OMG MY HEART. I can’t express enough how much I loved “Ten Rules For Faking It” by Sophie Sullivan. I fell in love with this story instantly and adored every single character. This one was tough to put down and left me feeling so many emotions because it is so relatable and came at a perfect time to help me address/sort through some of my own personal struggles with anxiety at this moment.

First, these characters are magical. Let’s start with Everly, who suffers from severe social anxiety. The positive and delicate way that her social anxiety was addressed in this book made me tear up a few times because I felt like Sullivan was also indirectly helping me to understand the need to be more gentle and positive with myself. Everly’s character was raw, real and wonderful and I loved how much of her growth we got to experience throughout this book as she bravely overcame a lot of difficult things. Chris’s and Stacey’s character were truly incredible as well and I was in awe of their sensitivity and care toward Everly’s anxiety. They were both so encouraging, consistently reminded her of how brave and strong she truly was, and not once did they ever make her feel like her and her anxiety were too much.

Once I was done reading this book, I immediately went online and preordered myself a physical copy. I wasn’t expecting this one to leave such an impact on me, but it did and I’m very grateful for that 💛 I was really impressed with the way that Everly’s social anxiety was handled in this book and I truly can’t recommend this book enough if you’re looking for a sweet, light hearted, not-your-typical rom-com that will not only leave you thinking about the story long after you finished it, but leave you feeling a little stronger if you suffer from general/social anxiety like I do. “Ten Rules For Faking It” hits shelves on 12/29 and really is a terrific palette cleanser for ending at 2020. Thank you so much NetGalley and Griffin for gifting me this incredible eARC in exchange for my honest review 💛

Review will be posted to my blog and Bookstagram accounts closer to pub date.

I decided to DNF at 30%. The premise of Ten Rules for Faking it sounded great, but the storyline wasn't holding my attention. I wasn't feeling the chemistry between Everly and Chris or their relationship. The whole bachelorette style dating wasn't really working for me. I wanted to feel more angst between Everly and Chris - instead of the insta-love that happened almost immediately without their backstory.

What a fun book! I liked how honestly the author dealt with the heroine’s social anxiety disorder, and both lead characters messed up relationships with their parents. The love story is a slow burn, and it works perfectly here. I’d love to see more stories from this world because there were a handful of characters that demand their own happily ever after.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you St. Martin's Press, Netglley, and Sophie Sullivan for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I started Ten Rules for Faking It yesterday afternoon and finished in approximately 24 hours. For me this was a fast paced read. Everly caught my attention in the beginning when she is complaining on air and I didn't want to put the book down.

I am a fan of dual perspectives and liked that the book alternated between Everly and Chris. Although not as extreme as hers, I could related to Everly's introverted nature and social anxiety. I really enjoyed how Stacey and Chris understood her anxiety and tried to help her in those moments where it was really bad. I did wish at some point, she'd considered seeing someone for her anxiety such as a psychiatrist or therapist. It seemed to cripple her at moments when a therapist or some anxiety medication might have helped.

I really enjoyed the tension build up between Chris and Everly.. I enjoyed that they developed a friendship that seemed to deepen into more. Stacey was a hilarious and supportive best friend and I was a big fan of her character.

4.5 stars rounded up to 5

This is a light read with a good character in Everly, a radio producer who finds herself playing the role of a Bachelorette after a melt down on air. The station owner's son Chris (we also get his pov) proposes the contest of sorts but he's interested in Everly himself so there's some tension. Everly's social anxiety is a factor in this but Chris is, regrettably, not as sensitive as he should be to her issue. The dates could have (should have been actually) funnier but you will likely smile a few times as she struggles with these guys. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Fans of the rom com (and the Bachelorette) will be satisfied with this one.

This book is so fun! The premise had me on board immediately. I love the bachelorette and blind dates are always a good choice. There were so many laugh out loud moments and I may never look at pinatas the same again.

Aside from the fun dates and awkward moments, this book has a strong underlying theme of anxiety. Everly has a constant running monologue of swirling thoughts and worries along with panic attacks. I could relate to this so much and I loved how this book didn’t shy away from showing a reality that many of us deal with.

As much as I enjoyed this book, it is a slooow burn. I could’ve used a bit more chemistry and a lot more steam but if you’re looking for a sweet story with hilarious moments, supportive friends, and some more serious topics, this is perfect for you!

3.5 stars rounded up. Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan was cute. Everly Dean gets a couple huge surprises on her 30th birthday: she finds her boyfriend in bed with another woman, and her best friend, Stacey, local DJ decides to wish her Happy Birthday live on the air, in which Everly, unaware of the thousands listening goes off an a rage filled tangent about how horrible her day, and her ex, is.

Everly goes home and creates a list of Rules for Turning Thirty, later edited to Ten Rules for Faking It. Everly, socially anxious and extremely introverted, likes rules and plans for living.

Chris is Everly’s boss. He also has a plan for his life: get the radio station profitable then head back to New York to run one of Dad’s companies. Dad has a plan, too. Fire Everly and Stacey. To prevent Dad’s plan, Chris convinces Everly to participate in radios version of The Bachelorette..

Of course, as the book progresses, both Chris and Everly discover that the best plans often go awry, especially when love becomes involved.

This was a wholesome romance. No one was in the bedroom at all. That was actually one of my dislikes about the story-it felt very immature at times. It was also longer than it needed to be. It’s almost 400 pages and some parts were drawn out and sine were repetitive.

Overall, I did enjoy this book and I found myself hoping it will be a series. I would love to see Chris’s brothers, Wes and Noah, have a story, as well as Stacey.

Thank you to #netgalley and #stmartinspress for the advanced e-copy of #tenrulesforfakingit!

“Even if it doesn’t end up perfectly, there will be so many moments of happiness and joy that it’ll offset the imperfections. Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s not worth it.”

Thank you to Sophie Sullivan, St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the [gifted] ARC of Ten Rules for Faking It in exchange for an honest review!

Everly is having the worst 30th birthday ever… especially after her radio DJ BFF Stacey, doesn’t tell her that she’s live on air while ranting about catching her cheating boyfriend in the act… with his assistant!

Mortified, Everly goes home and makes a list of rules to help her get control of her life. And maybe even work on tackling her social anxiety in small ways. But it definitely is not about how cute her boss, Chris is.

My favorite aspect of this book was how Everly’s character shined a light on social anxiety and panic attacks. As someone who also has been diagnosed with anxiety, it was so refreshing to see Everly struggle and to have such amazing support from Stacey and Chris. Not everyone struggles with anxiety in the same way and I think it’s important to show the broad spectrum of what anxiety truly looks like. Also Chris is possibly the kindest male lead character I’ve ever read. He is so conscious of Everly’s limits and is always there to support her.

Ten Rules for Faking it was @lovearctually’s first book club pick and it was such a great one to start with! The author was kind enough to join us for our first book chat, and you guys, she is the sweetest! If you have a chance to participate in an author event with Sophie, do it! I loved learning about how she came up with the idea for Everly and Chris’s love story.

Ten Rules for Faking It is out December 29, 2020!

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3672506694
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CIyZVXFAS3Q/

I will also do a Pub Day post on Instagram on 12/29/20.

This was such a sweet book. Everly was so endearing and I loved everything about Chris. The secondary characters were so entertaining. I want to be best friends with Stacey and Noah was a perfect addition to show Chris’s other sides. I thought it would be sort of like the Bachelorette but was pleasantly surprised that it didn’t take up much of the book. I loved the arc for Everly and I also appreciated the book focused on anxiety and family relationship issues.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a copy in exchange for my opinions.

Everly Dean is a radio producer and has had terrible birthdays for the past several years. She has anxiety on top of that, so she's sure her cute but distant boss doesn't like her, making her even more nervous to pitch her idea for a new podcast. When she rants on-air (by accident!) about her ex, listeners line up to date her. As much as she would rather avoid people, she's going to go ahead with the "fake it till you make it" idea, and creates ten rules to do that. Maybe this year will be her year after all.

Everly has the worst birthday, catching her boyfriend with his personal assistant, and ranting about it to her friend Stacey, who is the DJ trying to sing happy birthday... on air. This ultimately leads to a "Bachelorette" style program to save the show from being canceled, as Chris' father is using the mistake to get the time slot for Chris' sister to use. Chris has a crush on Everly but never said anything, so he has a hard time with the idea, even though he's the one that pitched it to save the show from his father. This is a new setup for rom-com territory but still puts Everly and Chris constantly in each other's orbits to see how well they actually fit.

There are a lot of cute elements, from Everly's wonderful friendship with Stacey to the snappy dialogue that a lot of the characters have with each other. I enjoyed seeing how Everly loved her parents, even if she didn't understand them or how their relationship worked, and that her anxiety was a very real problem she had to deal with. It wasn't a convenient problem she had, but one that truly interfered with things she wanted to do. This isn't dismissed by others, even if they didn't fully understand the extent it interfered with her life. They frequently refer to her anxiety as her head being full of disjointed thoughts or being overwhelming, which is how anxiety is for most people.

Everly learns over the course of the novel that anxiety isn't all there is to her, and the quiet isolation isn't what she wants out of life anymore. Over the course of her dates, she realizes what she doesn't want in a relationship, which is just as important to know. At the same time, Chris also figures out what he actually wants in his own life, and if he is willing to sacrifice others to try pleasing his father, who dismisses everything he does as inadequate. The story he tells about being a child with his Bear is heartbreaking, and likely all too common. The two truly belong together and make a great pair when they find their happily ever after.

I'd love to give this book even more stars! I loved everything about this book. The book is the perfect balance of humor and heart. Plus how could I not love characters who love Veronica Mars! Everly is a heroine that was so relatable. The hero Chris made my heart melt. I loved the pacing, the dialogue and everything else. The misinterpreted texts made me laugh so hard I had tears rolling down my face. I would totally recommend this book to anyone. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

I am not typically one to enjoy a romance novel with a slow burn and absolutely no steam, but that was not the case for Ten Rules for Faking It.

I loved this book.

I loved watching Everly and Chris’s relationship grow from acquaintances to friends to falling in love. I laughed out loud in multiple spots while reading and really loved the authors writing style.

Two negatives: the length and the lack of diversity in the characters.

Thanks to St Martins and Netgalley for the early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Everly is a producer at a radio station and when some embarassing personal information gets shared on air she is humiliated. It then leads to her being a part of an interesting radio show.

I thought this was a cute read and it didn't really drag. I felt like there were good character descriptions and liked the back and forth perspectives. Some parts were quite funny. Overall a good read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Ten Rules for Faking It is a slow start but it picks up about a quarter of the way through. The dialogue is a bit cheesy but the author's representation of anxiety is very accurate and very relatable. This book in the definition of a slow burn. However, there are no steamy love scenes if that's what you look for in a romantic comedy. There were parts of the book that I found myself actually laughing out loud to. Overall, it was a good book but not great.

A light-hearted quick read. Very much a rom-com movie feel when she spills her tea on air. But I don’t like insta-love stories. I couldn’t understand why Chris was so infatuated with Everly right away, without any character/romance development.

Thanks to Partner NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC of Sophie Sullivan’s Ten Rules for Faking It in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, December 29.

Sophie Sullivan’s Ten Rules for Faking It is an excellent contemporary romance with a great, complex protagonist. Everly Dean has a history of bad birthdays dating back to her childhood, but THIS birthday (her 30th) is the worst yet. First, she finds her boyfriend cheating on her, and then when her best friend Stacey, a radio host, tries to give Everly an on-the-air birthday surprise, she accidentally broadcasts Everly’s outburst about the horror and humiliation of this birthday.

Everly, the producer of Stacey’s show, just wants to forget about the whole thing. She’s an introvert who hates surprises, hates being the center of attention, doesn’t love strangers, and craves rules and order to help manage her anxiety. So she’s surprised to agree to a clever idea from the owner of the radio station, Chris Jansen. He proposes that they should capitalize on the attention and sympathy Everly’s embarrassment has garnered and launch a dating show to find love for Everly.

Here’s what I loved about this book: Sullivan does a great job portraying Everly’s anxiety and introversion. As someone who shares those traits, I appreciated the way that she showed Everly working through her feelings and seeking solutions to the problems they sometimes cause. But Sullivan doesn’t imply that Everly needs to do a complete turnaround or change herself: instead, it’s more of a gradual willingness to try new things.

Everly and Stacey’s friendship is fabulous. Stacey is an extrovert, and watching the push and pull of their relationship is a lot of fun. They also love Veronica Mars (a win for me!), support each other both in and out of work, and push each other to be just a little bit better, a little bit braver. Oh, and they do that with a list of rules that Everly creates for herself . . . and I do love a checklist.

Everly’s parents are a big part of her backstory, and Sullivan beautifully addresses both the ways that they support and love Everly AND the way they’ve contributed to her anxiety.

I also appreciated Chris, who is sensitive to Everly’s anxiety. While he encourages her to do the dating show, he also supports her as she works her way through the experience, making small changes to each date that will make her more comfortable. He pays attention to her (another win for me!). He’s sweet and sexy and has his own issues and backstory to deal with. (The novel’s perspective alternates between Everly and Chris.)

There are a couple of secrets that run through the book that cause some conflict at the end, and that’s not my favorite trope. Others in the @lovearctually chat were, however, just fine with it, so I think that’s a me thing.

I really enjoyed the added nuance of Sullivan’s writing—the complexities she gave the characters made Ten Rules for Faking It a joy to read and discuss.

Ten Rules for Faking It is inspiring, romantic, quirky, and funny. I thought it was a realistic portrayal of dating in your 30s- realizing the impact of your parents’ relationships on your own, baggage each person brings from their previous relationships, and still not having all of the answers. I appreciated the portrayal of a character with social anxiety. It was respectful and truthful for how someone’s brain works in certain situations. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would absolutely read another book by Sophie Sullivan.

Thank you to Sophie Sullivan, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for this ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

In Sophie Sullivan’s debut novel, a woman who just turned 30 has to face her fears. The 30 year old character, Everly, is a radio producer at a local station. When her best friend/djay drops a bomb on the air, Everly has a lot to face, including dating men hand selected from the station. Does she fall in love with one of the hand selected friends? Or, is her prince charming right in front of her face? You’ll have to read the novel when it is published at the end of the month to find out.

This book is a romantic fiction novel set in present day. Everly is relatable to a T and I enjoyed laughing and taking dating adventures with her. I was definitely rooting for her to find her true love. However, the story had a slow start. I wish the story would just dive in where Everly is at and what was going to happen without the unnecessary details. The ending does make up for this slowness, luckily. Once I hit page 100, I couldn’t put the book down and crave more from Sophie Sullivan.

I recommend this novel to anyone believing in love, characters with anxiety, and the Bachelor fans out there. I could easily imagine this story being one I pick up again when I need a good laugh and smile.

This book did a good job at shedding the light on social anxieties and the realities that many people face. However, the story itself was simply okay for me. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did, but that's okay! I think the biggest struggle for me was that I felt like I could have used a few more chapters before the story actually started. We were immediately thrust into Chris and Everly's story, which I think as a reader confused me a bit. There was no real build-up to the feelings that I had anticipated and expected, which threw me a bit off guard. Because of this, I think I found it hard to root for the characters because the stakes didn't seem as high.

Ten Rules for Faking It is a contemporary romance novel which I received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. It is always tricky to rate a romance novel. I tend to give them a star rating based on my level of enjoyment and if there were any particular aspects in the plot that I really liked. Ten Rules for Faking It ended up being a 3 star book for me. Here are the things that I really liked:

The main character Everly has a severe social anxiety. I thought the author did an amazing job describing Everly's panic attacks and her struggles with anxiety. I don't think I've ever encountered such vivid descriptions in any other book. I also really enjoyed Everly's relationship with her friend Stacey. Finally, the hero and the main love interest Chris is a truly swoon worthy character. His ability to understand Everly's anxiety and read her mood is uncanny. Obviously, romance novels rarely have realistic heroes. Chris is young, rich, understanding and completely in love with Everly. She on the other hand, does act quite unreasonably on several occasions towards him in second half of the book, and his patience and loyalty were truly astonishing to me.

In terms of the shortcomings, I think this book could benefit from some editing. I think at least 50 to 75 pages could be edited out. The author gets way into too much detail on what the characters think or feel and gets overly repetitive on some points. I think she might lose some of the readers who read a lot of romance because they will simply get bored with unnecessary descriptions.

Finally, I would like to note that this is a clean romance. There are no explicit sex scenes and the entire relationship is quite slow developing and angsty. Overall, I did like the book and as I already mentioned the anxiety representation was outstanding.