A Lady's Rules for Ruin Review

By Jennifer Haymore

The Lions and the Lilies Book #2

Star rating: ★★★★☆

Blurb

She’s found the perfect plan to avoid marriage…

Miss Frances Cherrington has long been criticized as independent and prickly. And she’s fine with it. Truth be told, she’d prefer to be a spinster—damn her family’s desires. But it’s a conversation with the devilishly handsome yet highly infuriating Earl of Winthrop that inspires the perfect escape from her nuptial troubles. Frances could ensure that no one will marry her—by happily ruining her own reputation…

The Earl of Winthrop knows more about ruin than anyone suspects. He’s just uncovered a secret that would tear his name—and everything he’s worked for—to the ground. Certainly, marriage is out of the question…to say nothing of his growing attraction to the forthright and delectable Miss Cherrington.

Though all London is abuzz with Frances’s “disgrace,” she’s determined to use her freedom however she sees fit. Even if it means spending more time with a man who sets her body on fire. But when Frances’s misdeeds catch up to her, the ruinous disaster she finds herself in blazes out of control, taking all of her options with it.

Genre: Historical Romance

Read if you Like:

📕 Caught in a scandal

📕 Hero adopts 3 brothers

📕 Aspiring spinster heroine

📕 Family secrets

📕 Secret affair

My Thoughts:

I picked A Lady's Rules for Ruin because I am always interested in stories where the heroine doesn't live up to society's expectations and has to face the consequences.

I really enjoyed Frances and Evan's story. Evan is very sweet and lovable. I adored reading about him interacting with and taking care of his brothers. Frances wants control of her own life but isn't really sure what she wants to do with her freedom. It was interesting to watch her figure out what she wanted.

This book is a bit unusual in that the heroine acts her age. She doesn't know what she wants and makes mistakes that hurt the people around her. It's pretty common in historical romance for heroines who are only in their late teens to know what they want but have falling in love disrupt their plans. Frances doesn't know what she wants but knows that she wants to be free to figure it out.

I did feel a bit lost with the family history at times. I assumed the family was written about already in an earlier book but didn't find one quickly when looking at Jennifer Haymore's backlist. I did jump in at book two of the series but it didn't look like book one was about the same family. This may not bother most readers but it drives me crazy not to know the full backstory.

A Lady's Rules for Ruin is fun, sweet, and has some family secrets to add an element of drama. I think lovers of historical romance should give this one a try!

Thanks to Netgalley and Entangled Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this book in order to write my review. All opinions are my own.