Thank you so much to Emma Lord and St. Martians Press for the eARC of this. I absolutely loved The Break-Up Pact by Emma! The fake dating troupe is one of my favorites! June and Levi are adorable. It is such a quick, cute and sweet read. I will definitely be recommending this to friends..

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC!

‘The Break-Up Pact’ by Emma Lord is a fake-dating romance story, driven by our main character June, the owner of a struggling seaside tea shop and her former best friend Levi, who has put off his failed writing career to be a hedge fund manager in New York City. After both of their long term relationships end very publicly in betrayal, Levi finds himself back at Benson Beach outside the doors of June’s shop after a ten year hiatus. It doesn’t take long for them to fall back into old feelings and habits, and in doing so concoct a plan that could help them both exact their revenge. In a world of viral memes and videos, what could go wrong?

There is something so nostalgic to me about a fake dating romance. It’s true. I blame it on the elder millennial in me who once loved watching a Blockbuster rental of the 1999 classic ‘She’s All That’ starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachael Leigh Cook. (That Matthew Lillard dancing scene is still one of my favorites of all time.) Sadly, unlike the cheesy teen rom-coms of the 90’s, ‘The Break-Up Pact’ didn’t leave much of an impact on me.

While I enjoyed the two main characters interactions and fun inside jokes, there was a depth to their relationship that I found lacking. Their history is explained a little, but I found myself wondering why these two had such a strong connection. Other than telling me that they grew up together and a few throwback memory scenes, I just wasn’t convinced that these two were bonded as much as the author tried to convey. June’s sister Annie, who died a few years before the start of the book, plays a role in their dynamic as well, but for me, the problems that arise between them regarding Annie could be easily solved with bare-minimum communication. While the loss of her sister and working through those emotions are deeply emotional, it felt like that thread of June’s life was something that could have stood out all on its own without mixing it in with her issues regarding Levi.

Ah, the miscommunication trope. You either love it or hate it. In my case, I loathe it. It can be done well in a story, but even then, I struggle with enjoying the unraveling. In The Break-Up Pact; it’s not intricate enough for me to justify the need for it. The stakes aren’t high enough, which led to a very anti-climatic feeling when it’s all said and done and resolved.

There was LGBTQ+ rep in the story, which didn’t add or take away much other than June’s brother Dylan marrying another one of their childhood group’s friends, Matteo. I thought their relationship was cute and enjoyed those bits. There were some laugh-out-loud scenes for me as well, which I can always appreciate from a romance. Her gal-pal Sana added some humor to the mix as well.

All-in-all, if you enjoy a fake dating romance with some miscommunication and problem solving sprinkled in, you’ll like The Break-Up Pact. It was an easy read with good writing and decent pacing that would be perfect for a vacation, or even to curl up on the couch with coffee (or tea if you’re into themes). I enjoyed the vibes of the seaside boardwalk, and had some hearty laughs.

3.25/5 stars

still unclear on why they didn’t talk for like 10 years. there was so much miscommunication in this, but it was a cute story in the end

Rounding up from a 2.5 for Goodreads.
It had potential but it was a little cheesy for my liking and I had a love/hate feeling towards both main characters. I was rooting for them but at the same time I wanted June to just freak out on Levi cuz he deserved it. The side characters (Sana having pizza & beer at 8 am🤣) were the best part. Also, I did shed a tear or two so I appreciate that. I know this author is more widely known for YA and maybe a younger audience will enjoy this book more than I or just someone looking for something really sweet. I will say I wasn’t expecting a spicy scene on this and it was a goody 😂the tension was tensioning the first half 👏

Thank you for this ARC!! I adored this book. Such a sweet and heartwarming friends to lovers story. June and Levi were just so supportive of each other every step of the way, helping each other instead getting caught up in the miscommunications. I could happily read hundreds of pages of them and their friends just hanging around Bensen Beach together.

The premise of this book was interesting and I was excited to read the love story. Initially, I liked the banter and relationship between June and Eli but it didn’t really feel like they, or their relationship, was explored enough. And their communication skills drove me crazy and really took away from the plot for me. The end of the book dragged for me and I found myself skimming rather than actually reading.
The secondary characters were well written and I enjoyed getting to know them.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, the author, and Net Galley for my honest review in exchange for the ARC!

I was so excited to read another Emma Lord book but unfortunately this was not a hit for me. The writing style was still great and I give credit for the consistency in having good quality writing. The story fell short. I felt like it was boring and the main characters didn’t have chemistry. But I’m always a fan of Emma and will read the next thing she writes!

It’s so hard for me to read a summer vibes book in the dead of Midwest winter, but I just had to get my hands on this! Tweet cute was one of my 2020 faves, so I just could not pass up another Emma Lord book!

"Neither of you wants to change the other one or tell the other what to do. You just want each other to be happy. And that's what love is supposed to look like."

June was just a normal girl until her mid break up crying face was caught on national television and made into a meme. Now, everyone can’t get enough of Crying Girl. But June just doesn’t have time for the people coming into her shop on the boardwalk, Tea Tide, and harassing her. She has her brother’s wedding to plan and bills to pay which requires her to figure out a way to revamp the shop. The only problem is that it was her sister, Annie’s, shop first and ever since her death, June wanted to keep it the way it was. She desperately needs a plan.

When a blast from the past comes through, June doesn’t know what to do with herself. Her childhood ex best friend, Levi has also just gone through a recent public breakup and is back in town for a few weeks. Levi’s been gone for quite a while and June doesn’t want to forgive him, but old habits die hard and they’re back attached at the hip in no time. When a photograph is taken of them and published everywhere, dubbing them the Revenge Exes and Tea Tide suddenly gets a lot more business because of it, would it hurt to lean in a little and take advantage of the situation? They quickly realize this will benefit both of them and so the fake dating begins. I mean what harm could it do? Fake dating never leads to real, romantic feelings…

First, I adored the characters in this book! Sana, June’s bff, was hilarious, spunky and a breath of fresh air. Levi gave off major hottie-but-doesn’t-know-it vibes. June had me screaming at the book, threatening to throw it across the room, but her heart was in the right place. I loved June’s brother, Dylan and his fiance, Mateo with all his sweater vests as well. This is one of the first books I’ve read in a while that none of the characters irked me in some way. I call that a win.

This was more than a romance story. It was about grief and finding your place without your loved one. It was about finding out that you’re not alone and there are always people to lean on. I recently lost someone myself, so this hit home with me. I felt the fear, longing, regret and all over sadness that June did from losing her sister. Sometimes, it’s okay to ask for help. Sometimes, all we can do is push forward. “Just try not to fuck up.”

I did feel like this lulled in a few places and just drug things out too long. Near the end I was looking at the progression percentage, wondering when it would end. I felt like everything was wrapped into a neat bow by that point and I didn’t know why we were dragging it on.

Besides that small irritation…Fake dating and enemies to lovers are two of my absolute favorite tropes and I feel like this had both! This was funny, clever, romantic and swoon worthy! It even had me teary eyed, especially that ending 🥹! Def worth a read!

I get why people will like The Breakup Pact by Emma Lord, but unfortunately for me there were a lot of red flags in this book. Namely, the main female characters, easy forgiveness of the main male character who at no point deserves her grace. I understand the mixup that led to his bad decisions, but he continues to make bad decisions and never really earns forgiveness. The premise is cute, the setting is cute, but I just can’t get over the red flags.

Thank you #netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review .

The Break-Up Pact is a second chance fake dating romance. June and Levi are childhood friends whose friendship changed before Levi went to college. June suffered a social media viral break up with her boyfriend of 10 years and Levi has also just gone through a public scandal with his cheating fiancé. Levi comes back to Benson Beach and June and Levi make a pact to be in a fake relationship for their own personal gains. When old feelings can no longer be denied can Levi and June make it work despite their past? This was great read- emotional, funny at times and heartfelt throughout!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded up.

The Break-Up pact is a light read, but ultimately, there were a few things that really didn't work for me. First and foremost, what is with the glorification of cheating partners? I couldn't relate at all to either character wanting any type of friendship or relationship with someone who cheated on them. And, who wants to be with someone with so many insecurities/issues that they would even consider this path. Clearly, they need to work on themselves before entering another relationship. I liked the setting and the friends to lovers/second chance romance tropes, but wish the other glaring issue was treated differently.

"The Break-Up Pact" by Emma Lord weaves a contemporary romantic tale around the unexpected consequences of public break-ups, social media fame, and the intricacies of a fake relationship. The premise introduces June and Levi, former best friends who reconnect after experiencing public and humiliating break-ups that thrust them into the spotlight.

The story promises a delightful blend of humor, romance, and modern-day challenges as June, struggling to make ends meet with her beachside tea shop, and Levi, navigating the pitfalls of a disillusioned life in New York, decide to capitalize on their accidental internet fame. The pact to pretend to date for mutual benefits sets the stage for a rom-com filled with twists, swoon-worthy moments, and the inherent drama of pretending to be in love.

The use of social media, particularly TikTok, adds a contemporary and relatable touch to the narrative. The mention of their photo going viral and the ensuing speculation by the internet highlights the power and pitfalls of online fame, providing a reflection of the digital age's impact on personal lives.

The central theme of pretending to be in a relationship for mutual gain introduces an element of humor and potential chaos. The promise that fake dating doesn't come with real feelings is a classic rom-com trope that readers of the genre will likely find intriguing. However, it also sets the stage for a deeper exploration of emotions and the possibility of genuine connection.

The inclusion of five sparkling, heart-pounding dates suggests a structured and entertaining narrative that will likely appeal to readers seeking a well-paced and engaging romantic story. The characters' journey from former friends to accidental internet sensations and the subsequent complications in their fake relationship present a promising plot that blends humor, romance, and a touch of modern reality.

In summary, "The Break-Up Pact" appears to be a captivating romantic comedy that navigates the complexities of modern relationships, online fame, and the thin line between pretending and genuine connection. With its contemporary premise and promise of humor and heart, the book seems poised to provide an enjoyable reading experience for fans of the romance genre.

June and Levi are what we all hope for when we think of childhood friends to lovers. After both going through a break-up that was long overdue, the friends come together while both back in their hometown. They accidentally start a revenge exes pact after both of their break-ups go viral. What begins as a fake relationship, quickly turns into everything June has always wished for with Levi. Both still reeling from the unexpected death of June's sister, Annie, the friends share in the grief of their shared loss while overcoming the insecurities that resulted from being in the wrong relationships for so long. I enjoyed the inclusion of many shared past memories between Levi and June that cemented their friendship as kids and brought them back together as adults. Even though they hadn't really been together in over a decade, their connection was evident from the first few interactions. It helps that both of their exes were easy to dislike!

I really liked the premise of this book and was very excited to read the love story. At first, I really liked the banter and relationship between June and Eli but sadly I felt like it didn’t really develop much after that. And their communication skills drove me crazy and took away from the story for me. The end of the book dragged for me and I almost found myself skimming to finish it.

There was a lot of tension, well written side characters, and I would still say this is a fun light read. Just wasn’t my favorite.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, the author, and Net Galley for my honest review in exchange for the ARC!

Rom-Com with Fake Dating, Friends to Lovers, and a whole lot of baking…need I say any more?

You'll Love This If You're Into:
* Heartfelt Rom-Comes with tension🫶🏼
* Friends-to-Lovers Trope📔
* Baking and Social Media Shenanigans🥐

Ratings:
Characters: ★★★★☆
Plot Progression: ★★★★☆
Writing Style: ★★★★☆
Romantic Tension: ★★★★☆
Spice: like 🌶️ but mostly 🫑
Overall: ★★★★☆

Thoughts: really REALLY liked it

Review:
June and Levi, social media heartbreak survivors and owners of broken hearts, embark on a fake-dating escapade to make exes jealous.

Did someone say Romantic tension? It is palpable. Lord navigates the 'will they won't they' and fake-dating tropes with finesse, striking a balance between sweet and spicy.The 'Revenge Exes' plotline, while slightly dragging in the final stretch, ties up neatly and made me happy in the end. But, on the topic of romance, I am sure some of you are wondering about the spice, and truly, there is one descriptive scene at the 80ish percent mark, but the rest is just steamy and filled with tension.

Emma Lord's writing, a blend of depth and ease, quickly made this a fun romance. Aside from romance, the story explore sibling bond and friendships between many of the main character, and I enjoyed these bits. I thought that the exploration of grief and management was realistic and responsible to the seriousness of loss. The novel successfully delivers poignant moments and fast paced plot developments that kept me engaged throughout

This was an is an entertaining and well-paced second-chance friends-to-lovers rom-com. Lord's ability to capture emotions and create relatable characters shines through, making this a recommended read for fans of heartwarming love stories.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for this ARC. Eagerly awaiting more from Emma Lord's pen! 🌾✨🥐☕️📖

I really liked the premise of this book and was excited to read it. The relationship between June and Eli was very cute at first and I enjoyed their banter. It just didn’t develop much for me after that. I wanted to believe that their present selves were into each other as much as their younger selves seemed to have been.

The ending started to drag for me. I almost skipped through a few sections because the conflict was just not doing much.

Overall, I will agree with a few other readers that stated that it felt like the book was missing something. The plot is good, I want to see more romantic tension. I still do recommend this book as a nice light read.

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read this author’s book. I will likely browse more of their works.

This book is really cute.
The dynamics between June and Eli are so fun. They grow up as friends and end up falling out of touch but get back in the same town after going through viral breakups.

I wish we could have seen June getting more revenge on Griffin.

Overall, a cute read. I just felt like the book was missing something.

June owns a tea shop by the ocean and is hiding away because she accidentally became a meme when her famous ex left her. Could you imagine the world seeing you crying on your worst day?!

Levi had a very similar situation and had a public breakup with his ex too. After a photo of them goes viral, they decide to "fake date."

I always love a good fake relationship trope! This one was good, but not GREAT, I would say! It was a cute childhood best friends/second chance romance. I did love that he was always checking in on her without her knowing (too cute!). But, the story felt like it had a ton of unnecessary drama for my liking.

Overall, this was a 3-star read! I would recommend it to people overall as a cute and easy read.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Warning I'm going to ramble here for a bit. Fake dating and friends to lovers are my two favorite tropes so I thought I was going to like this one a lot more than I did. For one thing, the blurb mentions that they both broke up with their exes when in the story only one of the couples actually broke up. Levi and his fiancé are technically still together but taking time apart and he fully intends to stay with her after she's done having her fling, which gave me the icks not only because of how pathetic that is but also he supposedly loves June but even after they sleep together he's still not entirely sure if he wants to break things off with his fiancé. If you ever are trying to choose between me and another person please don't pick me! Who wants to be with someone who even maybe kinda sorta wants someone else?? Another of my main issues with the book is I can't handle a weak FMC and this book has both a weak FMC and MMC. June is publicly dumped and humiliated by her boyfriend of 10 years after getting cheated on and still wants to stay friends with her ex because they were friends for so long. WTF?! Levi is dragged through the tabloids after his fiancé cheats on his with a movie star but is just hoping she is jealous enough to take him back when she's done with the other guy. There is just too much OW drama in the book. And then when she rolls into town after her fling ends, Levi ghosts June for an entire day with no explanation even after the fiancé comes into her store talking about him. He just shows up the next day like nothing happened even though he knew she had gone to see June. Actually, I think I don't like Levi at all. I thought this book was a 2.5 that I would round up to a three but after thinking about it more I'm rounding it down to a 2 because of Levi. I thought the description of their teenage friendship was cute but you don't really feel it in the story.

When former childhood sweethearts coincidentally both get dumped in breakup scenes that go viral at the same time, they find themselves drawn back to their beachside hometown, their abandoned youthful aspirations, and each other.

Verdict: heartwarming, with two big-hearted leads loaded with chemistry and history, as well as emotional maturity and heft.

This gem of a love story stars Levi and June, both of whom have carried their multilayered lifelong friendship and all its abiding love and hurt with them for years, while they stumbled down the wrong paths, both personally and professionally. Going back to Benson Beach, their lovable coastal small town with the feel of Gilmore Girls' Stars Hollow, forces them to quit running from their feelings and their scars.

There is something beautiful about how many dimensions a relationship can have when it's decades long. As a result, the author does a wonderful job of building an abiding connection that feels authentic and undeniable, one inside joke and childhood fantasy at a time. Watching these two people circle each other, loving but wary of their own pain points and flaws, was as entertaining for the reader as it is for the cast of supportive kooks flanking them in their tiny boardwalk hometown.

It's also a rare treat to get characters grappling with internal emotional growth in ways that feel realistic rather than superficial. It's not something that happens often in the "chick lit" world, which often dishes up fairly surface-level satisfying cliches. But in The Break-Up Pact, the heroine is on a journey of self-discovery that feels more nuanced, in the way of actual adulthood. It was hard to place their ages, because while June is implied to be in her late twenties, this book had a lot of the best parts of a coming-of-age tale. Character growth, handled capably by the author.

Not to mention two more rare treats from this novel: an author who writes LGBT+ characters so organically that there's not even a whiff of tokenism, and who writes about social media in a way that feels more or less true to the real syntax of a comments section. (As readers who have enjoyed Lord's equally impeccable Tweet Cute already know she's capable of.) Does the pettiest part of me wish they had ruined their exes reputations online more thoroughly? Yes. But Levi and June are all too happy to just have each other, heedless of any internet haters. And their happiness is infectious. Definitely recommend - and daresay even hope for possible follow-on novels in Benson Beach.

TLDR: A layered history adds richness to this romance and realism to the character growth, with a charming cast of characters whose steadfast love for each other shines through from every page

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for the book! I loved it. Review will be live on my blog too: https://warmfuzziesonly.wordpress.com/2024/01/03/advance-review-the-break-up-pact-by-emma-lord/