recipe for this book

1 tsp childhood friends
2 cups fake dating
1/2 cup second chance romance
1000 cups secret feelings

I JUST WANTED TO EAT THIS BOOK UP! i loved them, i shipped them, i was attracted to them, i was everything (that sounds very unhumble). im a sucker for guys named Levi (if ur name is levi call me)

warning: the first chapter is SUH-LOW, but push thru it, it suffered from reverse middle book syndrome. closer you get to the middle, the better it gets!! like a warm freshly baked scone. <3

(i got this early bc netgalley spoiled me but i would've paid for this TWICE, that's how much i loved these characters)

Something I love about Emma Lord's books has always been the way she writes friendships. Whether or not the closest friend is the love interest, there is such a value placed on platonic love and in connection, and I always believe in the connection between the characters that Lord wants us to believe and that is so critical for a romance. Levi and June have that connection.

I also think the reason June and Levi didn't talk for years was adequately explained, and Lord didn't try to force anger and "dislike" to fit some sort of dislike to lovers trope. In fact, no matter how hard June tried to be mad at Levi, she couldn't - because that's the nature of their connection and their history. I did like the point that it wasn't a misunderstanding that kept them apart but just aspects of their personalities that they had to grow around and that would have gotten between them even had they stayed together.

Annie's influence on their lives both when she was alive and still now with her gone was well done, as were the complicated emotions around that influence. I enjoyed the setting in a little town where it seems like everyone stayed or came back to after graduation, because that's a unique dynamic and it did a lot to strengthen the bonds, history, and care between all the central and even peripheral characters.

I enjoyed the development of June and Levi's individual arcs and how those related to their relationships to their respective exes, as well as to each other. And, of course, I was deeply invested in June and Levi together. Emma Lord has once again firmly cemented herself as an author from whom I will read everything she writes.

The Rom-Com story of June & Levi has a complicated back story: high school friendship, estrangement, and different paths keep them apart until they both experience public and humiliating break-ups. They met again in their small hometown and a plan for revenge is hatched.

The situations in their fake dating revenge plan were a bit convoluted for me and definitely impacted my lack of enthusiasm for the characters and their story.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for the complimentary eArc in exchange for my honest opinion.

June and Levi are child-hood best friends who have been distant with each other for the last decade, but end up reconnecting when both of them go through incredibly public break-ups with their even more incredibly horrible respective partners. They decide to flip the narrative & fake date (best trope) with the help of my queen, Sana, until........ maybe they aren't really faking it that much anymore??

I absolutely loved everything about this book. There is soooo much tension, and when June & Levi get together (this is not a spoiler, this is a romance book, what do you think is going to happen?) I was like... woah, now what? and it's A LOT in the best way. The "fake dates" were so much fun and the writing was so well done, I felt like I was playing trivia with the 40 year old gang and screaming poetry.

2 years prior to the story starting, June's sister, Annie (who was also Levi's best friend), passes away. I love how well Emma Lord wrote about the relationship of the sisters and how June and Levi both worked through their grief separately, but also together.

Something that is so well done in this book, that I find lacking in other romance books, was the main characters ability to communicate. They didn't bock down when one of them said something the other didn't like, they actually truly worked through their feelings. I do think a lot of that is because, they had 10 years to think about what to say, but regardless, it made for a good book.

P.S. I NEEEED a Sana book

This book wasn't for me. I've read all of Emma Lord's YA books and enjoyed them (some more than others) so I did have fairly high expectations for her first adult romance. I struggled to like the main characters—they felt very one-note—and they didn't have much chemistry. Also, especially compared with Emma Lord's YA, I felt that both the characterization and the plot lacked depth. I'm thinking particularly of Begin Again (which I really enjoyed) which also dealt with grief, but did so in a more successful way.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing! I love the setting and the characters! I would definitely recommend this book to another romance lover.

I love Emma Lord and this one was such a cute book. Long lost friends reunite after 10 years and a series of breakups. I really enjoyed this book, it was fun and feel good, I liked it.

This book definitely wasn't for me. I just couldn't get into it; it felt more like a task than a pleasurable read. It had its cute, romcom charm, with decent writing, but somehow, it wasn't enough. There were a few reasons behind that.

First of all, let's introduce you to the plot. June and Levi, distant for a decade, fake a relationship after their viral break-ups. With the internet convinced, they dive into some fake dates to save June's tea shop and teach Levi's ex a lesson.

Yes, teach Levi's ex a lesson. My first issue with this book was definitely Levi and his somewhat obsessive attitude towards his ex, who cheated on him. He felt a sense of responsibility for it, saying things like:

"Because I know what drove Kelly to cheat. I'm not excusing what she did, but—I can see it from her point of view."

I wanted to believe that his behaviour would get a response from June, but unfortunately, none of that happened. So we were left with these words, like they made sense.
However, Levi pathetically waited for his ex after her fling, despite supposedly being in love with June.

June wasn't much better in their story. Despite being publicly humiliated by her boyfriend of 10 years, she felt the need to be kind to him, referencing their decade-long friendship. Girl, are you okay? It's clear that the friendship ended when your public humiliation wasn't a concern for him.

That being said, the main characters gave me the biggest ick possible. I disliked their behavior, and it's challenging to enjoy a romance when the main couple is so unlikable. In general, it was a cute story with genuinely funny parts, but the lack of personal connection to it made it not fully enjoyable for me.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the chance to read an ARC ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

This story is a fake dating story with wrinkles. The main characters, June and Levi, each left their high school romance incomplete and without further contact. When they are both publicly dropped by their respective partners, they develop a dating pact in an attempt to help June’s failing business and win Levi’s partner back. I had difficulty relating to the characters, their obsession with June’s dead sister and their individual relationship with their previous partner. I have enjoyed other books by the author; this just wasn’t one.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martins Press for the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

The Break-Up Pact is a witty fake-dating trope story of two long lost best friends. Levi & June have both recently been unlucky in love - very publicly - and are on a mission to show their exes they've moved on. Along the way they find they still have a deep connection and some hard truths to work through from their past.

This is a very fun and easy read, fake-dating meets lost-and-then-found young love.

The Break-Up Pact is a lighthearted, enjoyable read. June and Levi are childhood best friends (looooove this trope) and reconnect after two dramatic break-ups. Both main characters are warm and likable, but neither is lovable or the type that you obsess over. The story lines were interesting in a fresh creative way, but, the drama/conflict of the second half was a bit underwhelming. All in all, it's a low-key, fun story, and I'm curious to read more by Emma Lord.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received this e ARC to review from Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin Publishing (thank you so much!!!)

Tropes: fake dating, former friends to lovers

The story follows June and Levi after some very public and humiliating breakups that have spread far and wide across the internet. Levi comes back to town after years of being away and a rocky/nonexistent friendship with June. After a picture of the two of them together gets spread through the gossip mill, they decide to use it to their advantage and fake date to help each other get what they want (more customer’s for June’s struggling tea shop and a jealous ex back for Levi). Or at least that was the plan. But the more time they spend together, the more complicated that plan becomes.

I loved this sweet story for all the tender moments they shared, both happy and sad. They have a complicated history and both have been stuck in their current lives but they understand each other in such a beautiful way. Emma Lord did a fantastic job not only bringing these characters to life but getting me to feel along with them. The hurts they have held on to, the hope they want to have, the fear that comes with that hope, and just feeling stuck and not knowing how to move forward. This is my first book by this author and will be diving into her other books as well. I really enjoyed this read and appreciate the opportunity to read and review it.

Meh, this storyline was a little too contrived and drawn out for me. Two childhood BFFs who lost touch, unclear why, have reconnected after both being publicly dumped by their significant others. Why their dumping became viral is unclear. But the heroine decides that to save her business and to save face, she and the hero will fake date to get revenge on their ex's. What's in it for him? Make his ex jealous so she'll take him back. There are some secondary narratives to make the story more convoluted - both are grieving the too early death of the heroine's older sister and hero's good friend, the hero works for a hedge fund but really wants to be a novelist, the heroine is trying to make her sister's beachside tea shop profitable. Oh, and together they are trying to plan the heroine's brother's wedding. It's a lot.

This was a cute fun easy read! The plot was cute and easy to follow, the setting was adorable and there was interesting character development. The banter between the characters had me giggling throughout this book. Slow burn, miscommunication, social media influences, friends to lovers, and fake dating can all be found throughout June and Levi’s journey.

I think this is a great book to add to your beach bag or to read by the pool all summer.

I greatly appreciate the opportunity to read and review this book as an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book, it was one of those situations where I didn't want to put it down once I started reading it, Emma Lord has done it again.

June and Levi both have humiliating breakups that both happen to be very public. June's happens on a reality TV show where she is shown ugly crying so bad it makes Dawson's ugly cry meme cute. Levi has his fiancee leave him for a famous actor and is all over the tabloids. How do they connect? June and Levi were once best friends but haven't spoken since an incident in high school and now they both are trying to hide out in their hometown. However, one run-in between these two and the press deems them "the revenge exes". June needs to get sales up in her tea shop and Levi needs to make his ex jealous. They both decide to agree to a fake dating situation to get what they want or what they think they want/need. The attraction between these two was palpable throughout the book even from the beginning. Both characters have their baggage but you can't help but love the two of them together.

So good I read it twice, definitely pick this one up if you love a good rom-com adventure.

This was a cute read and pretty quick and easy to get through. I'm not sure if I missed this in the description but it had a bit of a YA feel so I found it a little young and simple for my taste.

This book was super cute. I enjoyed and liked the dynamic between the characters. I read this in one sitting!!
Thanks netgalley and the publisher

Great book full of all types of love and passion while also emphasizing the need for growth in both self and relationships. Starts out a tad slow but quickly picks up and becomes a book you can’t put down. I liked how the author chose to go on a slightly retro path and only did one pov rather than the current trend of dual povs. It added more to the tension and drama that doesn’t seem to happen in the books nowadays. Overall good book and great characters who have to navigate through grief and love in a beautiful story.

This book follows June who owns a beachside tea shop and is struggling to keep up with her rent, and then is suddenly broken up with on her boyfriends tv show. Levi is a struggling novelist in new york city, and is cheated on by his girlfriend very publicly. The two were friends in high school and hadn’t spoken in almost 10 years, and then happen to run into each other again in their hometown. A photo of them together happens to convince the internet that they are a couple and they are named “The Revenge Exes.” The book follows them fake dating their way through this so Levi can get back with his girlfriend and June can drive business to her tea shop!
This book has me hooked right from the start and i had so much fun reading it! I really enjoyed the whole plot line and loved all of the characters (especially Sana she’s my favorite!) This story was everything and more i would expect from Emma Lord and i cannot wait for it to come out so everyone can read it!

This was a cute story and concept, but it just wasn't my cup of tea (pun intended). The premise was unique- two childhood friends both find themselves going through public breakups and decide to fake-date to get back at their exes and turn the publicity around to help the main character's failing business. First, I really loved the writing style- there was lots of great banter between the characters and several laugh out loud moments. There definitely was chemistry between the two leads and I liked them both as characters. There were also lots of great secondary characters- I loved June's friendship with Sana and the fact that she and her brother/his fiancé were so close. The setting was super fun and I loved that it focused a lot on her business "Tea Tide"- a tea/scone shop on the boardwalk. I think my biggest issue with the book is I just didn't buy into the whole "revenge exes" thing. I am just not sure this would really get publicity/go viral in the way the story insinuated it did, and so it all just felt a bit silly. I also found the constant mentions of her deceased sister to be a bit of a downer in what is otherwise a pretty fun/light book- it just felt a bit out of place, and I don't think it really added anything to the story.

I could definitely see this being an enjoyable story for lots of readers- particularly if you are a fan of YA and the fake dating trope. This was my first Emma Lord book, and while I didn't love the story, I DID love her writing and I look forward to reading more from her!

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy for review!