- 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.

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.

Funny, sexy, sparky! I loved this book. It was so much fun reading it. For a romance, it has a lot of heart and it's so easy to read through it and not put it down.

I absolutely loved "Ten Rules for Faking It"! It was such a fun read that had me laughing one second and then sympathizing with the main character the next.

I loved the two main characters in this book, Everly and Chris. Both characters were completely unique from each other but also both so completely relatable. Misunderstandings and miscommunications are a common theme in Rom-Coms but most of the time they are so completely out there and unrealistic. I enjoyed the fact that the misunderstandings that happened in "Ten Rules for Faking It" were ones that could happen to anyone.

Also can I just take a second to appreciate how swoony Chris was. Not only was he gorgeous and had a great body (which is always a plus). But he was so charming and attentive to not only Everly, but the rest of his employees. He went out of his way several times to save his employees jobs and seemed to genuinely care about them. And the way he interacted with Everly and her anxiety was what made me like him the best. He didn't always know what to do to help her, but he was always there to support her.

I absolutely loved how the author portrayed social anxiety, anxiety attacks and panic attacks. As someone who has all three, it was nice to see it portrayed in a book that main plot wasn't about that. The constant worry about what other people must think about you, and being emotionally and physically drained after human interactions is a constant struggle for a lot of people. I also loved how the author didn't try to "fix" Everly in the end of the book. Instead she had Chris and her best friend show that they love her and want to help her whenever they can.

Long review short. I highly recommend this book for anyone who loves Rom-Coms and reading about couples who have a strong connection besides off the charts chemistry!

Ten Rules for Faking It is a sweet, charming coworkers to lovers rom-com. Everly, a radio producer, suffers from social anxiety so she isn't expecting much from her birthday - very relatable! But she definitely wasn't expecting to walk in on her boyfriend cheating on her.

Bad enough but when Everly gets to work, her best friend and DJ, Stacey tries to sing Happy Birthday to her. But Everly isn't having it. Oh no. She unleashes an epic rant about the terrible ex. Without realizing they're live, on the air. Stacey can't apologize enough, Everly is mortified. Station manager Chris isn't very happy.

What none of them expected was for the station's listeners to get invested in Everly's story. Now, the station is running a Bachelorette style contest for Everly. Listenership is up, ads are selling, the station's social media is exploding. All great things!

Except Chris is the one Everly really wants to date. Everly doesn't know that Chris doesn't plan on staying, at the station, in town. Or even in the state. He's got big career plans and this job is just a stepping stone. But why does the thought of leaving make him miserable?

Sophie Sullivan does a great job capturing how terrifying situations like blind dates and surprise parties are when you have social anxiety. I loved how thoughtful and caring Chris was when it came to making sure that Everlywascomfortable on the dates.

No surprises but a thoroughly sweet HEA romance.

Ten Rules for Faking It is such a cute rom com! Loved it from the first page until the last. My first book by Sophie Sullivan, but will definitely not be my last.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the chance to read and review!

I love a rom com and this one was no exception! I love the upfront approach to anxiety in the book. I also really liked getting multiple view points. The bff was a great foil for the main character and gave some really funny moments.

I loved this book! Sophie Sullivan’s, Ten Rules For Faking It was such a raw feel-good book! The story follows Everly, an introverted radio show producer who’s just found her boyfriend cheating on her on the morning of her 30th birthday. From there, the story unfolds of how Everly moves on from that difficult morning and finds happiness, self-acceptance and love. Her friend, Stacy, is excellent comedic relief throughout the book and I loved how loyal of a friend she was. This is a light read that will make you smile and feel good.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. 5 stars :)

I can't wait for the movie to be made of this delightful rom com. Our poor protagonist, Everly, who's had the incredibly pitiful array of childhood birthdays, tries to change history and take control of this birthday, albeit the 30th birthday, right from the beginning. It was like taking the steering wheel of the Titanic! Catching her boyfriend in bed with his assistant was the tip of the iceberg. I adore Everly and her best friend, Stacey, who work together at a local radio station. Stacey's energy as a DJ and Everly's shy, conservatism as her producer, create a dynamic blend. Que the gorgeous new manager of the station, who seems to get along famously with everyone but Everly. The escapade of creating a Bachelorette-themed contest to find Everly a new boyfriend creates a frenzy of fear for this quiet introvert who can't seem to take her eyes or fantasies off the cute radio manager.

Oh my gosh. What do you get when you mix The Bachelorette and a radio show? This adorable romantic comedy! I loved being able to read from both Everly and Chris’s perspectives. Everly’s struggle with anxiety is very realistic and I really appreciated that. Chris was a very sweet romantic interest. The entire time I was reading this I kept imagining Everly being portrayed by Phoebe Tonkin and Chris being portrayed by Daniel Gillies. Their chemistry is amazing and watching them falling in love was great. This was a fun and heartwarming romantic comedy and I highly recommend it! I just couldn’t stop smiling while reading this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

I thought this book was a lot of fun. The friendship between Stacey and Everly was wonderful and so supportive. I enjoyed the struggles the hero and heroine had with their parents and how they were dealt with.I was a bit frustrated with the lack of detail in some of the subplots (for example, the dates in the dating contest and the relationships with the staff members). There were plenty of pages that dragged on that could have been better spent on those details. The anxiety and panic attack story lines were handled realistically with sensitivity. Overall, I enjoyed this book and look forward to other works by this author.

A sweet story with likeable characters and a loveable hero. I really enjoyed the way anxiety was dealt with and normalised.

I was fully expecting a 1 year later birthday epilogue but I'm actually glad we didn't get one!

I’m so conflicted about this book! I really enjoyed Sullivan’s writing style and wanted to throughly be invested in this book but I couldn’t get on board with the characters. It felt like the author would hint at some interesting narrative or conflict (like with Mari or the lists) and then it would just kind of disappear. The dates were skimmed over so it felt less rom com and more a novel about dealing with anxiety. But I enjoyed the writing enough that I would still give another book by this author a shot.

This book reminded me of some of my favorite Rom Com movies, and I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning reading!

Everly Dean has never had good luck on her birthday, and her 30th was no exception. After a bad start to her birthday and a mishap at the radio station she works at, Everly makes a list of ten rules. Her best friend Stacey helps her tweak them to make 30 the best year yet. Chris, Everly’s boss, has a plan to help her forget her lousy ex-boyfriend and help the radio station, but Everly finds love in an unexpected place.

What is it with workplace love stories that make them so good?? In Ten Rules for Faking It, Chris, a radio station manager, has been crushing on Everly for almost a year. But when a chance came to play matchmaker to save the station, Chris unexpectedly starts to let go of his feelings for Everly. This was a slow burn love story, that had me laughing out loud (when does speech to text ever work?) to sympathy, when Everly tries to face her anxiety head on. If you’re looking for a well thought out love story, that has you leaving for more, then this is the book for you.