I usually don't read historical romances. The thing is, the first book of this genre I read was Catherine by Juliette Benzoni. My friend recommended it to me, and I still blame her for that=))) Boy, did the author had problems. It was just horrible! Half of the male in this book felt in love with Catherine from the first sight, and the other men tried to rape her all book long. Seriously, there were more attempts to rape her there were pages in the book! And her love interest treated her like dirt, and she still loved him. 
 So after this I regard historical romances with suspicion. I read some afterwards, and however they weren't that bad, they still have this cliche about striking beautiful heroine, who is always poor, huge amount of wealthy men who is in love with her, and of course rape attempts or kidnappings. 
 So you must understand that I was very caution when I started reading "Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake". And it was the best romance I have ever read! It was free of all this stereotypes I used to see in this genre. 
 First of all, Callie is not beautiful (in common view of beauty). She is pale and a little fleshy. She is described as passive and shy. And she doesn't have a harem of man proclaiming their love to her. On the opposite, she is 28-years-old and although she is rich, there is no one who is interested in her. I love Callie. She is strong, adventurous, funny and can stand for herself. 
 Secondly, there is no first sight love in this book. Callie and Ralston relationship were slowly developing. They actually got to know each other. And it took time for Ralston to notice how lovely Callie is. 
 Thirdly, there were no rapes, beatings, threats, kidnappings. Actually, the book was rather calm, but still extremely interesting. 
 And finally, we have Ralston, who didn't treat Callie like dirt. He is very respecting to her and values her not only for her body, but for her intelligence and kindness. 
 I strongly recommend you to read this fabulous book, about a woman, who decided to take her life in her own hand and have some adventure.