Birthdays are always terrible for Everly Dean but this one takes the cake. She walked in on her boyfriend cheating on her, and her best friend has managed to broadcast the news to thousands of listeners. Suddenly, men are lining up to go on a date with Everly in a Bachelorette-style radio contest, which is way out of Everly's comfort zone. And the biggest problem of them all? She can't stop thinking about her boss, Chris.

I really enjoyed this one. It took some time to get into but overall, I enjoyed the character development and the style of writing. I liked how the author portrayed Everly's anxiety in situations that didn't make her feel comfortable. I did feel at times that the book was drawn out and predictable, but I did like it overall. If you like slow burn rom-coms, no steam, and sweet moments between characters, this one is for you!

Ten Rules For Faking It is a super slow burn romcom that took me a bit to get invested in, but Everly grew on me and I was hooked. Once I connected with her character the rest of the book flew by, and I loved her character growth. It was nice to come across a book whose mc has mental health issues that didn’t belittle or make a mockery of those who suffer from said issues. It was enjoyable and believable.

3/5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. The character felt relatable and real. The main male character and the love interest were okay, I really wasn't his biggest fan, but I began to like him the further I got into the book. I will say the main plot could've been better. The whole dating and bachelorette could've been a lot more fun, it just fell flat for me. Overall a fun, quick, and easy read.

Struggling with her love life and pretty much everything else, Everly embarks on finding a new love by being featured on a bachlorette style contest at the radio station where she works all the while holding a major crush on her boss Chris. I enjoyed the main characters in this book and thought it was a sweet story although a bit slow at times. I don't think I would recommend it to my friends ( as we are a bit older) but I enjoyed it!

As someone who struggles with anxiety I always love reading about characters with it in my books. In this one we have Everly who is a radio producer who hates her birthday. This year, when she turns 30 turns out to be one of the worst birthdays ever. After accidentally expressing her emotions on air, Everly gets roped into a Bachelorette style dating game for her station. I loved and appreciated how much of her anxiety was part of the plot, seeing her inner struggles I was one of my favorite parts of the book. We also have the perspective of the station manager Chris and how he is trying to make a name for himself in his father's company. Chris was such a sweetheart and I loved his character so much! (Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for my copy in return for my honest review.)

First off, the main character in Ten Rules for Faking It has such a pretty name....Everly! Seriously if I ever have a daughter I’m thinking of naming her that. Anyhow, not only is her name super pretty she also is such a relatable character. Everly is a producer at a local radio station and when her 30th birthday starts out in a terrible way she makes a list with her friend Stacey of ten goals she wants to accomplish. Throughout the story, Everly learns more about herself, branches out of her comfort zone and is on a journey to find love that she never thought would happen. Where will she end up finding love?

I’m a huge fan of the bachelor franchise and this book has a mini bachelor type series. Everly becomes the star of the station’s own version of the bachelorette in hopes to boost the station’s ratings. Everly’s boss Chris is also a pretty likable character who just wants to get out from under his dad’s control. I loved how the author developed Everly’s character throughout the story. Everly suffers from social and generalized anxiety and the way Sophie Sullivan described her struggles was tactful and super relatable. Stacey was probably my favorite character because she is such an amazing, and understanding friend to Everly. Everyone needs a best friend like Stacey in their lives! All in all this was a cute, enjoyable romcom! It’s out 12/29/20!

I read this as part of a buddy read book club and I really liked it! It definitely shows an inner look at someone who has severe anxiety and I’ll say some parent issues that have hindered her dating life. I loved her relationship with Stacey and with Chris, but I think her naive look at romantic relationships shows an immaturity she still needs to work on. Overall a very cute and fun read! I loved the radio station setting.

“Ten Rules for Faking It” by Sophie Sullivan is the type of maddening romance where the main couple could’ve gotten together at the beginning of the book if they’d bothered to have a single conversation. The heroine, Everly, suffers from intense social anxiety and has parents that do things like break up and makeup every two months and throw her surprise birthday parties, while Chris is our hero; a New Yorker stuck in California while he tries to prove himself to his ultra-controlling father. There are a few bright spots to this novel: most of the characters are given a moment to be a fully-fleshed out human being, it depicts social anxiety fairly well, and there is no violence against women, a seeming rarity in contemporary romance these days. However, everyone should be in therapy, no one is, and I think I was meant to think of characters as “quirky” when I really just thought of them as selfish. A good read for those who don’t want too much sex, violence, or cursing in their romance but otherwise it’s a pass.

Another RomCom, another misty eyed ending. I’m just so sappy sometimes, but romantic comedies are my mental cleansing rituals. Ten Rules provided all the laughs, gasps, drama, and occassinsaly very relatable issues that hooked me in and kept me reading.

Sullivan created a main character, Everly, that I began to connect with as the book went on. She overthinks, over analyzes, and creates a list of what ifs in her mind that just add to all her anxiety. I swear I was reading my own journal at certain points. The bad relationship, the dysfunctional parents, and finally making a push to just get out of her own headspace and live (as hard as it can be to do) - sat really well with me.

It’s a slow burn romance, but with the events filling up the space between it didn’t drag overall; yes a few things could have been left out or condensed and the story would have been fine, but oh well. I loved the duel perspective between the two love birds, Chris & Everly, Sullivan wrote it in a way that made sense, connected you to the feelings and inner thoughts of both, and at times made me want to yell at both characters or throw my book (in a good way).

It’s fun, charming, and inspiring for the over-analyzing love seeker. Sullivan has a new fan now!

not gonna lie, it took me a while to get into this book. it wasn't until i got to around 30% when things finally got interesting.

the concept for this book was intriguing; a woman with social anxiety making a list to help her branch out? very interesting! i adored everly and chris so much. i truly felt for everly.

let's talk about character growth! at first i was upset about the way everly's friends/family (unknowingly) tended to disregard her anxiety. i'm so glad things got resolved and she learned how to speak up about her ~issues~

the ending was beyond perfect and one of the only redeeming qualities.

Everly has a long history of horrifying birthdays. Turning 30 is no exception. After walking in on her boyfriend and his assistant in bed, Everly heads to work. Stacey, her bff and deejay Everly produces, intends to sing happy birthday. Instead Everly recaps her ending relationship. Chris, radio station manager, sends her home. And the idea of a dating gane featuring Everly is born.
Everly and Chris have major chemistry- as they work closely on this project, they can't help but feel the sparks.
This is a cute romance with a clear ending. I loved Everly's very clear criteria, her openness regarding anxiety and other possible hindrances to her participation. Chris not only accepts these but builds her dates to ensure her comfort. Swoon.

I was hoping for a fun, light read but instead I found a book that bored me so much I stopped reading it about halfway through. That was after forcing myself to pick up this book up to read it. Unfortunately there just isn’t much going on. The female main character Everly could have been a fine protagonist but like the male character Chris there just isn’t anything to make the reader care. Everly is far too often pointed at as having anxiety issues when really she just seems like an introvert. Chris is a nice guy with Dad issues which is pretty lame. Should he stay where he is actually happy or fight his Dad on what he thought he wanted? Both characters secretly like each other but are keeping it to themselves. The contest should be the thing keeping them apart but it’s just boring. Everly goes on dates and talks about other guys. Instead of a slow burn romance I’m just bored of how slow it is! For that reason I’m giving up. I just don’t care enough to bother trying to get through it. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan is such a lovely, romantic story of falling in love. It really was a super cute book. The way she incorporates the main characters anxiety into every day life not only gives readers a great perspective of what others that suffer from anxiety go through but also how people with anxiety can work to adapt their lives around this emotion or behavior. The way her hero Chris was so considerate in all her feelings makes you swoon and fall in love with him quickly. The back and forth banter between the two is witty, electric and gave even me butterflies. The only draw back to this book was how long it took to develop the story line but looking at it overall and the message that comes across, I actually appreciated the length of it. I was able to read this book as an ARC from the publisher and will definitely try to read both Sophie’s and her alter ego Jody Holford in the near future!

3.5/5 stars
Ten Rules for Faking It totally crept up on me. I didn't realize I would love the characters and plot so much!!

Everly Dean is a shy, anxious radio show producer who would much rather stay behind the scenes of everything. After airing all of her dirty laundry on-air(her boyfriend cheated on her with his assistant on her birthday), her life turns upside down. Hundreds of people call in offering her support, advice, and most importantly: men. Her adorably sexy boss Chris comes up with the idea to host a radio show version of the Bachelorette and surprisingly, Everly says yes. What she didn't say yes to was falling in love with her boss....

I thought the social anxiety aspect was extremely well done. Sophie Sullivan really captured the essence of what's like to struggle with anxiety and how you view the world around you. It was really easy to relate with Everly and follow her thought process as she overthought everything. Her reactions to certain situations were very realistic and you could tell the author put a lot of thought into portraying anxiety properly. Chris was great. I loved his personality and reading in his pov was fun. His character was honestly a breath of fresh air because he wasn't the stereotypical male with only one thing on his mind. He was really sweet with a side of cockiness that was super playful and enjoyable to read. The only thing I didn't love was how slow the slow-burn was. It felt like at some points, nothing was happening and it was a lot of inner thinking. It would take me out of the book and just distracted me. The characters would also go back and forth so much in terms of their feelings. They were really indecisive and I understand that a lot of this was due to Everly's anxiety but it happened so often that it just got kind of old.

It was a very sweet novel with a pretty interesting plot. I loved the character dynamics and how consistent their personalities were throughout the book. The only part I would change would be the sections where there was just too much information about the character's inner feelings. It would speed up the story and keep the reader's attention. It's a great book for when you want to laugh out loud, gush over the romance, and just have a good time. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will definitely read more books by Sophie Sullivan!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Radio producer Everly Dean is having the worst birthday ever. Worse than the birthday spent in the ER. Worse than the birthday where her parents announced they were separating (for the first time). Somehow, finding your boyfriend in bed with his assistant (assisting him in an, uh, unique way) then ranting about the experience ON LIVE RADIO takes the birthday cake.

Humiliated, Everly makes a list of Rules for Faking It, AKA surviving her thirties. She'll try new things, speak up for herself, pitch her ideas at work, and generally be bold--all things that are hard to do when one has anxiety. Unexpectedly, she gets an opportunity to put her Rules to the test when her (dreamy) boss--in an attempt to save Everly's job, her best friend/DJ's job, and his own--suggests that they turn all of the incoming listener support towards Everly and offers to replace her cheating slimeball ex into a Bachlorette-style contest. Six strangers. Six dates. One second date.

Everly agrees, but try as she might, none of the men she chooses for her dates capture her heart. No, against all logic, her heart is leaning towards Chris, her boss. Who maybe hates her. Who maybe.... likes her back?

Sullivan's brilliant debut rom-com is fun, sexy, addicting, and shines a light on dating with a mental illness--in this case, anxiety. (Let's just say, I felt for Everly. A lot.) Not to mention, this is a great book about self-care, and how that often means having to set boundaries with a variety of people--to include your parents--in order to thrive. Snagging a copy of "Ten Rules for Faking It" is a great way to welcome in 2021 and set your own goals and rules for making the new year your year. Not to mention, it's a good way to laugh and swoon away the garbage fire that was 2020.

This was the feel good story I needed right now! I've had trouble reading books lately since life has been so heavy, but this book was just the sweet story that I needed. I loved Chris and Everly and their push and pull and their journey to discovering who they were and what they wanted in life. Stacey was the best friend that we all wish we had, and I truly hope she is going to get her own story soon!
My favorite part of this book though, was Everly. Mental health is such a taboo topic in our society. I LOVED that this book talked about anxiety, and did a great job representing what it is like to live with anxiety in an authentic way. It was wonderful to read about a character with anxiety, and to honor and celebrate their strengths an their struggles, and not talk about it in a negative way. This was a really cute book. This is my honest review of an ARC I received on netgalley.

Excellent book. It is definitely a slow burn read, and it's a little slower overall paced. Because of that, I had the urge to jump ahead and get to the good stuff. But then it was SO GOOD that I knew I had to go back and read it all the way through. This never happens to me. If I skip ahead, I don't know that I've ever gone back and read the rest in a book before.
Told in dual-POV, it was great to get to read both sides of the story and really get to know the characters and their backstories. It was really great to get to read through Everly's anxiety disorder from her perspective. I don't personally suffer from this, so I'm hoping that the author accurately portrayed this because I thought it was done so well. It felt so raw, so real, and I just wanted to give Everly a big hug (even though neither of us are huggers).
Should you read this book? 100% yes. It is heart wrenching and heartwarming, it is cute, it is clean. I can't wait to go read more by Ms. Sullivan because this was an outstanding first novel that I've read by her.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

This story was cute and warm; I enjoyed the tension between Everly and Chris is so fun, even from the very beginning. I do think that connection between them developed a bit quickly without any context or growth shown; it felt a bit sudden to me. I loved the concept of turning Everly's embarrassment into an opportunity, but I loved even more the inclusion of her reticence to do so--it made Everly more human and more relatable.

Everly is used to having horrible birthdays so why should her 30th be any different? After catching her boyfriend cheating she complained to her best friend, who happens to be a radio dj and happened to be on the air causing Everly’s rant to be heard by all of their listeners.
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Her extremely handsome boss Chris, who she thinks doesn’t like her, came up with the idea to capitalize on her on air rant by hosting a bachelorette style competition that listeners will hear all of the antics and vote on the contestants. For the record I would 100% be listening to this radio show!
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Sullivan nails what’s it’s like to have anxiety and the concept of “faking it till you make it.” Everly pushes past her anxiety and decides to make a list of ten ways to help fake it and finds these rules bring her true happiness that she never expected.
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This book is entertaining, beyond enjoyable and a rom com with heart and depth.
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Huge thank you to @stmartinspress for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a boss/employee romance, but things never get messy between them at work which I appreciate. Workplaces have enough drama without manufacturing more to use as a plot device.

Chris and Everly’s love is a slow burn and multi-layered thing. It was frustrating to read at times because these two obviously belong together, but they don’t communicate well. Which, okay. That is a big part of this story. I am very happy that they figure things out even if it did take until almost the very end to finally get their ish together.

I really enjoyed this entire cast of characters and definitely want to read more about them. Hopefully this is the beginning of a fun contemporary romance series.

Recommended for: contemporary romance fans

Content warning: character with anxiety disorder/panic attacks

I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.