This book was good!! I have no notes other than I thought something was missing but can’t put my finger on it. I would recommend this!

3.5/5

First of all, thank you netgalley and st. martin press for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

This one is weird for me to review because I really really enjoyed the first half of the book. It was leaning towards a 4 star or higher, and then that halfway mark hit. The FMC became very whiney, the sex scene was cringy, and I hated the ending. If the last half was as good and had banter like the first half, I would have loved it. Sadly, it didn't.

I'm late to the game on this review. This is the second Emma Lord book I have read and received from Net galley. The Break-up Pact was so heartwarming and clever for a story about two main characters facing grief and public humiliation. The two main characters were best friends in high school and lost touch after a miscommunication. Their public humiliation brings them back together 10 years later. This was a truly delightful book.

Emma Lord's new book delivers on all of things I have enjoyed in her other books including characters that the reader can relate to and cheer for and a fun and creative plot setting. I also appreciated that The Break Up Pact addressed hard topics including internet bullying, grief and loss, while not losing its overall lighthearted tone.

June Hart comes back to her coastal town after becoming an internet meme connected to a dating show to take over her dead sister's dream tea shop business. Her teenage love, Levi also returns to town and suffers his own internet break-up. Levi and June engage in a fake relationship to try to save the tea shop.

I give this book 4 stars for a delightful and fun summer romance.

I didn’t resonate with this book from the very start. Didn’t finish it. Was a little slow and underwhelming.
Cover was very cute though.

This one was hard to get through and it wasn’t really for me. The main character had far too many, lengthy inner monologues. Im also not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope.

Emma Lord always makes her books so fun. I love the characters. It was a silly little romcom with some heart. I actually found myself tearing up a bit.

I really liked the premise that these were to jilted lovers teaming up to get revenge on their exes. I didn't read anything else about the book and expected it to be fun and light hearted. It is not. The characters are dealing with grief and their own imposter syndrome. They also aren't strangers. The grief is such a big component of the story that I found myself wondering if it was Anne rather than June that Levi loved. Grief is hard to cover in a romance. I appreciated that the author tried and will check out their other work.

Thanks to St. Martin's Griffin and NetGalley for this eARC!

Emma Lord's new book delivers on all of things I have enjoyed in her other books including characters that the reader can relate to and cheer for and a fun and creative plot setting. I also appreciated that The Break Up Pact addressed hard topics including internet bullying, grief and loss, while not losing its overall lighthearted tone.

June Hart comes back to her coastal town after becoming an internet meme connected to a dating show to take over her dead sister's dream tea shop business. Her teenage love, Levi also returns to town and suffers his own internet break-up. Levi and June engage in a fake relationship to try to save the tea shop.

I give this book 4 stars for a delightful and fun summer romance.

Thank you Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for the free book in exchange for an honest review. I will post this review on Goodreads, Bookbub. Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

3.5 stars

Really torn by how I feel about this because some things I loved, and some things really bothered me. The fake dating relationship between Levi and June and watching them fall for each other was very cute, and I enjoyed reading it. I loved Sana, Mateo and Dylan and all the relationships.

The miscommunication and the fall out from that was frustrating once it was finally revealed. It was weird to me that at the start Levi wanted his ex back even though she cheated on him. And some of the communication between them even near the end was really frustrating, like Levi not texting June the whole day when Kelly was there.

I did love Tea Tide and the different scones, and watching Levi fall back in love with writing. But there were points that I wasn’t sure I wanted these two together. But it was a quick read that I couldn’t put down so I’m definitely interested in picking up her next adult novel.

Emma Lord is one of my favorite authors, and this book just supports why I love her so much.

Levi and June were friends in high school who grew apart. When they both get broken up with in viral ways, they reconnect in their hometown. They make a pact to pretend to date in order to get revenge on their exes. As they go through the act, they revisit their past friendship and rekindle some of their old feelings.

Lord writes novels that are heartfelt without being too heavy, and the dialogue is always quippy and fun. This is her first foray into adult romance and I’m here for it. I recommend all of Lord’s books!

This was lighthearted but had lots of emotions, and some tropes (fake-dating, friends to lovers) that I loved. It was straightforward and quick to read, and was overall enjoyable.

If Emma Lord writes it, I'm going to read it. I am a fan and continue to be a fan! The Break-Up Pact was so cute and a perfectly summer. I love a good fake dating story and when done well a second chance romance is a favorite of mine.

A feel good romance that is delightful but predictable, I can see this being many peoples comfort read!

3.00/5

I went into this expecting a RomCom, but got a RomDram instead (imo).

Normally I wouldn’t include a spoiler (?), but I feel like the book summary does the reader a disservice by omitting the third main character in this story - the FMC’s dead sister 😭 So anyone going into this should be made aware there is heavy discussion of grief in this book. And for me, that’s tough when I’m looking for a fun and light summer read.

I love the fake dating x friends-to-lovers x fun bakery x writer vibes. But it seemed to me it was always overshadowed by the grief that both characters share which resulted in my expectations not aligning with the experience of the book.

I loved that the main characters had a chance to bond over planning the FMC’s gay brother (and her bff). I think it would have served the story better if there was more distance between the sister’s passing or if there was less of a focus on it. Maybe the right balance could have worked out for a lighter book - especially for those looking for a romcom.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the eARC.

(I am way late to the review but trying to catch up)

This was a fun read! A kind of friends-to-strangers-to-lovers, second chance, forced proximity story. Themes of grief that felt well written and more than just a plot point for character development.

I kinda wish I DNF'ed this book. I didn't really buy into the romance between June and Levi. Finished it pretty quickly but mostly because I just wanted to get through it.

I ended reading this partially on Kindle and partially on audio. The elevator-pitch synopsis reads: “Two best friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral.”

This delivered on everything you’d expect in a romcom:

💖 Popular tropes: fake dating, friends to lovers, second chance romance, celebrity romance (this one checked a lot of boxes)
💖 Beachy vibes
💖 Small business owner/tea shop and bakery
💖 Small town
💖 The best friend
💖 Third act drama

It was a solid 3.5-4 stars. If you’re looking for something that feels a bit like a hallmark movie, or a vacation read you don’t have to put a lot of mental energy into, this would be a good book to pick up.

I've enjoyed books by Emma Lord before, so I expected to also like this one. However, it missed the mark for me. It was just kind of boring and didn't keep my interest--I just didn't care if June and Levi ended up together. This doesn't mean I won't check out other books by Emma--I will! This one just didn't do it for me.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t work for me — I really wanted to love it, but I found it hard to connect with the voice and characters. The setup had promise, but the pacing and tone just didn’t pull me in the way I’d hoped. I ended up putting it down about a third of the way through. That said, I know Emma Lord has a strong following, and I imagine longtime fans will still find joy here — I just may not have been the right reader at the right time... Will likely circle back to this book if I'm in a reading slump or bored and want to try again.