I really liked the premise of this book, and I was very much into the Bachelor like dating game aspect of it. I thought the concept and set up was really fun. I also really liked all of the characters. Stacey was a perfect sidekick and Chris was a great hero. But I did find the pacing to be a little slow. The book felt a lot longer than it needed to be. So while a lot of the aspects of the book worked, the whole thing felt kind of dragged down.

This was the sweetest book. The ending was really something to behold and smile about. It was a pretty rushed ending but the plot was sweet, the writing was neat, and the story uncomplicated even though it was all over the place. I can't wait to see the excitement over this book once published.

On Everly’s thirtieth birthday, she thought that she’d surprise her boyfriend with coffee and bagel on her way to work. Well she was the one that was surprised when she found her boyfriend and his assistant in bed together. After dropping the food on the floor, she left to work.
When she walks into the radio station studio where she works, the morning DJ who also happens to be her best friend, decides to surprise her by singing Happy Birthday. When Everly goes off about what happened, not only does Stacey’s jaw drop, but so do all the listeners. You see, Stacey left the mike on so that it would be broadcast. Yup, all the morning listeners got to hear about what Everly discovered on her birthday. You wouldn’t think that would be a big thing, but Everly suffers from severe anxiety. It’s dictated how she lives her life, and she was fine with it. But no more. When station manager Chris Jansen hears Everly’s meltdown on air, he gets an idea that will help boost both ratings and ad revenue. With Everly’s blessing the station launches a Bachelorette style segment. Everly will go through all the applications from the men who wish to go out on a date with her. She will choose the ones that matches up to her expectations and she will go out on a date with them. Two a week, then cut down each week until one is left. There’s no guarantee of marriage or anything like that, the winner is simply the one that Everly would like to get to know better and maybe see herself in a relationship with.
But Chris has a hidden agenda. He’s been attracted to Everly since the day he met her, but he knows that he can’t be with her for two reasons. First of all is the pesky no fraternization rule the station has, and secondly is the fact that he’s not at the station long term. He’s had 18 months to turn the station around at his father’s behest. Yup, his father actually owns the station, something no one knows. If he makes the station profitable, this will be the last step for his father to let him take over a vp level position with their family’s company. A company that Chris’ grandfather built from scratch many years ago. But Chris’ father is a horrible boss. None of his three sons likes him, and he blows through fiancees like it’s his job. He’s currently on fiancée number six and has been married three times already.
As Everly works with Chris on this project, she realizes that she actually likes Chris, but doesn’t think he’d be interested in a woman like her. Even when he recognizes her anxiety and buys her the perfect present (wait until you read about the party her parents throw and the pinata, you’ll laugh until you cry), she still doesn’t think he’d be interested in her.
Everly is a warrior. Not only does she get cheated on on her birthday, she decides to change her life. She makes a list of things to do and sets out to actually do them. Even with her anxiety, she’s trying. That’s why she’s a warrior. As someone who has severe anxiety, I recognized myself in Everly. I understood the pain, the shakiness, the fear. The author did an amazing job describing what it’s like, without either overstating it, or downplaying it. Thank you for that.
Yes, there’s a Happily Ever After. No, there’s no cliffhanger. It’s just a really great book. The writing, the characters, the plot. It’s all great. If I could give more than 5 stars I would. This book has made it to my Top 10 Books of 2020 list. Thank you for allowing me to read this story.
**I was provided an ARC of this story and this is my honest and voluntary review.

The Bachelorette Radio Style!

The following ratings are out of 5:
Romance: ❤️💙💜💛💚
Heat/Steam: 🔥🔥
Story/Plot: 📕📗📘📔
World building: 🌎🌏🌍🌎🌏
Character development: 👤👤👤👤👤

The setting: California

The Hero(s): Chris – His father owns the radio station and Chris is the station manager, only working there sort of as a proving ground before he can before he can work as the head of communications for his fathers companies in New York.

The heroine: Everly – She is a radio producer and she has social anxiety which is a big part of the story and is handled very well. Everly hates birthdays and on her 30th, she finds her boyfriend in bed with his assistant. She mistakenly blurts it out on the air and ends up getting a lot of offers from guys that say they will treat her better than her ex.

The Love Story: Chris has always had a thing for Everly, but knowing he is a short-timer at the station and in California, he tried his best too keep her at arms length. Once the unfortunate incident occurs on her birthday, he comes up with an idea for the station and it means working more closely with her.

I liked Everly, especially since she is doing more to put herself out there. She is fighting her anxiety and her fears to try new things because she wants better for herself. I know how it is to be more comfortable staying home and watching Veronica Mars than to go out in public on a date or to a party. I really liked how the author portrayed Everly.

The romance between Chris and Everly at times seemed way too timid. Chris is sometimes almost as unsure of himself as Everly which doesn’t really fit with a station manager who lived in New York and comes from a wealthy family. I would think he would be more sure of himself with women. I hate in books when people keep denying their feelings over and over. Though I did like the book overall. I liked the setting, the world building was great and the supporting characters were terrific.

I voluntarily read & reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts & opinions are my own.

this novel was cute and sweet, but not something I would read again. I appreciated that we got first person narrative from both main characters.

I was really excited for this one, the synopsis and cover were both so cute. Unfortunately I did not feel invested in the characters or plot. Their behaviors felt really young and didn’t match their ages. DNF at 38%

I was really excited for this, I love a work place romance and how they deal with it. It also started out strong out of the gate, fun, interesting.

But then the main part of the plot, it got a bit slow. Just a bit repetitive with how Everly was judgy but had her own troubles she wouldn't consider that others might have. And how Chris was SOOOOOOOOOOOO into her without really knowing her, suppressing it all.. and why was he the only one to understand her? Her friend? nothing? Just dragged from then, and lost my interest. And the power imbalance was a bit on his mind, but then it was never really addressed? Hm.

I was excited for this title! The premise was fun, and it started off strongly with the main character's birthday outburst being inadvertently broadcasted on the radio. I loved the friendship between Everly and Stacey, too. Beyond that, it was a tough one to finish.

Everly and Chris were meant to be in their 30s, but their actions felt juvenile. I also felt that the book spent too much "telling" instead of "showing," which meant the chemistry between the two main characters felt forced. It may have been better if we only saw Everly's perspective, and Chris's thoughts were left more of a mystery.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Everly absotuely hates having her birthday and this year is no exception when she catches her boyfriend cheating and her dirty laundry is spilled over the radio airwaves of the station where she works. When the listeners rally around her, Everly agrees to a Bacherlorette type promotion to increase profits for the radio station and secure her job despite having severe social anxiety. Everyly is able to find love in the least expected of places. This is a cute romance story that the author does an exceptional job of relating Everly's anxiety.

Oof. I wanted to like this one because the premise sounded unique and fun but this was an absolute slog for me. Points for good anxiety rep with Every but no points for anything else. Her chemistry with Chris was nonexistent, and I just couldn't bring myself to care about either of their personal outside-the-romance issues (of which there were too many, in my opinion, and none of them super compelling). Also, are we really not going to be a little more explicit about the ethics of the boss/employee thing in 2020? A couple "oh we shouldn't"s and "we have a policy against fraternizing"s don't really cut it for me these days with power imbalances.

This was a much better read than expected, I enjoyed the slow burn type love, the whole concept was entertaining. I like all the characters and their development. I´m definitely going to recommend it as an easy feel-good book.

Turning the big 3-0, what could possibly go wrong? For Everly Dean, a lot. When an accidental recording sends her boyfriend’s infidelities through the radio waves; Everly is met with an entourage of people encouraging her and interested in dating her. Her boss, Chris, develops a Bachelorette like radio show to help boost the ratings and (hopefully) to further his career. Everly, who suffers from social anxiety, doesn’t know if she can do it. To combat her fears and become a better person at thirty, she develops a list of ten rules to help her fake it and break out of her comfort zone. Little does she know… there are some people who see her and love her for just the person she is (beautiful, strong, thoughtful – inside and out).

Ten Reasons I Thoroughly Enjoyed This Book:
1) Unique radio station work setting – always fun to learn the ends and out of radio
2) Different family dynamics – how characters interact with them.
3) Many characters have many different problems, that they acknowledge and try to work though – it’s not just the main character(s).
4) Honest discussions of tough topics: marriage, divorce, social anxiety, fear of commitment, love, family issues, etc.
5) Those of us who have gone on dates with people we met online can relate.
6) A rom-com that actually had the com – several parts I couldn’t help laughing out loud.
7) Everly’s introverted personality is spot on – any introvert who suffers from anxiety can relate to her and her mental battles.
8) A label of Romance without characters having sex for there to be romance – nice that characters can fall in love with each other without it.
9) Characters were not fake. They were like real people with real problems that they had to work through – with each other’s help! (Can you tell I like the characters?)
10) Kept me reading, I didn’t want to put it down!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC! This has been one of the most enjoyable books I have read lately.

Thank you to St. Martins and NetGalley for the advance review copy--all opinions are my own!

This felt sweet, light, and right in the vein of a classic RomCom. I appreicated seeing anxiety represented in Everly and truly showing how it affects every aspect of her life. This is one of those stories where lots is going on plot wise with the radio station and the Bacehlorette-style shenigans that makes the build of Chris and Everly's romance more subtle or secondary, and sometimes that can slow down my feel for a couple's chemistry, but ultimately this ended on a high note for me and I'm glad I was able to read it. I generally like a bit more zip in the pace so that's why I'd say this fell more around 4 stars than 5.

3.75 stars

This story reminded me a lot of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill with a lot of additional plot points packed in. The radio station workplace (which, I honestly don't think I've read before), the bachelorette type contest, the family issues, the friendships, the anxiety - it all blended together in a well-developed story.

I will say, however, that with the above, the main romance did seem to lose a bit of its magic. I loved Chris and Everly, don't get me wrong, but I wanted MORE of them. (This may have been more because I thought this was listed as an adult romance vs a women's fiction/chicklit, so my expectations were slightly skewed from the beginning).

Overall though, the characters were a focal point of this story and I thought the author did a great job in developing all the interconnecting stories around Everly while still making her the star of the book.

I received an ARC of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is not a bad book but it just didn't work for me. I found the boss/employee relationship a bit hard to get by and while the characters were in their thirties they felt much younger. The concept of the whole dating/contest setup was not my favorite, either. I was expecting more from this one, but I think some people will still enjoy it.

I went into this book looking for something light, charming, with a happy ending and it didn’t disappoint. Everly has a great job, a best friend, crazy parents and anxiety. She wants nothing more than a husband and a family. In a series of events, she finds herself in a Bachelorette type game. Will dating several men help her finally figure out how to get what she wants? I laughed at the banter and rooted for Everly, the main character. For me it ticked all the boxes and I would read more from this author.

This book falls right into that category of rom coms that I enjoy: a light hearted romance, mixed with a few heavier topics.
I loved Everly and Chris! I liked how Everly wasn’t just our traditional “awkward” heroine, but one who does actually struggle with social anxiety. Her anxious mind was very relatable. I also loved her together with Chris! His laid back, but responsible personality was a good mix with her.
Another character who I think deserves some spotlight is Everly’s best friend, Stacy. I loved the female friendship and how they pushed each other upward!
The only thing that I didn’t enjoy was how long it took to get to the romance. We don’t really get to see them together until about 80% into the story! I like a good slow burn, but this was too slow even for me. By the time we really get into the romance of the novel, it’s over.
That being said, I still had a lot of fun reading this and would recommend it for a quick read.

This sounded promising. Bachelorette-style dating? Feelings for your boss? I mean seriously! I also related to her from the first page with her trying to celebrate her 30th birthday. For some reason I just can’t cope with the fact that I’ll be that age in a year and a few months. I obviously haven’t went through the same issues as her but it does make for a great book, or so I thought.

The thing is, the execution for this wonderful premise wasn’t there. Sure, the relationship is a slow-burn and I tend to love those more but I still felt like I couldn’t see the connection between Everly and Chris. This could also be because I felt like the book was boggled down by slow sections that didn’t really add to the book.

Even though that was the case, there were still enjoyable moments. I liked the friendship between Staci and Everly, even if Staci made a huge mistake, haha. I also liked seeing Chris interact with his brother, Noah. There were also some funny moments so I can’t complain too much.

Overall, I think this was good but it definitely could have been a bit shorter. I do think that others will like this book so I’d still recommend it.

After Everly accidentally spills that her boyfriend cheated on her to thousands of listeners, she creates a list to help her win at life, or at least to help her fake it. At the same time, her boss comes up with a contest to help her find love...and keep her job, of course.

Grab the book for the romance and one of the sweetest, most understanding love interests readers will find (trust me when I say I can go on and on about him) but stay for Everly's journey as she tests her boundaries and learns to accept herself for who she is. This is what will have readers connecting with and rooting for Everly, her courage to step out of her comfort zone, to stand up for herself, and ultimately recognizing she doesn't need to be like everyone else.

It does get frustrating wondering if our leads will get together. There is quite a bit of internal dialogue from both of them about whether the other person could ever feel the same as well as denying their own feelings. Initially, it induced all these butterflies in my stomach but the butterflies started to disappear when it went on too long. However, there were still enough butterflies left over for me to enjoy the book. Overall, it was a good read.

Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan originally caught my eye because of the adorable cover. It is a dual narrative book which follows Everly Dean and Chris Jansen.

Everly is a producer of a radio show that her best friend, Stacey, is a deejay of and on the morning of her birthday she catches her boyfriend cheating on her. Everly unfortunately rants about all of this on live radio! Chris, the manager of the radio station comes up with a great idea to help Everly get over the cheater, but also helps the radio station make more money and keeps Everly and Stacy's jobs after the accidental tyraid.

The book was slow for the first 10%-15% until the reader starts to get Chris' narration. But once we do, the slooooow burn between these two is undeniable. However, it left me wanting a little more steam, if you know what I mean. 😉

Everly has extreme social anxiety (so much so, that her little quirks make me wonder if she's actually slightly on the spectrum), so when it's suggested they start The Bachelorette-style radio edition project, she is really pushed above and beyond her comfort zone.

The character development of the main characters and side characters was great. I'd love to read more about Stacey and Rob and even Chris's brothers and sister!

Overall great writing, good story, 4/5 stars!