Former friends, Levi and June agrees to fake date to help each other out with very public breakups. We get a bit of romance between the two as well as their past l, dealing with grief death of a family member and trying to keep a business from failing. There is a lot going on and I felt the love story got a little lost. I wasn't vested in their story but kept going to see how it all ends. The story was a bit predictable and wasn't my favorite of Emma Lord's book.

Natalie Naudus did a good job with the narration. Thank you @smpromance @netgalley @macmillan.audio for a copy of this

This took way too long for me to read this one. I was so bored throughout the book and should have dnf’d it when the first drop of doubt came through my brain.

I could not connect with either main characters. The plot was obvious to me and it felt like a waste of time to read this. The few moments where it was redeemable was in the beginning when the initial break ups/scandal happen and the two MC’s go viral. A few funny moments for sure but mostly this was just dragged out and left me so so so bored.

Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for the eARC. this just wasn’t for me.

Emma Lord’s debut adult novel had all of the charm and wit that her YA novels do. The setting of the tea shop was cutesy but not overly sweet. I thought the build up to the character’s happily ever after came out nicely.

Normally this would have been a book I’d really enjoy however, I wasn’t very bought in. I thought the story was really slow. I didn’t have a connection with the characters like I was hoping but did enjoy the story towards the last 10 chapters. I feel if I was in a better reading mood this would have been a bigger yes for me then what it was. Thank you again to St. Martins Press and netgalley for this opportunity!

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

This was sick a sweet, feel good story! I have a soft spot for a romantic comedy every now and then and this one hit the spot! It’s about two old friends who haven’t been close since they lost someone years ago but come together to help friends and plan a scheme to fake date to get their recent exes back. It’s fairly predictable at times but still comical and makes for the perfect beach/vacation read. If you’re into romcoms with HEA and aren’t too spicy, you should try this book!

Extremely cute and easy beach read- this was perfect on my vacation. Enemies to lovers, beach town setting. My first by Emma and I like her cozy style. Thank you for the ARC!

This was a cute and fun read! It had some heavy moments of emotion as well as frustration of misunderstanding, but all in all it gave a feeling of warmth. I really enjoyed June and Levi and their relationship. Sana is an amazing side character who probably needs her own book!! As always, epilogues have my heart!

I was hopeful when reading the synopsis of this book but it just wasn't for me. I didn't find either main character particularly likable which made it hard to connect with and root for them.

Read if you like:
- Fake relationship
- Childhood friends to lovers
- Tabloid gossip
- Scones

Emma Lord's first adult romance lives up to or better than her young adult books. From the cozy setting in summer to the crazy situations she puts her characters in, it's funny, cute, sexy, and charming. I loved every character, even the villain(s?). I loved the character development. I think it's hard to write essentially a romcom that also deals with grief and the characters doing real soul searching to shed the not so nice parts of themselves and be able to grow. And June and Levi were able to grow together and as individual characters. I'm still imagining them in the food truck with Levi writing at a little table, helping June when he can. I can't wait to read more from Emma Lord!

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for access to this arc but I no longer want to work with this publisher.

The Break-up Pact by Emma Lord was a 3 star read for me. This is a sweet, fun read with a mix of fake dating and friends-to-lovers tropes. June and Levi’s journey from estranged friends to a “pretend” couple keeps you entertained with some charming and lighthearted moments. While it wasn’t everything I expected, the banter and the quirky supporting characters added a lot to the story.

Levi and June are childhood best friends, they were inseparable as teenagers but haven't really spoken in a decade. June is living back in their seaside hometown running a tea shop, and Levi is living in NYC aspiring to be a novelist while he works a corporate job.

They have both just experienced very public break ups, June was broken up with on camera for a reality tv show and is being referred to as "Crying Girl". Levi is cheated on by his fiancee, and they agree to take some time, and he goes back home to hide out. Levi and June pick up right where they left off, and the media picks up on it and pushes out the narrative that they are a couple and deems them the "Break Up Exes". They decide to go along with it and fake date to help them both achieve what they want. Jone wants more steady business for her tea shop, and Levi wants his fiancee back.

An adult novel from Emma Lord was better than I could have ever hoped. The author really knocked it out of the park. The characters felt mature and their age, I really bought into their history and chemistry. The secondary characters were fun and added a lot to the story. I also love a fake dating trope, and the characters were good communicators. It was really a lovely book to read. Also everything to do with the baking and scones recipes was perfect.

“I want to know what the future holds before I take too many steps into it.”

✨ Genre: Romance
🩷 Steamy rating: Moderately Spicy
⚡️ Profanity: Mild

June and Levi were childhood friends and high school crushes. Then something happens and they don’t talk for a decade. Randomly, both of their lives are blown up when both of their respective lovers publicly cheat on them, and it goes viral. To pick up the pieces and get revenge, they fake date, which also goes viral.

This was a solid fake dating, friends to lovers, and even a little second chance romance. Though quite predictable, I loved the two main characters and the supporting characters in their lives. The heavy dynamic of June coping with her sister’s death and discovering how she can honor her sister yet be her own person, was an interesting aspect to the plot.

Triggers: Death of a sister, cheating, and gaslighting

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinions.

I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. The premise seemed fun and lighthearted. However, I am sad to admit that I am deciding to DNF at this time.

The biggest problem for me is that I am struggling to find anything believable. Neither one of the "famous" exes seems to be an A-List celebrity...so I find it hard to believe two random people in the same small town are constantly being chased by paparazzi, fans, etc. A tweet goes viral and suddenly within minutes the failing bakery/tea shop has a line miles deep? I was just struggling with this aspect and given that it's the baseline of the plot, nothing else really stood to work for me. Also from the get go the MMC is technically just not out of his relationship....just on a break (clearly I am #TeamRachel here)....so we're just okay with him fake-dating??? Because fake-dating always means only fake-dating right??? Add in the fact that in the first few chapters, both the main characters acted more like 15 year olds over 27 year olds, I had no concept of location except for small beach town, and knowing we had miscommunication tropes ahead....I just had to call it quits on this one.

So far I had really enjoyed a few aspects: loved that the FMC and MMC were both runners and previous cross-country team mates. the sport is rarely represented in books so loved to see that. The supporting characters were on their way to being the best part of this book, and Dylan, Mateo and Sana all deserve a shout out for that, they were great comedic adds.

All in all, I wasn't connecting and this book just was not working for me. I hope it finds its readers who love and cherish it! Even though I am DNF-ing I am still giving 2-stars, as the issues I have are just due to incompatibility.

I loved the childhood friendship between June and Levi. Their friendship was estranged for years and now they are both back home and begin fake dating. I enjoyed reading this love story. Thanks NetGalley for the early release copy.

ARC Review
2.5⭐️
I wanted to love this so bad. I was excited to see an Emma Lord adult novel and have had this in mind for MONTHS, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. I think a big part for me was that I didn't feel their connection from their past friendship, but also, their coming together in the beginning was so unrealistic to me. In my mind, you can't go that long without talking to someone and then immediately wanting to fake date. If I were seeing someone for the first time in that long, with no social media connection in between, I would want to know everything about that last ___ years. Not to mention, how realistic is it that you're even the same person after that long that you can just assume the other person is worthy of this favor in the first place? There were aspects of this book that I did enjoy, like dealing with grief and moving on from someone else, but the majority of it was just not my cup of tea unfortunately.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. There were great moments, but overall it fell flat for me. I've really enjoyed Emma Lord's YA books, there is something about that time of transition that she captures really well. Here, I felt that part was still the most interesting for her, as what happened with they were teens and young adults was key to the relationships of the main characters, but since we didn't see it on the page, it didn't have much emotional resonance, and we keep being told things instead of seeing and feeling them. There were so many pieces of the plot that none of them felt developed.

I really enjoyed this one! June and Levi were besties with a crush in high school and a misunderstanding separates them for like 10 years. And viral internet break ups bring them back together. Go figure!

Nothing says we’re unbothered by the public destruction of our relationships like dating each other!! I love a good fake dating set up, so I was so excited to see how this played out since it was obvious to everyone involved that these two were meant to be.

While this was definitely a slow burn romance, it was also a story of personal growth for both Levi and June. They both had put their own needs/wants/happiness on the back burner for everyone else in their lives. I love that they brought out the best in each other and wanted only for each other to live their most authentic lives.

I really enjoyed the bakery aspects and the fun names of the scones. This was such a fun story with an important message.

3.5

The Break-Up Pact follows June and Levi, two high school friends who kind of lost touch after high school. They reconnect after both being part of separate humiliating internet break-ups with their respective exes. I thought the plot was cute and fun. Both June and Levi are dealing with not knowing what they want to do or who they want to be, especially following a tragedy that was close to both of them. Seeing them reconnect and grow with each other was very sweet. I also especially loved June’s relationship with her younger brother because they were very close and did a lot together.

Thanks to Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for providing me with an early copy in exchange for a review!

This was a cute little rom-com with a cute fake dating trope. At first I didn't know if I was going to like it or not, It didn't capture my attention at first but im glad I kept going. This turned out to be a very heartwarming story,