Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for an advanced reader copy of this book.

The premise is cute, however the depth was sincerely lacking. The friends to lovers trope felt really under developed. No real attachment to the characters and took a while to complete the story wanting to skip over bits at the end. The conflict wasn’t heavy enough to be believable and just wanted to get to the happy ending.

Thank you the NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity the read and review this book. The first half was, for me, 5 star heaven. It brought all the things together that make a great rom-com. Things that made me laugh and tear up, side characters that enhanced the story in the best way(Dylan abd Mateo 4ever). Then at about 60%, something happened. Levi and June needed to grow up. And it did happen, sort of. They agree that they are a mess but they will be a mess together. I don’t know, it lost my 5 star love. I am happy I read it, I just wish for better development. 3 1/2 stars.

I have seen a lot of reading goals for the new year to only read things you enjoy. This was not it but I stuck it out anyway. I am not sure why. I should maybe follow everyone else's goals. This was my first Emma Lord read. I know her young adult reads have rave reviews. This will not be a rave review.

Once upon a time, I was good friends with a boy. We flirted the line of dating over the course of several years but never really found the right time for us....mostly him probably want to play the field a bit to be honest. So when he is ready to settle down...there I was to be right? Wrong. The day said boy expresses his love for me I said "no you don't. You drug me along and now you are ready? No. Not interested in being a convenient choice." You know where we are today: happily married to OTHER people. Point being, just because you are good friends with someone does not mean you are destined to be together.

It's hard to get invested in a book when both the FMC and MMC are both duds. I never once felt a passionate history from them. In fact, I feel like the MMC might be more into the FMC deceased sister. Her name was in all the stories that I begin to wonder if she was the FMC. These two characters should not be together. I said it. They both seem toxic and the history of them seems pretty one sided. I am not buying into or supporting this love story. They are not good together. Lots of unhealthiness relationship patterns here.

I have other beefs with this book:
1. Why is FMC and MMC planning her brother's wedding? He can plan his own damn wedding. I don't want other people deciding my cake flavors and DJ for my wedding.

2. Where are these people's families at? Hometown friends? I think I was hoping for more small town dynamics and characters. This didn't have any of that Hallmark feeling good stuff.

3. Don't even get me started on her immaturity by accepting to go on the ex bf's show. Woofta. Neon signs and buzzers going off saying this is a bad idea but FMC thinks opposite.

4. Did FMC even want this business? I never connected the dots if she actually wanted to be running the tea store scone shop or if she was just doing it because her sister started it and couldn't say goodbye to it. 300 pages later and I still don't know who this girl is.

5. Nothing happened. Lots of back history that bored me.

In the end, I had to force myself to finish this. I did not enjoy my time with it. Rolled my eyes plenty at choices being made. The blurb sounded like this had so much potential to a fun, cute read. Unfortunately, this read fell short and was just not for me.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & Netgalley for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the E-ARC! All opinions are my own.

Best friends to enemies to fake dating to lovers? Sign me up. The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord follows June and Levi, two childhood best friends who have recently gone through very public breakups. For June to save her scone shop and Levi to save grace with his ex, they begin to fake date to catch the media's attention.

One of my favorite scenes of the book was very spicy which is especially impressive as this is Emma Lord's first adult romance. Watching June and Levi's relationship shift and change held my attention for most of the story.

The romantic tension builds really slowly in this book, which makes the read both enjoyable and extremely frustrating. While this book was fun and flirty, I didn't necessarily care for any of the characters, especially June's sister Annie who had passed away. Many of the characters seem to be just thrown in there and don't experience much development. I also didn't understand some of the reasoning behind character decisions, which sometimes made the book difficult to read.

Overall, I thought this was a good book, but nothing really stood out to me as being especially unique.

3.5 ⭐️

This book was a fun read while also being stimulating, in the sense that the writing/character’s views have you reframing some of your perspectives at certain points throughout the story.

Emma was able to portray those slightly abstract feelings in a messy way that mirrors the reality of it running through you, while also articulating those inner thoughts/turmoils clearly, so that the mess of it only makes more sense.

I loved the friends to lovers arc between June and Levi. As characters, they were flawed, but in a way that didn’t cause that frustration on the reader’s end that so often happens. Some things felt a bit repetitive, but overall, I really enjoyed the structure of the plot. It didn’t feel like the predictable ups and downs of most romance novels.

I have enjoyed Lord’s YA novels and enjoyed this one as well. What’s not to love about unrequited childhood best friend love, baked goods, books and a smidge of celebrity/hollywood?! Loved Levi and June’s sweet connection. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced digital copy!

The Break-Up Pact has the same very feelings-heavy writing that shines in Emma Lord's YA books. I loved the setting of this story and June, but didn't feel quite as connected to the story as I have with Emma's YA work despite being older than June. Something with the romance didn't click the way in the way I'm used to Emma absolutely nailing. Still, I really enjoyed reading The Break-Up Pact and hope Emma continues to write both YA and adult romance.

This book was delightful, charming, emotional, and I couldn't put it down. June is a delightful tea shop owner who is just trying to make ends meet to keep the dream of her and her sister alive. Levi is living in NYC doing the big hedge fund shenanigan's while dreaming of being a writer. They were best friends as kids, until they weren't, and they haven't spoke in 10 years. Insert my favorite plot, they are both broken up with, and those break ups go viral, the two pair up and fake date. I love fake dating so damn much.

Anyway, I as I said, this book was so good. I loved the nicknames and the sweet moments, the romance and best friends. Thank you for letting me read this early. This is my second Emma Lord book and I am, once again, not disappointed.

Fun and flirty, but not my favorite Emma Lord book so far. There were *some* steamy scenes between the main characters, June and Levi, but honestly it felt slow at times. I was a little confused where the landlady came from (seemed to be a family friend, but then wants to kick June out of her lease? There was a lot of buildup of planning the wedding of Dylan and Mateo but then never got there as a scene in the book. It was cute, but not a page turner for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I will forever and always be an Emma Lord stan, and her adult debut is no exception! I read this in a day (sleep is for the weak), it was *that* fun to follow.

THE BREAK-UP PACT is yet another swoonworthy, achingly-sweet-I-got-cavities, and too-cute-my-cheeks-hurt novel by Emma Lord. But I think what differentiates this novel from her YA novels is the hard-hitting and deeply emotional exploration of grief. Lord delicately and tastefully (please appreciate the pun) took us through June's emotions of dealing with grief, coming to terms with it, and finding herself in the process. Both June and Levi are figuring their lives out in times of distress, and ultimately, come to understand that doing what's best for you is the most important. The genuine and heartwarming way both of the characters evolved and re-connected with each other is especially authentic, and definitely left me yearning for as loving of a relationship as theirs :').

I will say, Levi definitely has his flaws, and could've handled some situations very differently - but isn't the point of a coming of age novel seeing how the character grows over time? The side characters were also a highlight, as most Lord novels are :)

No Emma Lord novel is complete with out mouthwatering baked goods, and this novel lived up to the expectation. I've never had a scone before, and now I really want to try!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

This is a lovely friends to lovers story mixed in with a little fake dating side plot! Emma Lord did such a great job hashing out and explaining June and Levi’s feelings throughout the story, I’m pretty sure she was a therapist in another life.

argghh. where do i start. well, first of all, i did not finish this one. i don’t usually dnf. in fact, there are only 2 or 3 books on my dnf shelf. but it was just too horrible to pass up on the wonderful opportunity of acting like i’m a picky reviewer.

yes, i will be marking it as read. don’t shame me, you’re not perfect either.

i’m not a hard girl to please. give me a pastry, i’m a happy gal. in fact, i’ve been known to give the best reactions to underwhelming birthday gifts. and emma lord knows that. both of the books i’ve read from her (what an extensive collection, #1 fan who?) were hits. she always delivers on plots, weird traditions, and ya goodness, disappointedly, what i learned from this book was that she should just keep writing books for teens.

no, i will not recount the plot for you. unlike lord, i will spare you from the monstrosity that is fake dating..when she writes it. instead, i’m going to tell you my problems with this without spoilers, or names, or context. reading this felt like one of those dreams you have when you take a short nap and wake up 300 centuries later, so i literally have no recollection of some parts of this book.

one. diversity. yes, it’s always wonderful when we see representations of ourselves in beloved book characters. and maybe some little girl will see herself in sana, so for that, hopefully emma lord inspired her and then those interesting (to say the least) thoughts about diversity would’ve helped someone. but it was apparent that emma might’ve had a checklist for things she needed to include in her book.

- weird-ass bakery with landowner telling main character it’s time to get out of the owl house
- chemistry and a connection (if she has time)
- most importantly…diverse best friend who’s only purpose is to help main character and be diverse and write diverse things

my friend is telegu, and also got an arc for this book. what she found, and i wholeheartedly agree with, is that it’s often worse to have a character of color who’s sole job is to be of color, than no representation at all. sana was written with countless micro-aggressions that were incredibly out of touch, and it was like lord set out on a mission to make sure she wrote the most stereotypical character of color there was.

two. steam? more like fog. what comes with writing an adult book is inevitably adult material. i feel barely old enough to read steamy scenes, and always skip them. call me a wimp, they’re just not for me. but what steamy scenes can develop are strong connections between characters and emotional bonds that we get to witness in the pages of our books. since emma is such a master at writing young characters who don’t need to have sex or make out in order to truly enjoy each other’s company, i expected the chemistry between our two main characters to be even better with more tools in her belt.

but no.
somehow, i was even more disconnected from their relationship than i was with lord’s ya books! thank god this isn’t ya, because i don’t know if i would’ve made it past the 5-page mark. both the characters were just so two-dimensional, so their chemistry and moments together fell flat.

i’m so disappointed, because i hate giving bad reviews for an arc. and i do love emma’s ya books, but this was any old unoriginal ali hazelwood romance doled out at starbucks moms’ meet and greets or green juice cleansing afternoons. the gen-z name-dropping didn’t help either, but i guess i signed up for that because of the oops-we-went-viral trope. should’ve been a red flag from the start, right?

sadly, i would not recommend. i hope emma can explore different facets of herself as a romance author with new ideas she can unlock now that she’s stepping outside of ya. but in my opinion, ya is the way to go for her now.

1 star for the beach vibes. the obscure celebrity references weren’t enough to save this book.

(insert crying meme face here. if you read this you would understand. believe me, it’s better not to.)

——————————————————
pre-review: and she never trusted her instincts again.

friends-to-lovers is always a hit or miss, but i trust in my lord and savior…emma lord! (also apparently they go “viral” so we’ll see if i’m going to be engulfed in weird vampire diaries fanfiction, obscure celebrity name-dropping, and rainbow bagel references?)

thank you to st. martin’s press & netgalley for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and the St. Martin’s Griffin publishing house.

This story is so beautiful. June is trying her best to handle the fact that her sister passed away. The grief that is explored in this novel is well done. June and Levi have been best friends since high school. But they drifted apart by the grief and some drama. Levi's character and main love interest wasn't my favorite which is why I didn't give it more stars. He is kind of frustrating and not trustworthy.

I highly recommend this novel. I will be picking up more of the authors works in the future.

This feel-good romance was an easy read. The setting and general premise was promising but the story lacked depth for me. The conflicts that existed to propel the plot felt weak and unbelievable to me. The internet-speak was a bit too much for me at times. I found myself wanting more development in regards to Annie and who she was to each of the characters. That subplot had a lot of potential to be emotionally powerful but fell a bit flat for me. Not sure I would actively recommend this book, but I certainly wouldn't warn against reading it either. If you like cheesy second-chance romances, you may enjoy this book!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a fun read and made this snowy weekend so much sunnier! I loved June, Levi, Sana, Dylan, and Mateo so much that they seem like good friends. They have so much history linking them and their ties become even tighter when June and Levi are both publicly and humiliatingly dumped. Their humiliation is spattered across social media and when they find themselves both in their hometowns, they are forced to confront their pasts, evaluate their presents, and decide what they want for their futures. When they accidentally fall into the hashtag #RevengeExes and agree to “fake” date, all bets are off and it’s so much fun! I couldn’t stop reading and loved it all.

Thank you so much @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advance copy, I had so much fun @dilemmalord and look forward to reading more of your titles! ❤️

I really enjoyed The Break-Up Pact. Not only was it a cute rom-com, but both of the main characters went through a journey to find themselves. This added a lot more substance to the story which made it much more enjoyable. Emma Lord is great writer because her stories are easy to follow, and her stories make it difficult to put down. This is one of the best romance novels I've read in awhile. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

June and Levi have something in common. Both of them have just been dumped. Their significant others have cheated on them. What’s worse than that? How about having it done in the public eye. Now June is trying to erase her new viral legacy as the crying girl meme and Levi is just trying to lay low and not see his name splattered all over Page Six.
That’s not all these two share though. They grew up together. They shared a childhood filled with laughs, love, and tears. So when Levi comes back to their small town, it’s obvious what these two need to do… fake date each other and start a Revenge Exes trend on social media.
But what happens when old feeling emerge and it stops feeling so fake? What happens when the exes that humiliated them come back into the picture?

I loved this book. June and Levi not only have chemistry but their story was endearing. You can’t help but root for them. With both of them coming off of a bad break up and falling into their old friendship was the perfect setup for them to fall in love. I’m happy that it was a slower transition between the friendship and relationship. They both needed to heal from not only their breakups but their pasts as well before they could have a future together.
The only thing I wish the book had was a little more depth into why Annie acted the way she did. Was she jealous, in love with Levi, scared for her plans for the future to change? I was hoping for a little clarification on her actions. However it didn’t take away from the story

I loved this book! It was such a fun read…I read it all in one day. I loved the characters from the first page and couldn’t put it down.

Fake dating trope has to be top tier as far as I’m concerned. Also friends to enemies to lovers. This book was funny and sweet and romantic.

Maybe I should have given this book more if a chance but I can't read books I don't enjoy. This was not the book for me. The writing was so boring and the lead female character drove me crazy. I won't be recommending this one.