This was a cute and sweet romcom debut! I grew up in the same area of Southern California as the author, and I loved all the references to places and things that were familiar to me. I’ve also spent a bit of time on Catalina Island, and I loved that this was set in that beautiful place.

There was one unclosed loop at the end… something happened that precipitated the ending conflict, and the culprit remained unclear at the end of the book. It made me wonder whether it was left open for a possible sequel. I hope so, as I really liked the friend group and would like to read about more of them finding love.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am sooo happy I read this book! Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts was the perfect read for me this weekend. Kristyn J. Miller, I am here for your books!!!

Loved the plot, loved the characters, and loved how much it made me not want to interact with social media.

When I started reading, I enjoyed the premise of the podcast, Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts that Jo and Go (Margo) and experienced great success and podcast fame from the show. I liked seeing the impact on their lives and I also was intrigued by the way Margo rationalized her decision-making process when it came to men. However, I also really didn't like her as a character for a lot of the book. She felt whiny and millennial first-world, woe Is me. So when she hatches a plan to get things back on track with the podcast, I almost stopped reading. I didn't like how she was using other emotionally to benefit her podcasting career.

I am glad I stuck with it, because Miller gets into the nasty muck of a mess Margo makes. This book didn't stray away from showing a characters "ugly" side, which I appreciated. I often find in books the character's big flaw isn't really all the bad and more a matter of opinion. However, in this novel, Margo does some really crappy things and is forced to confront them. It has a few tropes that aren't my favorite, but I found them to work in this book, because the author gives the time to allow more to unfold instead of rushing to tie up loose ends at the end.

A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press fror granting me access to this title and to PRH Audio for granting me access to the audiobook. I enjoyed bouncing back and forth between the two!

This book is a light romcom that makes for an easy beach read, with a grumpy sunshine love story set at the height of summer that centers around two characters with contrasting views on love and relationships. The romance between Margo and Declan was refreshing in its ebb and flow, in that it felt well-paced and its progression wasn't overly predictable or linear. At times I felt a bit irritated with how selfish Margo's character is, and her internal voice did feel a bit repetitive (especially with her comments about Declan's appearance), but I did enjoy seeing how she gradually evolved throughout the story into someone I would root for. Despite finding it difficult sometimes to connect with Margo, I felt the connection between her and Declan was genuine and their dynamic was pretty complimentary (and the hint of spice was also a nice touch).

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is a podcast run by two best friends, Jo and Margo. While they've had a good run, Jo is breaking the rules, She fell in love and is getting married. She is the planner and organizer. Margo is the one that speaks first and then just keeps going. So the question is, "How do you end this final season of the podcast?" In between all that, the wedding is taking place on Catalina Island. Margo feels like she is going home. The problem is the best man is Declan Nash, high school nemesis. While Margo and Declan are mending fences, they are developing feelings for each other. When you're a popular podcaster, there are always people ready to tear you down. When someone with sticky fingers takes her phone, content made its way to social media. How do you make amends? By breaking one of the seven rules.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for making this title available for review.

The premise of Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts hooked me with the dating podcast in crisis when Jo breaks the single girl rules she and Margo established their brand with by getting married, causing a crisis of where to go next for our MC Margo. This book had a lot to like, such as the lush descriptions of Catalina Island and an honest grappling with the pros and cons of influencer life and how to eventually move on. That said, the first half of this book felt more focused on Margo’s test of her friendship with Jo/all-around quarter life crisis with the romance being secondary. Thankfully, Declan won both me and Margo over in the second half and I bought their love story once it kicked in.

Usually I don’t mind single POV romance if it makes sense for the story, but I think in this case I would’ve wanted more of Declan pining after Margo and secretly being a total romantic to balance out the cynicism of Margo working through her trust issues. However, this is all just personal preference ultimately and I can’t wait for what Kristyn J. Miller does next!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5

you know how they say when boys tease you in high school, it means they have a crush on you?

that’s Declan Walsh’s story when it comes to Margot Anderson. He was her nemesis in high school after an unfortunate incident with shaving cream….. and mayonnaise.

after they are unexpectedly thrown together during their best friends wedding, Margot finds out that maybe he’s not so much of a nemesis after all and maybe, he’s worth breaking some rules for.

Margot, lovingly known as Go on her podcast with her best friend, Jo run Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts, where they live by these 7 rules when it comes to dating.

After jo goes and breaks well…. All seven of those rules… Go realizes that they have to do something dramatic to save the podcast. She comes up with an elaborate plan to break the rules over two weeks to tell their listeners why the rules work… *incomes Declan*

the plan backfires on her when she realizes that she actually has feelings for him, but it backfires all over again when her phone lands in the hands of someone without the best intentions.

Thank you Netgalley + Kristyn Miller for an early copy of Seven Rules! I really enjoyed this read + can’t wait for it to be out in the world!

3.5 ⭐️

“Just because someone’s life choices didn’t look like your choices, that didn’t mean they were the wrong choices. They were just different.”

Margo has sworn off commitment and along with her best friend, Jo, run a podcast about hooking up without catching feelings. When Jo decides to get married and take up a sponsor’s offer for an all-expenses-paid wedding trip to Catalina Island, their listeners are confused. Once there, Margo is reunited with Declan, and cooks up an idea for the podcast. But the more time she spends with him, the more she questions her rules.

This was kind of a bummer. The premise is cute, but I could tell how this was going to go right from the beginning, so I wasn’t as engaged in the story. And we know that these books get to the HEA, but it’s the journey that makes them compelling. For me, the journey here didn’t pull me in. There was so much potential in the premise, but the execution left something to be desired.

Margo is interesting and has some trauma that has put her off commitment. We never really dive too deep into that, and it feels more surface-level. Another issue I had was that Margo isn’t really likable until further in the book. She’s so focused on the podcast and being resentful to Jo that she comes off as annoying. And it’s hard to root for someone like that. It takes her too long to be happy for her best friends, but it sometimes seems disingenuous because she's still angry about the podcast even towards the end.

Declan is sweet and I liked the way his character was developed. It’s not hard to tell that he’s always liked Margo. There’s this underlying tension that is portrayed well. But the culmination of everything that happens feels frustrating and the resolution, for me, was not satisfying. There is a distinctly stalker moment from Margo that, for someone who has built her life around aversion to commitment, seems so out of character. It was hard for me to be believe she just suddenly changed that much.

I’m sure there are people out there who would love this book, but it fell flat for me.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn Miller is a light-hearted rom-com with two fairly likable characters and a simple enemies-to-lovers story-line; interspersed with social media and pop culture using snippets of a podcast and text messages to convey this. Most of the romance takes place over the span of two weeks, which makes the relationship progress very quickly.

Based on the blurb and cover I was excited to read this story, but I struggled with the story. Declan and Margo could be decent characters, though Margo isn't likable till almost halfway into the story. The secondary characters were not relatable, nor did they add much depth or add to the storyline. The story does give a look at how influencers and content creators are treated by the general public. I struggled a bit with the story as it was somewhat forgetful and left me wanting a little bit more by the end.

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

This book for me started out really strong and I was feeling some definite ‘How to loose a guy in 10 days’ vibes from it (which is always an excellent vibe). However even though this book isn’t that long and really only spans a few weeks of time it seemed to drag on a lot more than it needed to.

Margo wasn’t the most likable romance protagonist I’ve ever read and Declan never felt like a whole person to me. Because of this I really struggled to connect with the characters, which is so important in a romance. Declan’s personality felt like unbuttered toast, to me he lacked substance and I never understood why Margo fell for him that quickly. And we all know why Margo wasn’t winning any humanitarian awards.

The same thing occurred with the secondary characters as with the main ones. Everyone fell flat. I need to know why Jo is such good friends with Margo, because that bond between them never really impressed me. I wanted to get to know the rest of the bridal party but they were given rather basic stereotypes and moved off screen as soon as they were no longer convenient to the plot. Honestly, most of them didn’t impact the story at all and it would be the same without them, which isn’t how characters should feel.

This is a great beach read for people looking for a lighthearted low stakes romance that can make them dream about going on vacation. It achieves those aspects in aces and spades, I just needed more from the characters in order to feel like I was truly invested in their story.

I read "Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts" by Kristyn J. Miller on NetGalley. This book is about 2 women, Go & Jo, who have a podcast about dating rules. Well, Jo has gone and fallen in love and is married with a location wedding paid for by one of their podcast sponsors. Margo (Go) is needing to make some life choices and wanting some change. And then she meets Declan. I really enjoyed this book! I read it in a few days and it is definitely one of those feel good reads!

This was a debut!? Well done Kristyn Miller! As soon as this ARC came through, I dove right into reading this enemies-to-lovers, beach-front-wedding romance.

Margo Anderson runs a viral podcast with her best friend Jo where they offer rules on how to hook-up without feelings - basically, how to be the heartbreaker and not the heartbreakee. Jo throws a wrench in their “single and not looking” ethos by getting engaged and accepting a corporate sponsorship for a wedding on Catalina Island. Jo’s fiancee happens to be someone they went to high school with, and is also best friends with Declan Walsh aka Jo’s high school nemesis. As they reunite for the week on an island, taking on Maid of Honour and Best Man duties, the two start to fall - despite Margo trying everything in her power to resist.

I adored this book so much. It was well-written, and both Margo and Declan were robust characters. I related to Margo so much - she had some deep-rooted insecurities and tried to overcome perceived rejection and being seen as gullible by closing herself off, trying to control the one thing she could: her relationships. Declan was such a great book boyfriend - communicative about his boundaries, in-touch with himself, clearly grew up (realizing being the class clown doesn’t always translate to having true friends), and a true cinnamon roll of a human being (but a literal NASA engineer). He was a dream to read!

Social media was really creatively integrated into this - we got to see some of the podcast transcripts and got to see Margo/Jo’s relationship with their influencer status in a more truthful light (the good and the bad). It gave me a similar feeling I had to “The Unhoneymooners” and is a perfect beach read - and made me want to visit Catalina Island, like, yesterday. Can't wait to read more from Kristyn!

This was a quick, fun read. I liked the podcast premise, and the enemies-to-lovers trope.

There's a backstory between the two MCs (Margo and Declan), and a messy social connection that places them squarely and inescapably in each other's orbits. The fallout of that makes Margo question everything the *thinks* she believes about relationships, and whether one man is worth her breaking all her rules.

I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes contemporary rom-coms.

This book was sweet! I’ve never read a book about a podcaster! And I love a story about a girl who is averse to relationships, because she is always proven wrong and I love every second of it.

I liked Margo a lot! She was going through a lot of change and she was really unsure what was next for her. With her co-podcaster and best friend getting married and their podcast of how to stay out of relationships now effectively useless…what was she to do next? Of course she decided to spend the two weeks breaking all the rules they’ve spent years talking about, living without the rules. And OF COURSE she does exactly that but not in the way she thought she would!

It was a slow burn in the sense it took until 50% for Margo and Declan to act on their feelings, but the tension was there for a while before. Their banter was amazing! And once they decided they were going for it it was quick! They were so easily able to slip into being a couple and doing such sweet things together. I loved them together so much. Declan was SO SWEET. They were able to balance each other out really well I thought!

I apparently love when the couple has never been together, but knew each other when they were younger, and they were seemingly enemies but one was SO IN LOVE with the other and now they’re getting their second chance. It was so good. SO GOOD.

I felt like there was something missing. And I don’t really know how to explain it? I was thinking there would have been more of conflict between Jo and Margo? And there was but it didn’t seem to last long? Which normally would be fine, but I felt like they needed more conflict?

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Margo and Jo host a pod cast about rules to live by for staying single and how not to catch feeling. Jo however has decided to get married and Margo, Jo and the wedding party are off on a 2 week vacation leading up to the wedding.
Margo decided to what it would be like if she decided to break out the rules. What started out as a social experiment with Declan soon became the real thing when she decided to catch feelings.
With most romance books, I really prefer dual pov, I feel that book would be so much better with Declans pov added.
I did love the banter between, and loved the seen at the restaurant with the entire wedding party.
However I feel like some of the character develop just felt short.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this earc in exchange for a honest review.

3.5 stars

Not the best fit for my reading tastes🤔

3-3.5🌟stars
This opposites attract romance had an interesting setting off the California coast, but it just couldn't hit the right notes for me. I think this plot would appeal more to a twenty-something or thirty-something reader demographic.

It's focused on a podcaster who's hit a bump in her professional life and who has a really hard time believing in a romantic happy ending. Margo's built her career around giving single women tips on how to steer clear of romantic disappointment and can't stand the notion that her rules for a content singledom may be flawed. She may have good reasons for her cynicism based in her family history but I just couldn't get behind Margo and the way she handled things.

The author uses a single POV, seeing everything through Margo's eyes. I wanted to know more about Declan, the former high school practical joker who turns out quite attractive to Margo when they both get selected for their best friends' wedding party. I think at least a dual POV would have been useful.

I am not all that into weddings and all the preparations and events that go into the big event. Almost all of this novel revolves around wedding activities and the opportunity they give for Declan and Margo to get acquainted. The slow build romance and the part of the story after the wedding were, in my view, the best parts of the novel.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for sharing a complimentary advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley, PRH Audio and SMP romance

CW: cheating (past, side characters), internet bullying,

Read if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/f contemporary romance
-pining
-frenemies to lovers
-vacation romance

I love a good she thought they were enemies and he has been pining the whole time. This was lot, frothy, and just a fun read. Margo has built her career on her podcast with her best friend, seven rules about not making a commitment. But now her best friend is getting married and Margo's life is on the precipe of change. Add in Declan her high school frenemy who she's stuck spending the week with.

Declan was adorable and I appreciated that he was the hopeless romantic while Margo was anti relationship after her experiences in the past. They had cute chemistry, and I enjoyed Margo's relationship with her best friend. Definitely a great beach read.

Steam: 3

Sometimes we set rules for ourselves to protect ourselves but when those rules start to prevent us from living or being our true self are they worth sticking to? Margo has rules for braking hearts (in reality they are rules to prevent her heart from breaking) she has build her whole life on these rules but has she really been living? On a trip from a sponsor of her podcast, the rules are thrown to the wind and she realizes what Love is all about with an unexpected person from her past.

"Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts" is a cute fun romcom perfect for summer.

Margo and Jo have a successful podcast about their rules for staying single, but its future is up in the air when Jo surprises their listeners by announcing she’s getting married. While on a 2 week vacation leading up to the wedding, Margo comes up with the idea to break the rules and date someone for content.

I wasn’t quite hooked by this one right at the beginning, but by the time they arrived at their vacation destination I was fully invested. I loved Margo and Declan. They were enemies to lovers with great banter and amazing chemistry. The island setting worked so well for them and I enjoyed reading about all the activities they got up to. Their relationship is so sweet and I just want more!!

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

With SEVEN RULES FOR BREAKING HEARTS, Kristyn Miller perfectly captures a moment in time when you realize a beloved era is ending, and a frighteningly unknown new era is about to be ushered in.
Podcaster Margo has built her career on NOT falling in love. Now that her co-host and BFF Jo has broken all of their anti-love rules and is getting (ugh) married, Margo feels like everything is on the line: her job, their friendship, and everything she believes in. Her old high school saboteur Declan could be the way she moves forward - what if she broke all the no-love rules with him, just to prove a grumpy point about love being a bad idea? It'll work, as long as she can keep from falling in love with him...
What I loved about this book was Margo's emotionally pitch-perfect journey from clinging to her safe, lonely past, to embracing her messy present and hopeful future. I recognize myself and my friends in her self-sabotaging shenanigans! Strikes a clear, true note of the second coming-of-age into adulthood.

I thought Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts was a cute romcom with bit of an enemies to lovers romance. It had a podcaster who hated the idea of love who ending up falling for her sworn enemy from high school who she thought picked on her.

It kind of had a How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days vibe since the podcast was about staying single and following rules, but Margo didn’t intentionally make Declan her project for her podcast. Margo internalized her fear about her podcast instead of talking it through with her best friend/co-podcaster before going to her wedding.

I wanted more from Margo as a friend because she wasn’t really being supportive, but I also felt like I understand that she didn’t really “get” Jo or how she even fell in love and probably just avoided the issue until she realized she’d be on her own with their themed podcast. I don’t know how it wasn’t an issue beforehand, but we just see Margo sort of freaking out while also trying to stay calm and collected and enjoy her BFFs wedding without being a jerk.

I liked Declan and the chemistry he and Margo had to together. Naturally he avoided social media and was very private, so cue the potential for miscommunication…

Overall, Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts was cute, quick, and also contained a bit of spice to keep it interesting. Definitely recommend sticking this one in your beach bag!