesome and sweet character, and his supportive teammates were adorable. I liked how the book explored his self-esteem following his injury and adult diagnosis of dyslexia. I trust Sarah Adams to deliver sweet rom-com vibes, and it was the perfect summer read!

i loved nora and derek so much! sarah adams knows how to write the perfect romance novel with minimal spice, which i really enjoy.

I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved every book that I have read by Sarah Adams and this book is no different. This book was so much fun. It made me laugh a lot and it put a giant smile on my face. Derek and Nora are adorable together and have amazing chemistry.

I also love me a book with no 3rd act breakup!! There was no stupid miscommunication tropes or anything else and I love it.

I give it 4.5 stars rounded up just because it felt a little slow at the beginning.

I loved this even more than The Cheat Sheet! The characters annoyed me at first but I grew to love them! There was such great tension between them!! I’ve already added a few more of this authors books to my TBR and purchased the physical copy of this because of how much I loved it!

🌶️

Ok. I honestly loved this one more than The Cheat Sheet, so as a sequel that is an amazing accomplishment! There was a hint of miscommunication, but the second chance romance was leaning harder on them evolving to be better together, and I’m here for it! I loved seeing all the characters I got to know and love in The Cheat Sheet, and see Derek get his own HEA. 10/10, definitely recommend.

❤️ Tropes ❤️
💋 football/agent romance
💋 second chance romance
💋 oopsies Vegas wedding
💋 fake marriage
💋 forced proximity

Derek’s agent retired, and he is getting the new guy on the block, named Mack. Is there any more obvious sign that your agency thinks your career is done after a devastating ankle injury? Only when the agent walks in, it’s his college ex Nora Mackenzie. His gut reaction is to nope out of there, but then he realizes this might be fun hazing her, especially since she never gave him an explanation for why she was breaking up with him.

A very fun Sarah Adams rom com! (And with spice!?!?!)
Derek and Nora are a couple that are soulmates in every sense of the word. In all the books I have read I have never met a character like Nora. She was truly unique in such a lovely way. While i recognize she may ignore me if she was a real person, as a character she was charming.

Also a secret tattoo?? I will go crazy for it EVERY. TIME.

This book was absolutely adorable! I loved the witty, hilarious banter between Nora and Derek or Derebear. This is the perfect book to make you smile and laugh. Nora is spunky and fantastic! Easily she’s one of my favorite female main characters! And Derek is hot. I loved the dyslexia representation. I loved the second chance romance. I would recommend this to everyone!

I love Sarah Adams! The humor in her books is just so good and she’s great at writing romance! I do feel like it was a touch long and maybe there needed to be more communication but overall I had a great time reading this.

୨⎯ 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒕𝒔 ⎯୧
rating: 3
plot: 2.75
characters: 2.75
writing: 2.75
romance: 3
spice: 2
narration: 4

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°•*⁀➷ what to expect
🏈 sports romance
💻 she’s his agent
💕 second chance
❤️‍🩹 he’s not over her
🫢 fake relationship
🗣️ banter

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

°•*⁀➷ the plot
the plot was interesting enough. i thought i would DNF it and did for a few days, but decided to keep going and it was… okay. she’s a sports agent and currently up to be an agent for her ex-boyfriend. the storyline that follows from there was really fast paced and was underwhelming. i was expecting a lot more banter or pining but it wasn’t long before they were back together.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the characters
𝜗𝜚 nora: she’s a spitfire and quirky and entertaining but i didn’t really connect with her as i usually do with Sarahs characters.

𝜗𝜚 derek: he still had feelings for nora and instead of handling his feelings like an adult he decided to play stupid childish tricks and games on her to get her to quit. but when he finally decided to be an adult i started liking him again. he was kind and still knew every detail of nora.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the writing
this is what caused me to quit the book for a few days. the writing was just not it for me, it didn’t feel like a Sarah Adams book. everything was rushed so much and it was really cringe to read because random men were flirting with Nora inappropriately just to try to show Derek’s jealousy and i feel like it’s so unbelievable. i feel like i had severe whiplash that morning at the hotel, i feel like a chapter with the night of would’ve been really important to both the characters and the story instead of just throwing it in there and then saying “this happened and then this” because it’s not believable for the characters to randomly do all the events of that night. even if intoxicated. this just doesn’t make sense and makes me so upset.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the romance
they were cute but tbh not my fav

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ the narration
the narrators were really great and did a phenomenal job bringing the characters to life.

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

°•*⁀➷ in conclusion,
i didn’t like it, it felt rushed and didn’t really blend well. i had such high hopes for this one. it was too sappy

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ

ᯓ ᡣ𐭩 do i recommend? — yes and no….

I’m not sure this one was much of a home run for me. While there was that typical Sarah Adams magic, the descriptions just felt odd - what exactly does it mean that a woman looks like “a sexy stick of gum”?!