I devoured every single page and wish it could have never ended! 

I smiled so much whilst reading this book! I love Sarah Adams’ writing so much, especially how she writes about the friendship group/side characters so well.

Nora & Derek were both very likeable and it was nice to see them reflect on their flaws & mistakes.

Overall this was a lighthearted and enjoyable read.

Thank you Headline & Netgalley for gifting me the arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 ⭐️ I just love a cute fluffy romance like this. The tension and slow burn between Nora & Derek was so fun to read.

Dual POV ✔️

Tropes:
- Second chance (college exes) ✔️
- Sports romance (NFL) ✔️
- grumpy / sunshine ✔️
- forced proximity ✔️

This was my first time reading this author and I can’t wait to read more from her now!

I am addicted to Sarah Adams’ novels: the writing is immersive, the story is always funny, engaging and romantic, and the protagonists are fantastic. The Rule Book is her latest novel and probably my favourite.

Told by both protagonists’ point of view, this is the story of Nora and Derek. They first met in their senior year in college and fell madly in love. Then, one day, Nora broke both their hearts and they haven’t seen or talked to each other ever since, until, eight years later, they meet inside a meeting room: Derek is a NFL football player preparing to go back to the field after a bad ankle injury, Nora is his new agent. Desperate to prove herself to her male workers, Nora needs Derek as a client, but he still hasn’t got over his heartbreak and has no intention to spend any time with her. So, they come up with a series of rules that will allow them to work together and keep their hearts intact. But then, one morning, they wake up in Las Vegas with a hangover and married and, to avoid bad publicity, they agree to pretend their marriage is real with a honeymoon in Cancun. Of course, old feelings resurface, forcing them to face their past and make decisions for their future.

I had so much fun reading The Rule Book. Nora and Derek are adorable together and I loved seeing their relationship develop. Nora, especially, is an amazing character. She is funny, smart, and determined and I loved her colourful lifestyle and humourism. Every day, she has to work to prove her worth in an all-male environment, not letting sexist comments and jabs stop her from reaching her dream.

If you are looking for romance, fun, strong female characters, and adorable and tough male characters, then I can’t recommend The Rule Book – and Sarah Adams’ novels – enough!

Thank you to the publishers, Dell, and to NetGalley for approving my ARC request for The Rule Book by Sarah Adams!

This book was so incredibly fun - in a nutshell, I never wanted it to end! I've never read a sports romance, nor have I read anything by Sarah Adams, but this may have just ignited a spark in me (and I am forever grateful). This was such an easy read and definitely a slow burn, which I love, but it did not feel painstakingly slow like a lot of slow burns can. I've read a few reviews that have dubbed The Rule Book's tropes as 'overused', but I think that argument is just ignorant and unfair -- Sarah Adams knows what we like, and she gave it to us! I thoroughly enjoyed this and would read it again, and ASAP too. Also, I really didn't expect the plot twist following Nora and Derek's trip to Las Vegas, and it did make me gasp out loud (I had read NOTHING about the plot of the book beforehand, so was a fabulous complete surprise).

4.5 stars from me! (The epilogue was cute, but not needed).

*I will be posting a review on Instagram in the next few days!*.

Thank you Headline and Netgalley for granting my wish!

I love anything by Sarah Adams and this book was no different! She's slowly becoming another auto-buy author for me, especially after another solid story. As I'm a sucker for second chance romance, I knew this would be good. I don't read a lot of sports romance but after this one I might just dive further into the genre!

I love love loved how quirky but relatable Nora was! I had some issues at the start with how petty Derek was over their break-up from eight years ago, but ultimately warmed up to him as well.

I would definitely recommend this to my fellow romance readers who love good banter and are into the sports romance genre.

The connection the author creates between these characters can be felt through the pages. A truly lovely experience from start to finish, with no third act breakup and a wholesome friend group for entertainment.

This book. THIS BOOK!! 🤩

The tension. The chemistry.
The HISTORY!! I was totally hooked.

📖 The Rule Book
📝 Sarah Adams
🗓️ 4/2/2024
🏈 contemporary sports romance
📱 read on kindle (arc)
📚 same world/sequel to the Cheat Sheet

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️
😂😂😂

💭 overall thoughts:
This is my new favorite Sarah Adams. I still LOVE the Cheat Sheet but this was just a little bit more.

🌼🏈 MCs:
Nora is one of my favorite fmcs of all time. She’s absolutely hilarious in the dorky quirky way I love, I love her jokes I was constantly laughing aloud.

Derek. Derek FREAKIN Pender.
THIS MAN! The way he loves her EXACTLY for who she is, and has never stopped 🥹

📖 story:
Often times I’d find myself about to cry and then Nora would pull out a one-liner and they’d be tears of laughter instead.

I LOVED them torturing each other - the tension made for the most delicious slow burn.

🤍side characters:
Having the boys back & scheming again was perfection. And Bree! The sweetest.
I also loved Nicole (Nora’s fellow agent) - what a perfect balance of badass & kind.

Sarah - did you really have to marry everyone off so we couldn’t have more books in this world? 🤣

tropes + topics:
2️⃣ second chance
🏈 pro football player + agent
💍 accidental marriage
🌦️ grumpy/sunshine
🛏️ only one bed
🔗 forced proximity
🏝️ vacation
🐢 slow burn
💞 dual 1st person POV

🫶🏼 books with similar vibes:
•Forget Me Not by Julie Soto (second chance, forced proximity by working together, grumpy sunshine)
•Charlie, Love & Cliches by Ella Maise (second chance, forced proximity, banter, slow burn)

Thank you to NetGalley & Headline Eternal for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

As with all of Sarah's books, I felt like a giggling schoolgirl reading The Rule Book 🥰 This is a second chance romance with the perfect amount of pining, banter & swoon mixed in, and I was so happy for Derek & Nora to get their happy ending! It really is a hug in a book.

Nora is a ray of overly organised sunshine - she definitely has her quirks, but I absolutely adored her - she was so endearing and made me laugh a lot. I loved her drive to succeed in a male-dominated world, and her ability to bat the negativity away so easily ☀️

Sarah writes the best men, and Derek is definitely up there with Will & Noah 🫶🏼 Whilst Nora thinks the hotshot NFL player has forgotten all about her, she couldn't be more wrong 🥲 Derek is very much still in love and pining, and when he jumps in to save Nora's career we see how much he cares 🥹

I'm not usually a fan of an accidental marriage, but I thought it actually worked well here! Plus I loved the honeymoon it led to - forced proximity (& only one bed 👀) at its best 🤌🏼

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜’𝗱 𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗹𝗹 𝗲𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗶𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 🥲

Really really cute! I've read four other books by sarah adams, two i loved, two i hated. This one position itself in the middle. Derek was really adorable and my fav character of the book. Can't wait to read other books by this author.

Thanks to Netgalley and Headline Eternal for providing an eARC of The Rule Book.

I need to preface this review by saying that I LOVE Sarah Adams, The Cheat Sheet and Practice Makes Perfect were two of my favourite books from last year. Second chance romances are also one of my top three favourite tropes so when I found out Sarah was writing a second chance romance, my expectations were astronomical.

Overall, I liked this book but I didn't love it? I think I was a victim of my own making due to the aforementioned reasons.

Things I enjoyed:
- Nora. She was so cute and quirky
- No third act breakup
- The chemistry between Derek and Nora
- The initial breakup was not just a miscommunication and a genuine reason

Things that I didn't enjoy so much:
- No real conflict between the characters after they worked through the reasons for the initial break up. This meant that the second half of the book felt a bit anticlimactic. I kept waiting for something to happen.
- Nora had already done most of her work prior to us meeting her in this story so apart from some insecurity at jumping into a new relationship, there was very little room for her to grow.
- Derek's anxiety was just brushed over, I felt like we could've delved into this a bit deeper.

I did enjoy the book overall, I just expectations for this book to wow me which I didn't get unfortunately!

In "The Rule Book" by Sarah Adams, Nora Mackenzie's career hinges on managing her ex, NFL star Derek Pender.
Their college romance ended messily, but now, as agent and client, they're thrust back together. A wild Vegas night results in a marriage, forcing them into damage control mode. Pretending their nuptials were intentional, they embark on a romantic Cancun honeymoon with a secret rule book in tow. Nora is ambitious and wants to play by the rules, but Derek is all about living life and breaking them. A perfect combination if you ask me. They really balanced each other in so many scenes.
Their journey explores themes of maturity, battling dyslexia, and overcoming sexism, all while maintaining a light-hearted tone.
With delightful banter and a heartwarming romance, "The Rule Book" is a captivating read that balances humor and depth flawlessly.

Very grateful to the publisher @ for this copy , opinions are my own

<strong>♥️ “When you smile at me, my world feels whole” ♥️</strong>

Derek is the absolute pinnacle of book boyfriends. He’s a football player and Nora’s ex college boyfriend (who she dumped rather abruptly). She’s landed her dream job as a sports agent and is finally getting her first client. Obviously it’s none other than the gorgeous Derek, currently planning his return to football following a nasty injury. Cue some pretty solid hazing on his part and some wicked banter and pranks on hers. It becomes clear pretty quickly that neither of the two have moved on as much as they thought and a wild night in vegas leads to a pretty significant ring shaped complication.

Tropes;
🏈 Football romance
🏈 Second chance
🏈 He falls hard
🏈 LD representation
🏈 One bed
🏈 Fake marriage
🏈 Dual POV
🏈 Open door spice (one chapter that can be skipped)
🏈 The sunniest of sunshine’s and a grumpy guy

I loved this book. I read the cheat sheet on a whim after picking it up for a really low price and when I saw the ARCs for this go up couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to meet more of the sharks. I adored Nora; from her eccentric outfits to her rainbow organised everything she’s the sunshiny optimist I wish I could be.

Derek is the golden retriever to end all golden retrievers. He loves Nora so much and his bedside table 😍 Eugh. No other guy will compare.

I usually read much darker books but this lighthearted tale was everything I didn’t know I needed. I highly recommend this book for lovers of sports and contemporary romance alike. Thanks to NetGalley and the author for the ARC ♥️

If you like Ali Hazelwood, you’ll like this book. It’s the EXACT same writing style minus the STEM aspect of it. It’s very lighthearted and silly, not a book you read seriously or think too much on because otherwise you realize it was actually pretty mediocre. YES WE GET IT HE’S BIG AND MASSIVE AND TALL AND HEAVY, no need to remind us everything 5 lines. The characters were fine, it’s just that a lot was told but not much was showed regarding their personalities. Nora was slightly annoying too, WE GET IT SHE’S QUIRKY AND SHE LIKES TO COLOR COORDINATE THINGS. I feel like she herself was self aware of that a little but it was very much annoying, at least to me. Derek (how do you even pronounce that?) was ok I suppose save for the beginning where he was a massive d!ck but he got his character growth I guess. Overall this book is a great palette cleanser and I definitely read it at the right time (sick in my bed) but it’s not a literary masterpiece by any means. However it would make a great beach/flight/train book I think. 3⭐️

It was no surprise to me that I loved another book by Sarah Adams honestly but these characters were just perfection! They were cute and witty and just everything you want in a rom com. Nora had me laughing so hard I nearly had tea coming out of my nose 😂 this was a book I never wanted to end I loved it from start to finish

Thanks the NetGalley and the publishers for a copy of the arc

Love!!
Love Sarah Adam's writing she is an auto-buy author for me!
I adored the The Cheat Sheet so it was only natural how excited I was for The Rule Book! It did not disappoint this book was a sold 4 stars for me!
The main female character, Nora, was super sweet and quirky; some may argue too quirky, but for me I didn't mind it! Derek definitely wasn't my favourite at first but that quickly changed when I realised how loveable he actually was!
There were moments of banter that made me kick my feet and giggle, but there were also moments that pulled on my heartstrings!

Overall this book was cute, quick to read and well written! If you're looking for a pallet cleanser I can't recommend this one enough! <3

My first wish granted on NetGalley! Thank you so much for this ARC!
The first book I read by Sarah Adams was When in Rome which I thoroughly enjoyed so when I saw her new 2024 release, The Rule Book, I thought I should read the companion novel first, The Cheat Sheet, which was published in 2021. Unfortunately I didn't overall enjoy The Cheat Sheet but I still wanted to try out The Rule Book, being a newer release. There are cameos from the characters of The Cheat Sheet, Nathan and "Bree Cheese", so if you enjoyed this couple more than I did I'm sure you'll like this aspect of the book.
If you love tropes in romance, The Rule Book is full of them! There is "one bed", "fake marriage", "second chance romance", etc. and these all worked for me, especially the "fake marriage" which I loved. I also loved the career discussion, both Derek's and Nora's, and the representation of dyslexia in the narrative.
However, I just don't know why this book didn't keep my attention, it took me so long to get through and I just wasn't into this book as much as I hoped. I really see an improvement in Sarah Adams' writing since The Cheat Sheet but it didn't quite live up to When in Rome for me.
Also worth noting is that The Rule Book is more "open door" when it comes to sexual/explicit scenes than previous books by this author, something which is addressed in the Author's Note & Content Warning at the beginning of the book. Chapter 34 is where you'll want to skip if you want to keep the reading experience "closed door".
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Headline and Sarah Adams for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.

Review posted to Goodreads and publication day information posted to Instagram Stories.

This was such a cute read! It’s one of those feel good, quick to read books which I really enjoyed.

Derek was a total sweetheart but also quite possessive. Even though they’ve spent years apart from each other he remembers every little detail about Nora which was so sweet. Also I thought Dereks dyslexia representation was done so well, the fact the he listens to audio books because he struggles with his reading - he just deserves a big hug.

Nora was adorable, quirky and so awkward! She was always coming out with awkward but hilarious phrases and she knew how much it would get under Dereks skin. I found her so relatable with her love of organising everything!

The side characters, the plot, the banter and tension were all spot on! I personally enjoyed this one much better than The Cheat Sheet.

If you’re looking for a light hearted feel good rom com then this might be the book for you!


Thank you to NetGalley and Headline for this Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I adored this one - OMG!!!! I really wanted to read this book and i'm so happy I was able to do it.

I loved Nora's sense of humor - SHE WAS AMAZING anad I loved everything about the main relationship.

Everything about it was amazing and I can't wait to see everyone talking about this one.

The Rule Book delivers a captivating second chance romance between Nora and Derek, former flames reigniting sparks amidst professional turmoil.
Sarah Adams crafts characters with depth, Nora's quirky charm contrasting Derek's brooding past. While Derek's initial bitterness feels exaggerated, his evolution redeems him. The narrative's focus on their rekindled relationship overshadows potential agent-player dynamics.
Nevertheless, Adams' engaging storytelling and Nora's resilience make this a delightful read. With vibrant characters and a dash of Vegas spontaneity, The Rule Book reaffirms Adams' status as a romance maestro, earning its place in the hearts of genre enthusiasts.

I LOOOOVED THIS!!

I liked this better than the first book, The Cheat Sheet. Nora wasn’t nowhere near as frustrating and annoying to me as Bree was, thankfully. However, I did grow frustrated at how often Dereks size was remarked on. Both he and Nora kept saying how “massive” and “muscley” he was and how he stood out in a crowd, and it ended up forming a really dodgy shape of him in my head which I don’t think was the aim.

I really love how this was a second chance romance, and how we got to see both characters grow. Unexpectedly there was some great feminist talk from Nora’s mother, who reminded her that being independent and strong doesn’t mean you have to be alone (which Nora had ended up thinking).

I loved how we had cameos of all the characters from the first book, and I loved how the cheat sheet itself was mentioned and Derek got his revenge for the wink.

This was really funny, surprisingly emotional at times, and a great read. Excited for what Sarah Adam’s has next.