June & Levi were best friends as teenagers, but life took them in separate directions. Now they have both experienced humiliating breakups as adults and life brings them back together again. Enter a fake dating scenario and we all know where that ends up - second chance romance.

Unfortunately, I did not finish this book. I read approximately 50% and decided I just wasn't connecting with the book. I didn't feel any connection with June or Levi and it was hard for me to feel vested in their relationship. I don't think there is anything wrong with the book, I just personally did not connect with it.

This is the first time I have read a book by Emma Lord and I am so glad I was able too!

June and Levi were best friends in their teenage years. However, due to a misunderstanding, Levi left for college and didn’t talk to June again. Years passed and then when both June and Levi go through public breakups, fate seems to bring them back together to mend their long lost relationship.

I enjoyed Levi and June’s story! It was a cute, quick read with some great tropes including friend to lovers, fake dating and slow burn! I would recommend this book to anyone who loves romance and needs a quick read this summer!

3.5⭐️

Happy release day to the Break-Up Pact; a solid read, where the main characters dealt with finding themselves and recovering from grief, along with becoming closer romantically.

While this did make the story more serious, I did enjoy it for that reason. It helped add depth to the characters, and I was interested in seeing how Levi and June would sort through everything.

There were a couple things that took me out of the story though, like the “viral moments” they always seemed to magically sustain, or even June and Dylan calling each other “sis” and “bro”. I promise most siblings do not say that unironically !!

I did love all the soft moments between Levi and June, and always love a good friends-to-lovers vibe. Great summer read as well, so thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for an honest review💫

I’m a fan of Emma Lord’s YA novels. Tweet Cute and Begin Again are two favorites of mine. So it was a no-brainer to pick up her adult debut. And no surprise that I really enjoyed this fun rom-com! The combination of friends to lovers, second chance, and fake dating worked really well and their shared loss added some depth to the story. Plus, there are so many fun details in the book.

“The way we have always been able to see deep into the cores of each other, to feel the depths of the other’s hurts and triumphs and everything in between. A thread between us that kept its pull even after all these years apart, too steady to break, too strong to unravel.”

The Break Up Pact is a great summer read! It balances humor with emotional depth and includes many lovable, relatable characters.

I've positively LOVED some of this author's YA books (Begin again, when you get the chance and tweet cute) and couldn't wait to dive into her new adult/contemporary romcom debut!

I love the childhood besties to we're actually pining for each other and every one knows but us estranged friends to reconnecting as adults to now fake dating but we're still pining to lovers. Like this is probably my favorite trope (I've always said friends to lovers will be my story one day) I just love the longing and the history and the ugh everything that comes with it. 🥰🥰

I love the premise of this story, June and Levi both had very, unexpectedly viral, break ups. They reconnect when he returns to their home town after being estranged for a number of years. But when a picture of them then goes viral, they lean into it, because who doesn't love a fake dating story line?

The story had some meltworthy moments, sizzling chemistry, a couple you want to root for from the beginning, and a perfect for their love story epilogue. But so much of their story is rooted in their past friendship prior to reconnecting and we don't really get to see that. The story dives right in and the reader is left with a number of assumptions about their history. There was a slight depth that was missing that I think the story really needed.

All in all though, with some of my favorite tropes, this was still a fun one sitting read and I can't wait to read what comes next from this author!

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for my review!

First off, Happy Pub Day to Emma Lord for The Break-up Pact. Go grab a copy today and a scone. Trust me on that last one, if you don’t you’re going to wish you had!

The fake dating trope is the basis is of this book, so high five right away for that! One of my favorites! June and Levi haven’t spoken in 10 years, but get thrust together in their hometown after break ups with exes go viral for both. Both of these two are struggling to be their authentic selves through out the book. It’s definitely a lesson in being who you are and following your dreams. June runs a tea shop, started by her late sister and they make scones. Those scones really come into play in the second half of the book and honestly, I’m ready to quit my job and go open a bakery that makes scones! I do love to bake so it really struck a chord with me. But I must confess that I have never had a scone until today. I just so happen to have some in my freezer and while finishing the last few chapters knew today was the day to make them. They aren’t half bad and my mind is racing with ingredient combos that could be put together!

Back to the topic at hand. Love rekindles between these two, or maybe never really died away. You will love the cast of characters in this one and find yourself smiling throughout.

Now off to go eat more scones!

Loved this one! I adored this book! When June and Levi reconnect the reader becomes immersed in their plans to save the bakery that June owns. Our couple is a bit stubborn in their journey, but I found the story worth the journey! Thank you for this one! It is definitely one I will reread in the future.

I’ve been a fan of Emma Lord for many years. Unfortunately, this book was a HUGE miss for me. Emma has always written in YA before this, and so her romances are sweet and have kissing only. When I saw this was a change from that and featured slightly older characters, I had a thought of “what if she’s pulling an Emily Henry and going from YA to adult and this from sweet romance to spicy?” and then I promptly forgot that thought and didn’t do any further investigating. Well, I should have. This books is open door, which is disappointing to me. When an author has a lane that they’ve written in, I feel like they owe it to their readers if they are going to make a change like this, and give us a heads up.

Aside from that, I just honestly didn’t like the book. I didn’t connect with the characters, and I found them annoying and frustrating. Supposedly they hate each other at the beginning, and yet they are both eyeing each other and having lusty thoughts about the other from the outset. The romance really seemed to lack the characteristic Emma Lord charm, and that was honestly saddening to me more than it being open door. I can skip those scenes if the love story is otherwise there, but that wasn’t the case here.

I honestly can’t think of anything I enjoyed about this book. I rated it 2 stars because I did actually finish it rather than DNF. I just hope that Emma doesn’t leave behind YA for good, because if she does and this is indicative of what she will be writing from here on out, then she has lost a reader.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free advanced e-book. These opinions are my own.

Huge thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for allowing me to be an ARC reader on this one. All thoughts & opinions are my own!

My first book I’ve read from Emma Lord and it was super cute!

I loved the small town setting and the second chance with fake dating! The combination of tropes I think was my favorite part. I loved that the characters had a history and had a connection through friendships in the past. I also liked how the book handled grief. The book talked a bit about themes of grief that I haven’t really seen in other stories and it was done very well!

There were some parts of the story that I didn’t particularly connect with/thought dragged a bit but overall I thought the story was still enjoyable!

If you’re looking for an easy small town read with some themes of grief I’d definitely recommend checking out this book!

The Break-Up Pact was a really cute and enjoyable read. I liked the cute backstory Levi and June had, both crushing on each other in high school but due to misunderstandings never had gotten together. I also really enjoyed the storyline of June and her sister Annie and their tea store, Tea Tide. I loved that June wanted to hold on to the store, as if keeping it alive would somehow being keeping Annie’s memory alive.

This is my third Emma Lord read and it’s easily my favorite so far and her most adult romance book, breaking out of the YA genre. I felt there was good depth and insights to the characters, good secondary characters to keep things interesting, good detail of their community to help you feel invested in the storyline. Overall, a really enjoyable book! My one small note would be the digital ARC seemed to have a few grammatical errors in it, which I assume and hope were edited out before print. I will be going out to buy the print copy of the book now!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this advanced copy in exchange for my thoughts and opinions!

I shockingly have not yet read one of Emma Lord's books, despite having them all on my TBR, so I decided to jump in with her debut adult romance. While this was cute, it didn't work for me as well as I wanted it to, but will definitely be giving her YA books a try now.

June and Levi were best friends in high school and after ten years of limited contact, they are both back in their hometown and reconnect under unusual circumstances. They both have just gone through viral breakups and decide to get back at their exes by fake dating each other. June thinks it can’t help but boost sales at her tea shop and Levi might be able to win his ex back. Their friend Sana is along for the ride to document their newfound “love.”

This was a very cute, easy read. I do wish there had been a little bit more build up or tension in June and Levi’s budding relationship. I also wanted to know more about Annie.

Thank you to Emma Lord, St Martin’s Press Griffin, and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange of my honest review.

This was my first Emma Lord book but her YA books have been on my TBR for awhile. This book reminded me a lot of a Sarah Adams book with a little bit more spice - not a closed-door romance. June is a frustrating character at times because you continue to watch her self-sabotage all of her relationships - about 80% into the book I was ready to strangle her.

This book felt long to me. The conflict came earlier than expected and was resolved with relative ease. Yet I still had an hour left in the book which felt too long. If you love tropes about your childhood friends and fake dating - this is the book for you. I enjoyed reading it however it didn't leave a lasting impression on me.

I really enjoyed Emma Lord's YA novel, Tweet Cute, and was hoping I'd also really enjoy her newbie, The Break-Up Pact. Thankfully, the witty dialogue that I loved in Tweet Cute was also found in The Break-Up Pact, but unfortunately I found this quite long and a tad frustrating to read.

In The Break-Up Pact, the story centres around June and her childhood friend Levi, who enter a fake dating scheme to revive her struggling cafe and help him win back his ex. The setup leads to a charming series of dates and humorous moments, but the reliance on misunderstandings and miscommunication adds unnecessary complexity. I found it frustrating by about midpoint of the novel, but pushed through to see if it would be resolved well later on. While the characters' journey is engaging, their development feels somewhat stunted by the high school-esque drama. The beachy setting and humorous tone are delightful, but the narrative's length and immaturity left me wanting more.

I'll still be reading more from Emma Lord in the future and would recommend The Break-Up Pact to those who enjoy witty dialogue with their romance.

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press | St. Martin's Griffin for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️
In Emma Lord’s debut into the adult romance world, I think she did a good job.
We follow the story of June and Levi, best friends since they were teenagers, who come back together, both following very public break ups. With new reputations on social media, June and Levi return to their hometown of Benson Beach to move on with their lives. June- struggling to maintain the beach side tea shop opened by her sister. Levi- struggling with his writing.
They run into each other for the first time since a misunderstanding drifted them apart years ago,. As if things online couldn’t get worse, a picture gets released of them in a “compromising position” and ends up going viral. Thus, the fake dating trope is born.
I thought this book was well developed, especially given the “adult” aspect. Thing’s definitely don’t go according to plan.
I hope those going into reading this novel don’t expect otherwise. This is different than your average romcom.
Overall, the development between the characters was great, the storyline pacing was just right, and the themes were done well.
Thank you, Netgalley and publisher, for the opportunity to read this book early in exchange for my honest opinion!

It was okay, there were tropes I was familiar while reading (fake dating, second chance). The book definitely gave off summer vibes, but it wasn’t an exciting summer read. The plot was kinda slow for my pace and I feel like it wasn’t super unique. Maybe I just read too many romance novels.

Thank you St. Martin’s Griffin and Netgalley for an ARC of this book!

I thought this book was pretty cute. It’s a small-beach town slow burn romance with friends-to-lovers, fake dating, and second chance romance tropes, but I found it a little underwhelming.

I felt the chemistry and loved the witty banter between the main characters, June and Levi, in the first half of the book, but I thought it started to fall short in the second half. The plot also fell flat for me and it felt like there was a lot of unnecessary details added to the second half to just lengthen the story. For a book, it felt word vomitty and it seemed like the emotional descriptions were overly done to the point where I started to zone out.

There were a lot of moments and complications that dragged on but didn’t need to be especially after realizing they’re fully grown adults. It seemed like this was geared towards YA except with some spice and that the MCs were nearly in their thirties, so the miscommunication trope didn’t seem fitting.

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord
Contemporary romance. Second chance, friends to lovers, and fake relationship troupes. Trigger warnings of off page and prior to story loss of a sibling.
June and Levi were childhood friends. He moved to New York for a job and they soon lost touch. Ten years later, after both experience a viral public breakup, they find themselves together again at her boardwalk tea shop, tentatively renewing their friendship. The come up with a scheme to fake date after a second viral moment and the slowly realize they want their old relationship back and perhaps to make it real this time.

🎧 I alternated between an ebook and an audiobook in reading this, and often read the two together, which is a favorite way for me to enjoy the book. The narration is performed by Natalie Naudus who does a wonderful job with the different voices for the two main characters and also another four prime secondary voices. I like the smoothness of her voice and the fact that the different characters are still at the same audio level which is important. Emotions come through clearly. I was crying at the 85% which was mostly from the narration. I heard the loss and introspection and it got to me.
This narrator has done a few hundred different stories that include romance, urban fantasy and thrillers. A great professionally done recording.
As usual, I feel the recordings are too slow for the Midwest, so listened at 1.5 which also more closely matches my reading speed.
For this particular book, I felt the audiobook held my attention more than the ebook.

It’s always interesting to me how two people can read the same sentence and hear or empathize something different. This came up multiple times in this book. Is it a cultural difference, or additional knowledge about the character? A different perspective in age? I don’t know. It does throw me out of the book because I’m hearing it differently than I read it. That is the downside of doing the two formats together but I enjoy it because I’m more immersed in the story and characters.

The premise is a bit sad to start off with on a couple of levels but most of that is prior to the start of the story. There are emotionally draining moments and there are emotional romantic and lovely scenes. Overall I enjoyed the romance and friendships as well as a couple of petty “what you deserve” moments.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley and publisher Macmillan Audio.

Thank thank you so much for Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book early.

This was a book I had sat on when deciding what to rate it. I felt a lot of different emotions going through this book- giddiness, sadness, annoyance, and happiness. I truly enjoyed this book. It was a lot deeper than I was expecting and it made me love and appreciate this book even more.

Even though this book is a fake date situation with both characters hoping to gain something from it- it felt so much more- their rekindling of their friendship turned love for each other made me feel the feels.

What I loved:
June and Levi's friendship. Even though they lost touch- I loved the moments in which we are taken back to when they were once close and how they begin again in the present.

June's growth in the book in both her professional and personal life.

The topics: losing a loved one and grief, losing a friendship, and rekindling an old friendship were handled well in this book.

What I wanted more:
I so badly wanted Levi's POV at times- I wanted to get into his head and understand his intensions and actions.
I wanted more back story on June's sister- Annie (more from Levi's POV)- felt like their relationship was friendship on Levi's end and maybe Annie wanted more.

I can't wait for this book to come out so I can get a physical copy.

2.5 rounded down. I wanted to like this way more than I did. I loved the idea of the viral breakups bringing June and Levi together to fake date. However, I found June to be insufferable in how opposed she was to just having a conversation like an adult. It felt like she was constantly deflecting, and I found it really hard to connect with her.

Levi, on the other hand, was fine. But just fine. He wasn't super interesting to me, and I wasn't a huge fan of his reason for agreeing to fake date. I also felt like their entire relationship went in circles, and I think too much of their relationship happened off the page ten years ago, which made it difficult for me to see the chemistry.

I did really love the side characters, though. Give me a book about Sana. Give me a book about Dylan and Matteo. All three of them were way more interesting. I also did enjoy the fake dates, especially the museum with the paintings.

That said, though, I struggle with books if I can't connect with the main characters. The side characters shouldn't have to carry the story, and that's what this felt like. There are a lot of people that really enjoyed this one, though, so I would still say give it a chance if you think this might be for you!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.