Rules of the Heart cover art

Rules of the Heart

The Unforgettable Regency Romance From the Author of the Major BBC Series, The Other Bennet Sister

 Preview

Get 30 days of Standard free

£5.99/mo after trial. Cancel monthly.
Try for £0.00
More purchase options

Rules of the Heart

By: Janice Hadlow
Narrated by: Kristin Atherton
Try for £0.00

£5.99 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for £11.33

Buy Now for £11.33

Season's Savings | £0.99/mo for 3 months

£5.99/mo after 3 months - terms apply. Cancel monthly

'Entertaining historical fiction with Jane Austen vibes' – Good Housekeeping

Inspired by real history, Rules of the Heart is the sweeping new novel from the bestselling author of The Other Bennet Sister, Janice Hadlow.

When I love at all, it is with my whole soul - my heart must be torn to pieces before it can forget . . .

England, 1794. Lady Harriet Bessborough seemingly has it all: wife to a lord and sister to a duchess, she is welcomed in all the most fashionable circles. Yet she yearns for something her marriage has failed to offer: true love.

When she meets the captivating Lord Granville, twelve years her junior and a famous heartbreaker, she at first dismisses his advances as opportunistic flattery. But then she sees another side to him – a side she realizes she cannot resist.

As she plunges into an all-consuming affair, Harriet finds herself torn between her duty and her deepest desires. For in a world where appearances are everything, each anxious but besotted step she takes leads her ever closer to scandal and ruin . . .

Praise for The Other Bennet Sister:

'Immersive and engaging' – The Guardian

'It’s difficult not to race through those final pages' – Jo Baker, bestselling author of Longbourn

'A novel that will delight Pride and Prejudice fans' – The Independent

 Genre Fiction Historical Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Regency Women's Fiction World Literature Marriage
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1

Critic reviews

Hadlow follows the stunning The Other Bennet Sister with another richly detailed historical novel . . Rules of the Heart is a treasure . . . Fans of well-researched historical fiction will be transfixed
Sweeping and gorgeous tearjerker of a historical romance . . . a stirring portrait of a woman driven by her heart instead of her head. Readers should have tissues at the ready
Within the first few pages I was captivated by Harriet’s plight . . . this novel is compelling and absorbing (Stephanie Butland, author of Lost For Words)
Entertaining historical fiction with Jane Austen vibes
Impeccably researched, this lifts Mary from obscurity, as she breaks out of her mother's world and follows her own path (Daily Mail on The Other Bennet Sister)
Immersive and engaging (The Guardian on The Other Bennet Sister)
A novel that will delight Pride and Prejudice fans (Independent on The Other Bennet Sister)
It’s difficult not to race through those final pages (Jo Baker, author of Longbourn, on The Other Bennet Sister)
I absolutely love this novel – as will any young woman who has felt herself plain, shy, bookish and crushed (Amanda Craig, author of The Three Graces, on The Other Bennet Sister)
This gorgeous book pays homage to Pride and Prejudice – and follows Mary Bennet, the overlooked middle Bennet sister. It’s a wonderfully warm, comforting read – perfect on a winter’s night (The Sun on The Other Bennet Sister)
Puts Mary front and centre stage exploring why she was so heartbreakingly sidelined by Mrs Bennet and gives humour and sensitivity to the most overlooked of the sisters (Stylist on The Other Bennet Sister)
All stars
Most relevant
If you read 'The Other Bennett Sister' and desperately wanted more, let me urge you away from this dreary, tedious book. In terms of historical accuracy, this is fairly on the money. Unfortunately it's about a shallow, boring, spoiled rich girl who becomes a shallow, boring disaster of a woman who is bad with money and has numerous affairs. Of course shd gets caught but then makes further bad decisions only pausing to bemoan the consequences of her own actions. Some may find this very flawed human portrait interesting; I am not one of them. There were many interesting even pioneering women in action during this time period. What possessed Hadlow to write about this one is beyond me.

Unbelievably tedious

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
A very sad story hard to listen too could not finish it was bringing my own mood down

So depressing

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I loved the author’s previous novel re the Bennet Sister but this one - what a disappointment. I was so tired of reaching the same situation will she leave him over and over and over and over again … what a ridiculous woman. I felt no empathy for her. I didn’t feel her yearning. I didn’t enjoy it at all. I would have had the payment returned but held out for a change in storyline but no it just went on and on and on

Rules of the Heart

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
My fundamental problem was that the protagonist just went on and on and on. It became tiresome, even though you knew it would end as it did. I didn't like her or her lover, which is a fundamental problem. Interesting from a social history and patriarchal society aspect but two really annoying characters.TOBS was over 100 chapters of joy; these 100+ chapters were painful.

An interesting story but far too long

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I ghink tge point of thus is that this story was reality for some women in the Regency era, so be prepared!

Not a cheerful story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews