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Rules for Fake Girlfriends
Rom-com obsessed but perpetually single Avery Blackwell abandons her plans to attend Columbia in favor of spending her freshman year at her recently deceased mother’s alma mater in a seaside town in England. On the train, Avery makes a deal straight out of one of her beloved romance books with a charming local girl named Charlie: if Avery will pretend to be her girlfriend to make her ex jealous, Charlie will help Avery solve the scavenger hunt her artistic, free-spirited mother left behind on campus decades ago.
As their quest takes them all over Brighton, Avery finally starts to connect with the mother she always loved but never really understood. Before long, pretending to be Charlie’s girlfriend starts to feel like more than just an illusion. But when long-hidden secrets come to light, Avery grapples with an uncertain future and whether or not love is worth the risk.
As their quest takes them all over Brighton, Avery finally starts to connect with the mother she always loved but never really understood. Before long, pretending to be Charlie’s girlfriend starts to feel like more than just an illusion. But when long-hidden secrets come to light, Avery grapples with an uncertain future and whether or not love is worth the risk.
297 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 2, 2025
64 people are currently reading
14613 people want to read
About the author
Raegan Revord
1 book420 followersRAEGAN REVORD starred in the CBS hit series Young Sheldon and its spinoff, Georgie and Mandy’s First Marriage, in the breakthrough role of Missy Cooper. Raegan is a dedicated writer and avid reader who launched the hugely popular book club, Read With Raegan, in 2022. A San Diego native, Raegan now lives in Los Angeles with five rescue pets.
source: Amazon
source: Amazon
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July 18, 2025Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced readers copy (arc)
Dnf at 38%
TW: grief of a parent.
All though the book was enjoyable to pick up when I had nothing else to do, it seemed to be super slow paced. I don’t think enough time was spent working on the character building because I really just didn’t care about the FMC enough to be intrigued while reading the book. The writing was good for a debut novel and I do want to try to read it again at some point. I’m a major mood reader, so that might be why it wasn’t easy to binge.
The romance seemed to be more of a subplot which I found to be strange because the main genre is supposed to be romance. The two girls were enjoyable characters but I didn’t know really anything about them. I’m sure if I finished the book I’d be able to connect with the two more and because of that I do want to read it again when it comes out.
The book reminded me a lot of the book Love and Gelato. Personally I liked love and gelato, but it’s similar to this book in the way that it’s hard to get into.
I’d recommend trying it out when the release day rolls around because it was fun to read. Also, keep in mind that I get distracted easily and the writing was easy to read, so it’s likely that this book could be your thing it just didn’t seem to be what I needed while I was reading it.
Dnf at 38%
TW: grief of a parent.
All though the book was enjoyable to pick up when I had nothing else to do, it seemed to be super slow paced. I don’t think enough time was spent working on the character building because I really just didn’t care about the FMC enough to be intrigued while reading the book. The writing was good for a debut novel and I do want to try to read it again at some point. I’m a major mood reader, so that might be why it wasn’t easy to binge.
The romance seemed to be more of a subplot which I found to be strange because the main genre is supposed to be romance. The two girls were enjoyable characters but I didn’t know really anything about them. I’m sure if I finished the book I’d be able to connect with the two more and because of that I do want to read it again when it comes out.
The book reminded me a lot of the book Love and Gelato. Personally I liked love and gelato, but it’s similar to this book in the way that it’s hard to get into.
I’d recommend trying it out when the release day rolls around because it was fun to read. Also, keep in mind that I get distracted easily and the writing was easy to read, so it’s likely that this book could be your thing it just didn’t seem to be what I needed while I was reading it.
![Profile Image for l i z [save the sharks‼️].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1749134410i%2F179013597._UX200_CR0%2C0%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
Want to read
May 28, 2025this looks so cute! i love the cover….. also fake dating??
August 17, 2025
•*⁀➷ 4.75 ✰’s
♪ 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣- 𝙛𝙖𝙮𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧
𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭:
𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘰, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹-𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀/𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲𝘀:
𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨-𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵
𝘳𝘰𝘮-𝘤𝘰𝘮
𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘓𝘘𝘉𝘛𝘘+ 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺
𝘁𝘄:
𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧
𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘢
𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚
this was such a fun, adorable, fast-paced romance, and a great debut novel. i really enjoyed the aspect of the scavenger hunt and i thought that was super fun as well as the fake dating too! i loved all the characters so much, they were amazing. i also loved the character development between each character throughout the novel. i also really liked the titles to each chapter, i thought it was unique and cute at the same time!
(e.g. from chapter 1)
“𝒓𝒐𝒎-𝒄𝒐𝒎 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆 #1: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆.”
though, the only thing that bothered me is at times, the scavenger hunt would be forgotten about at points in the story, and i too would end up forgetting about it, and also the ending felt rushed, but at the same time not? i feel as though the novel could’ve been a tiny bit longer to fill it in.
but overall, this is definitely-hands down-a new, fav read of mine, and definitely gonna reread when it releases!💗
“𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚,…”
𝟮𝟰/𝟴/𝟭𝟮 - 𝟮𝟰/𝟴/𝟭𝟲
𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝:
𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 (𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭-𝘢𝘳𝘤) 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!
i’m finally going to get through all my arcs (so many of them release soon ahhh). but i’m kinda hyped for this one, cause like… fake dating you say?🤭 the cover is so cute, and in general, this seems like such a fun read!
♪ 𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙣- 𝙛𝙖𝙮𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙗𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧
𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭:
𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭, 𝘸𝘩𝘰, 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘢 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘢 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘰𝘯, 𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥. 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘦𝘹-𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳.
𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝘀/𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲𝘀:
𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨-𝘢𝘥𝘶𝘭𝘵
𝘳𝘰𝘮-𝘤𝘰𝘮
𝘧𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨
𝘓𝘘𝘉𝘛𝘘+ 𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦
𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘺
𝘁𝘄:
𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧
𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘳
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘮
𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘣𝘪𝘢
𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚
this was such a fun, adorable, fast-paced romance, and a great debut novel. i really enjoyed the aspect of the scavenger hunt and i thought that was super fun as well as the fake dating too! i loved all the characters so much, they were amazing. i also loved the character development between each character throughout the novel. i also really liked the titles to each chapter, i thought it was unique and cute at the same time!
(e.g. from chapter 1)
“𝒓𝒐𝒎-𝒄𝒐𝒎 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆 #1: 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒃𝒂𝒈𝒈𝒂𝒈𝒆.”
though, the only thing that bothered me is at times, the scavenger hunt would be forgotten about at points in the story, and i too would end up forgetting about it, and also the ending felt rushed, but at the same time not? i feel as though the novel could’ve been a tiny bit longer to fill it in.
but overall, this is definitely-hands down-a new, fav read of mine, and definitely gonna reread when it releases!💗
“𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚,…”
𝟮𝟰/𝟴/𝟭𝟮 - 𝟮𝟰/𝟴/𝟭𝟲
𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝:
𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 (𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭-𝘢𝘳𝘤) 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸!
i’m finally going to get through all my arcs (so many of them release soon ahhh). but i’m kinda hyped for this one, cause like… fake dating you say?🤭 the cover is so cute, and in general, this seems like such a fun read!
May 5, 2025
Special thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review
I'm really so sad about this. This book started off SO strong. I was reading it at work when I wasn't supposed to because I was invested from the very first page. The scavenger hunt, the meet cute, the clever chapter titles were all just SO MUCH FUN. I really loved the diversity among all of Avery's new friends, and I thought this was going to be a slam dunk of a story.
But around the 36% mark, it started to become very apparent this was not a book written by a seasoned author. There were many repetitive phrases, and Avery's pining was just the same words over and over for quite a few chapters. This book could easily be 100 pages shorter, and still tell the exact same story without feeling like anything is missing.
By the 50% mark, the scavenger hunt was pretty much abandoned and forgotten, and the plot starts focusing on MANY other things. There was too much going on, and considering my investment was with the scavenger hunt, this started to become a chore to read now that it wasn't front and center to the plot.
I think this book has so much potential if it just goes through another round of edits. There's some typos and weird moments with pronouns (that isn't affecting my review at all, since this is an arc and most likely not the final copy that will hit the shelves when it officially publishes in September, but I felt it was worth mentioning).
I wasn't familiar with who Raegan Revord was when I received this arc, and if I was rating solely based on the fact that this is their debut novel while only being 17, this would be 5 stars easy. I think it's a great start for someone adventuring into the publishing world. I just think the lack of experience came into play a bit too much for me, and I couldn't enjoy this as much as I really wanted to. Honestly, I think teens will eat this right up and fall in love with everything about it. It unfortunately just wasn't the story for me.
I hope Raegan continues writing though, because I have no doubt that any future stories they come up with will be amazing once they have a little more experience under their belt.
I'm really so sad about this. This book started off SO strong. I was reading it at work when I wasn't supposed to because I was invested from the very first page. The scavenger hunt, the meet cute, the clever chapter titles were all just SO MUCH FUN. I really loved the diversity among all of Avery's new friends, and I thought this was going to be a slam dunk of a story.
But around the 36% mark, it started to become very apparent this was not a book written by a seasoned author. There were many repetitive phrases, and Avery's pining was just the same words over and over for quite a few chapters. This book could easily be 100 pages shorter, and still tell the exact same story without feeling like anything is missing.
By the 50% mark, the scavenger hunt was pretty much abandoned and forgotten, and the plot starts focusing on MANY other things. There was too much going on, and considering my investment was with the scavenger hunt, this started to become a chore to read now that it wasn't front and center to the plot.
I think this book has so much potential if it just goes through another round of edits. There's some typos and weird moments with pronouns (that isn't affecting my review at all, since this is an arc and most likely not the final copy that will hit the shelves when it officially publishes in September, but I felt it was worth mentioning).
I wasn't familiar with who Raegan Revord was when I received this arc, and if I was rating solely based on the fact that this is their debut novel while only being 17, this would be 5 stars easy. I think it's a great start for someone adventuring into the publishing world. I just think the lack of experience came into play a bit too much for me, and I couldn't enjoy this as much as I really wanted to. Honestly, I think teens will eat this right up and fall in love with everything about it. It unfortunately just wasn't the story for me.
I hope Raegan continues writing though, because I have no doubt that any future stories they come up with will be amazing once they have a little more experience under their belt.
April 26, 2025
Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved this so much!!! This book is perfect for fans of Alice Oseman and Casey McQuiston (especially I Kissed Shara Wheeler). I lived for all the queer joy and found family that Avery made through out the book. My only complaint is that I want more! I would love a sequel for Avery and Charlie. Overall a fantastic debut novel and I can’t wait to see what Revord writes next.
I loved this so much!!! This book is perfect for fans of Alice Oseman and Casey McQuiston (especially I Kissed Shara Wheeler). I lived for all the queer joy and found family that Avery made through out the book. My only complaint is that I want more! I would love a sequel for Avery and Charlie. Overall a fantastic debut novel and I can’t wait to see what Revord writes next.
August 20, 2025
⋆｡°✩ 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 ⋆｡°✩
4.25 stars | a cute and heartfelt sapphic romance | 0.5/3 spice, 0/3 violence, mild profanity, trigger warnings such as self harm and eating disorders | cute romance, cool setting, and interesting subplot!
*:･ﾟ✧♡ 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤 *:･ﾟ✧♡
Characters: the characters didn’t particularly stand out to me, as someone who really appreciates well written characters, however I really liked how much representation we had in this book. Gay, non-binary, disability, trans, and self harm were all portrayed (incorrect grammar I know) and it sort of flowed well; it didn’t feel too forced, if you know what I mean? But everything was addressed and made to feel real, again, if you know what I mean, and I really liked that.
Setting: setting was probably my favorite part; Brighton was just so cool, and it wasn’t explained in super detail but I still really liked the vibes we got.
Plot: the plot was pretty good; I liked the fake dating and the slow burn, but I don’t really have much to say about it.
Also, can I just say that Avery was pretty relatable? Except for the few times where her absolute obliviousness drove me mad, I really sympathized with her about a lot. Reading, writing, friends; I felt all of that. Except for relationships. Couldn’t be me. XD
But in seriousness, Charlie and Avery were so cute, and the whole of the concert was just so swoon worthy. I love them.
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤 ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.
First, at some points the pacing felt a little disjointed. The passing of time wasn’t super natural, like there were time skips where there shouldn’t have been and weren’t time skips where there should have been you know? So that sort of took away from the plot.
And the plot. In regard to Avery and Charlie’s relationship, I think it was focused on a lot more in the beginning of the book rather than towards the end. It was from a romance book to a story about grief and loss and back again, and while these are all important parts of the story, I wish they had been incorporated a bit more naturally.
* ੈ✩‧₊˚ 𝕨𝕣𝕒𝕡-𝕦𝕡 * ੈ✩‧₊˚
Overall, this was a really cute book, with a diverse cast of characters and interesting fake dating. If you’re looking for aforementioned fake dating or just a cute book, I’d recommend this!!!
⋆˚⚡︎˖° 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 ⋆˚⚡︎˖°
Rules for Fake Girlfriends releases September 2, 2025!!!
˙⋆.˚𐙚 𝕡𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 ˙⋆.˚𐙚
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, and to NetGalley for giving me a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
All thoughts are my own :D
4.25 stars | a cute and heartfelt sapphic romance | 0.5/3 spice, 0/3 violence, mild profanity, trigger warnings such as self harm and eating disorders | cute romance, cool setting, and interesting subplot!
*:･ﾟ✧♡ 𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤 *:･ﾟ✧♡
Characters: the characters didn’t particularly stand out to me, as someone who really appreciates well written characters, however I really liked how much representation we had in this book. Gay, non-binary, disability, trans, and self harm were all portrayed (incorrect grammar I know) and it sort of flowed well; it didn’t feel too forced, if you know what I mean? But everything was addressed and made to feel real, again, if you know what I mean, and I really liked that.
Setting: setting was probably my favorite part; Brighton was just so cool, and it wasn’t explained in super detail but I still really liked the vibes we got.
Plot: the plot was pretty good; I liked the fake dating and the slow burn, but I don’t really have much to say about it.
Also, can I just say that Avery was pretty relatable? Except for the few times where her absolute obliviousness drove me mad, I really sympathized with her about a lot. Reading, writing, friends; I felt all of that. Except for relationships. Couldn’t be me. XD
But in seriousness, Charlie and Avery were so cute, and the whole of the concert was just so swoon worthy. I love them.
‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚. 𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕝𝕚𝕜𝕖𝕤 ‧₊˚❀༉‧₊˚.
First, at some points the pacing felt a little disjointed. The passing of time wasn’t super natural, like there were time skips where there shouldn’t have been and weren’t time skips where there should have been you know? So that sort of took away from the plot.
And the plot. In regard to Avery and Charlie’s relationship, I think it was focused on a lot more in the beginning of the book rather than towards the end. It was from a romance book to a story about grief and loss and back again, and while these are all important parts of the story, I wish they had been incorporated a bit more naturally.
* ੈ✩‧₊˚ 𝕨𝕣𝕒𝕡-𝕦𝕡 * ੈ✩‧₊˚
Overall, this was a really cute book, with a diverse cast of characters and interesting fake dating. If you’re looking for aforementioned fake dating or just a cute book, I’d recommend this!!!
⋆˚⚡︎˖° 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕖𝕒𝕤𝕖 ⋆˚⚡︎˖°
Rules for Fake Girlfriends releases September 2, 2025!!!
˙⋆.˚𐙚 𝕡𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 ˙⋆.˚𐙚
Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, and to NetGalley for giving me a free e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!
All thoughts are my own :D
May 7, 2025
3,5 * — Cute debut! I definitely want to read more from this author in the future!
❥ The story was fun! I enjoyed both storylines (the fake-dating and the scavenger hunt), though I think sometimes the scavenger hunt was kind of forgotten about. Also, the scavenger hunt was sometimes too easy. Like, they’d just conveniently find someone who knew Avery’s mum and could help them find the next clue. They’d stumble upon a clue that, somehow, nobody had found in 25 years, even though it was in a publicly accessible place and not very well hidden. Idk, it was a little too easy at times.
❥ The fake-dating was quite silly. But the characters acknowledged how silly it was, which I really appreciated. The book was really self-aware in that way!
❥ A couple of things sometimes happened off-page, which was a little… :/ Nothing major, but it happened enough times that I noticed (and wished I had seen those things happen).
❥ I reeeeally liked the chapter titles!!! Bring back fun chapter titles yessss!!!!!!!!!!
❥ The MC was well-written and I enjoyed her arc. Seeing her deal with her mother’s passing and her father clamming up was interesting. Charlie was a cute LI and I like that her and Avery became friends first. And I also liked the SCs (and lowkey wish we’d spent more time with them). They were all quite nice and well-rounded.
❥ The character descriptions were inconsistent. Avery was described as having hazel eyes, then later her eyes are described as blue. Charlie’s eyes are light brown, then dark brown, then hazelnut, then hot cocoa. Charlie’s hair is described as honey-brown, then strawberry-blond, then hazelnut. Charlie has tan skin, but later pale skin. Avery’s mum is described as having pale blond hair, then auburn-brown.
❥ There were also a handful of typos (and, towards the end, Maddi goes from using they/them to she/her…. I’m assuming it was also a mistake?). Overall, this book definitely needs another round of editing.
ARCs available for everyone to download on Netgalley. (review written on 07/05/2025)
❥ The story was fun! I enjoyed both storylines (the fake-dating and the scavenger hunt), though I think sometimes the scavenger hunt was kind of forgotten about. Also, the scavenger hunt was sometimes too easy. Like, they’d just conveniently find someone who knew Avery’s mum and could help them find the next clue. They’d stumble upon a clue that, somehow, nobody had found in 25 years, even though it was in a publicly accessible place and not very well hidden. Idk, it was a little too easy at times.
❥ The fake-dating was quite silly. But the characters acknowledged how silly it was, which I really appreciated. The book was really self-aware in that way!
❥ A couple of things sometimes happened off-page, which was a little… :/ Nothing major, but it happened enough times that I noticed (and wished I had seen those things happen).
❥ I reeeeally liked the chapter titles!!! Bring back fun chapter titles yessss!!!!!!!!!!
❥ The MC was well-written and I enjoyed her arc. Seeing her deal with her mother’s passing and her father clamming up was interesting. Charlie was a cute LI and I like that her and Avery became friends first. And I also liked the SCs (and lowkey wish we’d spent more time with them). They were all quite nice and well-rounded.
❥ The character descriptions were inconsistent. Avery was described as having hazel eyes, then later her eyes are described as blue. Charlie’s eyes are light brown, then dark brown, then hazelnut, then hot cocoa. Charlie’s hair is described as honey-brown, then strawberry-blond, then hazelnut. Charlie has tan skin, but later pale skin. Avery’s mum is described as having pale blond hair, then auburn-brown.
❥ There were also a handful of typos (and, towards the end, Maddi goes from using they/them to she/her…. I’m assuming it was also a mistake?). Overall, this book definitely needs another round of editing.
ARCs available for everyone to download on Netgalley. (review written on 07/05/2025)
July 16, 2024
I can't wait for this to come out!!!
April 26, 2025
Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for this ARC!!!
I’ve been so excited to read this one and when I found out it was available on NetGalley I RAN to download it! I’m a big fan of Raegan Revord from Young Sheldon, but I also love how she has a book club and is an avid reader!
Avery abandons her plans to go to Columbia for college and instead heads to her recently deceased mother’s alma mater in Brighton, England. While on a train, Avery meets Charlie and they make a deal—Avery agrees to fake date Charlie to make her ex jealous if Charlie helps Avery with a scavenger hunt her mom left her.
I really loved this book!! Both the characters and the plot were great! It was a mix of emotions/heavier topics and fun. I love a good scavenger hunt, PLUS fake dating is one of my favorite tropes!!
The way the topic of grief was handled in this book was done really well! It felt very realistic, both from Avery’s perspective as well as her dad’s. I also appreciate how her friendship was Amira was done, because growing apart from your childhood friends in college is definitely realistic.
The cast of characters is great in this book! The main group is a queer friend group and all of them are really fleshed out and have distinct personalities! I won’t lie- sometimes I was annoyed that they were there because it took time away from the romance, but by the end I really appreciated and liked them all lol
I definitely recommend this book! It made me cry/tear up a few times, but mostly it made me smile and laugh. It was written very well and I really hope Raegan writes more books in the future!
If you’re a fan of Rachael Lippincott, Jennis Voris, Lynn Painter, or Sophie Gonzales, you will love this book!!
I’ve been so excited to read this one and when I found out it was available on NetGalley I RAN to download it! I’m a big fan of Raegan Revord from Young Sheldon, but I also love how she has a book club and is an avid reader!
Avery abandons her plans to go to Columbia for college and instead heads to her recently deceased mother’s alma mater in Brighton, England. While on a train, Avery meets Charlie and they make a deal—Avery agrees to fake date Charlie to make her ex jealous if Charlie helps Avery with a scavenger hunt her mom left her.
I really loved this book!! Both the characters and the plot were great! It was a mix of emotions/heavier topics and fun. I love a good scavenger hunt, PLUS fake dating is one of my favorite tropes!!
The way the topic of grief was handled in this book was done really well! It felt very realistic, both from Avery’s perspective as well as her dad’s. I also appreciate how her friendship was Amira was done, because growing apart from your childhood friends in college is definitely realistic.
The cast of characters is great in this book! The main group is a queer friend group and all of them are really fleshed out and have distinct personalities! I won’t lie- sometimes I was annoyed that they were there because it took time away from the romance, but by the end I really appreciated and liked them all lol
I definitely recommend this book! It made me cry/tear up a few times, but mostly it made me smile and laugh. It was written very well and I really hope Raegan writes more books in the future!
If you’re a fan of Rachael Lippincott, Jennis Voris, Lynn Painter, or Sophie Gonzales, you will love this book!!
August 19, 2025
This book is really for the romcom lovers. I picked this up with my only understanding of the plot coming from the title because I am a fan of Raegan Revord, and I’m so glad I did! This book is self aware in a way that many romcoms aren’t and I think that’s what makes it so fun. Also, I’m a sucker for fun chapter titles, so I was happy to see those featured in this.
Rules for Fake Girlfriends follows Avery as she tries to find herself after a big change and experiences many firsts along the way. Revord put so much love and depth into Avery that I really appreciated; she’s not a perfect character, she makes mistakes that are appropriate for her circumstances, she experiences emotions the same way many her age would, and she grows in a way that is satisfying but doesn’t make it feel like she did a complete one eighty. Besides Avery, all of the friends she makes have their own stories that you get sucked into, wanting everyone to have their own success story.
I really enjoyed both of the main plots in this story, obviously the romance, and the journey Avery goes on in this new place. This was such a fun read, and I loved seeing some of my favorite romcoms mentioned and the tropes that are always present being called out (in a good way, of course). There is amazing LGBTQ+ and disability representation, and overall this is such a sweet debut novel from Revord and I can’t wait to follow their journey as an author. If you’re a romcom fan, you definitely need to check this one out on September 2nd!
*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books for this ARC!*
Rules for Fake Girlfriends follows Avery as she tries to find herself after a big change and experiences many firsts along the way. Revord put so much love and depth into Avery that I really appreciated; she’s not a perfect character, she makes mistakes that are appropriate for her circumstances, she experiences emotions the same way many her age would, and she grows in a way that is satisfying but doesn’t make it feel like she did a complete one eighty. Besides Avery, all of the friends she makes have their own stories that you get sucked into, wanting everyone to have their own success story.
I really enjoyed both of the main plots in this story, obviously the romance, and the journey Avery goes on in this new place. This was such a fun read, and I loved seeing some of my favorite romcoms mentioned and the tropes that are always present being called out (in a good way, of course). There is amazing LGBTQ+ and disability representation, and overall this is such a sweet debut novel from Revord and I can’t wait to follow their journey as an author. If you’re a romcom fan, you definitely need to check this one out on September 2nd!
*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press | Wednesday Books for this ARC!*
September 3, 2025
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), death of a parent from cancer, parent with depression
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), death of a parent from cancer, parent with depression
April 29, 2025
Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This is a great debut novel! Super cute premise and I love fake dating tropes! There was a lot of great queer representation, character growth, and modeling of healthy friendships and relationships. The book did go off on a bit of a tangent trying to cover a few too many things, but I still really enjoyed it and look forward to what comes next!
This is a great debut novel! Super cute premise and I love fake dating tropes! There was a lot of great queer representation, character growth, and modeling of healthy friendships and relationships. The book did go off on a bit of a tangent trying to cover a few too many things, but I still really enjoyed it and look forward to what comes next!
Want to read
April 19, 2024101% reading this when it releases!
i'm an avid reader (esp queer books) and also a huge fan of raegan revord <3
when an e-arc or a preorder be out?
i'm an avid reader (esp queer books) and also a huge fan of raegan revord <3
when an e-arc or a preorder be out?
August 20, 2025
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
To start off I gave this book 3 stars. While I did enjoy multiple aspects of this book, there were some parts that felt really repetitive.
Some things I really loved:
• Disability Representation: There was a character in this book who has EDS and was frequently in a wheelchair or using a cane. As I don’t normally read to many book with a disability rep it was great to see. There were some other characters with disabilities and chronic illnesses as well.
• Similarly there was also a lot of different representation regarding their sexuality identities, and it can be hard to find books with representation of different sexuality’s.
• Every character had a unique personality: They also all had a hobby or something of interest to them giving depth to the characters.
•The chapter titles: This was something I hadn’t seen in a while and it was really fun to read all the quirky chapter titles. It gave a cute heads up as to what was about to come in the chapter, while also adding an extra layer and touch to the book.
Some things I disliked:
•It felt like the two major plot points were interchangeable. There was times when the scavenger hunt was totally forgotten about and they would go chapters without talking about it. Also the scavenger hunt felt almost too easy, the main character (Avery) would come across a challenge and it would be solved the next day. Also whenever she showed up to a new place, she would immediately get the next clue, there was no actual searching.
• The book was in need of an edit: I do know this is not the final copy of the book, so I will not judge too hard. However, there was a lot of repetition and occasionally there would be different descriptions of the same character. The author would refer to one of the characters having blond hair then suddenly the same character would be described as having brown hair. Knowing that the author is seventeen and it’s their debut novel, the writing is something that could be easily overlooked and that I’m sure in time the author will grow into their writing.
Overall, this book could use some work, but it was by no means bad. I look forward to seeing what they write next.
To start off I gave this book 3 stars. While I did enjoy multiple aspects of this book, there were some parts that felt really repetitive.
Some things I really loved:
• Disability Representation: There was a character in this book who has EDS and was frequently in a wheelchair or using a cane. As I don’t normally read to many book with a disability rep it was great to see. There were some other characters with disabilities and chronic illnesses as well.
• Similarly there was also a lot of different representation regarding their sexuality identities, and it can be hard to find books with representation of different sexuality’s.
• Every character had a unique personality: They also all had a hobby or something of interest to them giving depth to the characters.
•The chapter titles: This was something I hadn’t seen in a while and it was really fun to read all the quirky chapter titles. It gave a cute heads up as to what was about to come in the chapter, while also adding an extra layer and touch to the book.
Some things I disliked:
•It felt like the two major plot points were interchangeable. There was times when the scavenger hunt was totally forgotten about and they would go chapters without talking about it. Also the scavenger hunt felt almost too easy, the main character (Avery) would come across a challenge and it would be solved the next day. Also whenever she showed up to a new place, she would immediately get the next clue, there was no actual searching.
• The book was in need of an edit: I do know this is not the final copy of the book, so I will not judge too hard. However, there was a lot of repetition and occasionally there would be different descriptions of the same character. The author would refer to one of the characters having blond hair then suddenly the same character would be described as having brown hair. Knowing that the author is seventeen and it’s their debut novel, the writing is something that could be easily overlooked and that I’m sure in time the author will grow into their writing.
Overall, this book could use some work, but it was by no means bad. I look forward to seeing what they write next.
August 18, 2025
✉️ : Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to have a copy of this arc.
I do look forward to reading more by Raegan in the future, this was a cute read
I fell in love with this book pretty much right away, in a way it reminded me of Love & Gelato, which was also a really good read.
I really loved the characters, the meet cute, and especially the scavenger hunt, which was fun. ─Though I wish there was more of that, at times I felt like it was forgotten─
I do feel like some parts of the book felt a little rushed but it was still great.
The characters had tons of diversity and the friend group was fun and they had pretty good development.
I 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 when chapters have names, so this was adorable (e.g. 𝙍𝙤𝙢-𝘾𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚 #1: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙨 𝘼 𝙏𝙤𝙣 𝙊𝙛 𝘽𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙍𝙤𝙢-𝘾𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚 #7: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙤-𝙉𝙤𝙩-𝘼-𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙄𝙣 𝘼 𝙏𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙐𝙣𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙎𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙄𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙍𝙤𝙢-𝘾𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚 #14: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙄𝙨 𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙘, etc.) It's always such a fun addition to a book and I wish more books would have them.
For a debut novel this is really good, the writing is nice though not perfect. Some bits felt a little repetitive but it wasn't to the point to where it was unbearable.
Fake dating is a favorite trope of mine, Charlie and Avery were really cute, I do wish there was more communicating though.
I did want to point out the fact that Maddi, goes by they/them pronouns, nothing wrong with that of course, but at a few times in the book (I think only at the end, or at least for the most part) I did notice that she/her was used for Maddi.
Also the descriptions of the characters got changed up from time to time, Avery was said to have hazel eyes, and later blue eyes, same happened with a few other characters multiple times too.
This is still an arc (though the book gets published in 15 days, I don't think there's time for some stuff to be changed but🤷♀️)
I do look forward to reading more by Raegan in the future, this was a cute read
I fell in love with this book pretty much right away, in a way it reminded me of Love & Gelato, which was also a really good read.
I really loved the characters, the meet cute, and especially the scavenger hunt, which was fun. ─Though I wish there was more of that, at times I felt like it was forgotten─
I do feel like some parts of the book felt a little rushed but it was still great.
The characters had tons of diversity and the friend group was fun and they had pretty good development.
I 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 when chapters have names, so this was adorable (e.g. 𝙍𝙤𝙢-𝘾𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚 #1: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙖𝙨 𝘼 𝙏𝙤𝙣 𝙊𝙛 𝘽𝙖𝙜𝙜𝙖𝙜𝙚, 𝙍𝙤𝙢-𝘾𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚 #7: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙤-𝙉𝙤𝙩-𝘼-𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙢𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙄𝙣 𝘼 𝙏𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙐𝙣𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙘 𝙎𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙒𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙉𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙄𝙣 𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙇𝙞𝙛𝙚, 𝙍𝙤𝙢-𝘾𝙤𝙢 𝙍𝙪𝙡𝙚 #14: 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙞𝙧𝙨𝙩 𝙆𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙄𝙨 𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙀𝙥𝙞𝙘, etc.) It's always such a fun addition to a book and I wish more books would have them.
For a debut novel this is really good, the writing is nice though not perfect. Some bits felt a little repetitive but it wasn't to the point to where it was unbearable.
Fake dating is a favorite trope of mine, Charlie and Avery were really cute, I do wish there was more communicating though.
I did want to point out the fact that Maddi, goes by they/them pronouns, nothing wrong with that of course, but at a few times in the book (I think only at the end, or at least for the most part) I did notice that she/her was used for Maddi.
Also the descriptions of the characters got changed up from time to time, Avery was said to have hazel eyes, and later blue eyes, same happened with a few other characters multiple times too.
This is still an arc (though the book gets published in 15 days, I don't think there's time for some stuff to be changed but🤷♀️)
August 13, 2025
Thank you to Netgalley and Raegan Revord for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!!
Hmm. I’m not sure how to feel about this book. I’m a big fan of Raegan Revord’s acting, however this book just didn’t hit home for me. I felt as thought I was reading a Wattpad fan fiction almost the entire book. I appreciated the nods to other romance books such as “Red, White and Royal Blue” or “Love Actually”, but it just didn’t hit like I thought it would.
Let’s start with the good things!
- The descriptions the author provided were pretty good. I love reading about the castle towards the end of the novel, or the outfits specifically Charlie was wearing throughout.
- The characters had such diversity and were really easy to relate to. I really loved Maddi’s story, and I think Colin’s EDS mention was awesome as someone who has EDS in my family!
- The emotions Avery went through during her first year at Brighton were very consistent with a freshman in college.
- There was a cat!! Need I say more? We need more Circe content.
The middle:
- The writing is consistent with a 17 year old. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing or a good thing, I think it’s definitely up to the reader!
- It was fast. Like REALLY FAST. I couldn’t keep up at times!
The bad:
- Why did Avery abandon the hunt at the end? To me, she didn’t seem like a character who would’ve done that. I think we lost a lot of plot there.
- There were some points where I had to go back and reread a few paragraphs. I was a little confused during some conversations and interactions.
- It was cliche and predictable. Of course, many romance novels are, however I could’ve predicted the ending as soon as we met Charlie.
- As I mentioned earlier, this felt very much like a Wattpad fan fic. I can’t get that thought out of my head.
Overall, I thought it was cute but I probably wouldn’t pick it up again. It was lackluster for me.
Hmm. I’m not sure how to feel about this book. I’m a big fan of Raegan Revord’s acting, however this book just didn’t hit home for me. I felt as thought I was reading a Wattpad fan fiction almost the entire book. I appreciated the nods to other romance books such as “Red, White and Royal Blue” or “Love Actually”, but it just didn’t hit like I thought it would.
Let’s start with the good things!
- The descriptions the author provided were pretty good. I love reading about the castle towards the end of the novel, or the outfits specifically Charlie was wearing throughout.
- The characters had such diversity and were really easy to relate to. I really loved Maddi’s story, and I think Colin’s EDS mention was awesome as someone who has EDS in my family!
- The emotions Avery went through during her first year at Brighton were very consistent with a freshman in college.
- There was a cat!! Need I say more? We need more Circe content.
The middle:
- The writing is consistent with a 17 year old. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing or a good thing, I think it’s definitely up to the reader!
- It was fast. Like REALLY FAST. I couldn’t keep up at times!
The bad:
- Why did Avery abandon the hunt at the end? To me, she didn’t seem like a character who would’ve done that. I think we lost a lot of plot there.
- There were some points where I had to go back and reread a few paragraphs. I was a little confused during some conversations and interactions.
- It was cliche and predictable. Of course, many romance novels are, however I could’ve predicted the ending as soon as we met Charlie.
- As I mentioned earlier, this felt very much like a Wattpad fan fic. I can’t get that thought out of my head.
Overall, I thought it was cute but I probably wouldn’t pick it up again. It was lackluster for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2025
Thank you netgalley and Raegan Revord for the arc. I love the concept of this book and found it to be a great read for vacation! When I saw the book took place in London I knew I had to read it on my trip. While I thoroughly enjoyed it there were small plot holes in the book leaving out minor details.
Avery Blackwell has given up her dream of going to Columbia to go to the college her mother went to. After receiving a post card from her mother before her death she set off for London to find one last scavenger hunt from her mom to feel her connection.
Avery Blackwell has given up her dream of going to Columbia to go to the college her mother went to. After receiving a post card from her mother before her death she set off for London to find one last scavenger hunt from her mom to feel her connection.
April 23, 2025
I can’t wait for this to come out i bet it will be the best book ever written!!!!!
June 12, 2025
This book started out very strong. I found the first half so gripping, but around the second half wasn't as interesting to me. In my opinion it could have used more editing, but it's still great.
This ARC has an insane number of typos. More than I've seen in any ARC I've ever read. I assume that the copy/editor is going to review it before it hits shelves.
This ARC has an insane number of typos. More than I've seen in any ARC I've ever read. I assume that the copy/editor is going to review it before it hits shelves.
April 28, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book!
Anyone who knows me knows i’m a huge fan of the fake dating trope, so this book had me hooked right away!
The characters were incredibly diverse and relatable, with different backgrounds, identities, and personal stories that kept me engaged. The portrayal of grief, especially through Avery and her dad, felt very real, especially from my perspective of someone who could relate so heavily, and I appreciated the realistic depiction of growing apart from childhood friends, like Avery and Amira.
This book is full of queer joy and found family, perfect for fans of Alice Oseman or Casey McQuiston (Heartstopper and Red White & Royal Blue References I see you). I absolutely loved it and only wish there was more! Definitely hoping for a sequel about Avery and Charlie.
An impressive debut from Raegan, and I can't wait to read more from them. Highly recommend! It made me laugh, cry, and smile.
Anyone who knows me knows i’m a huge fan of the fake dating trope, so this book had me hooked right away!
The characters were incredibly diverse and relatable, with different backgrounds, identities, and personal stories that kept me engaged. The portrayal of grief, especially through Avery and her dad, felt very real, especially from my perspective of someone who could relate so heavily, and I appreciated the realistic depiction of growing apart from childhood friends, like Avery and Amira.
This book is full of queer joy and found family, perfect for fans of Alice Oseman or Casey McQuiston (Heartstopper and Red White & Royal Blue References I see you). I absolutely loved it and only wish there was more! Definitely hoping for a sequel about Avery and Charlie.
An impressive debut from Raegan, and I can't wait to read more from them. Highly recommend! It made me laugh, cry, and smile.
December 29, 2024
Looking forward for this one!!
July 8, 2025
Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the arc.
Minor spoilers ahead
This was a sweet and fun summer read that I've been highly anticipating. When I saw Revord announce their book, I knew I had to get my hands on it. It checks a lot of boxes for me: fake-dating, British accents, cute cats, and a good mystery to top it off.
We follow Avery as she heads off to college in London, the school her recently deceased mother attended. Her father is wary -- and struggling to cope with his grief. In London, Avery meets a girl named Charlie who, in an effort to win back her ex, enlists Avery to pretend to be her girlfriend. All the while, Avery is trying to solve a scavenger hunt her mom left for her while also not being the biggest cliche in the rom-com world and falling for the girl she's pretending to date.
I did like this book, but I ended up feeling just a little disappointed. I just wanted more of... everything. There's a lot going on, which means some aspects just fall flat. The romance, while sweet, was one area that, unfortunately, I didn't fully love. I felt it was very insta-lovey and didn't get fleshed out as much as I would've liked. I also didn't really care for the "twist" they went for in regards to Charlie, and by the end of the book, I just wanted them to communicate with each other for once!!
I did like the cute chapter titles and how Avery's work in her creative writing class, as she attempts to break the rules of rom-coms, starts to mirror her own real life. There was also a very diverse cast of characters -- several LGBTQ+, nonbinary, disabled, and POC characters. One minor note on that that doesn't affect my rating, but I just wanted to mention: there are quite a few instances throughout when the wrong pronouns are used for a nonbinary character. Just wanted to point that out and hopefully it's fixed in the final publication.
I thought the scavenger hunt was fun, though it also lacked depth. It also doesn't really reveal anything to Avery that she didn't already know? It essentially takes her through her parents' love story, but to the reader, it doesn't feel particularly relevant. (When she found the rock with H+E carved into it, I really thought the twist was going to be that Halle and Charlie's mom, Esther, dated LOL, and I would've been so here for it)
I actually liked the storyline with Amira. It felt realistic to the way friendships change and evolve during major life transitions, and I was happy with the resolution that it was given. I felt it was the right balance of angst and realism.
This was a good by-the-pool read for me. It was mainly light and breezy, easy for me to pick up, read a little, then continue later. For a debut novel, Revord does a good job. The writing is strong, and the characters feel real. I just had a few issues with the pacing and development of certain plotlines. I'm excited to see what they do next, though!
3 stars
Minor spoilers ahead
This was a sweet and fun summer read that I've been highly anticipating. When I saw Revord announce their book, I knew I had to get my hands on it. It checks a lot of boxes for me: fake-dating, British accents, cute cats, and a good mystery to top it off.
We follow Avery as she heads off to college in London, the school her recently deceased mother attended. Her father is wary -- and struggling to cope with his grief. In London, Avery meets a girl named Charlie who, in an effort to win back her ex, enlists Avery to pretend to be her girlfriend. All the while, Avery is trying to solve a scavenger hunt her mom left for her while also not being the biggest cliche in the rom-com world and falling for the girl she's pretending to date.
I did like this book, but I ended up feeling just a little disappointed. I just wanted more of... everything. There's a lot going on, which means some aspects just fall flat. The romance, while sweet, was one area that, unfortunately, I didn't fully love. I felt it was very insta-lovey and didn't get fleshed out as much as I would've liked. I also didn't really care for the "twist" they went for in regards to Charlie, and by the end of the book, I just wanted them to communicate with each other for once!!
I did like the cute chapter titles and how Avery's work in her creative writing class, as she attempts to break the rules of rom-coms, starts to mirror her own real life. There was also a very diverse cast of characters -- several LGBTQ+, nonbinary, disabled, and POC characters. One minor note on that that doesn't affect my rating, but I just wanted to mention: there are quite a few instances throughout when the wrong pronouns are used for a nonbinary character. Just wanted to point that out and hopefully it's fixed in the final publication.
I thought the scavenger hunt was fun, though it also lacked depth. It also doesn't really reveal anything to Avery that she didn't already know? It essentially takes her through her parents' love story, but to the reader, it doesn't feel particularly relevant. (When she found the rock with H+E carved into it, I really thought the twist was going to be that Halle and Charlie's mom, Esther, dated LOL, and I would've been so here for it)
I actually liked the storyline with Amira. It felt realistic to the way friendships change and evolve during major life transitions, and I was happy with the resolution that it was given. I felt it was the right balance of angst and realism.
This was a good by-the-pool read for me. It was mainly light and breezy, easy for me to pick up, read a little, then continue later. For a debut novel, Revord does a good job. The writing is strong, and the characters feel real. I just had a few issues with the pacing and development of certain plotlines. I'm excited to see what they do next, though!
3 stars
August 1, 2025
Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday books for this eARC! Rules for Fake Girlfriends is like Better than the Movies meets Love and Gelato for lesbians. It’s a cute story with a lovely message about following your heart and navigating grief. With all that to say, this book could’ve benefited from another round or two of edits.
The bare bones were definitely there! The storyline was engaging and the side characters felt real. I also liked the chapter titles a lot, and the setting felt super immersive. And I absolutely loved Avery and Charlie’s meet-cute.
But I think the pacing was a bit off, especially toward the second half of the book. And there was more telling, rather than showing; too much description about what a character looked like, rather than their actions. And I also don’t like how the scavenger hunt storyline sort of got abandoned about halfway through the story and then came back so abruptly? It should’ve been interspersed a bit more. I also think we should’ve gotten more exposition to get to know Avery better. She didn’t fully develop as a character and her actions felt receptive. She also felt like a pretty bland character, and I wanted more for her, especially as she was grieving. Grief isn’t linear; however, I think more needed to be done to show how that affected her, other than the random moments in the scavenger hunt. Maybe flashbacks would help?
But back to what I actually liked about this book: it’s refreshing to read a book about young adults actually written by a young adult. The dialogue felt real, and each of the side characters, like Maddi and Colin were easy to depict. The little found-family aspect was cute and definitely reminiscent of that first year of college.
This book had a lot of excellent moments like the surprise date with Charlie and the spring break with her friends. Despite the lengthy descriptors, there was a lot of good use of description for these chapters.
I think I can see myself reading whatever Raegan Revord writes in the future because this was good for a debut, but I think more work could’ve been put into it on the editing side, especially given that Raegan is a celebrity author, and knowing how publishing works, their publisher definitely had the means to prioritize their title. and a side note, I hope the final version fixes some of the pronouns for the non-binary character because they got misgendered a few times.
3/5 stars
(I know I never write lengthy reviews, but reading this arc reminded me of my editing class I took a few years ago and I got into editor mode)
The bare bones were definitely there! The storyline was engaging and the side characters felt real. I also liked the chapter titles a lot, and the setting felt super immersive. And I absolutely loved Avery and Charlie’s meet-cute.
But I think the pacing was a bit off, especially toward the second half of the book. And there was more telling, rather than showing; too much description about what a character looked like, rather than their actions. And I also don’t like how the scavenger hunt storyline sort of got abandoned about halfway through the story and then came back so abruptly? It should’ve been interspersed a bit more. I also think we should’ve gotten more exposition to get to know Avery better. She didn’t fully develop as a character and her actions felt receptive. She also felt like a pretty bland character, and I wanted more for her, especially as she was grieving. Grief isn’t linear; however, I think more needed to be done to show how that affected her, other than the random moments in the scavenger hunt. Maybe flashbacks would help?
But back to what I actually liked about this book: it’s refreshing to read a book about young adults actually written by a young adult. The dialogue felt real, and each of the side characters, like Maddi and Colin were easy to depict. The little found-family aspect was cute and definitely reminiscent of that first year of college.
This book had a lot of excellent moments like the surprise date with Charlie and the spring break with her friends. Despite the lengthy descriptors, there was a lot of good use of description for these chapters.
I think I can see myself reading whatever Raegan Revord writes in the future because this was good for a debut, but I think more work could’ve been put into it on the editing side, especially given that Raegan is a celebrity author, and knowing how publishing works, their publisher definitely had the means to prioritize their title. and a side note, I hope the final version fixes some of the pronouns for the non-binary character because they got misgendered a few times.
3/5 stars
(I know I never write lengthy reviews, but reading this arc reminded me of my editing class I took a few years ago and I got into editor mode)
June 17, 2025
Avery decides to move to Brighton where her mother went to college in an effort to complete a scavenger hunt she'd left for her and shortly upon getting there she meets Charlie, a girl she decides to pretend to be a fake girlfriend for.
This book really disappointed me. It started out very strong, I was intrigued by the scavenger hunt, Avery's relationship with both her father and her late mother and how the whole fake dating thing was going to go. The pacing just felt so off though. Things would be repeated like one chapter later, or things would be contradictory where like for example Avery said she texted her best friend to visit but then that was never addressed again. The next convo her friend asked about meeting for lunch. Also at one point Avery was worried about what Charlie would think about something she'd done but they'd already seen each other since that happened so it felt very delayed and confusing.
I didn't let this part affect my review score because it could change in the published copy but I felt it was worth noting, there's some issues with pronoun usage that felt very clunky. Avery's roommate Maddi was misgendered multiple times when it was clear that they only used they/them pronouns. There were also several typos throughout the entire book.
Another thing I did like was the effort to be inclusive. I liked that there was a trans character, a couple nonbinary characters, of course lesbian characters, a character with ehlers danlos syndrome. Seeing people deal with different things not often shown was appreciated.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review.
This book really disappointed me. It started out very strong, I was intrigued by the scavenger hunt, Avery's relationship with both her father and her late mother and how the whole fake dating thing was going to go. The pacing just felt so off though. Things would be repeated like one chapter later, or things would be contradictory where like for example Avery said she texted her best friend to visit but then that was never addressed again. The next convo her friend asked about meeting for lunch. Also at one point Avery was worried about what Charlie would think about something she'd done but they'd already seen each other since that happened so it felt very delayed and confusing.
I didn't let this part affect my review score because it could change in the published copy but I felt it was worth noting, there's some issues with pronoun usage that felt very clunky. Avery's roommate Maddi was misgendered multiple times when it was clear that they only used they/them pronouns. There were also several typos throughout the entire book.
Another thing I did like was the effort to be inclusive. I liked that there was a trans character, a couple nonbinary characters, of course lesbian characters, a character with ehlers danlos syndrome. Seeing people deal with different things not often shown was appreciated.
Thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the ARC to review.
July 31, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for a complimentary early release copy of Rules For Fake Girlfriends by Raegan Revord.
I had high hopes for Rules For Fake Girlfriends, the premise of a scavenger hunt and the fake dating troupe sounds like an interesting combination but this book ended up falling flat for me. While this book is light hearted I was hoping for something along the lines of an adventure with messaging of self discovery/love, healing from grief, and remembering but not forgetting a loved one. I felt that the book just didn’t do a good job with any of these messages. It mainly focused around the romance at the half way point leaving the scavenger hunt abandoned for a good while, then when it’s introduced again it’s very rushed. I couldn’t feel for this romance at all, it felt very instant lovely from the start plus there is major miscommunication between the main couple.
I was disappointed with a lot of the choices that Avery had made during the story especially with her father. She knew he wasn’t coping well and it takes her half the story to do “something” which basically felt like nothing. These characters ended up reading as way too immature for my liking. The only characters I didn’t mind were Maddi, Colin, and Circe. I thought that the fake dating element starts too quickly but the way it’s started/introduced just feels weird/a clunky way to start a conversation. The romance fell flat as the fmcs didn’t have that strong of a connection, the messaging of the book wasn’t delivering, and the adventure was lacking.
I had high hopes for Rules For Fake Girlfriends, the premise of a scavenger hunt and the fake dating troupe sounds like an interesting combination but this book ended up falling flat for me. While this book is light hearted I was hoping for something along the lines of an adventure with messaging of self discovery/love, healing from grief, and remembering but not forgetting a loved one. I felt that the book just didn’t do a good job with any of these messages. It mainly focused around the romance at the half way point leaving the scavenger hunt abandoned for a good while, then when it’s introduced again it’s very rushed. I couldn’t feel for this romance at all, it felt very instant lovely from the start plus there is major miscommunication between the main couple.
I was disappointed with a lot of the choices that Avery had made during the story especially with her father. She knew he wasn’t coping well and it takes her half the story to do “something” which basically felt like nothing. These characters ended up reading as way too immature for my liking. The only characters I didn’t mind were Maddi, Colin, and Circe. I thought that the fake dating element starts too quickly but the way it’s started/introduced just feels weird/a clunky way to start a conversation. The romance fell flat as the fmcs didn’t have that strong of a connection, the messaging of the book wasn’t delivering, and the adventure was lacking.
July 24, 2025
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. As a fan of Raegan Revord, I eagerly requested this book and got accepted to read this ARC. I am happily able to say that this book did not disappoint! It showed both diversity and had some of the perfect tropes. The found family and friends to lovers trope was perfectly executed and at the end of the book, I felt attached to the characters. I do feel the ending was a bit rushed and there were some issues with repeating sentences and using the wrong pronouns which I do wish the editors and writer will be able to fix before publication. Otherwise, it was an amazing book that showed the development of grief, the importance of therapy and coming to terms with the loss. It also shows complex friendships as a result of going off the college and honestly as a book shone light on some really important topics.
June 28, 2025
I was very grateful to receive an Advance Reader Copy of this book!
This was a very quick and easy read! The story itself was super relatable, but the characters could have used a little more developing to feel more of a connection to each of them. A few scenes were a bit rushed and I was left feeling like the author could have spent a little more time developing them to draw me in and make me feel more invested. However, overall I really enjoyed the story and by the end I was really rooting for Avery and Charlie!
This was a very quick and easy read! The story itself was super relatable, but the characters could have used a little more developing to feel more of a connection to each of them. A few scenes were a bit rushed and I was left feeling like the author could have spent a little more time developing them to draw me in and make me feel more invested. However, overall I really enjoyed the story and by the end I was really rooting for Avery and Charlie!
June 22, 2025
I absolutely LOVED this!!! It was such an endearing story, and the characters were so loveable. I loved the chapter titles being about clichés in rom-coms it was a nice touch. There were a couple of chapters in there that became a bit wattpad-y out of nowhere, especially with describing every aspect of an outfit, but it that stopped thankfully very quickly.
August 18, 2025
(ARC I got from work omggg)
4.5 / 5 Stars
This was one of the sweetest books I have read in a while! I have been so excited to read this ever since I saw that Raegan had published a book. There were so many emotions happening in this book, and the way that Raegan was able to convey them through Avery was so beautiful. There were themes of grief and found family that were portrayed so well. The romance was also very sweet, and the tension between the two of them during their fake dating scenes was a chef's kiss (lol). There was so much great representation as well. There was a character who had EDS who was also trans, as well as mental health representation (do check trigger warnings if you are sensitive to that, though). The dynamic between Avery and her father after her mother's death was so heartbreaking, and I found myself so emotional reading about what her dad was going through. The scavenger hunt aspect was also very intriguing, and I liked the way that it was done. However, I do wish it were a little more fleshed out because it seemed a little bit like a side plot to the romance, even though it was supposedly a huge part of her mother and the way that she was supposed to connect to her after her death. Other than that, I think that this was a wonderful debut, and I look forward to reading more by Raegan in the future.
4.5 / 5 Stars
This was one of the sweetest books I have read in a while! I have been so excited to read this ever since I saw that Raegan had published a book. There were so many emotions happening in this book, and the way that Raegan was able to convey them through Avery was so beautiful. There were themes of grief and found family that were portrayed so well. The romance was also very sweet, and the tension between the two of them during their fake dating scenes was a chef's kiss (lol). There was so much great representation as well. There was a character who had EDS who was also trans, as well as mental health representation (do check trigger warnings if you are sensitive to that, though). The dynamic between Avery and her father after her mother's death was so heartbreaking, and I found myself so emotional reading about what her dad was going through. The scavenger hunt aspect was also very intriguing, and I liked the way that it was done. However, I do wish it were a little more fleshed out because it seemed a little bit like a side plot to the romance, even though it was supposedly a huge part of her mother and the way that she was supposed to connect to her after her death. Other than that, I think that this was a wonderful debut, and I look forward to reading more by Raegan in the future.
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