First I would like to thanks Netgalley and Random House Publishing for this ARC.

This was my first Sarah Adams book and it was a cute one. It follows A football tight end, his agent and their second chance love story. This book feels extremely relevant considering a certain tight end and this singer girlfriend are all over the news right now.

I am a sucker for a second chance story and I enjoyed this one but I think my favorite parts of this book wasn’t the love story but some of the other aspects of this book. I loved the male friendships in this book. I feel like that’s something that isn’t focused on especially in a romance novel and the players friendship was the highlight of this book. I also loved how strong Nora was and how she was a kickass agent.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. The characters were great, the secondary storylines were great and it was just a sweet love story. #netgalley #therulebook

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Dell for the ARC!

Nora Mackenzie is excited about forging a name for herself in the sports agent world until she learns that her first official client is her ex-boyfriend from college, Derek Pender. About 8 years ago, she broke his heart and he never fully recovered from it. Bent on getting a little bit of revenge, Derek agrees to sign a contract with her assuming he can make her miserable enough to quit.

This was one of my highly anticipated reads for 2024. I adored The Cheat Sheet and When in Rome but I didn't get quite that same feeling with this one. Nora is a total cheeseball and while I can totally do cheesy, it was a little over the top at times. While this one won't be taking the top spot as my new Sarah Adams favorite, I still enjoyed the story and found myself smiling several times throughout! The tension between Nora and Derek was obvious and I liked the second-chance romance aspect. It was so clear that these two were meant to be together. If you enjoyed The Cheat Sheet, this one might be the perfect poolside read for you this summer!

Solid 4.5
🏈Sports Themed
🏈Second Chance Romance
🏈Grumpy x Sunshine
🏈Forced Proximity
🏈Dual POV
🏈One Bed
🏈Fake Marriage/ish

I am a huge Sara Adams fan and like always she did not disappoint. A Rule Book is funny and witty. I loved the characters and their development throughout the story.

Nora is a female sports agent in a male dominated world. She is a ray of sunshine and full of amazing catchphrases. She beats to her own drum and doesn't try to change herself for anyone and is not afraid to go after her dreams and put herself first.

Derek is a professional football player who's career is in jeopardy after a major injury. On top of that Derek is looking for a new agent. Little does he know his new agent Mac is also his college sweetheart Nora MacKenzie who completely shattered his heart. Derek is 100% Grumpy and eventually we get to see his heart of gold.

I loved every minute of this book and the bonus of seeing some familiar characters from the Cheat Sheet.

I loved this book. I loved the characters and following their growth and seeing how they matured together and individually. They have a sweet love story that will get you caught smiling and giggling into your book. Both main characters were very relatable and down to earth. LA Sharks forever 🩵

Women who enjoy romance books are not stupid. I do not understand how this industry continues to undervalue this genre and publish nonsense.

You can tolerate this book if you can overlook:

*Terrible male POV chapters sprung from imaginary men who do not exist. I asked my husband to read one chapter and he could not get through it. I actually did not realize this was related to The Cheat Sheet until the men convened en masse the same way as the other book. I cannot believe that one football playing man read one of these POV chapters and felt represented. Or just a non football playing man. Just a man. This book should be labeled in the fantasy genre. A weird, over bearing, weird fantasy. PROVE ME WRONG.
*Basic legal principles, like contracts and what can be included in them and that actual attorneys review them for enforceability. Not sports agents.
*The sport of football and that a team can have two players who play the same position and remain on the same team at the same time. In the age of T swift and women in masse flocking to football, an opportunity to actually include the sport in a meaningful way was missed and the book just assumes that the reader knows nothing about the sport.

Again, women readers are NOT stupid. Just stop. I urge publishers and writers to do better than spew basic bullshit and label it as romance.

I received an e-arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

this is the sarah adams book i've been waiting for. i can't lie. i hated the first book i read by her. but the second was more enjoyable, which lead to a third, which made me want to read this one. and i have to say... i am officially a fan! this was so well written and all of the things that used to drive me nuts (too tropey, too i'm not like other girls) are way better developed. a perfect adult romance with heat but not spice.

Two exes end up being business associates, and end up getting drunkenly married. Of course, one of them is famous and the media just has to find out, so they’re stuck going on a fake honeymoon surrounded by press. Both of them are still in love with the other, but of course the other doesn’t know that.
I loved this book so much. I don’t know how Sarah Adams does it, her books get better every time I swear. I’m obsessed with this book, and the relationships between characters and everything felt so real. I WAS Nora for the entirely of the book and it was absolutely amazing. In particular, I loved Nora’s relationship and friendship with her Mom, I feel like there aren’t many books that show a close friendship between mother and daughter.
Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for an eARC of this book

Sarah Adams is a true star. I impatiently await all of her book releases and was lucky to receive an ARC of the Rule Book.

This story follows the reunion of two college sweethearts who’ve been out of contact since their break up eight years prior and the consequences of an unplanned Vegas wedding.

This has all the hallmarks of an Adams tale, thoughtfully developed characters, tension, longing, delightful banter and love radiating from every page. The Rule Book also has open door steam. It’s so well done. The scene is descriptive and fun without being raunchy. There’s a warning to skip the chapter if the reader wants closed door. I enjoyed the chapter but think you can definitely stick with the plot if you skip it and go to the next.

I loved this so much and hope it will be a huge success.

Always a fun book with Adams. This is a sweet story about second chance love. Derek was so head over heals for her and that was fun to read. Nora was a bit hard for me to really love. She was a bit unbelievable and all over the place. It didn't effect how much fun this was to read tho.
This book has some swearing and alcohol use and a sex scene. For sure an adult read.

Sarah Adams wrote a beautifully cute and fluffy romance that had me GIGGLING the entire time. 😍 I finished this in one day, and I have no regrets.

I love Sarah Adams’ books, all of them. I got hooked a while ago with The Off Limits Rule and have been devouring all her books since. This one does feel like a shift from her past books with more language (mild, but I don’t remember any language in her early books) and an open door chapter. I really appreciate the content warning of what chapter to skip if you want closed door. Despite having more mature content, this still feels like a Sarah Adams book. So if you have loved all her other books, you’ll love this one too! And if you haven’t read her other books, you’re in for a treat. Start at the beginning and settle in with some hot coffee or wine and enjoy!!

Sarah Adams proves time and time again why not all books need spice to shine!

Nora and Derek and thrown back together years after a brutal college heartbreak. What's better after years of quiet pinning after the one you loved and lost?

Revenge, of course!

Often funny and always sweet, The Rule Book will show you why Sarah Adams is one author with a backlist worth binging!

3.5 / 5 (rounded up to 4)! Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the eARC!

Nora and Derek both are very fun, silly, colorful (sometimes literally) characters and I really enjoyed their dynamic together - I feel that they worked well in this second-chances plot, because Nora's more chaotic, bubbly energy was met with complete understanding and familiarity. I don't think this book would have worked nearly as well if someone had to learn Nora from the beginning, or if it had purely been enemies to lovers as coworkers / agent and athlete.

I did very much enjoy the read, but I feel that enemies to lovers in a contemporary setting is a hard thing to pull off without creating a dislikable romantic interest. While I do think the enemies to lovers portion of the story is short and well written enough to lead into the romance plot in a believable way, it was definitely something I had to push through to enjoy the remainder of the story. I did not enjoy Derek's cruelty for the sake of revenge, distraction, etc - I don't feel that anything he was going through really justified it, and it mimicked the men in Nora's industry too much for me to fully get past it. This paired with the more surface level discussions around sports industry and feminism and internalized misogyny etc... it just felt at odds. Because of this I did drop the rating from a 4 to a 3.5 - but I still enjoyed the read overall and finished it quickly.

I have read many of Sarah Adams' books, and I always enjoy her writing style, characters, and pacing of her books. This companion to The Cheat Sheet was one of my most anticipated contemporary/sports romances of the year, and while it didn't necessarily live up to The Cheat Sheet (which is an unfair comparison anyway, Bree and Nathan are iconic) it was still a fun, cute, light read.

The Rule Book packs in fun relationship tropes like sports romance, workplace romance, second chance romance, forced proximity, and only one bed on its way to a HEA.

Nora broke Derek’s heart in college when she abruptly left him. Years later, he is poised to become her first client as a sports agent, and understandably bristles at the possibility. His feelings for Nora never left, so Derek decides to give her crappy jobs to do in the hopes that she will quit out of frustration. Instead, they wake up in Vegas after a night of drinking with suspicious tattoos winding around their ring fingers. The rest is a rom com dream!

Adams writes fun banter, hilarious plot lines, and great book boyfriends. Derek’s teammates show up in multiple chapters, and the guys are absolutely hilarious in their chats about relationships. Those were some of my favorite moments! Seeing Nathan and Bree from The Cheat Sheet again was fun as well, seeing how their relationship has progressed.

Nora is written as the ultimate quirky girl, with some cheesy dialogue that made me cringe so hard for her at times, which is what dropped my rating to a 4. Some of her sayings and insults were just too childish for a woman who is supposed to be around 30. I did love the way she fought for her career every step of the way and didn’t hesitate to put herself first when needed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dell for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Five stars!!!
Sarah Adams will forever write a book that feels like a warm hug, the Rule Book was no different from that. I flew through this book because it so easily binge worthy. Sarah Adams writhing is truly some of the most entertaining writing ever that will have you laughing out loud. But then also will write some of the most tender love stories.

I absolutely loved the characters in this book. Both Derek are Nora were such a fun time to read about. I loved the banter between them and even their inner monologues are super entertaining. I loved all of of the unexpected moments between them, such as the Vegas trip. Them slowly falling in love again, and navigating their feelings between the fake marriage.

If you need a romance book that will have you swooning, just have a happy time while reading, or a slump fixer then the Rule Book is definitely for you. Also Sarah Adams absolutely devoured that spice scene up.

Thank you Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group for this arc!

I read this ARC the minute I got accepted knowing that it would be a cute, simple romance. What I did not expect was that I would actually fall in love with these characters so much that I wouldn't be able to put the book down. Something was always happening in this story, and I was NEVER bored. Not once. From Derek's rudeness in the first few chapters (which I unashamedly ate up lol) to all the fun events that happened in Cancun to every little serious moment (dyslexia diagnosis, discussion of parental neglect, etc), I was engulfed in the story and the hilarious yet sweet characters. (Seriously, Nora had me laughing almost every chapter.)

I’ve never read something so well written before to describe what it felt seeing your significant other for the first time and realizing they were what you needed.

Definitely go give this a read when it comes out!

This was a great read! The characters hooked me very early on so it was hard to put down. Excellent plot with an unexpected twist. The banter between the two main characters was entertaining and funny, but not overdone or cheesy. Lots of pop culture references which is a great bonus. I haven’t read the Cheat Sheet yet but look forward to seeing how characters connect. My third Sarah Adams book and definitely my favorite. You’re definitely rooting for things to work out for this couple from the very beginning.
Also loved the note at the beginning of the book on which chapter to skip to keep things “behind closed doors” as that’s always such a great option to have!

The Rule Book is a quirky story involving second chance romance that gives you all the feels that you want in a romance!

Nora is an up and coming sports agent who finally lands her first client...who just happens to be her college ex boyfriend. Derek, still not quite over their abrupt breakup decides to make her job miserable, but their undeniable chemistry throws a wrench it his plan.

I loved this book and I rooted for these two characters the entire time. Anyone who loves quirky sports romances should pick this story up!

The Rule Book releases April 2, 2024!

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine/Dell for the E-Arc of The Rule Book.

Sarah Adams is an autobuy author for me. I was highly anticipating this new book and it didn’t disappoint. All the stars from me!