The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain (Austenprose PR Book Tour)

 

What is your favorite romantic comedy book or movie?

One of my recent favorite romantic comedy movies is Mr. Malcolm’s List based on the novel by Suzanne Allain.  I love romantic comedies based in the Regency time period, especially books by Georgette Heyer.

Diana Boyle is a wealthy, young widow who was married to a much older man. She is happy as a widow living quietly until one day when two men mysteriously show up at her door seemingly wanting to court her.  Luckily her butler helps to investigate by giving the gentleman a lot of port to drink and determines that Diana’s name has been published in the “Bachelor’s Directory.”  The Bachelor’s Directory is an alphabetical list of young, unmarried wealthy women.  Diana is outraged and confronts the author of the Bachelor’s Directory, Maxwell Dean.  Maxwell is sure he has performed a great service allowing poor younger brothers of good families to know which women they should pursue, as marriage with a poor woman would not work for them.

Diana invites the lady from the directory to a meeting and lets them all know about the directory.  The women decide this may be the perfect opportunity to change the rules and embrace their power for the first time.   “That’s the beauty of it:  we can choose to trifle with their affections as much as we like, the same way they do with ours.  We have the power.”  How will the women use this power, and will they find true love?

The Ladies Rewrite the Rules was a highly entertaining novel.    I loved the characters in this novel, especially the two main ladies, Diana Boyle, and her new friend Lady Regina.  They both have sad reasons that they are single, but they have embraced being single and aren’t sure if they want to move on with any romantic relationship.  I loved both of their love stories which were enemies-to-lovers and a second chance romance.  Both are my favorite romantic tropes.  Their romantic partners, Maxwell and Jerome, are fun characters are well.  They are several great secondary characters that I also enjoyed as well, such as widow Lady Gordon.

I loved the overall premise.  Money, who had it, and who didn’t played a large role in Regency society.  Young women without money did look for men who had at least a good living to be able to support themselves.  I think it was interesting in this novel to point out that men did the exact same thing.  If they didn’t have money, they looked for wealthy women to marry that would be able to support them.

I also loved how the ladies rewrote the rules in this book. Besides having a great story of female friendship, it shows a group of women who turn negative experiences into positive ones. They don’t follow the rules of society, but they find what works best for them in life.

There was an interesting mystery in the novel too when a mysterious nephew of Diana’s late husband shows up.  Why has she never heard of this relation before and why is he pursuing her? 

Author Suzanne Allain has a great author’s note at the end that explains that the Bachelor’s Directory is based on a real list of single wealthy ladies.  I think that is hilarious!

I love the cover of this book.  What do you think?

This novel is a clean read.

Favorite Quotes:

“Mildred was the one thing Diana’s wealthy husband had left to her upon his death that she could have happily done without.”   - This was on page one and made me laugh out loud.  Mildred is Diana’s sister-in-law. I knew from page one that this novel would entertain me.

“But having been trapped in a gilded cage, even a short flight was better than never once being allowed to spread one’s wings.”

Overall, The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain is a delightfully fun Regency romance novel that I hope will be made into an equally delightful movie.  Even better, I can pass this one on to my thirteen-year-old daughter who also enjoys these types of novels and movies.

Book Source:  Review copy from Berkley as part of the Austenprose PR Book Tour. Thank-you!  Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

QUICK FACTS

·       Title: The Ladies Rewrite the Rules: A Novel

·       Author: Suzanne Allain

·       Genre: Historical Romance, Regency Romance

·       Publisher: Berkley Romance (January 9, 2024)

·       Length: (272) pages

·       Format: Trade Paperback, eBook, & Audiobook 

·       ISBN: ‎978-0593549643

·       Book Tour Dates: January 8 – 22, 2024

 

BOOK DESCRIPTION

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.

 

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

 

PURCHASE LINKS

AMAZON | BARNES & NOBLE | PUBLISHER | BOOKSHOP | BOOKBUB |    GOODREADS

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.

 

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