I was excited for this title! The premise was fun, and it started off strongly with the main character's birthday outburst being inadvertently broadcasted on the radio. I loved the friendship between Everly and Stacey, too. Beyond that, it was a tough one to finish.

Everly and Chris were meant to be in their 30s, but their actions felt juvenile. I also felt that the book spent too much "telling" instead of "showing," which meant the chemistry between the two main characters felt forced. It may have been better if we only saw Everly's perspective, and Chris's thoughts were left more of a mystery.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Everly absotuely hates having her birthday and this year is no exception when she catches her boyfriend cheating and her dirty laundry is spilled over the radio airwaves of the station where she works. When the listeners rally around her, Everly agrees to a Bacherlorette type promotion to increase profits for the radio station and secure her job despite having severe social anxiety. Everyly is able to find love in the least expected of places. This is a cute romance story that the author does an exceptional job of relating Everly's anxiety.

Oof. I wanted to like this one because the premise sounded unique and fun but this was an absolute slog for me. Points for good anxiety rep with Every but no points for anything else. Her chemistry with Chris was nonexistent, and I just couldn't bring myself to care about either of their personal outside-the-romance issues (of which there were too many, in my opinion, and none of them super compelling). Also, are we really not going to be a little more explicit about the ethics of the boss/employee thing in 2020? A couple "oh we shouldn't"s and "we have a policy against fraternizing"s don't really cut it for me these days with power imbalances.

This was a much better read than expected, I enjoyed the slow burn type love, the whole concept was entertaining. I like all the characters and their development. I´m definitely going to recommend it as an easy feel-good book.

Turning the big 3-0, what could possibly go wrong? For Everly Dean, a lot. When an accidental recording sends her boyfriend’s infidelities through the radio waves; Everly is met with an entourage of people encouraging her and interested in dating her. Her boss, Chris, develops a Bachelorette like radio show to help boost the ratings and (hopefully) to further his career. Everly, who suffers from social anxiety, doesn’t know if she can do it. To combat her fears and become a better person at thirty, she develops a list of ten rules to help her fake it and break out of her comfort zone. Little does she know… there are some people who see her and love her for just the person she is (beautiful, strong, thoughtful – inside and out).

Ten Reasons I Thoroughly Enjoyed This Book:
1) Unique radio station work setting – always fun to learn the ends and out of radio
2) Different family dynamics – how characters interact with them.
3) Many characters have many different problems, that they acknowledge and try to work though – it’s not just the main character(s).
4) Honest discussions of tough topics: marriage, divorce, social anxiety, fear of commitment, love, family issues, etc.
5) Those of us who have gone on dates with people we met online can relate.
6) A rom-com that actually had the com – several parts I couldn’t help laughing out loud.
7) Everly’s introverted personality is spot on – any introvert who suffers from anxiety can relate to her and her mental battles.
8) A label of Romance without characters having sex for there to be romance – nice that characters can fall in love with each other without it.
9) Characters were not fake. They were like real people with real problems that they had to work through – with each other’s help! (Can you tell I like the characters?)
10) Kept me reading, I didn’t want to put it down!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the ARC! This has been one of the most enjoyable books I have read lately.

Thank you to St. Martins and NetGalley for the advance review copy--all opinions are my own!

This felt sweet, light, and right in the vein of a classic RomCom. I appreicated seeing anxiety represented in Everly and truly showing how it affects every aspect of her life. This is one of those stories where lots is going on plot wise with the radio station and the Bacehlorette-style shenigans that makes the build of Chris and Everly's romance more subtle or secondary, and sometimes that can slow down my feel for a couple's chemistry, but ultimately this ended on a high note for me and I'm glad I was able to read it. I generally like a bit more zip in the pace so that's why I'd say this fell more around 4 stars than 5.

3.75 stars

This story reminded me a lot of The Bookish Life of Nina Hill with a lot of additional plot points packed in. The radio station workplace (which, I honestly don't think I've read before), the bachelorette type contest, the family issues, the friendships, the anxiety - it all blended together in a well-developed story.

I will say, however, that with the above, the main romance did seem to lose a bit of its magic. I loved Chris and Everly, don't get me wrong, but I wanted MORE of them. (This may have been more because I thought this was listed as an adult romance vs a women's fiction/chicklit, so my expectations were slightly skewed from the beginning).

Overall though, the characters were a focal point of this story and I thought the author did a great job in developing all the interconnecting stories around Everly while still making her the star of the book.

I received an ARC of this book by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is not a bad book but it just didn't work for me. I found the boss/employee relationship a bit hard to get by and while the characters were in their thirties they felt much younger. The concept of the whole dating/contest setup was not my favorite, either. I was expecting more from this one, but I think some people will still enjoy it.

I went into this book looking for something light, charming, with a happy ending and it didn’t disappoint. Everly has a great job, a best friend, crazy parents and anxiety. She wants nothing more than a husband and a family. In a series of events, she finds herself in a Bachelorette type game. Will dating several men help her finally figure out how to get what she wants? I laughed at the banter and rooted for Everly, the main character. For me it ticked all the boxes and I would read more from this author.

This book falls right into that category of rom coms that I enjoy: a light hearted romance, mixed with a few heavier topics.
I loved Everly and Chris! I liked how Everly wasn’t just our traditional “awkward” heroine, but one who does actually struggle with social anxiety. Her anxious mind was very relatable. I also loved her together with Chris! His laid back, but responsible personality was a good mix with her.
Another character who I think deserves some spotlight is Everly’s best friend, Stacy. I loved the female friendship and how they pushed each other upward!
The only thing that I didn’t enjoy was how long it took to get to the romance. We don’t really get to see them together until about 80% into the story! I like a good slow burn, but this was too slow even for me. By the time we really get into the romance of the novel, it’s over.
That being said, I still had a lot of fun reading this and would recommend it for a quick read.

This sounded promising. Bachelorette-style dating? Feelings for your boss? I mean seriously! I also related to her from the first page with her trying to celebrate her 30th birthday. For some reason I just can’t cope with the fact that I’ll be that age in a year and a few months. I obviously haven’t went through the same issues as her but it does make for a great book, or so I thought.

The thing is, the execution for this wonderful premise wasn’t there. Sure, the relationship is a slow-burn and I tend to love those more but I still felt like I couldn’t see the connection between Everly and Chris. This could also be because I felt like the book was boggled down by slow sections that didn’t really add to the book.

Even though that was the case, there were still enjoyable moments. I liked the friendship between Staci and Everly, even if Staci made a huge mistake, haha. I also liked seeing Chris interact with his brother, Noah. There were also some funny moments so I can’t complain too much.

Overall, I think this was good but it definitely could have been a bit shorter. I do think that others will like this book so I’d still recommend it.

After Everly accidentally spills that her boyfriend cheated on her to thousands of listeners, she creates a list to help her win at life, or at least to help her fake it. At the same time, her boss comes up with a contest to help her find love...and keep her job, of course.

Grab the book for the romance and one of the sweetest, most understanding love interests readers will find (trust me when I say I can go on and on about him) but stay for Everly's journey as she tests her boundaries and learns to accept herself for who she is. This is what will have readers connecting with and rooting for Everly, her courage to step out of her comfort zone, to stand up for herself, and ultimately recognizing she doesn't need to be like everyone else.

It does get frustrating wondering if our leads will get together. There is quite a bit of internal dialogue from both of them about whether the other person could ever feel the same as well as denying their own feelings. Initially, it induced all these butterflies in my stomach but the butterflies started to disappear when it went on too long. However, there were still enough butterflies left over for me to enjoy the book. Overall, it was a good read.

Ten Rules for Faking It by Sophie Sullivan originally caught my eye because of the adorable cover. It is a dual narrative book which follows Everly Dean and Chris Jansen.

Everly is a producer of a radio show that her best friend, Stacey, is a deejay of and on the morning of her birthday she catches her boyfriend cheating on her. Everly unfortunately rants about all of this on live radio! Chris, the manager of the radio station comes up with a great idea to help Everly get over the cheater, but also helps the radio station make more money and keeps Everly and Stacy's jobs after the accidental tyraid.

The book was slow for the first 10%-15% until the reader starts to get Chris' narration. But once we do, the slooooow burn between these two is undeniable. However, it left me wanting a little more steam, if you know what I mean. 😉

Everly has extreme social anxiety (so much so, that her little quirks make me wonder if she's actually slightly on the spectrum), so when it's suggested they start The Bachelorette-style radio edition project, she is really pushed above and beyond her comfort zone.

The character development of the main characters and side characters was great. I'd love to read more about Stacey and Rob and even Chris's brothers and sister!

Overall great writing, good story, 4/5 stars!

Everly is a producer for a radio show where she works with her best friend Stacy. Her boss Chris is there to improve the business as his dad owns it to prove that he is ready to take over communications for his dad. Although no one at the radio station knows that his dad owns it, or that he has a thing for Everly. Everly accidentally vents her frustration of her ex boyfriend cheating on her on air. In order to help the company and deal with her slip up they decide to set her up with eligible guys and broadcast results to increase ratings. This would be a great plan except she has severe anxiety around people and the fact that Chris has to hear about her dating other guys!

I wish I had liked this book more. I did appreciate the portrayal of anxiety - the representation is appreciated. But - so many things were contrived and obvious! I guess I had higher hopes from the premise than what was delivered. No fault to the writing, no qualms there. I guess this book just wasn't for me, but maybe it'll be for you. It's quite sweet.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ten Rules for Faking it was a cute read. The story follows Everly, who catches her boyfriend cheating on her on her 30th birthday. But she's determined to make this her year. She won't let anxiety hold her back, and she'll pitch more ideas to her boss, who happens to be super cute but also very distant.

Although things get messy when her friend and and DJ doesn't mute the mic while Everly spills her guts and rants about Simon, the cheating ex.

Suddenly, people are lining up to date her in a bachelor=style, and fans are voting, not to mention her crush on her boss might be a two-way street.

This was a sweet rom-com, and had some entertaining and cute moments. This book tackles anxiety which is such an important subject.. I loved the idea of the plot, but the writing was a little slow for me at times which made me lose interest occasionally. It's definitely a slow-burn romance and I wish there was more steam.

Overall, I recommend if you're looking for a quick romcom and if you're a fan of the bachelor!.

This romance didn't catch my attention or hold my interest. I thought the characters were sweet - although the main character was a bit too quirky for me to buy. Would have liked a little more steam ;)

Plot: It was fun! Reading about Everly going on the dates was entertaining. And there were plenty of moments that made me laugh, too!

Characters: Everly was a great main character, and I loved that the author had her have social anxiety! As someone with severe anxiety, it was really nice to read a book where the main character had anxiety, but still got a happy ending. (How many times can I say anxiety in one paragraph? Oh, well.) I loved her love interest! And her friendship with Stacey was great.

The Cover: It's really cute! I love illustrated covers.

Overall: I really loved this book! I thought it was a fun romance, while also having more serious parts (though never so much as to overwhelm the book). I hope we get a book with Stacey as the main character, and perhaps one with Noah, too? Overall, I would highly recommend this book!

I remember reading this book a few months ago and thinking it was cute but honestly, it's been so long not much else comes to mind.

Ugh, turning 30 is hard - especially when you have a series of bad birthdays since forever. Everly Dean turns 30 and catches her boyfriend cheating on her, on her birthday! Her dear friend and coworker, Stacey, tries to sing to her on-air at the radio station they work at. Everly doesn’t know she’s on air, and spills her guts!! Then then hatch up their own version of The Bachelorette ~radio edition~! This was so cute and so much fun!