Radio producer and Veronica Mars obsessed, Everly Dean, has hit the bottom of her dating life. She catches her now ex-boyfriend cheating on her with his assistant on her birthday and accidentally shares the story on the radio. This is too much for socially awkward Everly, and she can't take it anymore.
Everly's boss, Chris is keeping his distance because there's something about Everly he wants to know more about and he wants to make her boy problems better and save the radio station.
This book was laugh out loud funny and full of relatable moments that made me fall further in love with Everly and co.
The quirks of Everly, Chris, and their friends, family, and coworkers throughout the book made it feel like a story from a friend instead of a book.

3.5 stars. Everly is having a bad birthday, and that's saying something (her parents announced their divorce at her seventh birthday party). She's turning 30, and she surprised her boyfriend with morning coffee and bagels, only to be surprised in turn by him in bed with another woman. And then she accidentally rants about it on-air at her radio station producer job.

But then the station starts to get calls and emails in support of Everly, offering to set her up with a nephew or friend, or asking her out. Chris, the station manager, realizes this is the perfect way to boost ratings and prove himself to the owner (ahem, his controlling father). Everly reluctantly agrees. All Chris has to do is not be bothered by the thought of sweet, shy, adorable Everly going out with other men. No problem, right?

Overall this was a good story, although a couple of things took me away from the plot. First, their radio station has an even-numbered decimal (96.2). I don't know if the author wanted to avoid any real station call numbers, or just didn't realize that all FM stations have odd-numbered decimals, but it bugged me every time they mentioned it, which was often.

Also, Chris can be way too protective of Everly. She has pretty serious social anxiety, but he's a bit too solicitous of her and treats her like she's younger than she is, even though in the story he's supposedly helping to empower her. I appreciate the realistic portrayal of anxiety, though.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC to review.

I loved this - I thought that the two main characters were adorable. Their romance definitely gave me butterflies - it was awesome. I thought it was a different having them main character struggle with anxiety - it is something that you just don’t see. She wasn’t confident in some ways and it was a breath of fresh air. Great book!

I enjoyed Ten Rules for Faking It for the most part, and would probably seek out other books from this author. The story was fresh and the characters were realistic. I appreciated that there was not a lot of unnecessary drama as is found in other chick-lit books.

One thing that bothered me was the ending did not fit the pacing of the book; the slow-burn romance was fine but the main characters went to "I love you forever" declarations quite abruptly which didn't feel in line with their caution throughout the rest of the book. I feel like a "one year later" (or similar timeline) epilogue would have been a better choice and more consistent with the overall pacing.

Everly Dean hates her birthday, nothing good has ever happened on it, and this year is no exception. After finding her boyfriend cheating, her day goes downhill from there, she has a meltdown on live radio and is sent home by her gorgeous but very distant boss. Deciding that this year is going to be different, she's going to overcome her social anxiety and get what she wants in life she makes a list of rules. Following them is harder than it sounds.

"No reason to worry. Ah, but then what would you do with your time? It'd be interesting to find out."

Ten Rules for Faking It was a bit of a struggle for me to get through, not because of the plot or how well it was written (very well), but because I have never felt so seen by a book. When it comes to social anxiety, I am Everly Dean and she is me, I have never before read a book that describes it so incredibly accurately. I felt called out when Stacey told her it was time to talk to someone. My personal issues aside, I enjoyed this book, it's a super slow burn, with great but not overwhelming side characters. Chris was exactly what someone with anxiety looks for, someone who recognizes when you've had enough and knows what to do. I loved the dating disasters, they were funny and cringy at the same time. Overall it's good, sweet read, with some humor and real-life problems.

This book! Once I started reading I couldn’t stop! The main characters drew me in and made me swoon! I loved the dynamic with the both of their parents because it was relatable! I wanted to be Everly’s friend! This book had everything I look for in a romance! I highly recommend everyone add this book to their must read list!

So this book title originally caught my eye because we all know I love the fake dating trope. Well, turns out this book has nothing to do with a fake dating trope haha. But it does have a Bachelorette-type underlying story & I do love the Bachelorette!

This book was a one sitting read & while it was a quick read, it was a slooow burn romance. I loved the Bachelorette style premise of the book and seeing the main character come out of her shell. I loved how the author depicted mental illness and anxiety disorders. It made it a much more real and likable story.

This book was definitely work the lack of sleep I got from reading into the wee hours over the night. But, overall a cute, funny, make you smile rom-com!

Ten Rules for Faking It is a thoughtful, funny rom-com that does a great job at normalizing anxiety disorders.
The dialogue felt witty, sarcastic and real. I appreciated the attention paid to Everly's anxiety, as well as its realistic portrayal of what it is like to live with it. I found her inner monologuing relatable in every way as I also struggle with anxiety. But after all, this was a romance book, and that aspect took forever to develop, making the story drag. I found Chris' infatuation unrealistic, as well as his understanding and acceptance of Everly's anxiety.
The plot was supposed to resemble the Bachelor, but we didn't get to see more of Everly's dates, only her afterthoughts.
Against what it may seem, I did enjoy the story and will look forward to reading more by Sophie Sullivan. Especially if she keeps writing about the characters we meet in this story.

- realistic anxiety representation, more than just her anxiety
- didn’t love the parents relationship parts


This was such a sweet, cute read! I really enjoyed reading this and would definitely recommend it.

Fans of The Bachelor/Bachelorette will surely like the dating game parts of this book. I enjoyed this aspect of the book quite a bit and thought it was fun and different than I’ve read in other romances. I only wish we had some of the dates more fleshed out, there were some we heard nothing about at all.

The romance between our main character Everly and her love interest Chris is one I was invested in from the start. It was a believable slow burn romance, and they were both characters I felt we got to know a lot about and root for independently and for them as a couple.

Beyond Everly and Chris I found all the other characters likeable and real. This was a standout of the book for sure. Particularly the focus of female friendship between Everly and Stacey. I loved it and feel like this is not something we get enough of in romance books. The only characters I didn’t connect with and felt there was too much of for me personally, were Everly’s parents. I just didn’t care for them or for that part of the story too much.

Another focus of this book is on the anxiety that Everly experiences. I felt this was a true, honest, and relatable representation of anxiety. I appreciated how understanding others were of Everly, particularly Stacey. It was also important and great to see that Everly was shown as more than just her anxiety, it was a part if her not all of her. Just like it was part of the book, not all of it and also wasn’t magically cured in the end.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this book and very much look forward to seeing what else this author comes out with in the future.

I really appreciated the realistic depiction of anxiety in the main character. It's a topic that is often approached but usually misses the mark in my opinion. The romance was a slow burn, which is nice. No insta-love here. If the author came back with round two, focusing on a new romance for a different couple, I'd pick it up.

I sat down and read this book in one day. It was absolutely adorable! Everly represents every girl that has ever tried to find love despite all the anxiety and childhood trauma.
When Ev decides to take on a new challenge at work, the chaos and fun helps her recognize who she is and why she’s amazing.
10/10 fun romance!

Oh how cute!!! I expected a slowburn and that is what i got it was also super sweet and adorable and i really liked how much chemistry everlyn and chris had—they felt like real people with real issues and i really liked that. I do wish that it was not so long because I feel like the page count could have been cut down more!

I absolutely loved it!!!!! Quick read and full of goodness on every page. Highly recommend this one.

I received a complimentary copy of Ten Rules for Faking It from NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

I absolutely loved this book! I wish there was more of it. Full of humorous situations and believable characters, this novel may be one of my favorites. I will DEFINITELY read from this author again.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Funny, sexy, sparky! I loved this book. It was so much fun reading it. For a romance, it has a lot of heart and it's so easy to read through it and not put it down.

I absolutely loved "Ten Rules for Faking It"! It was such a fun read that had me laughing one second and then sympathizing with the main character the next.

I loved the two main characters in this book, Everly and Chris. Both characters were completely unique from each other but also both so completely relatable. Misunderstandings and miscommunications are a common theme in Rom-Coms but most of the time they are so completely out there and unrealistic. I enjoyed the fact that the misunderstandings that happened in "Ten Rules for Faking It" were ones that could happen to anyone.

Also can I just take a second to appreciate how swoony Chris was. Not only was he gorgeous and had a great body (which is always a plus). But he was so charming and attentive to not only Everly, but the rest of his employees. He went out of his way several times to save his employees jobs and seemed to genuinely care about them. And the way he interacted with Everly and her anxiety was what made me like him the best. He didn't always know what to do to help her, but he was always there to support her.

I absolutely loved how the author portrayed social anxiety, anxiety attacks and panic attacks. As someone who has all three, it was nice to see it portrayed in a book that main plot wasn't about that. The constant worry about what other people must think about you, and being emotionally and physically drained after human interactions is a constant struggle for a lot of people. I also loved how the author didn't try to "fix" Everly in the end of the book. Instead she had Chris and her best friend show that they love her and want to help her whenever they can.

Long review short. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves Rom-Coms and reading about couples who have a strong connection besides off the charts chemistry!

Ten Rules for Faking It is a sweet, charming coworkers to lovers rom-com. Everly, a radio producer, suffers from social anxiety so she isn't expecting much from her birthday - very relatable! But she definitely wasn't expecting to walk in on her boyfriend cheating on her.

Bad enough but when Everly gets to work, her best friend and DJ, Stacey tries to sing Happy Birthday to her. But Everly isn't having it. Oh no. She unleashes an epic rant about the terrible ex. Without realizing they're live, on the air. Stacey can't apologize enough, Everly is mortified. Station manager Chris isn't very happy.

What none of them expected was for the station's listeners to get invested in Everly's story. Now, the station is running a Bachelorette style contest for Everly. Listenership is up, ads are selling, the station's social media is exploding. All great things!

Except Chris is the one Everly really wants to date. Everly doesn't know that Chris doesn't plan on staying, at the station, in town. Or even in the state. He's got big career plans and this job is just a stepping stone. But why does the thought of leaving make him miserable?

Sophie Sullivan does a great job capturing how terrifying situations like blind dates and surprise parties are when you have social anxiety. I loved how thoughtful and caring Chris was when it came to making sure that Everlywascomfortable on the dates.

No surprises but a thoroughly sweet HEA romance.

Ten Rules for Faking It is such a cute rom com! Loved it from the first page until the last. My first book by Sophie Sullivan, but will definitely not be my last.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read and review!

I love a rom com and this one was no exception! I love the upfront approach to anxiety in the book. I also really liked getting multiple view points. The bff was a great foil for the main character and gave some really funny moments.

I loved this book! Sophie Sullivan’s, Ten Rules For Faking It was such a raw feel-good book! The story follows Everly, an introverted radio show producer who’s just found her boyfriend cheating on her on the morning of her 30th birthday. From there, the story unfolds of how Everly moves on from that difficult morning and finds happiness, self-acceptance and love. Her friend, Stacy, is excellent comedic relief throughout the book and I loved how loyal of a friend she was. This is a light read that will make you smile and feel good.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars :)