A cute, fun read overall; June and Levi both come across as a little immature, but by the end of the book they are both much more “settled” in life.

The portrayal of June’s grief regarding her sister is touching and realistic; as someone who lost a sister myself, I felt very connected to June’s struggles with how to move forward and make her own life, while still honoring the memory of her sister.

Can I just say I am ECSTATIC that Emma Lord has finally written an adult romance!? Don't get me wrong, I love all of her YA romances, but there's just something about characters being in your own age range that really helps you connect to them. Not to mention, there's SEX. 😂

June and Levi are estranged childhood friends who both just happen to get broken up with in the most public/viral way. So what else can they do but create a break-up pact to help them each gain something? Levi wants to win his ex back and June just seriously needs some business at her tea shop, so they plan to fake date each other and capitalize on their newfound clout.

I enjoyed getting to see these characters' stories unfold as they rediscovered themselves and uncovered what they each truly wanted out of life. On top of the virality plotline, I loved the added twist of June and Levi reconnecting after many years. The banter was top-notch and they each had excellent character growth told with Emma Lord's notorious witty charm.

As mentioned earlier, Emma's books are typically for YA audiences, but this girl sure knows how to write a sex scene, or shall I say sex CHAPTER. It was steamy and romantic and tasteful, which added the perfect touch to this book!

Overall, it was a great, fun, and easy read. If you're a fan of fake dating, second-chance romance, friends to lovers, or fame/reality TV tropes, this is one you should definitely add to your list! ✨

Shoutout to NetGalley and St. Martin's for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for my candid opinions!

yeah so I went feral over this book 💛.

oh boy these characters were MESSY, which I actually appreciated a lot because it allowed the story to feel very raw and real while also still getting to play into some silly rom-com tropes. Emma Lord is definitely one of my go-to authors now!

This book was soo cute! It had all the feels! I love the friends to lovers trope and can totally relate to June as well. I enjoyed the chemistry between Levi and June. I liked that the author didn't shy away from having the characters go through hard stuff like loss and big life changes. Real life is hard, and I like how that was depicted in the book. I highly recommend this book!

"Like we're finally coming together with our whole selves, every certainty and messy. unformed part of us, every piece we've held back and pieces we haven't even formed yet to give"

3.75 ⭐

The Break Up Pact was my first book by Emma Lord. It was mostly a lighthearted read but did have times of emotional turmoil.

The first half of the book was a pretty slow burn. About 51% is when they finally have a serious conversation about feelings. Then we go on a rollercoaster of emotions with ex Kelly making her way back into the picture. This is the point of the book I started having feelings of dislike towards Levi. I also almost wish there would've been a forward with a scene from their childhood, that included Annie. She was a big presence in the book for us to not be introduced at all.

Overall, a decent read and I will check out her other books.

✨Fake Dating
✨Friends to Lovers

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in return for my honest review.
So I really couldn’t finish this book. It breaks my heart because I so wanted to love it. I love the idea of running a tea shop on the beach and how cute is the name Tea Tide?? And vintage mismatch teacups, pastel furniture and floral wallpaper?? How adorable! I love fake dating and small town and beach romances, so I had such high expectations for this book.
But there’s so much I just couldn’t understand. June doesn’t want to embarrass Griffin by having Sana write up a piece, but he embarrassed her breaking up with her on TV? And why are there so many scones and no tea in a tea shop? I also couldn’t figure out if June and Levi used to date, or they were just good friends? And is Sana a writer or photographer? Originally, she said she would write up and tell June’s side of the story, but then later she did the photos and had someone she trusted write the article. Is it believable that Sana thinks she would get a job at Fizzle by taking pics of June and Levi? I don’t understand this connection.
I really couldn’t believe that both MCs, who have known each other since they were kids, had such public breakups at the same time. And they haven’t seen each other in years, but the first day they see each other she already has tingles when she brushes his arm? But back when she was 16 he told her he wasn’t interested in her.
Giving 2 stars because I love the concept and setting.

This is a cute, quick read for fans of the fake-dating trope! I enjoyed the characters, both main and supporting. The premise behind the book (revenge faking dating after both main characters suffered public humiliation by cheating partners) and the timeline of the romance felt far-fetched for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC!

The mortifying ordeal of being known (complementary). I do think the narrative could have benefited from dual POV but I did enjoy how June and Levi found their way back to each other.

Emma Lord’s newest literary delight The Break-Up Pact further reinforces her heavy hitter status in the romance genre.
Lord’s story centres around the characters of June and Levi. June and Levi were close friends in their younger lives and for various reasons become estranged. They then bump into each other many years later after their respective romantic relationships implode very publicly. The media looking for their next big story misconstrues this as a revenge tactic by spurned exes. An internet frenzy immediately ensues and the option to go along with the world’s assumptions to make their exes jealous comes into play. Other reasons for this plan also become apparent throughout the storyline. The ultimate question of what could possibly go wrong with this plan bears asking.
This book gives a unique voice to the trope of fake lovers with an all star cast of engaging, lovable and relatable supporting characters. These characters show their ability and willingness to cheer June and Levi on and catch them if their plan should fail. The themes of courage, regaining your forgotten authentic self and being intentional with your life despite many setbacks/roadblocks are hightlighted throughout this work. Lord’s writing style creates a seamless narrative that both keeps you invested in what will happen next and continuously rooting for that happy ending that we as romance book lovers most often crave. This is a home run and was an absolute pleasure to read. Thank you to NetGallery and St. Martin’s Press for the early preview and the opportunity to discover another work of literary genius.

Sweet, endearing story with unique enough details to keep it fresh and engaging. Strong characters and a well developed sense of place and space.

NetGalley Arc: The Break Up pact was a great read! I’m not a huge fan of books where the characters’ growth is completely dependent on their relationship with each other, and I thought that the author did a good job balancing having the characters experience individual growth and building their relationship. This is the first book from Emma Young I’ve read, but I definitely will read more of her books!

I wanted so much more!

This is the first ARC copy I have received through NetGalley and I was so excited. I had pre-ordered this book and just finished up Emma Lord's "The Getaway List". The cover of this got me and I am truly a "judge a book by its cover" reader - at least from the get go.

Would I recommend this book- sure. I would recommend to someone looking for an easy vacation read or a palate cleanser if you will, after too many thrillers or suspense.

What I loved- the setting of this book. I felt like I could smell the salty air of Benson Beach and fill the grainy sand every time June hit the beach running. The emotional story of Levi and June was sugary sweet, just as I imagine the scones and Tea Tide are.

What I didn't love- It felt a bit like whiplash. We go from no contact for ten years, to fake dating. There are so many characters I wanted to know more about and understand, but felt like I did not get that. Especially from her sister who passed, Annie. Annie felt like a character who was so antagonistic at times to the story and we never understood why. I think some chapters that were set in the past would have helped to tie things together better.

One more thing to add, publisher if you see this, a great note to put at the end would be recipes and lists of the scones made. The scones in this story were basically its own character and I am sure there is some parallel perhaps to the bigger picture, but I was to blinded by wanting to try "The Revenge Ex".

Can't go wrong with an Emma Lord book for any mood 🫶

📖 The Details:
The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord
YA | Childhood friends | Fake Dating | Slow-ish Burn

⏱️ Quick Summary
After childhood friends (who haven't talked in 10 years), June and Levi, both experience break-ups gone viral, they find themselves in a fake-dating situation. Wonder where that leads...?

💁‍♀️My Take
This was cute. Pretty formulaic, but that's why I read these types of books (YA, rom-com). Since I pretty much know what's going to happen in the end, I really depend on two things: character development and banter! This one had some great banter and the character development....happened eventually. It took me a while, and a few mental leaps, to get into these characters and whyyyy they hadn't talked for 10 years. It was dragged along for too long and didn't make total sense. But overall, a cute read with pretty likeable characters!

3.5 stars, would recommend!

I enjoyed the book at first but there was nothing to set it apart from any other book in its genre. Not the best but also not the worst . I wish the characters had not been as hung up on there exs. But thats real life.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.
Two best friends who havent seen each other in years pretend to fake date after their own breakups go viral.

I’ll be honest, at first this book was charming and then it got stressful for me. Both people aren’t over their exes and continue to have some issues with trust and opening up. Theres a lot of miscommunication and bad feelings without really discussing. One of the exes is an abusive turd and that doesnt help matters at all. I'll be honest and say that for most of this book I couldn’t see a way to happiness for these characters because they have too much resentment and trauma over the past. They are also trying to heal over the tragic death of the MC's sister and that also makes it a bit sad. This book is a bit too heavy to be a cozy romance but I think a lot of people who have had hard relationships could really connect to this book and appreciate the healing process this couple went through. If I went into this book expecting it to be a fiction instead of a cute summer romance, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Note- There is a short sex scene that's lightly descriptive.

This book really resonated with me….i have experience life-altering loss like the main character and loved seeing her get a HUGE win in this book. Its not just chick-lit or a beach read, its a must-read for me!

This was just deeply okay. I found it a little boring because I’ve read books just like this a thousand times the only difference is this didn’t have anything to set it apart.

I was very excited to read this new Emma Lord book, and the premise has me excited. I am not a reader that is put off by mentions of pop culture references or TikRok. Overall it was a solid read, but it was missing that magical *something* her other books have had.
Levi and June are cute, and I loved their dates! I started to feel like it was dragging towards the second half. With the revelation of her sister being the catalyst for the miscommunication and the fact they didn't talk for years, I was half expecting when June was going through her stuff so see something pointing to the sister having a crush on Levi. Glad it didn't veer that way, as Kelly and Griffin provided enough drama lol.
I would recommend if you're into either the fake dating or friends-to-lovers trope, and don't mind Tiktok references and a story about going viral.

both the characters were just so two-dimensional, so their chemistry and moments together fell flat. I didnt enjoy this.

Cute book. I enjoyed the main characters, June and Levi, and the friends to lovers/fake dating tropes. I would have enjoyed more of a reaction/dialogue when June was thrown to the wolves for the second time on national television. She just swept it under the rug and didn’t want to talk to Levi about the events leading up to that humiliation. I wish there were more secondary stories with the side characters (Mateo, Dylan, and Sana). I really enjoyed all their personalities. Cute ending. Overall a fun read.