RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5 (3.5/5)

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord is about childhood friends June, who is running the Tea Shop her sister opened before she passed away, after a large meltdown while her boyfriend of a decade dumped her on national TV, and Levi, who after being dumped by his long-term girlfriend returns home to his small beach town, and the two reunite. They begin to pretend to date to get back at their exes, but are either of them actually ever pretending?

This was a cute summer read!! I loved June and really empathized with her as she tried to work through her grief, and realize she deserves happiness after losing her sister. My problem in this story stemmed largely from Levi however. I thought he had really poor communication skills, and a lot of the conflicts could have been cleared up if he had just kind of thought of someone else’s feelings for a little.

But the side characters in this one were really good, and I loved the beachy setting!!

Thank you Netgalley and SMP for an advanced copy of this one in exchange for an honest review!!

4.75 stars.
I am a big fan of Emma Lord's YA novels, so I was excited when I received this ARC through NetGalley.
The book did not disappoint! I loved the small town beach side vibes. Childhood friends to lovers is also one of my favorite troupes, so I was all in. The characters were so well developed I felt like they could be my friends in real life. It was emotional and laugh out loud funny at times. I would definitely recommend!

I usually love a good small town BAKERY set up but this was definitely the exception. This book missed the mark for me in so many ways. You know it’s bad when you’re paying your bills instead of reading. First, I am NOT a fan of a Tik-Tok set up. The fact that they both went viral on Tik Tok off of breakups seems COMPLETELY unrealistic. Two, the characters felt very immature. They were constantly having races, dunking contests, food fights, and playing truth or dare at the age of 27. Third, so many story lines were random and unnecessary to the plot (i.e Matteo’s sweater instagram and MATTEO/DYLANS WEDDING).Lastly, WHO HAS A TEA SHOP ON A BEACH BOARDWALK? The whole book just felt disorganized. As a romance reader, you want to feel the chemistry and the longing of the characters and I didn't. It was just overall dull. K? This may be geared toward a much younger generation (think like 18-19) but for me it was a snooze.



Thank you to St. Martins press for the ARC!

2.5 stars. Perhaps I was not in the mood for this book as at when I read it, but it felt like a drag. I had to push myself to finish it. I loved the concept, and I was enjoying it in the beginning but the execution seemed to be lacking. My first Emma Lord read was YA and this felt a bit too similar, grown adults who acted too much like children. It had it’s cute moments though.

This is a very cute story! Highly recommend if you love the friends to lovers and fake dating tropes! There is one spicy scene, but otherwise, if you are looking for a pallet cleanser, this is perfect! The only thing I didn’t care for is that the FMC went from hating the MMC to loving him (in a friend way) and from being angry at him and the situation to being happy with their friendship so many times I lost count.

Breakups to fake dating to maybe real dating?

This was a very cute book that you could kind of just fly through and thats perfect for me especially with the huge snow storm

I will say it was a cute plot but maybe a bit too modern for me with the addition of viral tick tocks but I give it a 3.8/5 I enjoyed it

FAKE. DATING. SUPREMACY.

like seriously, you guys. fake dating will always and forever HIT. ALWAYS!!! and especially here when we had it paired with childhood friends to lovers and a small town beach setting. June and Levi's relationship was just overall very fun to read!

i also wanted to add that after seeing mixed reviews of this book, that this is an ADULT romance novel. these characters are ADULTS and have ADULT feelings. this means their love is going to be ESPECIALLY messy. no easy to read chapters and neat little bows coming right after the characters actually admit they do have feelings for each other. they make you truly work for it and that weird disconnect and messiness added an extra deep and honestly refreshing layer to a contemporary romance novel.

and you guys...the grief in this book hit me like a ton of bricks. so beautifully written and eloquently said i truly did burst into tears after reading some lines about what it means to both have and be a sister. overall, i loved it.

special thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review!

Was so excited to read this on NetGalley! Loved this book and can’t wait to recommend to a friend! Thought this would be a great summer beach read!

I really enjoyed Emma Lord's first book, Tweet Cute and the Break Up Pact did not disappoint. I always love a fake dating trope and a cute beachside tea shop? Sign me up! The setting was cute (and made a cold January seem like a distant memory) and the pacing was fantastic. I read it curled up in my reading chair but it would be a fantastic beach read!

I think I’m coming around to the fact that this author is no longer for me. I did not connect with this story or with the characters. It’s a no for me

I loved the premise of this story and the setup of the characters. I think that, at its heart, there is a sweet romantic story between Levi and June. Unfortunately, I think that was overshadowed by June’s grief. While I understand that grief and managing the loss of a loved one can be difficult, for this book I felt like that tone overshadowed the overall plot and romantic relationship development of the MCs. I also felt that June’s entire character development revolved around her grief. Additionally, Levi’s character development and interest in getting his ex-girlfriend back made some of the romance/relationship development fall flat.

I also forgot that Levi and June we supposed to be closer to 30 years old (26-30 maybe?). Then I read that this is Emma Lord’s first Romance. I am not familiar with her previous titles, but given the current read, this makes sense as to why Levi and June read much younger than they should be.

Overall, it’s a good story, but I did think it should have either a) ended sooner or b) sped up to the third-act issues sooner. I also found myself wanting more from the cast of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

3/5 stars. ⭐️ ✨✨

I loved the plot of this book. Levi and June were so sweet. I loved their childhood connection and even though I’m usually despising of the miscommunication trope, when you throw grief into the mix. It is a lot more palatable.
The main problems with this novel is I struggled to get a sense of place/ setting from what was shared, so I always felt like I missed a chapter. I even went back and look for a preface to see if there was something I missed.
Also this novel badly needed to be a dual POV. There would have been so much more understanding & depth of the relationship if we would have had Levi’s perspective as well. I also think that we could’ve gotten a better sense of the setting with Levi’s point of you. Potentially sharing what he misses of benson beach, comparing to NY, sharing the journey to get there etc.

I honestly didn’t even understand it wasn’t an island until the end of the book.

The main crux of the story was lovely, but there were some major holes

I really liked this novel, but I do not think that is was my favorite Emma Lord book that I have read. I think the concept and the characters were fantastic, and it was an really quick book to get through and I greatly look forward to seeing the novel being read by other individuals!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I love everything Emma Lord writes. This book was so perfect for me and I could not put it down.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Break-Up Pact is a story about two former best friends whom haven’t spoken in about 10 years who both are dealing with viral breakups. They form a pact to fake date to help save June’s Tea Tide business and to show Levi’s fiancé, Kelly what she could lose.

It was an engaging and a heartwarming story of a second chance at love and healing. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would highly recommend.

I loved the premise of this book, but it just didn’t deliver. First, there was no chemistry between the two main characters. I kept waiting for the tension, the excitement and maybe more insight into why they work together, but it didn’t happen.

Second, I didn’t believe for a second that two non-famous people would garner that much public attention for so long. I get why we needed it for the story, but it just wasn’t realistic and that kept bugging me.

Third, this is the first time that Emma Lord is writing under the “Romance” genre instead of YA and you’d never know. It felt no different than her previous YA novels and it should.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really tried to get pulled into this book. I even tried coming back and revisiting it several times. I just couldn’t do it. I had to finally call it and DNF

The Break-up Pact was an entertaining read about a pair of friends that both get dumped in a viral fashion and decide to begin fake dating in order to get the press back on their side. June and Levi have always had a "will they or won't they" vibe since high school. Ten years later things have changed a lot, but they still keep drifting back to each other.

But, the three stars are here for a reason.
-The characters seemed emotionally underdeveloped for their respective ages. Their entire relationship played young.
-The FMC and best friend Sana definitely do not pass the Bechdel test. Her character is not fully fleshed out.
-I don't think that the public has a long enough attention for the amount of fame/virality that they seem to warrant in the story.

This is a fun beach read. I have enjoyed other novels by this author and will definitely read her books again!

June and Levi are the stars of The Break-Up Pact, and who doesn't love a second change fauxmance! When June and Levi's lives go viral after mutually embarrassing break ups, they unwittingly fall into a fauxmance that benefits them both..:but what if the feelings are back from a decade ago? Emma Lord crafts a wonderfully quirky and warm story of two people destined to be.

This was a fun beach read! I thoroughly enjoyed Emma Lord’s colorful characters and setting. I loved June and Levi’s connection- you could feel the tension immediately on the page. What wasn’t as convincing was Levi’s quest to reunite with his ex. Way too much time was devoted to flushing out that plot line that just didn’t make sense with the rest of his character. The miscommunication trope also irritated me a bit but nevertheless, I still loved and devoured this story!