Rules for the Reckless Books In Order

Publication Order of Rules For The Reckless Books

Rules for the Reckless is a series of romance novels by bestselling author Meredith Duran. Meredith had always loved British history right from when she was a child, which explains why she loved Regency romance. Aged thirteen, she had a list of things that she wanted to do that included trying sushi, authoring romance novels and traveling to London to see the famous portraits done by Holbein at the Tudor court. She first got hooked on British history from Anne Boleyn who she read a lot of in her teenage years. Her debut novel was “The Duke of Shadows,” which was so successful that it has been translated into more than thirteen languages. It has also been named among the top 100 romances of all time by All About Romance and NPR. She has also been the winner of the prestigious RITA Award for the novel “Fool Me Twice.” She also got the accolade of best romance of the year on Amazon and Booklist in addition to starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly that have praised how expertly she weaves the spell for her readers. When she is not writing her novels, you can find her painting, baking, weightlifting, knitting, teaching, reading hunting, surfing the internet and collecting the travel diaries of 19th century British women.

The Rules for the Reckless series are evocative and sexy Regency romances set in the opulent and rich Victorian era. The author shows the class differences and the duality of historical experience through the eyes of the different characters. They provide a dichotomy between darkness and light and the purity of darkness versus the morality of man. “That Scandalous Summer” the first novel of the series tells the story of Elizabeth Chudderly, a Victorian England social whirl who is the life of every notable party in London. But behind the merrymaking and admiration is a lonely soul that has a secret longing for love. Her love interest is Lord Michael de Grey, a man convinced that love is a scam and as such is only interested in the seduction game until circumstance brings to him the delicious, attractive and delightful Elizabeth. “Fool Me Twice” the second novel of the series is the story of Olivia Holladay, a woman who wants nothing but safety and freedom for herself having run of options. But then she learns that the Duke of Marwick might just hold the key to her freedom and disguising herself as a housekeeper enters his life. The duke had suffered a deep betrayal and he will do anything to get his revenge even if it is on the beautiful and brazen domestic. But he had not taken into account the growing and irresistible passion for Olivia. In “Lady Be Good” the third novel of the series Lilah Marshal is a lady that has left her past behind to become a high-class hostess full of virtue and culture. She is looking forward to a dreamy future when she is caught stealing by Viscount Palmer. The man is a dashing war hero and a charmer who destroys anyone he loves and he can destroy her with manipulation or love.

“That Scandalous Summer” the first novel of the series introduces Lord Michael de Grey a doctor who runs the most successful and largest charity hospital in London. Alastair who is The Duke of Marwick and his older brother funds much of the hospital’s budget. Unfortunately, Alastair just learned that his recently deceased wife had been unfaithful to him with several lovers, in addition to being an opium addict. He spends most of his days depressed and will not even leave the house. He demands that Michael find some upper-class respectable woman to marry before he can resume financing for the hospital. He wants Michael not to have the same experience he has but is going about it in the most ridiculous way. Michael runs off to go to Cornwall, hoping his brother will change his mind while he is away. But then he meets Elizabeth Chudderly, an infamous woman who flirts and drinks too much and runs with the fast crowd. She is back home in Bosbrea having been devastated after she was dumped by her gold-digging lover. She needs to find herself a rich husband since she is not doing too well. Not so respectable, Liz needs a rich husband while the cash strapped Michael needs a respectable wife so that he can go back to being a doctor, what could go wrong?

“Fool Me Twice” the second novel in the series is about Olivia Holladay, a woman on the run after being involved in blackmail and theft. She needs to steal some damning letters from her employer and is on her way to freedom and hopefully an enduring and peaceful freedom. The man she needs to make her scheme work is the reclusive and notorious Duke of Marwick Alastair de Grey, who has shown a knack for politics. She is running away from an influential member of parliament named Lord Bertram who wants her dead. The only way he is going to stop is if she can threaten to release some incriminating information on him. Since it is public knowledge that Alastair is Bertram’s greatest opponent and political rival, Olivia is sure that he may have in his possession secret documents and dossiers about him. All she needs to do is infiltrate Alastair’s house and then ransack it to find the documents. She adopts the identity of a housekeeper and finds work with Alastair. She hates that she is betraying the trust of a man that only recently found out that his wife was unfaithful. However, she thinks it will only take a few weeks to get the information she needs to save her life. It is a delicious story that gets even spicier when Alastair starts to fall for her but what will happen when he learns of her plans?

“Lady Be Good” the third novel of the Rules for the Reckless series is the story of Lilah Marshall, a former thief who intends to live as a normal girl who is paired with a dashing war hero on the path of revenge. She used to be a professional thief having learned the trade under the tutelage of her uncle. She lost her sister to illness and is now working hard to achieve her dream of making it in London, but in the legal way. She found a job at the Everleigh Auction house, where she works as a hostess. Things were looking up until her evil uncle compelled her to steal some documents from the proprietor of the auction house. Unfortunately, Lord Christian Palmer catches her in the act and then forces her to become his spy. Palmer believes that the house Lilah works for is connected to one of his biggest enemies. He has spent years hunting down the man and needs someone from inside to help him get close to the sister of the owner Catherine Everleigh. He gets Lilah to work with him and at the same time finds himself falling for her. While she had been forced into the transaction, his smart, sexy dangerous personality has won her over and she falls for him too. Will the union of the wily ex-thief and the bad boy with the looks of an angel work?