Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC to read and review.

A socially anxious heroine. A hero with secrets. They are attracted to each other, but because they work together they fight it.

This novel is fairly predictable contemporary rom-com.. Slow development of plot, but strong characters.

Ten Rules for Faking It was a fun romp. This slow burn romance was so cute that I was sad when the book ended. There were times, however where I felt geography was off. (I love in Central Cali.) It felt like at times it was meant to be set in England? Idk, despite that I enjoyed it.

A sweet lighthearted rom com. Everly Dean finds her boyfriend Simon in bed with another woman on her birthday. At work, she accidentally lets everyone hear the sordid story and a bachelorette style competition is born.

With a likable hero and a ride or die best friend, the book hit most of the marks. It was a bit drawn out at a couple points but it still makes for a good beach read.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins for the arc.

Have not had a chance to read this yet, but will keep it on my list for a rainy day! Appreciate being offered the reading copy!

I really liked that the main character of this novel had social anxiety, as it is something we don't see represented often in romance. I related to Everly in many ways, although thankfully I don't suffer from an extreme case and it comes and goes. This was a very slow burn, angsty romance where I found myself screaming at my Kindle for the hero and heroine to just admit their feelings and get on with it, but the HEA delivered and was worth the wait - very romantic.

This story makes my heart smile . It’s such a sweet read with likable, well-developed characters . What I love the most is the development of the relationship between the characters , and the attention and care the author gave to the characters struggles with anxiety attacks.
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This story follows Everly, a radio show producer , who unintentionally announced to the world her relationship and birthday problems . In trying to help the struggling radio station , her boss Chris decides to hold a Bachelorette style contest to help Everly find a partner . As they’re constantly thrown together their attraction and appreciation of each other began to grow and Everly starts to wonder if maybe the one has been here all along.
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It’s definitely a Slow-burn, easy to read, feel good romance. While I didn’t mind the build up, while reading, I felt that it was also a bit longer that needs to be. Now , looking back, I feel like stretching out everything fits perfectly with the main characters personality .

This book was so cute! Lighthearted and fun. Not one unlikable character. So many times I found myself yelling kiss her (at Chris) or kiss him (at Everly)! But, being a romcom, they kissed exactly when they were supposed to. Stacey was a fun best friend; yin to Everley's yang. If you are looking for something cute and fun, this is the book for you. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Slow burn romance. Sweet and adorable characters. The right amount of drama. It was a delightful, light read to pass a few hours.

The heroine does have anxiety and I feel like the representation wasn't over the top or unrealistic.

And I see follow ups featuring Everly's best friend + Chris' neighbor, and maybe a book for at least one of Chris' brothers.

This was sweet, albeit pretty cheesy. There wasn't much to make it really stand out. It was way too long. It would have worked at like 250 pages—short, sweet, and fluffy.

I received this book complimentary from NetGalley but all opinions are my own.
This was cute. I really enjoyed this one. I couldn’t put it down. Everly was sweet and Chris was lovely. I relate to Everly some - some to the same degree but a good bit of it. I liked how Chris really got her and didn’t judge her but just loved her anyways. The story was good, the plot interesting. I liked the vibes and the feel of it. It just all worked well together.

3 Stars- This had all the makings of an easy romance. A woman who does radio discovers her boyfriend is cheating and the discovery is when she walks in on it. Bam. She then is at the radio station and starts to tell the sad, angry story to her producer. Oops, mike was on and it was all broadcasted out to the universe.

Another fella at the station is secretly the son of the owner. He steps in and suggests it works to be a dating thing for our gal...therefore saving the day.

There is a problem, fella really likes the gal and doesn't want her to date anyone else except him.

I'd give this 3.5 stars...

I really enjoyed the first 3/4 of this book. Everly is a radio producer with social anxiety, Chris is the radio station manager. Unbeknownst to Everly or the other employees, Chris' father is the studio owner. Future complications coming right up!

Everly pops into her boyfriend's house on her birthday, only to find him in bed with another woman. When she gets to work and confides in her best friend, Stacey, the DJ on her radio show, it is inadvertently broadcast live. To save face, and prevent Daddy from firing Everly and Stacey. Chris comes up with an idea to find Everly a new boyfriend via a radio contest. The only problem is, Chris is head-over-heels for her!

I honestly could not get enough of this story for about 3/4 of the way through. Lots of tension between Chris and Everly. She struggles with social anxiety and he's tuned into it. He tries really hard not to put her outside her comfort zone.

The ending of the book just got a little too wordy and extended for me. Everly has a very necessary conversation with her parents, and it was just too many words! LOL Also, Everly's struggles with relationships got a bit tedious.

Anyhow, alls well that ends well, and this one ends on a sweet note.

I enjoyed it and would read more by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley for a digital ARC in return for an honest review.

If anybody knows me at all they know that I'm not a big fan of contemporary romance but this one intrigued me so I requested it on NetGalley. I'm glad that I got picked to read it because I enjoyed it very much. Everly is dealing with social anxiety and her parent's neverending relationship issues, (which have skewed her views on love) along with the consequence of blurting out on the radio that her boyfriend cheated on her with his personal assistant. The overwhelming support she gets from the town prompts the radio station to start a bachelorette type contest for her.

On the other hand, we have Chris the station manager who just wants his father to uphold his part of the deal they struck. Chris also has a tendre for Everly and gets jealous when she goes on her dates. Eventually, these two get their acts together and finally start dating.

I enjoyed this book and I will read more books from the author in the future. However, I would like to see some love scenes as this one had a decided lack of any.

3.5/5

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Everly Dean could not think of a worse way to spend her 30th birthday. After catching her boyfriend cheating, she accidentally tells the entire story on live radio! Her very good looking boss, Chris, agrees to a Bachelorette-style event where eligible bachelors date Everly and fans of the radio show can vote on their favorite contenders. The problem is, Everly struggles with anxiety which makes dating in this capacity an ultimate challenge AND her feelings for Chris are growing stronger. Looks like she'll just have to fake it til she makes it.

This was a bit of a slow burn for me. I enjoyed the creative plot and the forbidden love aspect of Everly and Chris's romance. I wasn't the biggest fan of Everly at first, but she began to grow on me. I am a big proponent of maintaining one's mental health, and I was a bit disappointed at how Everly's anxiety was addressed and handled. I appreciated the closer look at how anxiety can be crippling but also make you resilient, but it also seemed like a mental health issue that Everly did not want to seek outside help for. Mental health was a major theme within the book so I was hoping for some more discussions on support.

The romance aspect was solid. Everly's dates with the bachelors were interesting, but not the major plot. Her relationship with Chris was much more interesting. The beginning of it felt a bit rushed. He went from not acknowledging her at all to being the supportive boss and friend. Once the relationship developed more, it felt more natural to me. The book was lacking in steam for me, but the cute romance was definitely there.

Ten Rules for Faking It is out December 29th!

In full disclosure: I was 10000% super excited to read this. I do believe that I overhyped it in my mind and it didn't live up to it.

But before I explain those feelings, let me tell you what I enjoyed!

Things I enjoyed:
Our main character, Everly, learns how to be brave. The reader witnesses her slowly tackle her personal struggles, and learns it all on her own. She learns a lot about herself, and that she has always been brave, but just didn't quite believe in herself. Once she begins to believe in herself, she conquers her journey! She learns that she is in fact very strong and not weak, like she has always believed. She learns that she can make a difference in helping others be brave. I do wish that I could've gotten to know Everly better, or Chris really. However, I enjoyed the author pulling in the characters' parents, and how those relationships affect their personal lives (and even with each other).

Another thing I enjoyed was that the author did a good job at tackling the topic of anxiety, and how it's a daily struggle for those of us that struggle with it. Due to this, it became easier to relate to Everly. She seemed more real.

However, I personally did not like how Chris, Everly's love interest, points out her anxiety in certain circumstances. At times, he came across as making her sound weak, like her anxiety was something about her that HE had to take care of (and note: this is before they even shared that they were interested in each other / expressed it openly to and with each other).

At times, it made me uncomfortable because I personally would rather someone ask how to me when I'm feeling anxious/ask me if I need help OR, when referencing my anxiety, ask me good questions about it, not just bring it up. I think if it was approached in this way, it would have helped me fall in love with Chris' character more. It would've shown more evidence that he does see her as a strong woman. Don't get me wrong- he does think she's strong, but at times, he seems too overprotective, which raised flags in my mind. And remember- this is before he was in a relationship with her (and even in a relationship, overprotectiveness is not ehhhh not that okay).

If those ^ things don't tend to bother you, go for it!

Lastly, it took me a few days to read this book. I was expecting to breeze right through it, but I wasn't as pulled into it as I had hoped.

And this is why: I honestly wish that this book was told in first person. I know I know, that sounds oddly specific. But, my reason being is because we find out Everly and Chris' thoughts right off the bat. We know they are attracted to each other right in the first few chapters of the book. So throughout the rest of the book, it felt slow paced. It would've been different if this was from either character's perspectives, that way, we're wondering along with them whether he/she likes them back. I believe that I would've been more pulled into this book had this been the case.

Overall. This was an alright read, and there are some strong points. I do recommend giving it a try– the plot is smart, funny, and there's some great supporting characters. The idea of a radio show basically have their own version of "the bachelorette," made it a fun story to adventure along with!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me a digital ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a very cute, kind of cinematic rom com featuring Everly Dean, a radio producer with serious anxiety issues, who accidentally shares some very personal information on air after she catches her boyfriend cheating on her... on her birthday. Chris, the station manager (who is secretly the son of the station's owner), has a huge crush on Everly, but doesn't act on it because 1) he's her boss and 2) he's leaving soon. He has a deal with his dad where, if he turns things around and makes a profit at the station, he can take a more important role in the family business. Unfortunately, the whole Everly spilling her guts on air and her BFF, the dj who was on at the time, accidentally letting the station go to dead air gets back to Chris's dad, who lays down the law. Everly writes a list of 10 rules for faking it to help her take more risks and move forward with her life, and that makes her agree to Chris's plan to boost ratings and advertising - a Bachelorette-style dating series in which Everly goes on dates and talks about them on the station's social media. Of course, Chris and Everly get closer and have lots of sparks between then, but they have a legitimate obstacle standing between them, which makes things complicated. A cute, quick read that I think would make a great movie or TV series.

A sweet and light read featuring charming characters! This was reminiscent of the Bachelorette yet was relatable. Ten Rules For Faking It was a slow burn and a bit long considering the outcome was obvious from the beginning. Overall a feel good read that was a nice escape! 3.5 ⭐️ My thanks to the publisher for the advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan totally caught me by surprise. I don't enjoy the Bachelor(ette) reality show, so I wasn't sure how much I'd enjoy this. BUT - this is nothing like that, and for that I'm thankful.

This very slow burn romance was so genuine and honest, which was nice to be able to dissect feelings without the physical aspect as well. It really made the connection seem stronger - built on more than lust.

I can't express how strongly I feel about the accurate depiction of social anxiety. It was the TRUTH. I think this part of the story line will turn some people away who feel like cringing at each mention of what terrifies Everly, but that's the brutal truth to anxiety. People want you to be fine, and to move on (which other books often do). This book doesn't move on and it doesn't gloss over it, which I appreciate. It dives in and sits with the raw vulnerability of this paralyzing feeling. Thank you, Sophie, for this realistic representation - I feel seen.

I loved this. If Sophie Sullivan turns this into a series (maybe a brother or Stacey next?), I'd be all over it.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Everly is having a crappy birthday having found her boyfriend in bed with another girl and unwittingly vents on air during the radio program she works on. It produces a great response from listeners and Chris (the boss) decides to do a radio version of "the bachelorette" to take advantage and boost ratings.
Now Everly, who's shy, must undergo dating rounds, deal w/the crush on her boss and her stressful parents.

It had cleverly written humor. The characters were likable. Everly is very relatable w/her bad birthdays & introverted personality. I liked the representation of a character who suffers social anxiety. That was a unique character detail.
I liked bestie DJ Stacey & gym owner Rob.
It's lighthearted & cute but drags. I also found the 3rd person POV confusing at times.


Overall it was an okay debut novel.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Seemed to hit a little off the mark for me. I appreciate the realness of how social anxiety is depicted in this. It's not overtly dramatized, but it feels genuine, and that's what attracted me to this book.

Unfortunately, I wish I liked everything else about it. The chemistry between the two leads feels odd and the conflict is magically resolved at the end. Also would've wished the heroine would've gone to therapy for her social anxiety - now that's another stigma that could be portrayed positively. Missed opportunity there.