a cute and charming romance, i enjoyed this read

thank you to netgalley and to the publisher for this review copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Margo and her best friend Jo host a successful podcast that highlights rules for women to follow to avoid catching feelings and to enjoy the single life. However, Margo’s world is quickly thrown off kilter when Jo gets engaged and decides to take up a sponsors offer to pay for Jo’s wedding trip on Catalina Island. With everything changing, Margo decides this is the perfect opportunity to break all her dating rules; and the groom’s best friend seems to be the perfect man for this experiment.
Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is a cute beachy read that is perfect for the summer. Overall, this was a fun read, and a successful debut novel!

I didn’t enjoy the writing show of this book.
It seemed like it would be a good story but I just couldn’t get past the writing.

I’m sure other people would enjoy this though!!

This book has a cute premise: a podcaster who praises the single life falls for the love of her life, and her cohost is left holding the bag...until she falls too. I hated Margo at first, but her character arc is incredible. She really turns her outlook around and becomes much more likeable by the end of the book. Declan was a sweetheart, though, and fun to read about the whole way through.

This is a fun wedding-themed read perfect for summertime!

Margo and her best friend Jocelyn have made a career out of their podcast detailing rules to follow to stay single. Suddenly Jocelyn is engaged and the basis for their podcast is thrown out the window. Margo decides to reengage the podcast audience by seeing what happens if she ignores all the rules for two weeks. She decides her high school nemesis is the perfect test subject since they will be spending lots of time together prepping for the wedding in the next two weeks and she is sure she will never catch feelings for him. As you can probably guess, things don't go according to plan at all.

This book is "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days" meets "The Unhoneymooners" and I could not love that combination more. It's funny, sweet, charming, heartbreaking, and everything in between. I love how real these characters are and while I didn't relate to the celebrity aspect at all, their emotions behind it were so relatable. Highly recommend this one!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC of this book.

Margo and her best friend, Jo, have a podcast all about how to be a single female enjoying sex without the hassle of a commitment, but things go awry when Jo falls in love and plans her wedding. Of course, the best man turns out to be the guy who made fun of Margo and played horrible pranks on her in high school, but high school was a long time ago and they say there is a fine line between love and hate. Funny plot, witty banter, ample angst and tons of sweet romance. It was a fun read and I am thrilled that I stumbled across this book! I will definitely be looking for more books from this author as her creative characters and fun plot made my day more enjoyable.

All rom com books have the same plot line.
Enemies to lovers
I enjoyed it. But didn't really like any of the characters. If that makes sense.

Seven Rules is a fun summer romcom that will make a cute beach read. I really enjoyed the premise - Margo and her best friend Jo host a podcast about their seven rules for hooking up without catching feelings, but then *gasp* Jo meets the love of her life and is now getting married. In an attempt to keep the podcast alive, Margo says goodbye to the rules so she can see what happens! Add in her high school nemesis, Declan, and some fantastic forced proximity and the steam heats up fast. I think this is a fun premise, but the execution fell a little short.

Since the book and the following romance takes place over the span of two weeks, it feels rushed in the development of the relationship. It also took me awhile to actually like Margo - I don't think I was rooting for her until maybe halfway through our so. There was also just some extreme immaturity at times across the board and it was very frustrating to watch happen at times. But in the end I was happy for Margo and Declan and enjoyed the humorous parts of this book best!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy. All opinions are my own.

Totally predictable but still really enjoyable read about two people who don’t quite see eye to eye on a lot of things. Margo aka Go from the successful dating podcast has had her life upheaval by her podcasting partner and best friend Jo getting married and breaking the rules. Now Margo and the rest of the wedding party travel to Catalina Island for the wedding and festivities but the only problem is the best man aka Declan her high school nemesis. The more time Margo and Declan spend together they begin to enjoy each other’s company and dare I say it have fun. What happens is that Margo learns that the rules are sometimes meant to be broken but other times they shouldn’t be especially when others are involved.

I really liked the inclusion of the mix media throughput the story between the texts, emails, podcasts and twitter feeds. I always like when books include them cause I feel like it brings more authenticity to the characters and the story.


Thank you @stmartinspress and @netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

I actually really loved this book. I think mainly because of Declan. It’s nice to see a book where the guy falls first and helps a girl see love is worth it. Different than the usual romances out there lately. I also liked that Margo went on a bit of a self journey. I found her to be very annoying in the start but by the end you could see her growth. The ending of the book was so sweet. A solid romance.

Hmmm... I had trouble rating this one, but ultimately decided on giving 3-stars still because I liked the writing AND did, in fact, finish it despite my qualms. Truthfully, I found the FMC to be annoying at at times because she was constantly hyper-fixated on both what NOT to do in social/romantic situations (versus just... doing the thing/reacting like a normal human lol) AND on moments in her life [sometimes concerning others] that happened years prior (read: like in high school), without ever really stopping to consider that people do and can grow/change. While the premise itself is certainly fun (and I do love the forced proximity + E2L tropes), it's also nothing new under the sun per se, thus making this romcom a bit forgettable to me.

I couldn’t get over this one!! It was super adorable and not too cheesy. I really loved Margo’s character and how she grew throughout the book. Declan might just be one of my new book boyfriends. Such a cute book!!

I really enjoyed this book! The main characters were amazing and there was so much growth for Margo. The love story was amazing. Declan sounds like a dream! Jo was the best side character. 10/10 obsessed!

Unfortunately, this one was just not working for me, and I ended up DNFing at around the 65% mark.

To start with what did work: I liked the podcast element of this story. It’s not something I’ve seen a lot in books, particularly romance ones. It was interesting to see and it touched on the idea of how sharing everything on something like a podcast can make it feel like everyone has intimate knowledge about you.

However, the things that didn’t work for me were essentially the kisses of death: the main character and the romance. All of the characters, but especially our protagonist Margot, were not particularly likeable. Margot came off as immature and somewhat selfish throughout the story, and it didn’t seem like she was headed towards any significant character development when I stopped reading.

Then the romance. There was nothing glaringly wrong with it, there just wasn’t enough history or chemistry between the characters for me to care at all about their budding romance. The progression of said romance was also too slow to keep me even slightly invested.

Overall, I’m happy with my decision to not force myself to finish this one, because I simply wasn’t enjoying myself. I think there are better options out there if you’re looking for a summer-y romance or one revolving around a wedding.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is a mashup between Christina Lauren's UnHoneymooners and Sally Thorne's The Hating Game mixed with a little Ali Hazelwood stem-fishing that was a little repetitive at times but overall a solid 3 out of 5 star read.

Margo and best friend Jo, better known as Go and Jo host a small platform but successful podcast called Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts. Walking listeners through their seven steps to never get their hearts broken, the girls have built a profitable business from it over the years. When Jo announces she's getting married, the girls scramble to try and figure out how to keep listeners and sponsors while also pivoting their platform. Enter Declan - Margo's old high school nemesis and the groom's best man and a plot for Margo to break all of her rules and prove she can still remain unheartbroken. The more time they spend together, Margo realizes maybe her rules aren't as fool proof as she once thought. Can the girls both fall in love and still have success and friendship?

Overall I thought this book was okay but needed a little more meat to the story. I found myself skipping some pages at times because it felt like the same conversation over and over again. It's a fast beach read this summer if you're looking for a new book to dive into.

Margo, along with her best friend, Jo host a successful podcast about single life. In their show, they share trade secrets on how to date without despair. In fact, they encapsulated their tips into a dating commandments of sorts- coining them rules for breaking hearts.

But their perfect partnership hits a snag when Jo essentially flies the coop and falls in love. While Margo is happy for her friend, she’s also bummed about losing her other half-and worried about what this will mean to their audience, in particular, their sponsors.

While abating some level of ultimate fallout, the women go on an all expenses paid trip to Catalina Island where, in exchange, Jo’s wedding will take place. On the surface, Margo is all bridesmaid dresses and bachelorette parties, but behind the scenes she’s scrambling for their new anti amorous angle.

Then she meets, or rather is reintroduced to her high school rival, Declan Walsh. Declan, even more dashing than Margo remembers, just so happens to be the groom’s best man. Acknowledging Declan is attractive is easy, but deciding to make him her dating don’t du jour is a whole other level. But as Margo breaks all her rules in the name of curated content, she slowly starts to realize some rules might be meant to stay broken.

Seven Rules For Breaking Hearts is a breezy rom com perfect for summer reading. While I enjoyed Margo and Declan’s banter, I still found myself wanting more out of their relationship. In the beginning, Declan seems rather aloof towards Margo, so when it’s ultimately revealed he’s felt the exact opposite for years, it comes out of left field. Then there’s the issue of their time spent together in the present, which seemed rather stilted in relationship to how quickly Margo began to question her own girl code.

I wouldn’t rule out Seven Rules For Breaking Hearts as a worthwhile romance. That being said, I was still a little heartbroken there wasn’t more depth to the story.

4 stars
What's that saying about the best-laid plans?
Margo and her best friend Jo are determined to avoid the inevitable - or at least what they think is inevitable. All around them, relationships are imploding, so why get involved? Stay entangled. They've even centered a successful social media and blog brand that touts the seven rules for protecting your heart. Until Jo loses her heart and <gasp> gets engaged..

During a 2-week destination wedding on Catalina Island, Margo proceeds to break all her own rules just to prove that she was right all along. But, was she? Is she <gasp> catching feelings for Declan, the obnoxious best man?

Fun, spicy read. Perfect for pool or beach.

Thank you St. Martin's and NetGalley for the digital ARC in return for an honest review.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn J. Miller is a cute rom com with the typical second chance romance and misunderstandings that threaten new love. I thought the plot was cute overall, but this is not a clean romance and these parts were really unnecessary to the overall story. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

I really liked the concept of this book being based around 2 podcasters and their seven rules for breaking hearts. It was an easy read but I definitely saw the plot line coming.

If there is one thing I always appreciate in a book, it’s consistency. I appreciate when characters have personalities that flow and change, but at a pace that makes sense. Unfortunately, the only thing that is consistent about Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts, is its utter inconsistency.

First, let's talk about the main draw of any romance, the characters. The only character with a consistent personality and realistic motivations was the main love interest, Declan. He was a good character that left me rooting for him in this otherwise rollercoaster of a relationship both at the story and at the outline level. On the other hand, our main character, Margo, was an inconsistent character with confusing and contradicting motivations and character flaws that didn’t make her unlikable, but they did make her uninteresting. Despite it being a season of change in her life, Margo's focus on her problems was simply annoying. She didn’t care at all about her friends or other people in her life, but rather that their lives didn’t do what she wanted them to do. That kind of selfishness is hard to support and it made for an MC that was hard to root for.

The writing style was engaging nonetheless with excellent descriptions of the world around our characters. Despite this being set in our world, and thus not really requiring world building, it did a really great job of setting our scenes and describing the island in which Seven Rules was set upon.

The overall story was hard to engage with at times. The core hook of the book, the Rules for Breaking Hearts, didn’t play enough into our story. The plot of this book would have continued on as it was whether or not the rules were followed or broken. This combined with our inconsistent MC, made for an overall mediocre novel. Read it for the setting, skip it for the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.