Sophia Rose Reviews The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain an AustenProse blog tour

 

Today Sophia Rose as part of the AustenProse blog tour reviews Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain. Read on to see what she thought.
Enjoy!

The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain

Historical Romance

Publisher:  Berkley

Published: 1.9.24

Pages:  272

Rating: 4.5 stars

Format: eARC

Source:  NetGalley

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Overview:
From the author of Mr. Malcolm's List comes a delightful romantic comedy set in Regency England about a widow who takes high society by storm.

Diana Boyle, a wealthy young widow, has no desire to ever marry again. Particularly not to someone who merely wants her for her fortune.

So, when she discovers that she’s listed in a directory of rich, single women she is furious, and rightly so. She confronts Maxwell Dean, the man who published the Bachelor’s Directory, and is horrified to find he is far more attractive than his actions have led her to expect. However, Diana is unmoved by Max’s explanation that he authored the list to assist younger sons like himself who cannot afford to marry unless it’s to a woman of means.

She gathers the ladies in the directory together to inform them of its existence, so they may circumvent fortune hunters’ efforts to trick them into marriage. Though outraged, the women decide to embrace their unique position of power and reverse the usual gender roles by making the men dance to their tune. And together…the ladies rewrite the rules.

Sophia Rose's Review:

In the spirit of her earlier dazzling Regency Romp, Mr. Malcolm’s List, another misguided hero has published a list- a directory of Spinster heiresses and wealthy widows.  One of those widows isn’t having it and sets in motion a sparkling, humorous, but heartwarming new path to love with ladies calling the shots.

 

Diana Boyle comes out of official morning and is ready to enter a life sans men.  Marriage taught her to want nothing more with a system that allows a man to coldly treat his wife like property.  But, just as she starts to breathe the air of freedom, men start descending on her home eager to court the wealth… and very pretty widow.  Diana rushes in to rescue herself and other beleaguered women from the greedy predators… or so she planned until she catches sight of polite, gentlemanly Maxwell Dean, the author she has come to scold. 

 

Maxwell has suffered his own past heartbreak and due to a woman who might have accepted his overtures of love until she uses him as the step up to his titled and wealthy brother.  He is sincere in wanting to protect other second sons from such a mistake and it never occurred to him that he might be siccing the unscrupulous types on vulnerable ladies until Diana points it out.  Max is a sweetheart and puts himself forward as Diana’s knight in shining armor to make amends.

 

It is not long before this pair go from enemies to friends and then more though Diana has made it clear she never wishes to marry and Max won’t ask because he won’t let Diana or the rest of society wonder if its money and not Diana he is interested in.  A surprising circle of friends and courting partners arise from their encounter over the directory and her subsequent warning to the other ladies.  I enjoyed this group who grew close and started to pair off and fall in love.  This is Max and Diana’s story, but others get their romance, too.

 

The tone is light and there is fun and mischief in the courting game.  But, there are those deeper undertones of why the situation arose on both sides.  I liked seeing the women feel strong and confident rather than vulnerable and the men see their own worth as more than what they have in the bank to provide for and love a worthy woman.  There is a bit of underhandedness going on and I enjoyed the surprise twist that came from an unexpected character revealing the truth.  Diana steps up as a big-time heroine in that matter.

 

All and all, a sparkling Regency era RomCom for sweet historical romance fans to appreciate for the wit and banter among a glad circle of characters.

PRAISE FOR THE LADIES REWRITE THE RULES

• “Innovative…The novel’s true strength lies in the friendship between the bold heroines”— Publisher’s Weekly
• “A fun, light-hearted Regency romp about changing society from the inside.”— Kirkus Reviews  
• “Joyful, warm and witty, this is a delight of a book.”— All About Romance

 

Author Bio:

I was born in India and sent to boarding school in England but my father lost his fortune . . . Oh, wait, that’s the plot of "The Little Princess". I actually grew up in Tallahassee, Florida, a world away from romantic locales like India or Edwardian England. But I could escape to those places in the pages of a book and I frequently did. When I wasn’t reading I was inventing witty repartee for my Barbie and Ken dolls while smashing their faces together and making smooching noises.

I also loved period movies and musicals. I memorized the lyrics to every song from MY FAIR LADY and would sneak into my parents’ room at night and sing: “Just you wait, ’enry ’iggins, just you wait!” They would toss pillows at me but I knew they were totally into it. My writing is influenced by those classic, romantic films as well as the novels of Jane Austen and Georgette Heyer. My goal is to make readers of my books smile and, even better, laugh.

The feature film MR. MALCOLM'S LIST, based on my novel of the same name, was released in 2022 and stars Freida Pinto, Theo James, Ṣọpẹ Dìrísù, Zawe Ashton and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. It is available to stream on any video-on-demand site, including this one.

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Sophia’s Bio:

Sophia is a quiet though curious gal who dabbles in cooking, book reviewing, piano-playing, and gardening. Road trips and campouts, museums and monuments, restaurants and theaters are her jam. Encouraged and supported by an incredible man and loving family. A Northern Californian transplant to the Great Lakes Region of the US. Lover of Jane Austen, Baseball, Cats, Scooby Doo, and Chocolate.

As a lifelong reader, it was inevitable that Sophia would discover book blogs and the joy of blog reviewing. Sophia is a prolific reader and audiobook listener which allows her to experience so many wonderful books, authors, and narrators. Few genres are outside her reading tastes, but her true love is fiction particularly history, mystery, sci-fi, and romance. Though, sorry, no horror or she will run like Shaggy and Scooby.

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/sophia.rose.7587

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sophiarose1816

GoodReads:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13418187.Sophia_Rose