The Rules of Falling for You

Regency romance meets the 21st-century dating world in this funny, heartfelt tale of a spunky podcaster’s search for love from Rushmeyer (The Lost Manuscript). Zoe Dufour, 29, encourages the listeners of her Regency-themed advice podcast to hold out for their modern-day Mr. Darcy. But a breakup followed by a string of bad dates makes her more tired than ever of leaving the search to chance, so she draws up a list of 30 “ways to meet and secure a suitor” to complete before her 30th birthday. She plans to tick them off at the Minnesota Marriage Mart, a Regency-themed singles retreat she and her podcast cohost have been invited to. Between etiquette lessons and formal balls, she gets to know and starts to fall for charming Ben Rowley. Meanwhile, podcast audio engineer Harrison Lundquist begins to realize his feelings for Zoe are more than friendly and grows suspicious of the too-smooth Ben. For her part, Zoe will have to rely on her faith and intuition to choose the perfect partner. Harrison and Zoe’s alternating perspectives churn up plenty of tension as the two find their way to one another, and the proliferation of fun period-themed details, including “I Luv Darcy” onesie pajamas, will keep readers amused. It’s a charming take on the challenges of modern romance. (Sept.)