The Off-Limits Rule book review

I discovered Sarah Adams in early 2024 after it was recommended to me on Bookstagram and while she wasn’t originally an author I was sure about, however as I read more from her I fell in love with her books and she definitely became a favourite auto-buy author. My last traditionally published backlist series I had to read going into 2025 was It Happens in Nashville duology, the first book being The Off-Limits Rule.

The Off-Limits Rule follows Lucy who has moved her and her son back in with her brother who has made it clear that his best friend, Cooper, is off-limits to her however Lucy has gotten a different impression of Cooper to what Drew has told her about him and maybe it’s okay to break the rule sometimes, right?

As soon as I started this book I was reminded of exactly why I love Sarah Adams books so much. I was invested in Lucy’s character and hooked by the story. I enjoyed all of the characters and found it to be a book that I could not put down.

The romance was one that I found realistic from early on and found myself invested in seeing it develop between Lucy and Cooper. I could feel the chemistry between them and enjoyed all of the scenes that we had between them. There were so many special scenes and that just added to how much I loved the characters.

Lucy was a character who I really understood and felt well-developed throughout the course of the story. Things added together and that made me support her more as I could understand her and what she wanted and why that was.

Levi, Lucy’s son, was a great contribution to the story and every scene we had with him made me smile, wanting to keep reading. It was really interesting to see all the other key characters interact with him. He added some lightness to the book and by seeing him interact with Cooper made me support the romance between Lucy and Cooper more.

Drew was a character who my opinion of changed throughout the book but I am definitely looking forward to reading his book at some point soon and getting to know him better.

While I do think the romance progressed quite quickly once we reached that point this was a story that I really enjoyed and am so glad that I have finally got to read. It’s also really interesting since the last Sarah Adam’s book I read was Beg, Borrow or Steal to see how Sarah Adams writing has improved over the years. I cannot wait to see what Sarah Adams comes out with next after reading such a wide variety of her contemporary romance work and while this wouldn’t be the first book of hers I would recommend to someone looking for recommendations I would definitely recommend it.

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