Other reviews may lead you astray by calling this an enemies-to-lovers romance, but if you go into this thinking that, you will be a tad disappointed. Margo calls Declan her high school enemy, but that's about as many 'enemies' vibes that there are in this book; neither of them start out actually hating the other.
So, this book follows Margo, who runs a slightly popular podcast called Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts. It talks about the seven rules that Margo and her bestie Jo follow in order to stay single. Until! Jo decides to get married and a sponsor of the podcast pays for a two-week vacation and the whole wedding. In order to create new content (and answer for Jo's actions) for the podcast, Margo decides to also break the rules, deliberately, so she can show people why they have them in the first place. And the man that she decides to use as her guinea pig is Declan, the best man and a guy she holds a grudge against from high school. She's sure there's no way she could ever actually catch feelings for him, but they're stuck on an island vacation together for two weeks. Will anything--wedding included--go to plan?
This was a super cute book that cast an intense light on commitment issues, giving people second chances, and trying to be yourself as a mild celebrity with a certain kind of image. I enjoyed the characters and their development, and it was very interesting to delve into Margo's mind as she had these extremely clear reasons for everything she did, and then once she started questioning them, everything she had built up started falling apart.
This book is what I call mildly predictable, but not in a bad way. You'll guess pretty early on what's going to happen, but it's still super enjoyable!

This was an enjoyable read. Margo's attitude toward dating, commitment, and life in general was so far from anything I could relate to. Then I found myself feeling sorry for her and hoping she would realize how unsatisfying her life was, open up, and maybe find happiness. Of course, the path couldn't be smooth, because where would the story be in that?

The book kept me reading to see exactly how things would turn out. There were a few things that didn't seem to be tied up or answered, but overall a good book.

Thanks to Kristyn J. Miller, NetGalley, and St. Martin's Press!

Margo is brash and outspoken and has been running a podcast about relationships and dating (a celebration of being single) with her best friend, Jo. But now Jo is getting married. Her wedding's being sponsored spits on Catalina, and she's marrying someone she and Margo went to high school with. Only one of his groomsmen is Declan, who Margo had ... history with in high school. Margo is at a pivotal intersection in her life: Jo has outgrown the podcast, and Margo has too although she doesn't know what else to do with her life. She's worried about money and her job and even though she has sparks with Declan, she's desperate to stay emotionally unconnected both for herself and for the good of the podcast.

There is so much I liked about this book. The examination of how toxic influenced culture can be. Margo's issues with family money and feeling inadequate. The very real connection between her and Declan. The most frustrating part is the whole setup where Margo plans to date Declan for content, he finds out (from a villain doing something outrageous) and then leaves Margo. It felt like too much conceit that overshadowed the heart of the book. I don't think you needed the villainy to get to the same place.

Another nitpick: Margo hasn't seen Jo's fiancé since high school. I get that she needs to have not seen Declan, but her having no interaction with her best friend's fiancé beggars belief. She could have had short interactions with him at sponsor events where Declan doesn't show and they don't go beyond surface level, and it would have been more realistic and served the same function of showing the growing estrangement between Margo and Jo.


The resolution feels very earned and realistic, although I wanted a second epilogue to show up Margo and Feclan further into the future.

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

What happens when your life's work turns out to be keeping you from finding your happy ever after? Margo aka "Go" is faced with that exact dilemma. She and her friend Jo have been hosting a podcast dedicated to and for single ladies everywhere. Their pitch: Stay Single!

Everything goes haywire when Jo reconnects and falls in love with her former HS classmate & now fiance Peter, With a wedding to plan and a podcast season to salvage, Margo finds herself paired up with her former high school nemesis, and Peter's best man, Declan. Who better to test out her pitch for the final season of the podcast?

As the wedding draws nearer, and Margo & Declan become closer, Go is left to wonder if breaking the rules may be the way to find happiness in the end.

Great debut romcom! I thought the author incorporated social media in a non-annoying, authentic way and I loved the banter between the main characters. The Catalina setting was so lovely and in general the vacation vibes reminded me of Shipped, the Layover and the Unhoneymooners. This book is steamier than any of those ones, and this was appreciated!!

This was such a cute, fun read! I really enjoyed the characters and their love story. This would be the perfect read for a beach or summer vacation!

Thank you St Martin's Press and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. It was a fun and sweet read. I love enemies-to-lovers and this checked all the boxes for me. The use of social media and pop culture references was seamless and worked so well. I look forward to more from this author.

I really enjoyed this book! Margo’s best friend and podcast co-host, Jo, gets engaged..leaving Margo to spiral a bit. Their podcast is dedicated to breaking hearts and not “catching feelings,” but when Jo breaks their rules and falls in love, how does Margo continue their podcast? Enter Declan, a guy they went to high school with who ends up having the best tension with Margo. There’s some silly miscommunication, and jumping to conclusions, but this book was a great, quick read.

It took me a chapter or so to get into this book, but once I did I could NOT put it down. I was so invested in Margo and Jo and Declan and the podcast and everything!

I loved how the author included tweets, clips from previous podcasts, texts, etc. I think it added a nice touch to some of the chapters. I saw other reviews about the formatting being weird, but it seemed fine to me.

I also really enjoyed how the conflict in this book wasn’t the typical romcom conflict - at least, it didn’t feel that way to me. Declan was the perfect romcom boyfriend, and Margo, although flawed, came through in the end.

Overall, I really loved this book! Thank you so much to Kristyn Miller, St. Martin’s Press, and NetGalley for the eARC!

Another thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC! Pub date May 16, 2023.

I’m usually hesitant to read books about social media but I love a good podcast so I dove right into this one!

Things I loved:
* Despite being considered as influencers, Jo and Go didn’t show much entitlement
* Declan is not your typical male romcom lead. I actually found myself poking my husband multiple times and to tell him the similarities between him and Declan. Must be an engineer thing 😂
* The relationship timeline between Margo and Declan is super realistic!
* Use of podcast episodes, social media posts and texts throughout the story

Things I didn’t love:
* The formatting of the text messages on my Kindle was very off. This might be an issue with the eARC that will get fixed but it did throw me off every time it happened

Lighthearted, fun and fast read. If I owned a physical copy, I would recommend and loan it out!

This book was such a sweet, awesome read. The characters had amazing chemistry and I love how Margo’s character development ended up. The friendship between Jocelyn and Margo could’ve used a little more development, but they were both written so well and it was great to see how it was all wrapped up. I blew through this book in just a few days because I was dying to see what would happen with them all. Absolutely looking forward to more fun reads from Kristyn Miller.

I requested to read and review this book for free from St. Martin Publishing Company! It can be read anywhere and by anyone! There alots of great characters in this book like Jo, Margo, Declan and even Peter! This story has romance, some drama and I think a little mystery. Can we truly like or even possible love someone if we aren't sure what that is? Do we need to be happy with yourself before we can see that someone else can love you as well? Our past plays a part of how we see ourselves then and now. Can we overcome our demons to find happiness?

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. The story was cute, if a bit predictable. The dialog seemed realistic. The setting was beautiful. I liked the male main character; he was such a sweet nerd. I thought the podcast duo was inventive, and it was good to see Margo grow up. However, she felt one-dimensional to me, she felt selfish and didn't seem to care about her friend.

Overall, it was a quick, easy and fun read.

Thank you to Kristyn J. Miller and St. Martin's Press for providing this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
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I wasn't sure what to expect with this and I knew it would either be a hit or miss and I can easily say that this one was definitely a hit for me.

I absolutely loved watching Margo grow into herself and Declan was the perfect book boyfriend <3 like I actually loved him so so much. and I wasn't expecting it.

I enjoyed that the enemies part of the enemies to lovers wasn't too drawn out. It was giving some How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days vibes.

Also I A-D-O-R-E-D the texts/emails/social media posts/podcast formatting that Miller included, they just added so much.

Anyway, I loved this one and totally recommend.

4/5

You know how some books just hit you different because the characters are so relatable? Well this was one of those for me. Parts of both Declan and Margo were like an eerily accurate portrait of what its like to be single in the age of influencers and social media. It definitely hit me in all the feels. Even if you aren't single this is a really fun story.. A little bit modern How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, a little bit modern Sex and the City, a little bit its own creation, this is a really great read.

Unfortunately i put this book down after a few pages. As I was reading, the storyline was quite predictable and I felt like I already knew how the story was going to play out before i read it.

A great read by a debut author: Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is sweet and endearing, with plenty of tension and just a touch of spice. I loved it!

I am not one that reads or listens to podcasts, blogs, etc. So to me it was humorous. Why put your life out there to be criticized. The story is from Margo's viewpoint. Her best friend, Jo, is a big part of the story. The podcast was centered on being happy single with 7 rules to help. Then Jo falls in love. The wedding is being paid by a sponsor. So for 2 weeks the wedding party is busy having fun. Go is the maid of honor and Declan is the best man. They have not seen each other since high school. 2 weeks to find new content for the podcast with Declan as the center of the new subject. But he doesn't know it.
I thought the book was cute, funny and full of misunderstanding, Lots to like in this story.

This rom-com was a lot of fun! Margo (Go) doesn’t feel like your typical rom-com MC at the start, but as you learn more about her (she played the tuba, she’s not as fond of her current career as one might think, Her parents’ divorce scarred her pretty well with regards to her view of lasting relationships) I realized she is the perfect rom-com MC. She’s also not 100% likable at the start of the move, but it leaves her a lot of room to grow.

The setting is a love letter to Catalina Island, and her supporting characters were fairly well rounded as well. All in all, a run romantic romp and a story about finding your real path and of healing old wounds.

A quick, easy beach read! The beginning started a bit slow for me but I loved that the author dove into the complexities of childhood that can lead to some of our decisions as adults.