Breaking the Rules

Marriage by Design #1

by Ruth Ann Nordin

They say a proper lady follows the rules. She lets the gentleman take the lead. She obeys her chaperone. She is soft spoken and careful in everything she says and does. She doesn’t intrude into a gentleman’s business. And she most certainly doesn’t become the object of scandal. Miss Lilly Lowell has been careful to follow the rules all of her life. But the rules aren’t helping her now when she needs it most. She made the terrible mistake of spurning Mr. Morris' attention, and now he’s looking for someone else to marry. Determined to get him back, she hatches a plan to make him fall in love with her again. And doing so will require her to start breaking some rules. Hurt by Miss Lowell’s rejection, Mr. Roger Morris is seeking out another lady to court. But after endless social engagements, it starts to become clear to him that no one can take her place. Whether he likes it or not, he is doomed to love her. She is the perfect lady for him. But the last thing he wants to do is give in, especially when she creates a scandal that forces him to marry her. This might just be a match made in hell. Or maybe, quite possibly, heaven…as long as Lilly can figure out a way to make things right.

Genres: Historical Romance, Historical, Romance, Historical Fiction, Regency, Novella

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 27, 2020

About the author

What's to say? I write a lot. I read often. I sleep little. Once in awhile, I've been known to clean the house. A number of kids live in my house and there's this guy they call dad and I call husband. All in all, it's a pretty good life. :-)

Reviews

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. A selfish and immature heroine starts to grow up and put others first through a series of unfortunate and farcical attempts. The hero was uber beta but was also quite wonderful in his steadfastness. I do wish that they didn't waste so much time throughout this story, but it made the reconciliation all the more believable.

[Izzie d · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good story.
Regency isn't a troupe I particularly like.
No intimate scenes other than the Hero and heroine.
Hero isn't a man-whore.
In fact both are virgins.
Hero does try to ' court' other people.
HEA.

[Viv “BookVixen” Gutierrez · Rating 4 out of 5]

There were some bumps with this one, but I still enjoyed the book; it’s mostly showing the growth and development of the heroine, who starts off as shallow and self-absorbed, as she demands things to be her way without any regard for others.

The hero had been in love with her for years and had pretty much let her walk all over him. When his proposal is rejected because she wanted to wait for a man with a title, he washes his hands of her, even if his heart still wanted her. When her title hunt doesn’t go well, she decides the hero is the man for her, that no one else will love her or be as devoted to her as he will. One thing I didn’t like about the book is that she never really seems to love him for himself, her love is seemingly dependent on how HE loves HER. Even when she contrives to trap the hero into marriage, she wants him not for himself but because no one else will love her like he will.

So she came off as highly narcissistic for the majority of the book.

Eventually she slowly learns to think of others and her feelings for the hero deepen although it’s not as strong or as explicitly shown as I would have liked.

There’s lots of OW/OM in this story, although no sex or intimacy with them. Both MCs are virgins, but hero begins to pursue other ladies after giving up on heroine. He wants to find love, but even tho he dances with others, no one captures his heart.

Safe. Dual virgins. Others but no sex or emotional connection with them. No cheating or abuse. HEA with epilogue

[Christina grace · Rating 2 out of 5]

Of all the self-centred idiots in the world, Lily is front and center

[Rebekah Carulli Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is Lily and Roger’s story and it’s fantastic writing. Lily a self absorbed narcissist had the opportunity to accept Roger’s proposal but chooses to accept one from a titled gentleman instead. She then finds out the gentleman is really a rogue and a cad.
Roger is a good man but without the title Lily is seeking. When Roger finally realizes that after 2 years of following Lily around she chooses someone else. Heartbroken he decides to seek out a woman who will love him for himself.
By the time Lily realizes what she gave up and decides she wants him he’s not interested. Lily gets her wish after conniving and scheming and plotting a scandal but you should be careful what you wish for.
What follows is a great story of growing up and realizing the world doesn’t revolve around any one person.

[Shelley Chastagner · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Lilly is pretty self absorbed at the beginning of the story. As long as she gets what she wants she doesn’t even consider what her actions do to others. As soon as she realizes that she’s going to lose Roger she sets up a scandal to trap him. I understood Roger’s anger. Lilly has already humiliated him by refusing his proposal after two years of courtship for a man with a title and more money. The about face on her part just doesn’t seem sincere. He sees it as one more manipulation. It takes sincere honesty from Lilly before Roger can begin to see beyond his anger. I liked that Lilly was finally concerned about someone besides herself. She didn’t want her behavior to impact Roger or her friends’ standing in society by associating with her in public. I enjoyed the sweet ending.

[Zena · Rating 5 out of 5]

I Enjoyed This!
This second story in the Marriage by Design series is just a good the first one and is about Lilly and Roger whose proposal Lily rejected, but she is a woman, after all, and as such decides she wants to marry him - but he is no longer interested.
Her clever plan seems to backfire, or does it really?
This is another well written, intriguing love story between two delightful characters whom I couldn't help but love.
A perfect read for a lazy, rainy Saturday afternoon and I enjoyed it ever so much!

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humorous, romantic and intrigue

Breaking the rules can be fun, but then you have to face the consequences! Lily is trying to convince Mr. Morris that she loves him and wants to marry him now. However, last year she refused his proposal. Ruth Ann Nordin takes you on a journey where Lily defies the ton and breaks the rules to try to win back Mr. Morris. Read this book to see what Lily does and if she accomplishes her goal. Happy reading! 😊

[juanita dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Breaking the Rules

Reminds me of when I was in college and we had curfews. We spent a lot of time doing the opposite of what we were told. We need rules. Chaos if we didn't have them.

[Henrietta G Landry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good

A story that keeps you interested and entertained. I didn't need the adult scenes. The book holds it's own without them

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I almost didn't finish it, because the heroine was so childish. It did get better.

[shannon Stubbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not bad

This isn't a favorite story by this author. I don't care for the beginning but I did enjoy the ending.

[Dorothy · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF!

[Anita Sievert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting read. Enjoyable. Good characters. Some intriguing parts.

[Karen Darling · Rating 2 out of 5]

😝

[光彩 · Rating 1 out of 5]

really poor start to my reading year

[Queen Talk Talk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it.

Lilly and Roger have hidden depths. Lilly's character grows during this book. She gets sexy times and a happily ever after.

[Laura Pearson · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5

[Brenda Geddes]

Awesome

[Marcilla Elliott · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay..... It seemed drawn out, a bit repetitive.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a ton of reviews to do today so this will be short and sweet. I was not a fan of the characters. They were so annoying at times just was not a fan of this.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great humorous love story

Roger- wealthy man in trade no title
Lily- thought she wanted a man with a titled.
I enjoyed reading this amusing story that is fantastically written with amazing characters and a entertaining storyline. This story had me laughing out loud. Their story has a wonderful HEA!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love your books!! You have developed exceptional characters and you've put them in some unpredictable situations and I love it.

[Coco.V]

🎁 FREE on Amazon & on iBooks today (1/15/2021)! 🎁

[Barbara A. Faw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed this Regency romance. Ruth Ann Nordin has delivered another wonderful read.