“But one is so lonely. They need a partner. Someone to play with. Someone to fight with. Someone to love.”

WOW WHAT!? A FIVE STAR ROMANCE READ!? Y’all I love romance. 80% of the books I read (probably, I haven’t done the math) are romance. But the usual rating I give is 3.5-4 stars because oftentimes they fail to either 1. end strong or 2. give me the depth of characters I need for a five star book. This book. Was. Awesome. I laughed. I cried. I believed in every moment. Okay let me calm down and explain why this book was a five star read.

First, a quick synopsis: the set up doesn’t sound super exciting but I don’t need big drama to get invested in a book if the characters are strong and there is a sturdy plot. This book has a sturdy plot even if it is a real life believable one. Honestly I found the normalcy super refreshing. It tells the story of a woman, Everly, who works as a radio producer in a small town outside of Los Angeles. Our Hero is Chris, her boss, a big time New Yorker who came to town to run this company to prove to his father (the owner) that we could swing it in the Little Leagues before getting to play with the Big Boys. Everly is unlucky in love, partially because she hasn’t found partners who she is comfortable enough with to be her true self. Her best friend and deejay, Stacey, gets her into a situation where Everly ends up agreeing to go on a series of public dates funded by the radio station as a promotional ploy and get-out-of-your-comfort-zone tool. You can kind of guess how our story unfolds, but it does so in a totally unpredictable and deep way.

The characters spend a lot of time in their heads which took me about twenty pages to get used to and then I absolutely loved it because it helped me really buy into their personalities. By the middle of the book I knew them so well that their internal dialogues were SO FUN to be a part of. I love that we spend most of our time with Everly because it’s really her book even though we get some chapters from Chris’ perspective. It was the exact right amount of his perspective for me.

I also loved how STRONG the relationships are with the side characters. I sometimes find that romance books only focus on the romantic leads which actually serves to limit their characters. The friendships and relationships with siblings and parents in this book were fabulous. I loved seeing real conflict in these relationships! Sometimes friendships in romance novels are so hunky dory they’re not relatable or realistic. I adored seeing a female friendship where they figure out how to better serve each other as friends, even as imperfect humans. Also. Y’all. A romance novel talking really intelligently about counseling and divorce? I have never read that before and I was absolutely so here for it. I also loved how this book explored Everly’s complicated relationship with both of her parents, especially her mom. I needed that.

Finally, I cannot express how well I felt this book dealt with looking at a main character who suffers from social anxiety. I won’t say more because the evolution of Everly’s character was almost more powerful for me than the romance. BUT. THE ROMANCE.

No cheap gimmicks here. There’s no instant love, no running to each other in the rain. But W O W. THE ROMANCE! SO SWEET, my heart was a melty puddle. Also I found it really refreshing that it wasn’t overly sexy. I feel like I’ve gotten a little bit jaded by hearing explicit sex scenes in books. This book gave me the absolute trust that these two characters are so hot for each other without actually showing me that they can get it on in the bedroom. This is pretty much a PG book but you don’t miss out AT ALL on feeling their intimacy.

I’m so pumped for this book to be released because I want to buy it for everyone.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. 

I reviewed this book on Goodreads on 7/15/20 and will post to my Instagram account at @sophies_library on the publication date.

My favorite part of any story is always the characters. In romance novels especially. Unfortunately, I didn't quite like these characters the way I wanted to. While the characters as individuals are fine enough, this is a romance novel and as such, I excepted a little more romance. Instead, the characters spend most of their time apart, doing their own things, making their relationship seem a bit shallow and insta-loveish despite the fact that they've known each other for a while. And while I'm all for a slow burn, having the characters take so long to come together made the story drag, in my opinion.

On top of not getting the romantic experience I expected, I didn't care about the things happening outside of the romance. I wasn't invested in Chris' problems with his father, or in Everly's problems with just about everything else.

One thing I did like was the representation of Everly's anxiety. I feel like not many novels, especially romance novels, focus on mental health like that. Sadly, this was not enough to make me love this novel.

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. This was a very sweet read. I really connected to Everly at first because like her I suffer from social anxiety. The episodes she had and her thought process literally matched me perfectly. I could have loved this but the lack of trusting herself and running from those who have shown that they are committed to her and love her rubbed me the wrong way. Overall this was sweet read with a slow burn, it was a very good romantic novel.

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 is a great book and I really loved how realistic the characters are. Everly hates her birthday cause she thinks it’s bad luck but this year she went to her boyfriend’s house unannounced and he was with another woman. After spilling coffee on herself and dropping all the bagels she rushes to work at the radio station where she is a program director and there she finds her best friend the DJ and stops her from singing the birthday song and goes on a horrible rant about her day. Everly didn’t realize she was live on the air and is now in trouble with her boss Chris. Chris is in California running this station to prove to his father who owns it that he can be responsible. He’s ready to move back to New York City and be with his brothers again. But Chris needs to improve ratings first and he has just the idea. Everly should try dating prospective listeners in a contest. Everly suffers from anxiety that is terribly debilitating to her social life. She is against this until her friend makes her make a list of rules to live by. She makes these rules to just get her through the dates. The only people who really understand her anxiety is her best friend and her boss Chris. This book does an excellent job talking about anxiety and family issues. Everly is a lovable character that you can’t help but root on through her adventures and mishaps. Definitely a five star read.

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.

Loved this book! Hopefully it turns into a series [I need this to happen]! I loved Chris and Everly. Both had some quirks and issues with their parental units. I loved Chris's Relationship with his brothers [more Noah] especially how they are included in coming together at the end. Stacey was also a fav of mine and I really liked how supportive, kind and loyal to Everly. I like The Friends and Veronica Mars mentions too! Overall such a fin rom-com to read. Chris and Everly's chemistry and build up was perfection! READ THIS BOOK.

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.

Everly deals with a lot throughout the book, and most of it is in her head. On her 30th birthday, she walks in on her boyfriend with another woman, then unknowingly airs her frustration with the situation over the radio. She begins dating men Bachelorette style, as a part of a way to gain the radio station listeners. Then, there's her boss, who she begins to open up to. Throughout the book, she deals with all of this, and her anxiety, and begins to become the person she wants to be.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! As someone who also lives with anxiety, this book made me feel seen. The author explained some of what I feel so often, even better than I could. I also really appreciated that it was normalized. In some books, the person's anxiety is magically gone, when in real life that's not the case. Everly never loses her anxiety, she just learns how to live with it a little better along the way. I will say, at one point her friend mentions seeing a therapist, and I think that would have been helpful for her character, and been an opportunity to normalize therapy.

I read this in 2 days. Hope to see more from this author soon!

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.