This was cute! I thought it was an enjoyable story and liked the perspective of the main character. Some of the pacing was slightly off but overall, I enjoyed it.

This was laugh out loud funny and cute! Definitely recommend reading this on a fun girls night Friday night! Pop some popcorn and enjoy!

While I was ready to jump on the chance for this book, it just didn’t hit the mark for me. I didn’t even get through the whole thing. I liked the premise of it, but the writing felt slow and the buildup didn’t do it for me.

That being said, I’m sure there are some who would really enjoy this!

This was a really solid YA Sapphic romance debut!!! I was not expecting the emotional depth and the amazing story that I got with this coming of age book that has a teenager set on Med school taking a break from her plans to spend her freshman year of college to go to her dead mother's alma mater in England where she's left clues and nine postcards with time capsules for her to discover.

On the train to school Avery gets roped into posing as a strange local girl's girlfriend and their fake dating continues over the first few months of school as Charlie helps Avery retrace her mother's steps.
Along the way the two grow close and the fake feelings turn very real only for Avery's world to be rocked once again when she discover's Charlie's been keeping a big secret from her.

Great on audio read by the actress/author herself and perfect for fans of John Green or Leaving the station by Jake Maia Arlow. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

CW: side character with EDS, love interest with congenital kidney disease (organ transplant surgery)

Title: Rules for Fake Girlfriends
Author: Raegan Revord
Rating: ⭐⭐💫 (2.5)
Format: eBook
Publication Date: 2nd September, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

**Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.**

Sometimes, a book is exactly what it sets out to be: light, fun, a little swoon, and just the right amount of messy. Rules for Fake Girlfriends was that for me. A debut filled with all the rom-com beats, even if they didn't always land as smoothy as I may have hoped.

Avery, grieving her mother's passing, trades her Columbia plans for Brighton to walk in her mother's footsteps. On the train, she meet Charlie, and in classic rom-com fashion, a spur-of-the-moment fake-dating plot soon spirals into a full-fledged arrangement. What starts as a scheme to make an ex jealous soon shifts into something much risker: real feelings. And from there, the story plays out with plenty of twists, turns, and the occasional swoon worthy moment.

There's a lot to like here: the British coastal setting is charming, the "rules" chapter introductions are clever, and Avery's scavenger hunt tied to her mother is heartfelt. The friendship between Avery and Amira was the most authentic relationship in the book—messy, real and wonderfully believable. These touches gave the story its emotional grounding.

That said, the execution felt uneven. The narrative juggled too many plot threads, with key elements slipping in and out of focus which vividly made it feel undeveloped. The romance, while sweet, felt rushed and more told than shown. And while the conflict twist served its purpose, it landed abruptly and without much weight to the larger story due to lack of depth. The YA voice wasn't my personal cup of tea, but Record's talent is evident—her warmth, with and clear love for the genre come through quite well.

Overall, Rules for Fake Girlfriends is a cute, breezy debut perfect for readers who love trope-filled romances, coastal vibes, and quick, feel-good stories. It wasn't a perfect match for me, but it has plenty of heart, and will no doubt find its audience.

I really wanted to love this book because it has the cutest cover and I thought the premise would be fun. Unfortunately, even though the characters were in unique situations they didn’t have well defined personalities. The hunt that I was very invested in sort of falls away during the book and after a while I found myself losing interest. The conversations lacked depth and the issue between the MCs felt a bit forced making it difficult to believe the story. I still others should give it a read but it wasn’t for me.

This debut truly shines because of how self-aware it is! Revord doesn’t just use beloved rom-com tropes she playfully calls them out, making the story feel like a love letter to the genre!

Avery is such a well-rounded protagonist. She’s messy, hopeful, and so believable as a college freshman trying to find her footing. I loved how her mistakes made sense for her age and situation, and how her growth felt gradual and real not a complete turnaround, but the beginning of something authentic.

The friendships in this book also stand out; every side character felt fleshed out, with their own arcs that made me want to cheer for them too. The dual plots of Avery’s fake-dating romance with Charlie and her emotional journey through the scavenger hunt work beautifully together. The romance is swoony and sweet, while the search for her mother’s past adds so much to the story! The representation is also a highlight: LGBTQ+ and disability rep are woven in thoughtfully and naturally.

Overall, Rules for Fake Girlfriends is a cozy, funny, and heartfelt debut that balances charm with substance. It’s perfect for fans of swoony YA rom-coms, heartfelt coming-of-age stories, and anyone who loves a good fake dating setup.

Grieving over the loss of her mother, Avery enrolls in her mother’s Alma mater to follow the clues of the scavenger hunt her mother left for her. She immediately becomes involved in a fake-dating scheme on a train that ends up taking on a life of its own.

I can’t believe this is a debut author. I started reading Rules for Fake Girlfriends while I began dinner. The story kept pulling me back, it did not want to let me go until the last page was read. I put it down, stirred, and thought I would cook something else too…yeah, no. I had to read the story. Raegan Revord sucked me right in.

I love the formatting of the book as it gives the micro-tropes for the fake-dating trope as chapter headings. Cute. The formatting for the text exchanges is easy-to-read and obvious. Love that.

Avery adjusted to English life rather easily as the story focuses more on her navigating her relationships versus the cultural differences. Revord focuses on friendships and found family in this story. How we can choose to gravitate towards each other or close ourselves off to grieve, suffer, and live. We see in the background how Avery’s dad responds in his grief. How Avery’s best friend from home moves forward from childhood besties to a new college life.

We also get introduced to a wonderfully diverse cast. As a disabled person, I was happy to see more than one “token” individual. (We are everywhere.😊) There is also a broad spectrum of race, religion, and queerness. Every character has a story and eventually it gets shared forming Avery’s “new” found family. This is what I love about books, we get the things we don’t have and get to experience the joy of the experience through the characters we read.

Rules focuses on Avery. We hear her thoughts only and that’s a bit of a bummer. This style shows us how we are tainted by our own experiences in how we receive events. In some ways, Avery is naive - especially for having watched as many rom-coms as she has. I think this is because she only focused on school growing up. She had her best friend and work for the high grades to secure her future.

The romance itself is cute but a bit in the background. Rules for Fake Girlfriends sounds like it’s all about the romance, but it isn’t. It’s about recovering in the afterlife of the unthinkable. Moving forward in the face of fear and doubt. And finding your community if you choose to. (hmmm…the editor is screaming at me for the last sentence, but it says exactly what I mean.)

I loved Rules for Fake Girlfriends. It grabbed me right away and wouldn’t let go until Colin stopped singing (you have to be there, so read the book!). 😅

DNF.

Unfortunately this read pretty juvenile to me and there was a lot of repetitiveness that made me pretty bored with the story.

Thanks Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing this ARC to me!

"I just prayed that one day, she'd remember what I'd said and love openly. Fully. That's all I really wanted for her. That was the one rule that really mattered."

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Book for an ARC of Rules For Fake Girlfriends in exchange for an honest review.

Rules for Fake Girlfriends is a debut YA rom-com about a young college freshman as she experiences her first year studying abroad, first love, first loss, and finding her place in the world. Avery's dream for as long as she can remember is to attend Columbia, major in biology, and become a doctor. However, her entire plan changes when she receives a postcard from her recently deceased mom encouraging her to go to Brighton where her mom was from to partake in one last scavenger hunt. On the train into Brighton, Avery meets Charlie, another college student, and makes a deal with her straight out of one of Avery's favorite rom-coms: act as Charlie's fake girlfriend and help her reconnect with her ex and in exchange, Charlie will help her solve the scavenger hunt. As they adventure all over Brighton, Avery starts to connect with her mom, someone she feels she never truly understood. As painful secrets come to light, Avery will have to choose whether love is worth the risk of heartbreak.

This book was one of my favorite reads of the year so far! Avery was such a relatable character, as she was trying to navigate her first real loss in her life as well as navigate her first love. The friend group in this book gave me such Heartstopper vibes between Colin, Maddi, and Charlie. I loved the additional stories of Colin and Maddi. From the first pages, I immediately felt transported to Brighton and it honestly felt like the characters were real people. One of my favorite parts of this book was actually the chapter titles. I loved that this book had actual chapter titles and they were also very funny (a la Percy Jackson). The ending of this book absolutely broke my heart in the best way possible, but the way it ended, I hope that maybe there will be a sequel in the coming years.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Lynn Painter, Red, White, and Royal Blue, or Heartstopper! 5/5 stars!

Happy Pub Day

Rules for Fake Girlfriends by Raegan Revord is an endearing and swoony YA rom-com debut about a young college student as she navigates her first year abroad, first love, first loss, and finding her place in the world.

Well I was just absolutely charmed with this book y’all. At the core is a true young adult novel with a lot of relatable themes and content.
I was smitten with the romance.
The writing was so well done. I was hooked once I started.

If you're looking for a sweet contemporary with some wonderfully developed characters then you must pick up Rules for Fake Girlfriends when it comes out! I know I'll be buying a copy for my bookshelf.

Thank You NetGalley and Wednesday Books for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/7882695649

My thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St. Martin's Publishing for the ARC of "Rules for Fake Girlfriends" in exchange for an honest review.

First let me say that for a debut YA novel from a very young author, this is a remarkably accomplished, ambitious first effort.

In terms of contemporary romance, it's obvious that author Raegan Revord loves and cherishes all the tropes that have been seemingly carved in stone over the years. (You can tell from the chapter headings that announce these many expected, familiar plot turns that by now readers (and filmgoers) know by heart.)

Much to her widowed dad's worry and disappointment, college freshman Avery puts off her enrollment in Columbia to spend a year at a British seaside college attended by her late beloved mother. Her primary reason - to follow the scavenger hunt clues her mother left for her scattered all around the campus and surrounding countryside. Not even off the train yet, she's managed to fall into a queer fake-dating relationship with live-wire, vivacious Charlie, who's trying to make her own recently ex-girlfriend jealous.

Avery collects a small coterie of friends, but the fake dating (as we all knew it would) turns into something much more and collides with sudden emotional complications that upends the young freshman's life choices.

A lot's going on in this book for a fledgling author to take on at one time and author Revord does fall into the inevitable pitfalls of overwriting and repetitious prose. The scavenger hunt, no doubt meant to provide heartfelt moments along the way, struck me as vague, far fetched and not well thought out. And toward the final third, it mostly falls to the wayside when far more pressing issues take hold of Avery (such as her up-and-down Charlie romance, her estrangement from her longtime best friend and worries about her father's now solitary life.).

But I cannot fault the book's passion, enthusiasm and empathy for all its characters and I think other readers will too, even if the tropes are so familiar to one and all. Once started, I simply had to follow Avery's story to its conclusion, so that makes her creator, Raegan Revord an author to watch out for

Rules For Fake Girlfriends by Raegan Revord tell the story of Avery Blackwell. As part of a final request from her recently deceased mom, Avery decides to upend her well planned future and spend a year in Brighton, England attending the same college as her mother. Avery is hoping for another chance to feel close to her mom. While on the train to college Avery meets Charlie who asks her to pretend to be her girlfriend to help make her ex jealous and hopefully win her back. Avery, a lover of romantic comedies, agrees to help all while swearing that unlike the usual fake dating trope she and Charlie will not fall for each other. Soon after being in Brighton, Avery discovers her mom has left clues as part of a scavenger hunt that Avery, with the help of Charlie, is now determined to find.

This book brings up a lot of different themes. It has romance, but it also deals with grief, family issues, figuring out who you are, and mental health. I appreciate that this book decided to address so many of these issues but I think maybe it tried to tackle too much. I think some of the strongest scenes of this book were related to the loss of Avery’s mom and the impact that had on various characters and Avery. But as a result of doing so much a lot of things felt rushed at the end as the book tried to resolve everything.

Overall, it was good book. It was enjoyable to read and a creative take on fake dating. It just maybe could have used a bit more editing to really make it stand out.

Thank you Raegan Revord, St. Martin’s Press, and and NetGalley for this ARC.

Rating: 3.5/5
Tropes: Fake Dating, Enemies to Lovers, Humor

A solid fake-dating setup that’s full of funny moments and some classic rom-com energy. The premise is simple: two people who can’t stand each other pretend to be a couple for mutual benefit. But, of course, sparks fly and feelings get real. Revord does a fantastic job of blending humor and heartfelt moments. The chemistry between the leads is there, but sometimes the pacing felt a little uneven, and I found myself wanting a bit more depth. Still, if you're into witty exchanges, a little bit of banter, and lighthearted fun, it’s a great read to unwind with.

I mean, fake dating is my favorite trope and here the fake dating is fake dating so much! Love it! Avery and Charlie pining was my favorite part of the book. And of course the themes were well executed and the characters felt real.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Even though I'm not truly the target audience for this debut, new adult book, I enjoyed it nonetheless. I liked how each chapter is titled for various rules found in romantic comedies with Avery and Charlie as the main characters essentially living them out. I was really invested for about the first half of the book as they did the scavenger hunt as their friendship developed. To my surprise, there was barely a mention of the scavenger hunt again until the last quarter of the book. In the meantime, we learn more about Avery and Charlie and the secondary characters who make up their found family. There seemed to be some pacing inconsistencies along the way but the story was generally well done. The author definitely has talent so I look forward to how she develops in the future.

If you loved heartstopper, add this to your tbr.

This story is written for young people who are in that transitional period of life and just don’t know what it’s going to look like quite yet. The representation in this book is incredible. For a teen who just wants to see themselves represented in another and know that they are going to be okay, these characters are a comfort. From grief, to love, to finding yourself, you will find you’re not alone on your journey. After all, it’s not the end that really matters. It’s the getting there.

this book was…cute! it was a very easy read to have during my first week of college classes. but when you look past the easiness of the book, you find all of the glaring issues. and the issues are glaring. i understand that this is an advanced reader's copy, meaning there will be issues, but it goes beyond spelling and grammar mistakes. so many sentences get repeated in every chapter, its like the author thought we were going to forget something we just read. this book felt like something i would find in the depths of Wattpad more than an actual published book.

*I received a copy of this book as an ARC. This review and thoughts are mine alone.*

Rating: 2.5⭐️



I really wanted to like this, but there way entirely too much repetition, and it felt like it was maybe missing a lot of plot.


Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for access to the ARC in exchange for this honest review!

I was trying to give this a fair shot since it was a debut author but I just couldn’t get past the repeative nature of the book or how the romance seemed to be the subplot.
Thanks to Netgalley and to the publishers for allowing me to read this advanced copy