This book was a delight. I am a childhood friends to loose acquaintances to lovers junkie. AND it involves a costal tea shop and is just so delightful. Honestly, this was much more sad than I anticipated but I really enjoyed it still!!

What a great read. I thoroughly enjoyed every single piece of this story, and couldn't put it down once I got started. I read it all in one sitting! Emma Lord is a fantastic author, and I've enjoyed each of her books tremendously. There is the perfect mixture of spice and romance and plot, so you get all sides to the story. Another home run!

I've been a fan of Lord's YA books so I was so excited to get an opportunity to read an early copy of Lord's first adult romance. A lot of the things I would call characteristic of Lord's YA books (references to social media, lots of descriptions of baked goods) are present here but I was happy to see that they did seem somewhat toned done in a way appropriate for a more adult book if that makes sense. That being said, there are lots of Lord's cutesy hallmarks so any fans of her YA books should find a nice soft place to rest here.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It maybe took a little bit longer than normal to buy the romance between June and Levi but once it got cooking, it did really work for me. A lot of the conflict does rest on what could be considered various miscommunications. I wasn't personally bothered by this but I know sometimes it can be frustrating at times when characters can't get it together. The fake dating conceit is one that almost always works for me and there were some parts of the conflict at the midpoint that had my blood boiling.

While I do find a lot of the concepts here sort of silly (two "viral" breakups and a...tea restaurant that everyone loves on the beach) I think a lot of the emotional parts of the book are grounded in the huge loss June suffered when her sister and best friend passed away suddenly. Both June and Levi seem somewhat stunted by this tragedy and I thought the way June was handling it and by the end, overcoming it to be her own person, was particularly gripping.

I am so excited for Lord to write more adult romance. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins for the opportunity to read an early copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

I have to applaud this book for all of the wonderful emphasis it puts on LGBTQ+ characters and LGBTQ+-owned businesses. This representation was beautiful to witness and was done in a tasteful way. Basically, every couple that was not the MCs was queer in some way.

This book uses brief moments of a different format through text messages. It was nice and easy to read and broke up the monotony of typical text.

My one complaint with it was that it did a bit too much telling and not enough showing. It felt a bit like Lord was holding the readers' hands through it. Also, there was a perfect conclusion point to the book at around the halfway mark but then it kept going. I enjoyed where it went for the most part but the second half is where the telling was more prominent.

Their love for each other felt so real and natural. They acted like two people who have been in love for years but are flawed. In addition, the way he expressed his love for her was incredibly hot (sorry not sorry).

I will warn readers there is the miscommunication trope, but it takes place before the events of the book.

In sum, it was a fun story to read with an interesting take on the fake dating trope. I desperately want one of the scones.

I love Emma Lord's novels, especially her integrations with food concepts and her women leads always loving to eat. But I could not get into The Break-Up Pact. The storyline of the main character owning a failing tea shop was hard to fathom and I wanted it to be grounded in just a bit more reality. Plus, the descriptions of where the location is could have been stronger -- I never knew quite where they were based and kept making things up in my head to allow the story to progress.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for an early copy in exchange for my honest opinion!

Unfortunately, I couldn't get into this story. The story was sweet and fans of second chance romance and fake dating should still give it a chance. For me, the stakes were too low to keep me invested. I also got annoyed by the miscommunication and third act breakup tropes. These are the reasons this book didn't work for me but might work for another reader who is a fan of these tropes in romance.

Absolutely loving the fake dating trope by emma lord. She kills it again!!! This is the perfect beach read for the people magazine, duexmoi loving girlies. Its such a fast paced romance, i love that levi has some depth to him and longs for his past relationship

The Break-Up Pact is the first adult romance novel from Emma Lord and I liked it! It was second-chance and fake-dating, and both tender and funny. Two best friends from high-school who were almost something more than friends, but have barely spoken in years are suddenly thrown back together when they find themselves in their hometown after they’ve both been publicly humiliated and broken up with by their exes. A fake-dating scheme to redeem themselves and get back at or make their ex jealous is concocted. But fake dating continues to throw them back into each other’s lives in a way that reminds them of why they were so close as kids, and feelings become to come to the surface. But with both of their exes circling, the public circling them, careers and lives to be sorted out… can they actually make it work this time around? I found the characters and their friends/family to be real and relatable, even if I found June to be a little too weak when it came to running the tea shop because of her grief over her sister. And June and Levi's chemistry left a little to be desired, and not quite as convincing as it could have been. But short of more anguish and drama, it was an enjoyable read, it just felt more juvenile, which is understandable given the author's previous writing.

June and Levi team up after their respective partners dumb them in very public ways. They had been childhood friends but haven't talked for ten years. Levi was June's deceased sister's best friend and they both live with memories of Annie. June runs a tea and scones shop near the beach and it provides the perfect setting for June and Levi to fake a relationship for the publicity in order to make their ex's jealous and save the fledging shop. But will they rekindle their old feelings for each other?

This is YA author Emma Lord's first adult romance, but I didn't see that listed anywhere before I read this. I have enjoyed her books before, especially the ones that had themes to update old movies (Tweet Cute for You've Got Mail and Take a Chance on Me for Mamma Mia.) I wish this one was a little more like those, but I did overall enjoy this. It felt like a Sarah Adams rom com in that these young adults have a romance trope of fake dating and are also trying to figure out who they want to be. I wish it had alternated perspectives maybe (it is only in the voice of June) and I was not prepared for a pretty spicy sex scene at about 60% (I still thought it was YA!)

Props to Emma Lord for branching out some and I look forward to seeing where she goes with her writing career. I'm not sure I would start reading her here, but this is still a solid book that was entertaining.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Standard best friends in high school with secret crushes on each other, years later reconnect and pretend to be dating in the wake of their separate heartaches, only to stop fighting their hidden feelings and fall in love, in a nutshell. It was slow going in some parts, thankful for the best friend's funny banter to keep it moving along.

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord is a cute and easy read about June and Levi, two high school friends currently dealing with two very public and messy break-ups. When a picture of the two goes viral, along with a rumor suggesting that they're a couple, they decide to go along with it and make a pact to date for the public eye. It's brought June a lot of positive business to her scone and tea shop and it's rekindled some old feelings that she had for Levi in high school.

I do enjoy a good friends-to-lovers trope and that along with a beach theme, made it an automatic yes for me. But I was a little annoyed that there was so much miscommunication in this story. I absolutely despise the miscommunication trope in a romance. It just turns me off immediately. I also felt it hard to connect with June. I did LOVE Sana and kind of wish there was more of her in the story. :-)

That being said, I think it was a good read if you enjoy light-hearted romance with a summer theme in a beach town.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC of The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord.

This is the 1st book by this author that I’ve read and I quite enjoyed it. I’ll be looking for others to check out. In The Break-Up Pact, June and Levi are childhood friends who have drifted apart, though June who had developed a crush, never seemed to fully get over. They end up both back in their hometown going through similar experience…insert the break-up pact. This was a very light, fun read. Definitely one that would have made a fun beach read. Though, having read it as summer is coming to end and right after having my own beach trip end abruptly due to hurricane, it was fun to live life in a beach town through this book.

The “fake dating” troupe isn’t my favorite but I thoroughly enjoyed this one! I thought the story line was unique for the troupe and also had a second chance kind of feel since the June & Levi were rekindling in a way. There was good character development with them both, especially about how they were in the past. It wasn’t too slow paced which is good but it had a good portion that slowed down until the closer to the end. Not to the point where you couldn’t get through, just a difference from the beginning.

Thank you NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

There were so many things going right for this book. Victims of viral breakups wanting to get together for revenge. "Revenge Exes". Fake Dating. Secret feelings for each other from high school. Second Chance Romance. I really thought this could blow me out of the water with the way the story was sold. Unfortunately it just fell flat. I was bored after getting halfway.

It was a fast read I will give it that. And I did enjoy the little fake dating dates and some of the banter at the beginning.

**Potential Spoilers Below **

It had the potential but where was the romance. I didn't see it. I felt like I was just told they had feelings. We got the whole story of their friendship not ending well for whatever reason in high school and then we find out the reason why being the worst kind of miscommunication. Then the spice begins. It felt like it was just put in to give it to us. I felt like the tension could have been built better. The plot could have been better. The characters and their chemistry could have been developed better.
And why was the girl made out to be the horniest girl alive? One look at his toes and she seemed to be having heat pull in her belly.

The story was here. The potential for a top selling romance here. The execution was just not it.

(NOTE: I used so much self restraint to not have this review have any beach and scone puns.)

Emma Lord’s writing style is great, but man, it was so hard to even find Levi bearable. When June eventually called him out on his wishy-washiness, it made me literally sigh in relief that I was not crazy for not thinking he was a good person. Even with a satisfying takedown, I don’t know how I can rate this highly when I disliked one part of the romantic pairing so much, so 3/5 ⭐️
Thank you to NetGalley and SMP for this eARC.

Emma Lord never misses. I love how she writes about love and as always, loved the fun food inclusions. So many things I would love to bake from her books.

There’s a lot to like in this one — the cute beach setting, a sort of second chance romance, and a play on viral celebrity. I didn’t connect with it the way I wanted to, but it would still be a cute summer read!

This was not the fun summer romcom that I was expecting. While there was a romance plot it was lacking in romance and chemistry. June and Levi haven’t seen or talked to each other in 10 years, when they were friends in high school, and then they realize they each had feelings all along when they’re fake dating. But while they’re fake dating, I didn’t get any sparks or chemistry or anything to make it seem that they’re anything more than friends. I think this is because there’s so much they’re still hiding from each other about their pasts. They just needed to talk to each other about their feelings then maybe they could’ve been more believable. I also didn’t find it funny, it was more emotional with grief as June is still grieving the loss of her sister, the possible loss of her tea shop, and her most recent relationship. I did like this emotional aspect but it became very repetitive and took away from her relationship with Levi.

Overall, I wasn’t a fan of this book.

A cute book that was missing a spark between the main characters. I really wanted to love this book but it was fast paced and the romance felt forced. I enjoyed the setup and all the side character but wanted more from the relationship and the other storylines.

This was a good read, definitely a lot less Rom-Com and much more serious than i had thought i would be reading but overall it was an easy, fun, fast read.