The Rule Book

1

Nora

Sometimes life is like a box of chocolates, and sometimes life is like a box of chocolates left out in the sun all day.

Today, it turns out, is a melty, disappointing chocolate sort of day. Not only did I step in gum while wearing my favorite shoes on my way into work, but I also fired up my email to find some wonderfully disturbing information.

Knock knock, I say to my boss, Nicole Hart, as I step hesitantly into her office to address said email.

Truthfully, I m always a little hesitant to step into her office because, whew, this woman is a force to be reckoned with. There s a reason she s CEO of the agency. She s kind to me (in her own way), but she s like a tornado of confidence. You need a helmet and a safe place to take shelter when she focuses her attention on you.

Like now, she s sitting at her desk in her immaculate gray pin-striped skirt and silk blouse red lipstick painted perfectly on her full lips, blond hair pulled back into a sleek, perky ponytail that has a magical flip on the end. But all those surface-level attributes are nothing but a misdirection. It s in her eyes you see the truth. The alert, bone-chilling, feline ferocity. Her keen mind is why she s the top agent in our industry and lands enormous deals for clients like Nathan Donelson, famous quarterback for our city s NFL team, the L.A. Sharks. The woman is all sharp edges and absolute dedication. She s an inspiration.

Please tell me you re asking to come in and it s not the beginning of a joke.

I could tell you that, but then I d be lying.

She cuts her eyes to me, and I smile. She s worked with me long enough to know I m not going anywhere until this is over.

Who s there? she asks like she s in the middle of a root canal.

Needle.

Needle who?

Needle little smile to brighten your day? I give her one as I shuffle into her office.

She looks up from her keyboard posture ramrod straight and her eyes bounce from my reddish-brown

Sarah Adams is the New York Times bestselling author of The Cheat Sheet and Practice Makes Perfect. Born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee, she loves her family and warm days. Sarah has dreamed of being a writer since she was a girl, but finally wrote her first novel when her daughters were napping and she no longer had any excuses to put it off. Sarah is a coffee addict, a British history nerd, a mom of two daughters, married to her best friend, and an indecisive introvert. Her hope is to write stories that make readers laugh, maybe even cry—but always leave them happier than when they started reading.

The sporty second-chance romance of your dreams! So much tension! I love Nora and Derek forever and ever. Tessa Bailey, #1 New York Times bestselling author of It Happened One Summer

Sarah Adams writes books with heart and soul. They speak to the people finding their way and being unapologetically themselves in the process. I love her style; this a really fun, chemistry-filled sports romance you don t want to miss! Hannah Grace, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Icebreaker

Fantastically swoony, sweet, and sexy. Elena Armas, New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception

If Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce didn t ignite my football era, Sarah Adams sure did. She has a true gift for crafting compulsively readable, endearing characters that are so lived in, they feel like your real-life besties. The tension is achingly good, the writing sparkles, and the romance is sublime. Adams s books are my ultimate happy place. Amy Lea, internationally bestselling author of Exes and O s

The Rule Book is the swoony, second-chance romance of my dreams. It s slow-burn sexy, achingly tender, and with enough heart to leave you clutching your chest. I m obsessed with Derek and Nora. B.K. Borison, author of Lovelight Farms

[Sarah] Adams dazzles in her latest, a saucy second-chance rom-com. Publishers Weekly (starred review)