Oh my actual goodness this book is my favorite Sarah Adams yet!! This book is full of so many tropes (enemies to lovers, second chance romance, one bed, accidental marriage, sports romance) and it was all so wonderfully done. Nora was such a fun FMC and I loved that both her and Derek had so much depth as characters but that the book was still so fun to read. I loved seeing the characters from The Cheat Sheet back again. Would definitely recommend, thank you so much Netgalley for the ARC :)

✨Book Review✨

The Rule Book - Sarah Adams

I am so thrilled and thankful to receive this Advanced Reader Copy from @netgalley and Random House Publishing Company!

📖 The Rule Book takes us back to LA and the NFL Sharks. Our main male character is Derek, a tight end who is getting a new agent. Enter Nora: smart, competitive and Derek’s ex-girlfriend from college. When Derek sets out to make her life miserable so she’ll quit, Nora doubles down and takes on the challenge. Will these two be able to work together or will one of them cave and throw in the towel?

📚 This book had me giggling and feeling connected to both characters throughout the story. I loved how both Nora and Derek shared the narrative so that we could see scenes from both of their perspectives. I’ve read The Cheat Sheet and I really enjoyed seeing some character crossover that I already knew! This book was light and fun, the perfect combination of predictability and surprises that kept me engaged.

🌟 If you like Romantic Comedy then you have got to pick this one up! It publishes on April 2nd and you won’t want to miss it! Sarah brilliantly includes a a note to skip a specific chapter if you’re looking to keep the bedroom door firmly closed, which makes this book for any spice comfort levels. Happy reading!

#BookReview #TheRuleBook #NetGalley #LASharks #NoraAndDerek #BookRecommendation #Bookstagram #BookReviewers #GoodReads

This book was so fun! I love the fake dating/marriage trope so I was sucked in almost immediately. I also really enjoy sports romances, so this was also right up my alley. I read this whole thing in two days, and couldn't put it down. I loved how quirky Nora was, and how she was wholeheartedly herself. Derek was also the best. He let Nora make all of her own decisions and supported her in every way he could. Also, the bedside table part was MY FAVORITE. I loved that we finally found out what was in it. Love love love!

I love Sarah Adams! Her books are always adorable!! I loved how the pieces of the story came together. Super relatable and in depth characters. As I read the story, I wanted more and more. I was captivated! A fantastic read!

Thank you to Dell Books/Penguin Random House for the early review copy!

You can always count on Sarah Adams to write a book that has all the warm fuzzies. It's one of my favorite things about reading her stuff - you can count on a capable FMC and her swoony MMC counterpart. This book was - as expected - adorable.

Nora Mackenzie - Mack to her colleagues - needs one good client to help her boost her burgeoning career as a sports agent. When she's paired up with one of the biggest atheletes of all - tight end for the LA Sharks, Derek Pender, it's the break she desperately needs but with one little hitch. Not only is Derek one of the biggest football stars in the league - he's her former college boyfriend. Hoping he'll have moved past their college breakup, Nora puts her best foot forward as his new agent. Unfortunately for Nora, not only is Derek not quite ready to forgive and forget - she's the last person he thought he'd ever have to work with - he makes her life as his new agent misery.

When one drunken evening results in a quickie Vegas wedding, Derek and Nora find themselves in the middle of a PR nightmare with only one solution - play along as a married couple and go on a honeymoon to save face. With the both of them in uncharted territory, there's only one thing to do; throw their rule book out the window and listen to their hearts.

Recurring characters from Sarah Adams The Cheat Sheet pop up throughout this fun novel that's a perfect diversion for an afternoon. I had so much fun following Nora, Derek and the Sharks as they found their way forward on and off the field. I loved Nora's grit and drive to succeed in a predominantly male dominated field as a sports agent and thought the story arc was paced just right.
This one is perfect for all those who love the Travis/Taylor storyline and live for the kind of happily ever after that only Adams can provide.

What a fun read! I loved this book because I really felt all the emotions that Derek and Nora felt. I can read anything by this author and know it's going to be great!

Nora is a brand new sports agent and her college boyfriend has been appointed to her as her first client. She’s determined no keep that little fact quiet and convince Derek to let her represent him. He’s not sold on the idea.

I absolutely adore this couple and the FMC is hilariously quirky. I love how the MMC finds her oddities endearing when other exes have taken issue with it.

4.5🌟

This was one of my most anticipated reads for this year and good god it did not disappoint. I devoured this in just over a day! I was so absorbed in Nora and Derek’s story.

Derek Pender is an amazing cinnamon roll of a human. Nora Mackenzie is my new best friend, literally. I need her in my life yesterday. They dated in college, both felt very strongly about one another. However, Nora was very invested in growing her career and focusing on herself and she saw Derek as a distraction to her success. Even though she still loved him, she broke up with him and they parted ways.

Now, 8 years later, Nora is working as an NFL agent and is assigned to a new client.. Derek Pender. Derek is worried about his future as the LA Sharks’ tight end. He is getting back into the lineup after being injured. Nora wants to do anything she can to better Derek’s career. But when Derek sees his new agent, his heartbreak comes right back at him like it never left. At first, he refuses to allow Nora to be his agent, but eventually they come to an agreement and develop a “rule book” that they have to follow. (So freaking funny and OBVIOUSLY some rules are bound to be broken).

One brand deal that Nora gets him to accept lands them in Vegas for a photo shoot. After a night out in the city that never sleeps, they wake up together in the same bed… married.

Derek and Nora have to come to their senses and be honest with themselves and each other. Do they both still have feelings for each other? Or is it just fake?

How does she do it?!?!

Sarah Adams is my girl and never does me wrong! This book had me hooked and in love with the characters.

Nora is a sports agent and gets assigned her first client, who just so happens to be the one who got away. Derek is a star NFL returning to the game after a debilitating injury. This book is full of so much emotion and pining!

Read if you love:
🤍second chance romance
🤍witty banter
🤍it’s always been you
🤍football romance
🤍strong FMC
🤍swoon worthy men

I absolutely adored "The Rule Book" by Sarah Adams. It has so many of my favorite tropes - marriage of convienence, one bed, forced proximity, dual POV, grumpy v. sunshine, all wrapped up in a second-chance, slow-burn romance. Nora Mackenzie has spent years - and sacrificed relationships - fighting to carve out a career as a sports agent, and is finally on the road to success. But then she is assigned Derek Pender - one of the relationships she sacrificed - as her first solo client. Nora never really got over Derek, and comes to learn that Derek never really got over her.

Nora is one of my favorite FMC of recent books. She is (usually) unapologetically herself, refusing to sacrifice what makes her her in order to get ahead in a man's world. I love her whimsical and yet somehow simultaneously snarky sayings. Her interactions with Nicole are amazing, her interactions with Derek even more so. Derek is somehow sweet and strong - he is not the nicest to Nora in the first days of their reconnection, but it is clear that much of the reason he is doing what he does is because he wants to spend time with Nora. And I LOVE his relationship with his teammates/friends/found family.

Once the story shifts to their "honeymoon" in Mexico, it just gets that much better. Nora and Derek are honest with each other fairly early on, even if there is still some miscommunication between them. I really enjoy when a story can suck you in without a ton of drama and angst. There is some angst here, but nothing over the top. And I love that both Nora and Derek acknowledge that their past was both understandable and ultimately, helped make them both.

A winner of a book. I normally like my romances more on the spicy side, but this one was lovely without it. 5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for a complimentary ARC of this book. These opinions are my own.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of The Rule Book by Sarah Adams.

I have enjoyed several of Sarah Adams' books. I am not the biggest fan of her sports romances. I think because of the "guy humor". With that being said it was still a good book.

There an ex-boyfriend to lover scenario. Second chances with the love of your life. Endearing love. Patience of a saint!

Nora Mackenzie who goes by Mac is an aspiring sports agent. Her ex-boyfriend Derek Pender is a football player in need of a new agent. In order to work together Derek makes a whole list of rules they must follow in order to work together. Most of those rules go out the window after a wild night in Las Vegas and they get married. The love they have for each other will make your chest ache. It is a "will they, won't they", how far will they go when they don't want the possibility of a broken heart.

This book is SO CUTE! I absolutely love a sweet second chance romance, and this book gave us that with a lot of sass and humor mixed in. Although Nora's inability to be serious in serious situations was frustrating to me at times, I related to her so much in her struggles with inequality in the workplace and the way women are held to a different standard than men are. I loved the dual POV and getting to see the relationship from both perspectives. There was so much miscommunication that made you just want to sit Nora and Derek down and force them to talk it out! This is a wonderful romance read with themes of second chance, forced proximity, grumpy x sunshine, sports, feminism, workplace inequality, overcoming struggles, invisible disability, and marriage of convenience.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first Sarah Adams book and I was not disappointed! I will definitely be going back to read her other books now. I switched between the ebook and audiobook while reading - thank you to Dell, NetGalley, and PRH Audio for providing me with copies of each. This review is voluntary and all opinions expressed are my own.

The audiobook felt like I was listening to a romcom movie in my head. The banter, the humor, and the tension were all perfect! The narrators did an excellent job for this dual POV book. Nora is quirky and goofy, but also sharp and fearless. She isn’t afraid to stand up to men as a woman in the sports agent world. Derek is a huge cinnamon roll who tries to be mean to Nora but fails miserably. I love them together!

Read this book if you enjoy: second chance romance, college sweethearts, family family, fake dating (accidental marriage), and one open door spice scene with no explicit descriptions.

Wow! Just wow! I absolutely fell in love with this book.This is the 3rd Sarah Adams book I have read and I think I am going to have to add her to my favorite authors list. I thought the banter, the competition, the love between Nora and Derek was unmatched! I felt like this book had all my favorite book tropes just wrapped up all into one and executed perfectly. I thought in the beginning when Derek was being a jerk to Nora I was thinking "I love a grumpy x sunshine, but he is just being annoyingly mean.", but Nora wasn't giving up and she put her foot down and was not putting up with it which I loved. When I got to the "There's only one bed" I audibly gasped because I love me a good one bed trope! I also loved the side characters in this book. The friend dynamic between the boys on the team was so hilarious to me and the pant leg thing had me dying laughing every time it was brought up. Sarah also sprinkled in a little body positivity moment with Nora and I LOVED it. "Love your body-it works hard for you every day of your life."

This book had me giggling and cackling while simultaneously shedding a few tears. You could tell that even though 8 years had passed for Nora and Derek their love never wavered and they always knew that they would come back to one another. Nora always wanted to have an equal partner that supported her dreams and she definitely got that with Derek. The way that Derek displayed "if you touch her, i'll kill you vibes" I absolutely loved. You don't really see a lot of MMC have that kind of energy in rom-coms, so it was very refreshing.

Favorite Quotes:
"You weren't even close to easily replaceable to me"
"If you want me, I'm yours."
"But something in me couldn't let go. Some part of me knew deep down that I shouldn't. We'd find our way back to each other."
"But with a good teacher and a can-do spirit, I believe that you, Derek Pender, will be able to gyrate..." LOL
"You're a gemstone. Rare and unique and vibrant. And anyone who can't see that doesn't deserve to have you in their life.'

4.5/5

I loved Practice Makes Perfect and was happy to find that I loved this one too. It had the same humor and fun that I had hoped for while also being something new and exciting. I love that the FMC was a strong, independent woman (if even to a fault at points) but that the MMC was supportive and fueled that. The enemies to loves type start was fun and so enjoyable... and when it switched to sweet... the chemistry was great. I really loved this one!

This book was adorable! I love Sarah’s writing and knew I wanted to read this book ASAP! I love sports romances, and this one was so well executed! Nora and Derek’s story was great! With the banter, and enemies to lovers trope, this witty relationship had me hooked from the first page! I definitely recommend Sarah Adam’s books and I will definitely continue to read her work! 4.5 ⭐️ from me!! Thank you so much NetGalley and Sarah Adams for letting me read this ARC!

Nora Mackenzie's been working for years to be accepted in the male-dominated world of sports. Known as "Mac," as it is more masculine, Nora gets the opportunity that she has been waiting for -- representing her first client. She learns it is her ex-boyfriend from college, NFL player Derek Pender.

He's holding a grudge and hazing Nora. Derek plans on making Nora's life miserable. Nora doesn't scare easily.

Nora negotiates an excellent sponsorship opportunity for Derek. This takes them to Vegas, where they wake up the next day, and they are married!

This was great -- including second chance, workplace, accidental marriage, enemies to lovers, one bed, and grumpy/sunshine troupes! I love a book with great banter!

Sarah Adamas did it again!!!!
The tropes here are my favourites:
- enemies to lovers
- Forced prox
- Sport romance
- Second chance story
The story is so sweet and funny, i love their dynamic!
This book is a stand-alone, so it's not necessary to read the first one, but let's be honest, just read it!
Thanks to the author, to netgally and Penguin Random House for giving me the chance to read this book in adv, in exchange of my honest review.
Don't forget to read this book, it will be out on 2 April 2024!

I requested this book with my new baby bookstagram account and absolutely betted on having this request denied. I was so shocked when it was approved. So fun to have this as one of my first ARC’s!

I adored this book and am certain bookstagram will, too! Sarah Adams delivered on all the romance reader’s favorite tropes-

*Second chance
*Sports romance (football)
*Workplace romance
*Accidental marriage turned marriage of convenience
*One bed
*Touch my wife and die

And lest you think this was too many and trying too hard…NOT AT ALL! It's so cute, so sweet, so swoony! Sarah has the magic recipe that allows a book to be excellent and predictable all at once! These really are the best feel-good reads.

The main characters are loveable, and Derek’s friends are great! This is a companion novel to The Cheat Sheet. While The Rule Book could be read alone, I would recommend reading Cheat Sheet first if you haven’t already. It makes seeing our friends again so fun!

Sarah Adams is my go-to recommendation for friends who like romance without the spice, but this is her first where it is open door. She includes an author’s note letting you know this at the very beginning and has written it in a way that can be read without it- just skip chapter 34. She absolutely did NOT have to include this (plenty of reviewers out there doing this so well!), but I loved that she did. Felt like a sweet nod to who she knows many of her readers to be. Random spot in a book for me to review, I know, but I really liked this!

Thank you to @netgalley and @penguinrandomhouse for the opportunity to read and review!

There are books you really love and then there are books you are OBSESSED WITH. I am obbbbbsssessssed with THE RULE BOOK.

I've been a Sarah Adams fan since her 2020 and the start of her "It Happened in Charleston" series. I have often recommended her as a great romance author for lots of chemistry, but closed-door spice. But I was more than happy to get a spicy open-door scene in THE RULE BOOK.

I liked the first book in this duet, The Cheat Sheet, but I am officially obsessed with THE RULE BOOK. I absolutely loved the peeks into the past relationship in this 2nd Chance Romance between Nora and Derek. The super-sweet first love they experienced in college was the perfect backdrop to their complicated reunion.

Nora is such a badass, hard-working, pure sunshine heroine. I adored her! I also really loved her dynamic with her female boss and their realistic love/hate relationship and mutual respect. And Derek is such a stern, grump at the beginning and watching him thaw and show his softer side was a delight to read. The banter between these two was funny and sharp and I loved their begrudging chemistry.

THE RULE BOOK is all the best of Sarah Adams writing in one book! Funny and smart. Quirky and fun, but also tackles tough topics without ever feeling too heavy. You will fall in love with the main characters AND the side characters. There is a hilariously rowdy male friend group that is a highlight of the book too!

THE RULE BOOK gets a very easily won 5-STARS from this stingy star bitch. I loved it with my whole heart and will be recommending it to everyone I know. Read it...that's an order!

𝗦𝗣𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗟𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗟: Rated PG-13 / Only 1 descriptive sex scene, may have harsh language.
𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗚𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦: late diagnosis of dyslexia, parental neglect
𝗙𝗘𝗘𝗟𝗦: 2/5 - A bit of drama, but still a pretty light read.