Nine Rules was hitting all the right spots for me, who doesn't usually read historical romances and still finds ugly duckling stories compelling. in fact, I was ready to claim it as a way superior version of Bridgerton 2 (the book, not the show). under that illusion I kept reading until the author, at the most crucial moment of the story, chose the worst path possible and made the characters and the plot unbearable (that is, unforgivably stupid), to the point I wondered if I hadn't been in some sort of trance. there are some warnings, I must admit, like the fact the hero's "trauma" isn't convincing at all and the heroine is too ingenuous to come close to Kate's character (from the show, not the book). that said, this is still better than The Viscount Who Loved Me.