 Thank you to Rachel from Rachel's Random Resources for my place on this tour! New Rules Synopsis: Kate Miller has it all; a glittering career, a wonderful home life and a promotion in the bag. She knows the rules for success, and nothing will stop her from getting to where she wants to be. Ellie Stephens, on the other hand, can’t catch a break; she’s trapped in a vicious circle of dead-end jobs and red-flag relationships until she’s paired with Kate in their company’s brand-new mentoring scheme. Ellie just can’t seem to get to grips with Kate’s ruthless recipe for success no matter how hard she tries, leaving her wondering if she’s the problem. Two new men in her life, affable-but-mysterious Freddie and Kate’s drop-dead gorgeous ex Liam try to help her muddle through and figure out how to get ahead. Meanwhile, Kate’s perfect life is unravelling and where once everything she touched turned to gold, it’s suddenly falling apart. Her work nemesis is throwing obstacles in her way at every turn, her home life is in tatters and her first love is suddenly back in her life. Kate is more confused than ever; is it time to break the rules?  My thoughts: Kate Miller is a bit of a workaholic. She has a beautiful house, handsome husband, two wonderful children and a job where she has to prove herself every single day. Just because she is a woman. Lily Hayden perfectly captures the double standards all too familar to working women. Worrying that if you stay too long at home during your maternity leave, your clients will forget you and you will have to start winning them from the scratch. Do lots of overtime working hard to finish a project and people judge you for not being a good mother and wife. Well, Kate is a fighter and she has a set of rules that have helped her to get on in life. Having said this, she might be losing sight of something very important - personal relationships. Ellie Stephens is smart and creative, but perhaps a bit disorganised and lacking focus Kate has in abundance. She has an on and off-relationship with Josh who clearly doesn't respect her at all. at work, she is given a series of mindless tasks and completely overlooked otherwise. When an important client would like to see how inclusive and socially responsible Kate and Ellie's company is, Kate and her Garth (her main competitor for an upcoming promotion) come up with a mentoring scheme for junior staff. While Garth has his pick of the brightest and most promising, Kate is stuck with Ellie. I found both characters relatable. Yes, Kate comes across as very unlikeable and manipulative at times. Some of the things she said to Ellie and about Ellie were appalling. But then she goes through a personal crisis and realises how wrong her behaviour was. My heart was going to her when she was trying to juggle so many things and failing on all fronts, with nobody to turn to for help. Both protagonists go through a lot of development. Ellie understands she doesn't need to change herself or conform to other people's ideas to be liked or respected. There are quite a few secondary characters (Kate's husband, Ellie's flatmates, an important client, Ellie's ex and her new love interest), but the writing is very focused and they all serve to reveal something about the protagonists and move the plot forward. I also loved the story being set in London. One of Ellie's most important chance meetings happens on the Tube, while she is busy complaining about her train delay, praying she can still get to work on time. The story kept my attention all way through and I found many parts of it very realistic. It is classified as chick-lit (the protagonist finds out more about herself, grows and eventually gets her Mr Right), but there are also some elements, mainly related to Kate's story, which take it beyond the classic parameters of the genre. At any rate, it is entertaining, easy to read and has a happy ending. I really enjoyed New Rules and now will be looking forward to reading more books by Lily Hayden. Thank you to Rachel and Lily Hayden for the review copy provided in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.  Author Bio Lily Hayden writes chick lit with a kick. Modern day women want modern day heroines and Lily's characters want sizzling romance, rewarding careers and equal partnerships, but like all of us, they face many challenges and it isn't always easy. A mother to four children, Lily graduated with a degree in Business in her hometown in South Wales and enjoyed a successful career in Financial Services before fulfilling a lifelong ambition to write books. Her debut novel Butterflies, a heartwarming alternative to the traditional boy-meets-girl story, was released in 2018, reaching readers all over the world and she is the author of five books, including a Young Adult Dystopian novel Project Terra under the alias SJ Woods (because who doesn't love a bit of action and defeating bad guys every now and again). Follow Lily on social media for the latest releases, promotions and occasional photos of her dogs. Social Media Links facebook / twitter / instagram Thank you for stopping by and I hope you read and enjoy the book! If you would like to check what other bloggers thought of 'New Rules', you can see the full tour schedule here:  Comments are closed.
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