📚 A R C R E V I E W 📚

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🏖️ enemies to lovers
🏖️ forced proximity
🏖️ opposites attract
🏖️ influencer romance
🏖️ island wedding setting

Best friends Jo and Go (Margo) run a successful podcast for women offering rules and tips on how to avoid heart break. They advocate for staying single and casually dating without catching feelings instead.

However, now Jo has found the love of her life and is getting married on Catalina Island, with Go as her maid of honour. Declan, Go’s nemesis from high school, unfortunately is the best man and the two are thrown together for two weeks for various wedding activities leading up to the big day.

Worried that Jo’s wedding will spoil the authenticity of the podcast, Go has an idea to change gears. She decides to break her own rules for dating to generate new content for the podcast, setting her sights on Declan for her experiment. However, he makes it clear he wants no part of being a Guinea pig for her podcast.

She is in to casual dating, and he isn’t. He is the type to get emotionally attached quickly - so sweet!

It was very apparent that these two were into each other and wanted to get along, but their egos got in the way and they always ended up arguing instead! A fresh take on enemies to lovers.

When they start to warm up to each other they did have a lot of sweet moments together.

I really liked the format of this book. A chapter would focus on Go breaking one of her own rules with Declan and then it would end with a podcast transcript outlining why that rule shouldn’t be broken. It was so creative!

I really liked Go! She was a famous influencer but she was down to earth, opinionated, and way more self-conscious than she let on. She was very relatable

Overall, this was a cute, light read! Perfect for a day of lounging in the sun by the pool. 😌

Thank you to @netgalley for an advanced reader’s copy of this book!

Margo and Jo co-host a podcast about avoiding catching feelings which is quite successful-until Jo announces her engagement. Not only does this put Margo in a tough spot professionally, but she’s also forced to spend the wedding week with her high school enemy, Declan. Margo decides to break all of the rules their podcast lays out to prove that the rules exist for a reason and who else would she use as her test subject but Declan?

What I loved:
-Margo’s character growth throughout the book. I found her quite self centred and immature initially but grew to love her!
-Forced proximity/enemies to lovers
-Banter between Declan and Margo
-Portrayal of influencer/brand relationships

This book took me a while to get into but it was definitely worth it once I warmed up to Margo’s character. Overall, a great summer read for contemporary romance fans.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the advanced reading copy!

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is a promising debut novel by Kristyn J. MIller. While I didn't connect to the characters (especially Joe), I found the story interesting and love a good story that has podcast elements. I found the plot to be redundant and the pacing to allow elements to drag on. This story could have been a lot shorter than it was and I wanted more of the podcast follower tidbits.

I received this Ebook A.R.C. of Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn J. Miller in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, St, Martin’s Griffin, Kristyn J. Miller and all applicable parties for the opportunity to read and review this work.



**Trigger Warnings**
Brief and semi-graphic sexual situations (both in public and in private), mentions of divorce and family separation due to adultery, minor theft and slander of reputation via social media platforms.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts, or 7R4BH, adorably acronymed for the MCs Twitter handle, follows the two best friends behind the podcast bearing the same name as they navigate the breaking of their own rules: Jocelyn (Jo) by getting married to highschool crush, Peter, and Margo (Go) for falling for her own highschool bully turned Best Man, Declan. Now Jo & Go have been completely inseparable since Kindergarten, and Margo (with her codependency issues and her lack of faith in the idea or institution of love–after all, she’d seen what it had done to her parents..) is stuck to sort out the pieces of their career and podcast all while trying to convince herself that she should break every rule she’s subscribed to for the past 6 seasons…
This was such a fun rom-com, perfect for summer as it’s set on the picturesque island of Catalina, just off the West Coast/California. It’s a great read for a pool or beach day, and an even better one if you need a good kick at shaking your social media identity.

My Pros:
I adored the banter between Declan and Margo. Their sarcasm mirrors the same type of fun and carefree communication style of my future husband and myself. I was also deeply thrilled that Declan was not a copy-and-paste book boyfriend, features wise. He’s a fair-skinned ginger, confident enough to say all the right things to Margo behind closed doors, but also shy and reserved.

My Cons:
I needed more epilogue! It was so cute and I didn’t get my fill! LOL, but I really didn’t have any cons for 7R4BH.
I am absolutely thrilled to have been able to read this A.R.C. It’s absolutely 4 stars for me and I can’t wait to grab my physical copy Thank you again to Kristyn J, Miller and NetGalley for the chance to review this novel

I FINALLY FINISHED A BOOK HALLELUJAH

the concept for this was so fascinating and it was so fun!! friends to lovers is one of my favorite tropes
books with social media/texts are always so much fun

i adored declan SO much

This was just the cutest read and I liked how quick it was. So many romance novels droan on nowadays. This one was just the opposite and really held my attention throughout. It was a journey full of fun wit and the spark of love to a happy ending. The characters were fantastic, their respective personalities really coming through. I'd definitely recommend this one to all the romance lovers out there.

Rules were surely meant to be broken, and for Jo and Go, it seems the only way! With social media running their profession and their lives, something has to go terribly wrong somewhere, and it does. A quirky, angsty, entertaining read perfect for the beach.

Great debut and really cute romcom overall.
Solid plot and characters and really enjoyable.
it only bothered me a little the whole hate thing at the beginning because she was an adult already and was fully acting like a child but that was all!

I enjoyed reading Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts. I loved the podcast aspects of it.

Enemy to lovers is a trope that’s quickly becoming one of my favorites and this one is done so well. I loved the interaction between Margo & Declan as they get to know each other and realize they have feelings for each other.

Definitely a good book from a debut author! I would recommend it to anyone who likes enemy to lovers.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for a copy of Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts in exchange of an honest review.

review: seven rules to breaking hearts by kristyn j miller
3.5/5
first, i wanna say thank you to @netgalley and
@stmartinspress for offering me this ARC in exchange for an honest review. i liked the premise of the book. i think it's unique, at least
imo, for a podcast kinda theme in a book. it was pretty sweet and entertaining. i enjoyed the characters for the most part. there was often some tension, that i felt, between margo and jo. their friendship kinda seemed sorta toxic.i also didn't enjoy the miscommunication or codependency "tropes". i hope you give this one a try! it's a perfect beachy read for
summer!)

This was a cute romance. I loved the way that the podcast episodes integrated so effortlessly into the rest of the writing. I felt like the romance scenes were just the right amount of spice to make me blush. I felt like I wanted more information and dialogue with Jo though.

When talking about representation in books, I never imagined I meant more than Asian American and/or queer. Well, Kristyn J. Miller’s debut novel Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts apparently decided to enter the chat.

Margo, alongside her best friend Jo, hosts a viral podcast about hooking up without catching feelings. When Jo eschews the rules and gets engaged, the girls have the whole internet to answer to. Enter Margo’s brilliant plan: break all the rules on purpose to prove why they are needed in the first place. And what better setting than beautiful Catalina Island, the site of Jo’s all-expense paid (and sponsored) wedding, with the groom’s best man (and Margo’s high school nemesis) Declan. Unfortunately, Declan has changed over the years and Margo’s experiment may not have the outcome she originally expected.

A podcaster who has basically given up on love and sworn off commitment? If ever there was a time to say “hi, it’s me, I’m the problem, it’s me,” now is that time. The moment I read the synopsis of this book, I knew I had to read it. I don’t think I have ever before related to a white girl the way that I related to Margo in this story (and I mean that with the utmost respect) - right down to the crazy colored (and faded) hair!

On the surface, the story is about a social media influencer finding love after spending so much of her life not believing in it. But Kristyn digs into Margo’s character, reminding us that influencers are really just regular people at the end of the day. Margo’s problems are those that she has created for herself, created due to insecurities that we all face. Though she’s telling stories of her own experience on the podcast, she’s doing it through the character she’s created of herself for the public, forcing her to question whether she is really living life as herself or as the persona she has created.

Understandably, we get a lot of Margo and Declan throughout the story. And while they were a lot of fun to follow around, I did find myself wishing for more of the supporting cast. We get glimpses of the members of the bridal party, the bride and groom, Margo’s mother, and Declan’s sister, but I never felt like we spent sufficient time with any of them. Despite that, each of the characters had distinct personalities with the potential for growth. I am desperately hoping that the breadcrumbs that were left in this story lead to a sequel that will follow a certain pair!

At once a love story and a commentary on the impact of social media on our lives, this story emphasizes that we need to be living our lives for ourselves and not strangers on the internet. Through Margo, we are able to see both sides of social media - how it can help to improve our lives and how it can be damaging to our mental health and personal relationships - but we are also subtly given some ideas on how to pull back and not let it take over.

With this debut romance that straddles the line of spicy and steamy to give all romance readers something to love, Kristyn J. Miller is an author that I’m going to have my eye on.

I LOVED THIS STORY!!!!!!! Declan.. omg. I cannot. My heart. I am having troubles forming coherent sentences. The enemies to lovers (but he was a secret lover from the start) and then the slow burn and realization that they have feelings for one another.. just perfection. I don't like the using the other person aspect and the last act break up.. but I was happy with how it all come together in the end. I am immediately purchasing this book to have on my shelf- even though I read it as a free ARC! That is how much I loved it!

Rating 3.5 overall

For a debut novel Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is an adorable slow-burn romance that makes me want to take a trip to Catalina Island ASAP! I will say that the first half of the book was a bit slow for me (not just the romance part). The second half of the book I flew through. The story was more intriguing and kept my attention a bit better. The banter between Margo and Declan was top notch and I'm pretty sure this was the first romcom book I read with the MMC was a redhead. By the end of the story I realized that I could never make it as a podcast host. I'm looking forward to seeing what Kristyn writes in the future. Many thanks to SMP Romance and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a quick, cute read. Plenty of fun tropes: one sided rivals-to-lovers, pining, he fell first. The only thing I didn’t really enjoy was the friendship between Margo and Jo because they didn’t really seem as close as the author kept telling us they were. This is a perfect beach read, fun and just angsty enough!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press for the ARC.
This was not my favorite romance, unfortunately. I am finding I am getting more and more picky with romance lately. I want to start with what I did like: the podcast. I don't see this element brought into romance often, and I like podcasts in books, so this initially piqued my interest - especially with the topic and seeing how this would work for Go and Jo's friendship. However, I found Margo to be immature and I didn't see as much growth from her character as I would've liked. Instead of having her friends and family support her throughout the book, everything popped up in the end, was quickly fixed, and it just wrapped up too quickly for my liking. I also wasn't that into the romance. I liked Declan but I thought Margo needed to work on herself before I could believe this would be a happy, functioning relationship by the time the HEA happened.

I'm glad I finished this book, and in the end, I was happy with the way it went, but along the way I just had a hard time being inspired to continue reading.

I feel like I didn't like any of the characters, and things were just repeated too often for me, I get it. I can follow the story on my own. And honestly, I read to escape reality, so a story based upon podcasters and social media influencers isn't my jam, but that's on me. I should have paid more attention to the description.

Will I read more from this author? Yes. Overall, I didn't dislike the writing, or the style, it was just that this story wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn J. Miller is an interesting enemies to lovers romance about podcaster, Margo Anderson as she is forced to reunite with her nemesis from high school. Margo is apart of a podcaster duo that is famous for their empowerment of single women whilst dating & the rules for such. However, when her podcasting partner, Jo, gets engaged, their podcast must find a new direction. Margo comes up with a plan to forgo the rules & sets her old high school nemesis as her mark. The path that follows is a wild & chaotic ride.

The miscommunication, along with the setup of the old nemesis for content, created an almost awkward tension that I couldn’t let go of whilst reading. I struggle with uncomfortable situations like this & don’t enjoy reading them personally. It may be because it feels realistic but it is not my favorite type of book to read. I will say that I appreciated how the ending brought everything together & once they began communicating, it felt like a breath of fresh air.

I really enjoyed the podcast element of it. I found it fascinating to see a behind the scenes look at being a bigger influencer as well as the pros & cons of it. It was interesting seeing the specifics of brand deals & the requirements of sponsorships & such. That was probably my favorite part of it.

Massive thanks to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Griffin for the free arc, which I voluntarily read & reviewed.

I really tried to enjoy this and honestly, I was really liking some aspects of this story. But ultimately I really struggled to connect with the anything. Even though the plot was interesting enough, the characters didn't feel all that special and it was really hard to relate to them.

It's sad because I was really looking forward to reading this, because it had so much potential. It took me 5 sittings to finally complete this and my memory of what I've read already feels a bit hazy.

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an ARC via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Margo and her friend Jo run a podcast about how to remain single and happy and not get into committed relationships. Jo upends their business by falling in love with someone from their high school and planning her wedding using a two week vacation at a sponsor's resort in Catalina. Margo attends to support her friend but is feeling adrift since she's not sure how they're going to keep providing relevant content. She meets up with a high school enemy Declan who is the best man and hatches a plot to pretend to have a relationship with him and then dump him for content. I had a hard time with this plan and with the whole "influencer/podcaster" thing as it seemed cold and lonely. Luckily, Margo has some of the same thoughts. Her relationship with Declan -an engineer who works at NASA-is a delight and follows a normal progression. Loved that she was kind of a high school nerd that played the tuba. Margo has to figure out where to go in her life and whether it's safe to finally let someone in to her life.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.