Synopsis
'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 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' - Independent
Details
23 July 2026
9781509841998Reviews
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
Entertaining historical fiction with Jane Austen vibes
