I’m sad to have to give this a negative review. I saw this book and thought cute romcom with some female empowerment and owning of her sexuality.

So I requested the ARC. Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the opportunity to read this.

What I got was an insufferable main character who thought of herself as better than everyone, spoiled alert she’s not. I found the storyline slow and boring while simultaneously having plot holes. Overall just very disappointed.

A fun, fast-paced rom-com with a well fleshed-out setting, lots of wry banter, an engaging narrative voice, and main characters with realistic flaws and relatable questions about life and love? Yes, please! I suspect romance readers will devour this one, partly because Miller's prose and dialogue are so swift and keep the action unfolding while romance blossoms and conflict looms, but also because within that breezy prose are some really sharp comments about the ways men and women are socialized differently with regards to sex and our bodies; the ways the self can become a brand on social media and that brand can start to diverge from who we actually want to be; and the ways setting rules for ourselves can do more harm than good when the rules don't allow some flexibility for new circumstances or outlooks. The setting feels lush and fun and like a vacation, and Miller doesn't just mention a couple of palm trees and call it a day. Every chapter gives us a little more of the world we're inhabiting in our imaginations, such that by the end of the book, I not only felt like I'd been to Catalina Island, I felt like it was the only setting in which this particular story could unfold. I also appreciated that the story centered around a heroine who enjoys casual sex, and that even when she comes to understand that she may have hit a point in her life where she finds a long term relationship fulfilling, it doesn't undercut her previous lifestyle, such that the book doesn't moralize about marriage as the only meaningful or acceptable way to live one's dating life. We also get a steamy jeans shopping trip, a fabulously comedic hike to see the bison, a strong female friendship, and a well-paced third act wherein the central conflict resolves in realistic and still joyfully romantic ways. Can't wait to see what Miller follows up with.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn J. Miller is a perfect summer romance read! It follows Margo who runs a podcast with her best friend and Declan who she went to high school with. Margo holds a grudge against him for all the pranks he pulled on her but she has to be nice since he's the best man at her best friend's wedding. Margo and Declan had great tension from the beginning and I applaud the author's great writing and storytelling for that. I was impressed to see that this is her debut novel! There is a lot of talk about social media and influencers in this book since it does revolve around the main character's podcast but it was not overdone. Sometimes talk of social media can make me dislike a story but considering the importance of it to this book, it was included nicely. I also liked the discussion of Margo's struggles and anxiety over social media. We see her get treated differently than others by people who look down on influencers. It shows that their life may look glamorous but they have struggles too. I did really love Margo and Declan's romance even though it did not start in the best way. Margo was planning on meeting a guy and using him for the podcast and Declan turned into that guy which isn't a nice thing to do to someone. I was glad that she quickly changed her mind about using him for the podcast and let thhings happen naturally. But her initial choices do cause some future issues. I was glad to see Margo's mindset on the podcast change and allow her to stop letting it run her life. She had great character growth. I would definitely recommend this book if your looking for a funny summer romance!
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for a review!

I seem to have a hard time resisting books with numbers in the title ("Ten Rules For Faking It," "Eight Perfect Hours," etc.), and here comes "Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts." Margo is a podcaster and child of divorce whose strict set of guidelines is supposed to enable her to have fun with men without getting hurt; in her mind, the worst thing you can do is "catch feelings." When her co-host Jo gets engaged, however, Margo is faced with the fact that sticking with their whole "single-not-seeking" philosophy may not be as easy as it sounds.

Jo's fiancé's best man Declan just happens to be one of Margo's former high school classmates. She's held a grudge because he played pranks on her back then. Now, he's all grown up and handsome. She decides to "break the rules" for a couple of weeks, in hopes that it'll give her something to discuss on the podcast.

At the beginning of "Seven Rules," Margo struck me as hopelessly immature and rather cruel, but she does learn and grow a lot during the course of the novel! I was pleasantly surprised at how she faced her fears about commitment and came to the realization that in order to be happy, she would have to open herself up and take risks.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin for the review copy, via NetGalley.

From the beginning, I felt like the story was pretty predictable. Girl doesn't want to fall in love but ends up anyway more specifically with the guy she absolutely hated in high school. I will say that I did enjoy their relationship due to it feeling very... normal, like this can happen to anyone. The only thing that I didn't understand was how she thought they were enemies but he was always around and she never had a clue he liked her? Overall, I thought it was a cute story.

Margo and Declan are Maid of Honor and Best Man for their friends wedding on Catalina Island. The story unfolds during their two week stay, as they help plan, prepare and carry out their wedding duties. There are a lot of social media references and I enjoyed the podcast snippets. This was a quick enemies to lovers read and would make a great beach/poolside escape!
Overall Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
Spice Level: 🌶️🌶️🌶️🌶️/5 (sex scenes included, but not detailed and could easily be glossed over)
I was provided a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the unique concept of this book. At first the main character annoyed me, however, as the story went on she grew on me. She stubbornly stuck to the seven rules for what felt like a second too long. However, I love that her feels really made her question everything she thought she knew. There were a lot of lessons learned and mistakes made along the way that made the story very engaging. Great character development and of course the classic enemy turned to lover. Overall a great read!

A cute "childhood nemesis/enemies to lovers" romance with a lot of personal growth for the female main character, who has a staggering amount of baggage to process. Interspersed with transcripts of the podcast run by the female main character and her best friend, most of the action takes place in the days surrounding a destination wedding on Catalina Island, so the vibe is very vacationy

S W O O N 💕 W E D N E S D A Y featuring “Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts” by Kristyn J Miller!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Besties Margo and Jo have an anti dating podcast that talks about what rules to follow in order to stay single and NOT catch feelings 🫦

But then Jo suddenly shocks all their loyal followers by announcing that she is getting married! That is the biggest RULE BREAK of them all! Jo is also offered a sponsored all expenses paid wedding on Catalina Island … and Margo is the MOH! She suddenly becomes reunited with her high school nemesis who just so happens to be the best man! Margo is destined to not break her rules … but is a summer “fling” possible without heartbreak???

Read this if you love:
🏝️ How to Lose A Guy in 10 Days
🏝️ Enemies to Lovers
🏝️ Opposites attract
🏝️ Beach reads
🏝️ Lots of witty banter
🏝️ Catalina wine mixers

Thank you kindly to St. Martin’s Press, Kristyn Miller and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This cutie debut releases on May 16, 2023!

Thank you to Kristyn Miller, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a quick, cute read. There wasn't much spice. But that's okay. That's not a make-or-break for me. The banter in this book was my favorite part. This is definitely a feel-good summer read. 3.5 stars

Didn't really like Margo until the second half of the book. Obviously the author was trying to escribe the "influencer" life, but it got a little grating at times. Enjoyed the enemies to lovers banter though.

She has a podcast with her best friend about having no strings relationships and avoiding commitment. But when her best friend gets married, it's impossible to avoid her high school nemesis and best man. If she decides to also give into commitment, can she overcome the rules set up to avoid relationships?

Cute little rom com, has all the things expected and is written well. The vibe of learning to grow up and be ok moving on is strong and worked through throughout - always nice rather than avoiding problems all together.

#arc
#netgalley
#sevenrulesforbreakinghearts

Rating: 4/5⭐️
Spice: 1.5/5🌶️

Summary: Go and Jo are best friends and have a popular podcast covering their single lives and the rules they follow to avoid catching feelings. Jo throws the entire dynamic out the window when she follows her heart instead of the rules. Go is left considering how to carry on and decides to challenge the rules herself.

Thoughts: I enjoyed the plot on this book a lot! It also had a nostalgia factor to the romcom movies I used to love when I was younger.

I absolutely loved the setting and felt the author did an amazing job in providing exquisite detail to make you feel like you escaped to Catalina Island.

I didn’t connect very much with the main characters. There were times when I really disliked the main character, Go. But they did feel incredibly genuine.

Overall, this is a fast paced, adorable read. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book was cute, full of fun and really fast paced. I’m a sucker for an enemies to lovers trope, so that had me hooked in! The banter between characters was great.

I felt the author did a great job with the character development as well as the storyline. This is a great read for the warmer months that are now upon us!!

Thank you to the publisher and net galley for the opportunity to read this arc.

I loved this book.

The story follows a podcast between two friends Margo and Jo about 7 rules for breaking hearts & not being in a relationship. Things take a turn when Jo gets engaged. When they go to her wedding set up by partnerships, Margo is reunited with Declan, whom she hates from high school. As they try and figure out what they will do for the next season of their podcast now that Jo is going to be married, Margo gets the idea to break her rules with Declan- but things don’t go her way when her feelings for him become genuine. All is great until he finds out about her initial plan when beginning their relationship.

I loved the back and forth between Margo and Declan, I loved the flame he held for her after all those years, and I loved watching them get together- in despite the falling kid- watching them get back together.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy. These opinions are my own.

Margo is one half of Go and Jo, a podcast about the Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts. They share dating advice to empower women who are happily single and not seeking. In many ways, their seven rules are less about breaking hearts and more about making sure their own hearts aren't breaking.

But they are hitting a major transition, as Jo is getting married. They get an all expenses paid vacation on Catalina Island and wedding in exchange for hyping the Catalina resort on their podcast and social media. But they also have to figure out what their new brand will be with one of their stars no longer single.

Margo debates throwing out all the rules, just as she reconnects with the best man at her wedding, her high school nemesis Declan. I was quite impressed with the great character growth in this story. While I often prefer dual points of view in romances, I actually found I didn't miss Declan's perspective at all. I love being in Margo's head and all of the on between parts from the podcast and text messages.

I enjoyed this one, but I was also a bit frustrated with Margo. Despite it being her best friend’s wedding week, she was so focused on herself. And there were conversations I feel like the pair should have had before the wedding. But the relationship between Margo and Declan was sweet (once they actually decided to progress). I realize that one thing that made me not as attached/engaged was that there seemed to be too many tropes/elements pushed into the book. I think it confused me a bit to understand the point and where things would go.

Overall, this was still an enjoyable read.
(Ended up listening thanks to an ALC from PRH Audio)

I read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I didn't think going into this novel, that I'd become so invested in the characters and their endings. Margo and Declan became so real, and their interactions were written so well, that I felt like I really knew everything about them. Margo of course, was a bit too obsessed with the podcast, but it had to be that way. Declan, was amazing and the king of the slow-burn.
I really enjoyed the realistic friendship of Jocelyn and Margo.
I wish that Shelley had more of a comeuppance, but life is like that unfortunately.

I absolutely loved this book for the reasons below and more:

Easy-breezy writing style
EXTREMELY witty banter
laugh-out-loud moments
summery setting that made me long for my sundresses and sandals
Heavy character development, particularly for the main character
Adorable, sweet, yet also hot beta love interest.

I highly recommend this one, especially for fans of Lynn Painter.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the female lead was so relatable. It’s apparent that these two have a lot of chemistry. Even though it was predictable it was light hearted and a fun read. I really recommend this book to everyone because it was a quick fun read