You know Raegan Revord as Missy Cooper in the CBS sitcom universe of Young Sheldon and Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage. Cast at just nine and on screen since 2017, they’ve grown up in front of audiences. Now Revord is turning that spotlight toward books with their debut novel, Rules for Fake Girlfriends—a witty, heart-forward queer rom-com published by Wednesday Books, an imprint of Macmillan, and released on September 2 as the first title in a two-book deal. The novel’s romantic spark, grief-laced stakes, and whip-smart trope play feel especially resonant as Revord, who recently came out as nonbinary at 17, steps into authorship. And for fans who love an author-narrated performance, Revord also voices the audiobook.
The Story at a Glance: Love, Loss, and a Transatlantic Adventure
At the center of Rules for Fake Girlfriends is Avery Blackwell, a college freshman who devours rom-coms but hasn’t experienced real love. Determined to honor her late mother, Avery heads abroad to the University of Brighton in England—the same school her mom once attended. On the train to her new life, Avery meets Charlie, a charismatic stranger whose charm makes for a delightful meet-cute. Their connection is instant, and a classic rom-com contrivance quickly follows: a fake dating arrangement that spirals into something neither of them anticipated.
The story pairs flirty banter with a deeper journey through grief, memory, and self-discovery. A scavenger hunt across England—set in motion by Avery’s mom—propels Avery through coastal towns, cozy bookstores, and unexpected revelations. Along the way, a lovable ensemble of side characters rounds out a narrative that balances euphoric swoons with the ache of growing up and letting go.
From Set Life to First Draft: Writing Between ‘Action’ and ‘Cut’
Revord’s path to finishing the manuscript was anything but conventional. Years of balancing school with filming prepared them for fast, focused bursts of work. On set, they would duck behind the scenes with a tucked-away laptop, draft a paragraph or two between takes, and stash it again just before the next call to action. By their estimate, roughly half the book came together in those tiny windows of creative time. It was hectic—but it worked.
Researching Romance: Mining Tropes With a Knowing Wink
Rom-com lovers will recognize the affectionate way Rules for Fake Girlfriends embraces and subverts beloved genre beats. Revord dove deep into research, re-watching favorite movies and re-reading popular romances with a new, analytical eye. Rather than simply indulging familiar patterns, they mapped the tropes readers adore—then found fresh, funny ways to riff on them within Avery’s story. The result feels both comfortingly familiar and cleverly self-aware.
The Inspiration Stack: Books That Shaped the Vibe
Revord’s inspiration pile included Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler and Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper, two modern classics that blend earnest queer romance with buoyant, youthful energy. They also cite Lynn Painter’s Better Than the Movies as a rom-com they love—less a direct blueprint, more a reminder of how joyous the genre can be when it’s firing on all cylinders.
Mother–Daughter Threads That Ground the Comedy
At the heart of Avery’s arc is a nuanced portrait of a mother–daughter bond. Avery is Type A: rule-driven, scheduled, and once on a path to Columbia to study medicine. Her mother, by contrast, was free-spirited and whimsical, more spontaneous than structured. That difference fuels both friction and tenderness in Avery’s memories, and it anchors the scavenger hunt’s emotional stakes. Revord’s own relationship with their mom is closer and more aligned than Avery’s dynamic; to write Avery, they amplified small real-life differences into a larger fictional gap. The effect is intimate without being autobiographical, and it gives the rom-com sparkle a resonant foundation.
A Meet-Cute on the Rails—and a Fake Dating Twist
Avery and Charlie’s first spark ignites over a shared music obsession—yes, Oasis. Their chemistry fits a beloved dynamic: the black-cat–meets–golden-retriever pairing. Avery leans introverted and guarded; Charlie brings sunshine and exuberance. They balance each other in ways that make their fake dating pact feel both chaotic and inevitable. There is tension—miscommunication included—and the story lets it simmer before offering catharsis. The push-and-pull keeps the pages turning while honoring the trope with a wink.
The Soundtrack: Oasis on Repeat
Revord wrote to music, building a chronological playlist to match the book’s emotional contour. As you might guess, Wonderwall surfaces at key moments. The soundtrack underscores the novel’s British setting and its nostalgia-tinged tone—romance, grief, and hope sharing the same melody.
Rom-Com Rules as Chapter Openers
Each chapter kicks off with a playful ‘Rom-Com Rule’—a breadcrumb for what’s ahead and a nudge to notice how the story uses or reverses convention. A favorite early rule lampoons the classic: the heroine who’s broke but somehow lives in a stunning apartment. In Rules for Fake Girlfriends, reality takes the wheel. Avery’s lodgings come with mold spots to conceal, a leaky faucet to negotiate, and a creaky neighbor upstairs. It’s a grounded twist that keeps the comedy relatable while celebrating the genre’s cheeky exaggerations.
Lights, Camera, Brighton: Dreaming Up a Screen Adaptation
Coming from film and television, Revord thinks in images, and they can easily envision Rules on the big screen—ideally shot in England to capture its seaside charm. While they have not landed on a dream actor for Avery, they can picture a younger Kathryn Newton as Charlie. For the parents, Emily Blunt as Charlie’s mom and Rachel McAdams as Avery’s mom both feel right to Revord. The vision board is ready; the story’s cinematic bones are already there.
If Not Starring, Then Steering: How Revord Would Be Involved
Should an adaptation happen, Revord would prefer to produce and stay close to the creative. Rather than sit in the director’s chair, they’d opt for a collaborative role behind the scenes—and maybe pop in for a cheeky cameo.
[Spoilers] That Ending Everyone’s Talking About
The novel closes on a soft cliffhanger: open-ended, interpretive, and designed to linger. It suits the story’s exploration of grief and growth. In very early drafting, Revord once considered a far darker close—Charlie’s death—but pulled back, recognizing the book had already embraced heavy themes like loss and mental health. Instead, the ambiguity gives readers space to imagine what comes next. As for Avery and Charlie, Revord sees the book’s ending as their ending. Another character, though—Maddie—continues to tug at the author’s imagination, and a prequel exploring Maddie’s backstory is a future possibility.
Spin-Off Seeds: Maddie’s Story
While it isn’t the project on Revord’s desk right now, they’ve drafted scenes and ideas set in the same world with Maddie in the spotlight. As a self-professed side-character person, Revord calls Maddie a favorite—and the groundwork already laid hints that a companion story could bloom when the time is right.
What Revord Is Writing Next
Next up is an off-world fantasy series in the sweeping, character-driven vein of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass. Interestingly, this fantasy was the first project Revord pursued seriously before technical hurdles pushed it to the back burner. With those challenges now addressable, they’ve returned to it—re-reading beloved inspirations and drafting anew. Details are under wraps, but the series framework is set, and the creative momentum is back.
Why This Matters
Rules for Fake Girlfriends marks a compelling shift for a young performer who has grown up in the public eye. It’s not just a charming queer rom-com; it’s a story that integrates grief, identity, and the messy joy of first love without losing the buoyant fizz fans expect from the genre. The setting is vivid, the tropes are playfully self-aware, and the humor lands alongside an emotional throughline that lingers. With a two-book deal, an author-narrated audiobook, and credible prospects for a film adaptation, Revord’s debut signals a cross-media career that’s only getting started. If you love clever banter, fake dating with real feelings, and English seaside vibes, this book belongs on your TBR—and in your earbuds.