Beautifully written by Emma Lord! It's fake relationship meets second chance romance, set in a small beach town. An underlying story of grief gives solemnity to what could otherwise have been a lighter beach read and it's done wonderfully. The Break-Up Pact is now one of my faves of 2024!

I loved this book! it was the perfect summer rom com! the whole theme with social media was done perfectly which you don’t usually see in newer books, it’s often cringey and terribly executed but Emma Lord did it perfectly!

This book reminded me of Funny Story by Emily Henry a bit and i absolutely loved that novel!

This didn’t completely suck me in like I expected it to. I loved the small town and tea shop setting, it gave me really cozy feels. I think that overall though I didn’t quite feel the chemistry between June and Liam. I really liked them both and knew they had it but there was a slower development to actually buying into them as a couple. Overall I still liked and would rate this 3.5 stars.

This was a fantastic summer read. The characters were fun and I found myself laughing several times. Good pacing, and I loved those last fifty pages - all the hearts!

I have been a huge fan of Emma Lord. Anything she writes, I’ll buy it. I was so excited for her Adult debut and knew I’d enjoy it. Sadly, that wasn’t the case.

I think she should stick to YA because her YA books always hit it out of the park. Here, the characters felt YA but trying way too hard to be Adult. I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I would’ve, had it been YA. I love Adult Romance but The Break Up Pact didn’t read like one.

And on top of that, we had the miscommunication trope, which I loathe and also is very immature.
The premise was great but I’m really sad about the execution.

3.5 stars

I love a fake dating trope but I felt some of the tension was missing between these main characters. The story was a very slow burn and an emotional roller coaster. The book was not very spicy, and I think that part of their relationship was missing for me. The characters were supposed to be close to 30 I believe, but I kept reading them as much younger. Loved the bakery concept, the small town vibes, and the secondary characters – Sana was excellent and I hope we see more of her in future books! Overall, a cute story that had my stomach in knots while also making me laugh (at different times)!

This book is for fans of:
-Fake Dating
-Friends to Lovers
-Second Chance
-Sisters BFF
-Small Town

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

Happy belated publication day to Emma Lord! Unfortunately I was traveling and due to limited internet my review is a bit belated.

The Break-Up Pact is a story about two friends who both go through social media/online breakups. This brings the male protagonist, Levi, back to his hometown. Levi finds June, who was recently dumped on TV and became a crying girl meme. June also recently lost her older sister and is barely holding it together. June's best friend convinces them to fake date to throw off some of the negative attention while simultaneously benefiting them both. Will they get the connection right?

The Break-Up Pact reads like an almost Hallmark movie. It has all the right elements but they just don't fit. The two main characters have a history, and it's obvious to EVERYONE but them that those feelings never went away. They both wonder about each other but neither fully confesses their feelings, which of course leads to miscommunications and hurt feelings. Usually fake dating means a slow burn, but this book was more instalove. They flirted in high school, and even though it's ten years later, they pick right up where they left off. I missed the build up and sexual tension. It took a long time for me to connect with our FMC. I really just wanted her to go to therapy and work through her issues. She did not need to be in any relationship. I am glad as the novel went on, June realized she needed to do some work on herself.

The book really emphasized the importance of working on yourself before committing to someone else. Relationships work only with actual communication. All types of relationships! Communicate, for the love of Pete! I found myself wanting more of the side characters: adorable couple Dylan and Mateo, and best friend Sana. Overall I found the book okay, and it definitely did invoke some emotions.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley, who provided me with a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I've loved all of Emma Lord's books and this was no exception.
June and Levi used to be best friends until one day they weren't-June had a crush on Levi in high school that he didn't reciprocate :(. Fast forward a number of years and June's TikTok famous for hysterically crying when her Internet famous boyfriend dumps her. Levi has recently moved back to town after his own awful internet-famous breakup. To jumpstart their careers and take back some of their dignity, they start fake dating. Of course, feelings ensue. This book is more than a series of romantic tropes - instead it gives depth to both characters and the area that the story takes place in.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for my honest review.

⭐️ 3 Stars

This is a quick easy romantic. Second chance romance really. Two main characters were best friends in high school but had a falling out. They haven’t spoken in 10 years when their worlds collide again. They form a pact to pretend to be dating to each gain something from the scheme. This story is nothing you haven’t read before. Easy book cleaners between heavier books.

Must read! This book had everything I could want. It made me cry, smile and laugh all at the same time. I am so glad that I read it and got to meet Levi and June and experience their story!

Emma Lord’s debut adult romance novel was a great summer read. It had all of the ingredients of what makes a winning romance for me - likable characters, cute coastal town setting, good pacing, deeper problems, and a slow burn.

I enjoyed how it wasn’t just immediately easy for the characters to get together. Them overcoming their own problems and developing individually differentiated this romance from others. They had to grow, and recognized this instead of the insta-love without forward thinking that we so often see. Levi not immediately dumping Kelly for example, was a nice realistic touch. That is something a man unsure may do.

The scone flavors were certainly an interesting ongoing plot point, I would be interested to try the one with sriracha though??? Definitely added a dash of uniqueness. Get it?? Recipe joke!

I did find it was a little heavy on the introspection and arguing at times. At certain points, I just felt that we could get on with it instead of listening to the internal back and forth. Granted that is an important part of a slow burn, building the tension, but something about it just didn’t always sit right with me. I wanted things to be happening instead of ready SO much about feelings and insecurities.

I received this book as an eARC from the publisher via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you Emma Lord and St. Martin’s Press!

Cutesy story of love and friendship with plenty of depth. June and Levi were well rounded and impossible not to root for. The story is sweet and redemptive. I have loved all of Emma Lord's novels and this one was no exception.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I found June to be very immature and immediately (and unnecessarily) horny for the romantic interest. She is also very untrusting, seems to thrive on miscommunication, and has the deepest, most flowery thoughts ever in the midst of totally normal moments. They go on for a while.

I don't know. I hated June. She makes the worst decisions with so much conviction. Makes herself the center of the world. And then suddenly has the most eye-opening revelations and everything is better until it isn't again. Levi was meh. He sounds cute but flaky.

Love Emma and her fun witty stories with heart. This was no exceptions. I’ve loved her YA and getting to read an adult from her has been a right treat, can’t wait for the next one!

The Break-Up Pact isn't your normal cookie cutter romance novel. This book is about June and Levi, former friends that have lost touch (on purpose) over the years. Both go viral as their long term relationships crash and burn. Levi moves back to their home town to get away from it all and June moved back two years previously after the death of her beloved sister, Annie. This book will give you all the feels as June and Levi navigate their hurt over the loss of Annie, their relationships and their dreams. This book takes a while for our couple to get to their HEA, and it feels so much more real and believable because of it. I really enjoyed The Break-up Pact and highly recommend it. Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy.

I really enjoyed this book. Emma Lord's voice is great and the characters felt genuine. The romance started slowly but once it kicked off, it delivered. Totally recommend.

Eh, this was fine, I guess?

This was a pretty standard fake-dating story. It wasn't bad but I didn't really feel like anything stood out about it. I usually feel like Emma Lord's writing has a certain endearing charm that I just didn't feel here. I just feel like I'll have forgotten most of the plot in about a week.

I did like the parts about Annie and wish they'd been explored a little more.

The third-act conflict was also a bit too generic and predictable for my tastes. In general things relied a bit too heavily on miscommunication.

If you devour any type of fake dating book then you'll probably love this, but otherwise, you may feel like you've read this book before.

Also, this didn't impact my rating but definitely threw me for a loop- I'm used to Emma Lord writing YA / NA, but this one was solidly adult, so the ages at the beginning threw me off.

Best friends with a miscommunication that leads to years of silence…then a second chance occurs when they are both very publicly dumped and mistook as a new couple!

Second chance romance ✅
Friends to lovers ✅
Fake dating✅

Good stuff I tell you!
Do I recommend? Absolutely!

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC.

A delightful and thoughtful story about two best friends who pretend to date after breaking up with their respective exes. Very reminiscent of Emily Henry's Funny People.

I was intrigued by the premise of The Break-Up Pact—a cute fake dating arrangement, set against the backdrop of a cool beach town, with a heroine who bakes scones. I was eager to read this story because I really enjoyed Emma Lord's previous book Tweet Cute.

While I found the author's unique voice and clever writing style engaging, the story itself didn't quite hit the mark for me. I hate to say it, but I'm finding the viral breakup and famous exes thing rather implausible. Maybe the market has become too saturated with this inciting incident? The miscommunication and lack of chemistry between the hero and heroine left me feeling a bit disconnected from the characters, and as a result, the plot sort of falls apart about halfway through. The friends to something more concept didn't quite progress to the page-turning slow-burn I'd hoped for.

I appreciate the creativity and effort that went into this book, but it ultimately wasn't a fit for me. I do, however, think that fans of Emma Lord's work will appreciate her signature style and might connect with this story in ways that I didn’t.

Thank you to the publisher for the complimentary copy.