Breaking the Rules begins with a scene that nearly anyone would find funny. The heroine owns an art gallery that used to specialize in erotic art, and the hero (her brother’s commanding officer in the army) shows up just in time to help her move a heavy, four foot penis statue. Haha! The heroine snaps his picture, and the jokes abound. That more or less sets the sexy, light tone for this book, which is enjoyable, though it’s not a masterpiece.

On a month’s leave from his post in Afghanistan, Max St. James agrees to check in on his buddy’s sister. Sophia Castillo is a recent widow who is trying to make ends meet. Her husband was wealthy – but controlling. And his daughter, who is close to Sophia’s age, is contesting the will. Sophia owns an historic gallery in San Francisco, where she’s trying to change the focus from the erotic art that her husband preferred to photography, which is what the gallery used to specialize in. It’s hard-going, partly because the contested will has left Sophia short of funds, but also because someone is out to get her, and is clearly sabotaging the gallery.

When she meets Max, Sophia is instantly attracted to him, but she’s also very wary; Max is a take charge kind of guy, and she has had it up to here with controlling men. Not only did she have the jerk husband; she also grew up with seven brothers telling her what she should do and who she should date. She sleeps with Max, and of course the sex is awesome. But is she ready for a real relationship?

Max has some of his own issues. He’s from a wealthy San Francisco family, and they are every bit as controlling as Sophia’s. Both his father and uncle were career military, and while that has always been Max’s dream as well, he wants to do it on his own terms. They wanted him to go to West Point, but he enlisted and now does dangerous work on a bomb squad. He’s pretty sure he wants to be with Sophia, but doesn’t know quite how to make that work, especially with his uncle interfering with his career again.

This is a fairly cute, quick read with a laugh or two, though I’m not quite sure that the rest of the book quite compared with the fun opening scene. The sex scenes are terrific, which is a big strong point of Weber’s. The secondary characters are also surprisingly strong for a book of this length. Sophia’s assistant Gina and Max’s mother are especially interesting.

But while I understood Sophia’s desire for independence, I found it somewhat tiresome as a plot device. Basically, she harps on it over and over, sometimes when Max does small, common sense things like calling the police after a break-in. This got old for me. Max and his family issues were far more interesting, and I couldn’t help wishing that they’d been given a little more screen time. That said, the author makes good use of the epilogue, where she explains how some of the issues were ironed out.

If you’re looking for a quick and cute read, you could do worse. Breaking the Rules isn’t life-changing, but it does have its moments.