June and Levi have a long history but haven’t spoken in years, until he shows up in front of June’s tea shop after suffering a similar viral break-up as she has. Their revenge-ex plot follows some twists and turns and doesn’t end up exactly where either of them suspected. Thank you to Net Galley for this early access copy.

to be honest, a good friends-to-lovers story is always a hit or miss, and this one was a miss. the main characters, june and levi, were generally all over the place and i really did not like part of the reason why they started fake dating to begin with.

not only that, the pacing of the story felt so rushed and sloppy. like june and levi hadn’t really talked in 10 years and they had trust issues but for some reason jumped straight into fake-dating so quickly? it didn’t make sense.

lastly, tiktok was mentioned 6 times and that’s one-too many times. when will authors realize that constantly using pop culture references doesn’t age well and makes their readers cringe 99% of the time?

overall, this book just wasn’t for me. i couldn’t get into it no matter how hard i tried, and i often found myself force-reading to finish it instead of enjoying it. sure, it had some cute, romcom-esque moments that i really liked, with fun banter, but that wasn’t enough for me as a reader.

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord

What would you do if your childhood best friend stays in town for a few weeks, after you both just went through very public break-ups? June and Levi decide to make a pact in order to save face, increase business in June's small-town tea shop, and rekindle the spark in Levi's previous relationship. "The Break-Up Pact" is a comforting, wholesome story of two people who restore their friendship after losing touch from a decade ago.

I really loved the writing style in this book and I think using only one perspective (June's perspective) was efficient. However, I think this book would have also been amazing as a dual POV book. Emma Lord is an amazing writer. It felt like I was watching a movie of this book as I was reading it --- that's how good her imagery is. I also felt every emotion the characters were feeling. She did a very good job at describing the emotions of the characters, rather than just including the dialogue of the characters and having to figure out what the characters were feeling.

I was very invested in this book and found myself not being able to put it down at some points. I think this book was the perfect length, as well. At some points I thought it could be a little shorter. However, after finishing the book, I thought each scene and moment between Levi and June just added to their story and I loved it all.


Overall, I would rate this book 4.25/5 stars. I don't really have any complaints, but I don't think I was attached to any of the characters so much that I would think about this book very much afterwards. However, I did really enjoy the story.

June's boyfriend broke up with her on a TV show and she became a viral meme. At the same time, her childhood best friend Levi, found out that his girlfriend was cheating on him with an A-list action star through internet gossip sites. A photo is taken of the two of them after a chance encounter on the beach in their hometown and the internet dubs them “The Revenge Exes". June wants to save her sister’s beachside tea shop and Levi wants to get his ex girlfriend back, so they decide to fake some dates and use the publicity to do just that.

Emma Lord is a favorite of mine and her first foray into adult romance did not disappoint. The Break-Up Pact has the emotional depth I have come to expect from her YA novels, but the main characters are closer to 30 than high school graduation. There is still plenty of angst, especially as June and Levi work through the reasons they have barely spoken since high school, but there is the added level of maturity. Both June and Levi are very sweet, slow to anger, and eager to forgive (which I found personally frustrating since I am not any of those things and my revenge for what their exes did would have caused far more permanent damage than images of me fake dating someone else…), and their group of friends are completely lovely and wonderfully supportive. The small beach side town, and June’s quirky tea shop in particular, are an ideal setting to make this book your next beach read, or to transport you back to summer as the colder weather starts setting in. It really is a great story that has everything you have come to love and expect from Emma Lord, but in a more grown up package.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and Emma Lord for this advanced copy. The Break-Up Pact releases August 13, 2024.

The Break-Up Pact was a cute light, fun, easy read!

The book follows Levi and June, who’s relationship break ups end up be blasted all across the social media. People start suggesting that the pair are dating, which then leads them starting a fake relationship…and you can guess what happens after that 😉

Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE a fake dating trope as much as the next girl but this one kind of fell flat for me. I really struggled with liking the fmc, June, which made it difficult to get through the story. The connection with her was just lost on me.

However, I did finish the book and there were parts that had me swooning, giggling, and enjoying bits of it!

If you’re into fake dating, friends to lovers, with a dash of beach front? This book might be for you!

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this arc!

This was a good book with a pretty emotional story. I liked the characters, both Emma and Levi. I really enjoyed the setting of the story in a little beach town in the Northeast. I felt like the bones of this story with the fake dating trope (my favorite) and the estranged friends was a foundation for a great romance, but it fell just a little short. I feel the author went on too much with the emotionality of the characters instead of giving us more story and pushing the plot along. There was a lot of potential here to be an absolutely amazing book, but instead I'd give it 4 stars, instead of 5 because the story seemed to slow down quite a bit toward the end. I desperately wanted Emma to find her voice by the end of the book and was a little let down by it all.

There were some swoony moments and some emotional scenes that were touching. The main characters love story was believable and the ending was lovely. All in all, a decent read.

This was cute. I appreciated the take on going viral and merging that into romance. I also really appreciated the heroine’s journey and learning to deal with grief. It wasn’t quite as swoony as I wanted, though I did enjoy their runs and beach scenes. And the ending was super cute!

I've enjoyed a few other Emma Lord books, so I thought I'd give this one a try. It was an enjoyable read. I didn't dislike it. It just didn't wow me either. I didn't feel very connected to any of the characters.

Thank you to Net Galley for the Copy of this book.

This book was a good story, but I just could not connect to the main characters. I really tried. But these two were just so back and forth. June was so wishy washy. And I couldn’t stand her by the end of the book. To be honest the side characters had more depth than the main ones. I wanted to shake them both. This may be a book for someone else it just wasn’t a book for me.

#NetGalleyARC This book hits all the check marks for a great fake-dating book. I will say though that the story started off decently, I was hooked but then it lost me, too slow with the plot. Once I got past a few dragging chapters I was hooked again and loved the rest of the story.

this is emma lord's first foray into adult fiction, and i loooove her ya works, so i was excited for an opportunity to dive in to this one. unfortunately, it missed the mark for me in more ways than one. i'll hide my commentary behind a spoiler tag, but my recommendation would be to go with one of lord's ya books if this is your first time with her work! they're lovely.

(the following contains spoilers, hidden on goodreads.)

the two main characters are simply not it. they enter into this fake dating arrangement to get revenge (him) but are still friends with the person who very publicly humiliated them (her). he keeps running back to his ex and treating the fmc terribly as a result, and she lets him! (!!!! like???)

and then, while i wasn't expecting this to be rated on the tiktok girlie's spicy scale, i did anticipate that there would be more physical intimacy, given the move from ya to adult. sex scenes don't have to be super explicit and wild to grow the relationship between characters, but i do think that's another piece that could've been expanded upon here.

fake dating as a while is kind of hit or miss for me, but this was very much like omg haven't seen you in so long let's date! with very little build to that moment. again, if the characters were giving us something more or i cared at all about their story, maybe i wouldn't have found that to be so upsetting, but overall i was kind of like... meh. i don't care what either of you do here, so sure.

I genuinely loved the first half of this book, I couldn’t put it down. It was the start of a great rom com, pacing didn’t feel too rushed either. Then, the second half of the book just let me down. It’s a common cliche to have the main characters fight and then make up in the end. Personally, just found the last half off the book boring and I struggled to finish it. The epilogue had the same magic as the first half of the book, I wish that the magic was just consistent throughout the entire book.

I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t super eager to read this book, and I’m not sure why. I think the description maybe under sold itself? To my surprise, I was HOOKED from the first chapter and couldn’t put it down up until about 3/4 of the way through. After that point, I was kinda just ready for the happy ending that would wrap it up. Overall, I liked this book and would read more from this author in the future! Many thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I started reading “The Break Up Pact” because I was in need of a light summer read. I was definitely not disappointed.

Levi and June’s relationship has been complicated since high school. When Levi returns to reflect on his engagement to someone else, it is fun to learn about his long time relationship with June.

The characters were likable and so fun to get to know. The story kept me guessing. I had to keep reading to learn what happened next.

I look forward to reading another book by Emma Lord in the future. In the meantime, get this one in your beach bag in a few months.

Emma Lord does it’s again!! Tweet Cute got me back into reading as an adult, and The Break Up Pact just got me out of a reading slump 🙌🏻

I adored this book!! It was a quick, childhood friends to lovers//second chance romance (open door). I was giggling at times, swooning at others. Was it always the most realistic? No. Was I a-okay with that? You betcha.

** Content warning: grief!! I went into this read relatively blind, so I wasn’t expecting this aspect. Currently on my own grief journey, I thought it was handled with care.

Thank you thank you NetGalley, St Martins Press + one of my faves Emma Lord for the ARC. Reading this early was such a treat!!

Do you like

-Friends meeting up again after a decade?
-Fake dating?
-Viral stories?
-Slow burn friends to lovers?

This one is definitely for you! I loved this story, I could see myself in June. After a viral breakup on a reality show, she tries to keep her inherited tea shop on the beach open, but it's losing the battle. One day, her high school friend (and crush) Levi shows up after his own viral breakup looking for a quiet place to finish his book. After being photographed together, they decide to combine their Internet infamy to help Levi get his fiancé back and draw crowds to the tea shop.

The dates they go on are silly and sweet, it's romantic, and touching, with a bit of spice.

I'm definitely looking forward to reading more of Emma Lord's books!

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this advanced copy!

Parts of this I liked, parts I didn’t care for. I wish we had more time with the main characters as teenagers. We get told about their great bond, but we never really get to see it.

I thought that spending more time (or any) time with them as teenagers would make us miss the sister more too.

It was good, just not my favorite.

A childhood friends to lovers book meets fake dating to get back at your really crappy exes! How could you not love those tropes all wrapped into one fun book taking place in a cute small town by the beach in an eclectic tea store.

There was a lot I enjoyed in this book. There was a lot of emotion packed into this book and Emma did a great job of expressing the hurt and confusion through the main characters. I loved the side characters more than anything. They brought so much fun and comedy to the book that was needed between the emotions.

My issues with the book included the main characters. I felt like both June and Levi were sooooo weak for their exes. Something about that rubbed me the wrong way several different times throughout the book.

Overall I enjoyed the book and the tropes!

❤️I wanted to thank NetGalley and the publisher St. Martin’s press along with Emma Lord for the arc in exchange for an honest review!❤️

As a huge fan of her YA novels, I was very excited about her adult novel. It was just as great as I expected. Perfect for fans of Emily Henry.

This has been my favorite Emma Lord novel yet! In this romantic comedy, two childhood friends - June and Levi - both end up experiencing very public breakups. With the advice of a friend, they agree to fake date to help their images. In the process, they rekindle their friendship, work through the aftermath of a shared loss, and find themselves and who they were meant to be.

The characters in this novel were likable and their interactions with each other were entertaining. There were a lot of laugh out loud moments (angry carrots) and the sexual tension between Levi and June was palpable. The other characters were also well written and I enjoyed their side stories. And, as usual, the author included descriptions of amazing food - this time, scones.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #St.Martin’sPress for an eARC of #TheBreak-UpPact by #EmmaLord in exchange for honest feedback.
-4.5 stars rounded to 5