I received a DIGITAL Advance Reader Copy of this book from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book insanely boring. It was a struggle to get through some of the chapters because I just didn't care anymore. Once I got toward the end of the book I couldn't understand how so much was still left. I started to skim a little bit.

I loved the idea of this book though, it seemed like such a cute idea. It just didn't work out for me.

THE BREAK-UP PACT by Emma Lord transported me to Florida beaches. Is the story what I wanted it to be? A great escape, an appealing protagonist and a second chance with the one who got away and is also hurting from being dumped, and a well-written, wonderfully crafted story. Check, check, check. I enjoyed every minute of adventures with tea and scones, strong friends and community and a love story that packed a surprising punch. I received a copy of this book and these thoughts are my own, unbiased opinions.

Emma Lord’s The Break-Up Pact brings a fresh twist to the fake dating trope, following June and Levi who team up to control the narrative and become “Revenge Exes” after their breakups go viral.

The novel beautifully captures the depth of young love as it matures, intertwined with the complexities of a shared tragic event in the past. The prose is captivating, and the pining and angst are palpable, making the emotional tension leap off the page. I longed for more time to savor the slow burn aspect of the romance, and wished June and Levi spent more time apart to reflect after their conflict. The pacing falters toward the end, with a resolution that feels too quick and convenient. Despite this, the book offers a heartfelt exploration of love, loss, and second chances that will resonate with romance fans. I’ll definitely be picking up another romance by Emma Lord.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press/St. Martin's Griffin for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Ah. Yeah. A bunch of mostly positive reviews with one or two stars. Y’all know the only person hurt here is the author? And completely fail to help the cause you claim to care about?

Anyway:
I’ve enjoyed Emma Lord’s YA books and was glad to see her move into adult romance. The Break-Up Pact is two childhood friends who parted under painful circumstances and haven’t spoken in a decade, who end up fake dating after both of their breakups go viral. June wants to reclaim the narrative (and save her beachside tea shop) after her boyfriend broke up with her on camera and her crying face turns her into the internet’s character of the day. Levi moves home to Benson Beach relationship ends up on Page Six after his fiancée chests on him with and dumps him for the literal Sexiest Man Alive. As the two help finalize the arrangements for June’s brother’s wedding, they go on a series of increasingly steamy fake dates, that - with the help of June’s aspiring journalist bestie - begin to change the narrative. And if it helps make their exes reconsider, so much the better… right?

The only real issue I had here was that I simply can’t imagine crowds (of random people or journalists) actually going out of their way to show up at someone’s small town place of business because of a meme. But unrealistic internet fame aside, I really enjoyed June and Levi growing separately and together, learning to live for themselves and not for others. In a lot of ways, this was as much about June realizing she can honor her late sister’s memory in spirit without being stuck unchanging because she thinks it’s what her sister would have wanted.

Giving this an extra star to counteract the nonsense.

Thanks to NetGalley and Griffin for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was not a good fit for me. I didn’t connect with the characters at all, as I felt like there wasn’t enough back-story or reason for me to care about them. It felt very superficial. I won’t be sharing this review elsewhere.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In The Break-Up Pact, the protagonist, June, inherited her sister’s beachside shop called Tea Tide and there were so many descriptions of tea types and the yummiest sounding scones ever. But the real storyline was that June was famously dumped by her boyfriend who was on a reality show and her high school best friend, Levi, was dumped when his girlfriend ran off with a movie star. Both were splashed all over the internet and after photos of them hit social media, they decided to become “revenge exes” and fake a relationship to get back at their exes and to increase customers at Tea Tide. This book was a quintessential beach read. It was set at the beach, it was full romcom with a will they/won’t they vibe and while they dealt with heavy grief over the loss of June’s sister, it still had that fluffy, swoony feeling that feels summery to me. I always like a second chance romance/childhood friends dating and it made me really want a scone.

The Break-Up Pact was a cute, cute, cute summer rom-com. It was predictable and a little Hallmark-y for my tastes. This one is a good comfort read and a good background listen.

This was such a fun, beachy, summer romance! I’m a sucker for the friends to lovers trope, and it was done so well here. The banter between June and Levi was flirty, funny, and sweet, and the history between them was a great start to build on throughout the story. The found family/friends as family aspect was really nice, and I loved seeing how supportive this group was of one another. The book also touches a bit on grief, and I thought this balanced out the levity of the rest of the story nicely. The beach town setting was perfect for this time of year, and all the small town charm that came with it. The only small problem I had was with the miscommunication/lack of communication in a couple of parts, but other than that, I really enjoyed this one.

Emma is back with another romance story The Break-Up Pact!
My fifth novel by Lord and I swear I’ll never get tired of her writing!
This is her adult romance! And I absolutely loved everything about it!
I think I loved this book more than her previous works!
She has such a fantastic way of writing fully formed characters that you can’t help but root for, love and connect to.
I loved this book and I look forward to adding it to my bookshelves.
It deserves all the stars because I’m still reeling over it!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really love Emma Lord's writing style and I read all of her books. I was introduced to her through Reese's Book Club picks and though I don't usually gravitate toward YA, instantly fell in love with her writing. I was thrilled to see her venture into adult territory and The Break-Up Pact did not disappoint. Great story, light and entertaining

This was a cute childhood friends to lovers, though not one that particularly drew me in. A fun, summer read for those looking for something light.

Many thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press/St Martin's Griffin, and Macmillan Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest romance by Emma Lord, with the audio wonderfully narrated by Natalie Naudus. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

June and Levi were best friends as teenagers—until the day they weren’t. Now June is struggling to make rent on her beachside tea shop in homage to her sister, and Levi is living in New York, working at a job he hates while failing to be a novelist like he dreams. They've barely spoken for years, but after both experiencing public, humiliating break-ups with their exes, they decide to make a pact to fuel the internet fire that they are a couple. The pretend dating begins, with the hope of reviving the tea shop in the process.

This is Emma Lord's venture into more adult romance, although I loved The Getaway List geared more YA. The Break-up Pact a light, humourous, second chance romance but with undertones of dealing with unresolved grief. I liked the best friends when younger theme, with that spark still bright after growing up. There's a lot of social media influencing here - probably more than small town people would gather, but it's part of the fun. And the scones - loved the names!

I’ve read a few of Emma Lord’s young adult books and really enjoyed them so when I saw that she was publishing her adult romance debut, I was really excited! Unfortunately, The Break-Up Pact felt very different from the writing I’ve come to expect from her.

My main issue was that the characters and relationships felt severely underdeveloped. I knew nothing about the main character, June, except that she was grieving the loss of her older sister Annie, she’d had a crush on the love interest Levi in high school and was scared of losing him again, and she wanted to save her failing tea shop. As for Levi, I knew he used to be very open with his emotions but was more closed off as an adult and that he wanted to get back together with the fiancée who cheated on him despite it clearly being an unhealthy relationship and despite him obviously returning June’s feelings. I couldn’t name a single other trait, interest, or motivation for either one of them. The side characters were even more flat to the point where it’s not even worth describing them because I would completely fail. As a result, I never connected to anybody, and it’s difficult to enjoy a romance when you don’t care what happens to the characters.

To expand on the romance between June and Levi, they shared some cute or romantic moments and it was clear they were attracted to each other and had mutual feelings. However, as mentioned there was no development between them so I never believed in their connection. At the very beginning of the story, they see each other for the first time in years after having had a falling out and after June yells at him in anger once they instantly just fall back into a comfortable friendship. I often find that childhood friends to lovers stories omit genuine relationship development in favor of simply telling the reader there’s a history between the characters and that was definitely the case here. Their reconciliation and subsequent romance arc took off so abruptly I felt like I’d accidentally begun reading at the 25% mark. Additionally, they seemed to be in lust far more than they were in love.

As for the storyline, the fake dating plot was enjoyable and some of the “dates” June and Levi went on were pretty cute. The plots regarding their respective exes and public breakups were interesting at times as well although I feel like they were a bit underutilized. It felt like they were used more as tools to advance the plot rather than being plot points themselves.

This book’s strongest asset was its portrayal of grief. Lord did a great job of depicting how much the loss of a loved one changes and continues to affect every aspect of a person’s life even years after that loss occurs. Both June and Levi’s grief over Annie (who was not only June’s sister but Levi’s best friend) were written with nuance and care and I strongly appreciated that.

Overall, I don’t think this was a bad book by any means. The writing was fine, the pacing was quick, and the romance had its moments. If you’re looking for a surface level summer romance, you might have a great time with this one. However, if you want to become invested in a story with fleshed out characters and a well-developed romance, I wouldn’t recommend The Break-Up Pact.

This book, unfortunately, was just missing something. I felt like the characters had no connection, and while it started off strong and had a great storyline, it just fell flat for me. It’s hard to read a story when you feel like the characters have no connection because it’s a rom-com and you want to be routing for them.

From the outset, The Break-Up Pact seems like the stuff of romcom dreams – two former high school friends are broken up with in big, public ways that go viral online, find themselves both back in their hometown, and decide to make use of their 15 seconds of fame by fake dating for revenge. And though all the ingredients were there for this to be great, I never felt like we got to know the characters deeply enough for it to really make a real emotional impact. Though I did appreciate that the breakups affected these characters differently – one realizing she was better off for it, while the other thought perhaps this was just a growing pain before settling down – I wish there had been more tension around this and between the characters as they get to know one another again, years after high school.

Overall, I wanted to like this more than I ultimately did. But, it does make for a good palate cleanser or quick read for late summer trips.

This was my first Emma Lord and maybe because it was her first adult novel but I just did not connect with the characters at all. They felt so superficial and kind of annoying. And I felt like I’d read this story before? I haven’t read her YA novels yet but still plan to give them a try!

Emma Lord is one of my favorite YA authors so when she announced she was coming out with an adult romance I was so so excited!

We have a lot of tropes in this one—fake dating, estranged childhood friends to lovers, sort of second chance romance.

There was also an undercurrent of “it’s always been you” which I wasn’t too crazy about because both were in serious relationships with other people. But there is no cheating BY a main character. A lot of cheating ON the main characters lol

This author usually does single POV and I just wish I could’ve seen the pining in Levi’s head. I got l frustrated with him because he wanted to get back with his ex for a lot of the book…

I will say once the ball got rolling on the romance I was very invested. That’s how a good slow burn works for me.

Overall, I give this 3.5 ⭐️

Emma Lords YA books are mostly a hit for me so I was anticipating her adult romance debut of THE BREAKUP PACT. Sadly, this one didn’t work and I had to force myself to finish it.

The relationship/friendship and backstory between June and Levi didn’t make sense to me. When they finally got together I just wasn’t feeling the chemistry between them nor did I love any of the other friendships.

It pains me to say, but I would skip this book of Lords. She has too many other great books that you could better spend your time reading.

Emma Lord’s charm and storytelling shine in this new summery take on second chances, fake dating, and falling headfirst into love.

Growing up, June and Levi were inseparable, best friends, partners in crime, but never anything more. Now, after ten years and two humiliating and insanely public breakups, Levi is back in their hometown, and his proximity brings back all the conflicting, unresolved feelings June has for him and their friendship. When a photo of them goes viral, they hop on this opportunity by telling the world they’re dating, but what happens when sparks fly and, this time, June can’t brush the inevitable romantic pull to Levi aside?

I absolutely LOVED the small-town beachy setting with the shops on the boardwalk. It made me feel so nostalgic, warm, and giddy since the beach was one of my happy places growing up. I also adored all the dynamic relationships in this book—from siblings to best friends to romantic love, each was written with care and affection.

This book was also really funny! I loved Lord’s sense of humor and the depth she brings to her romances and stories. There was so much beneath the surface of this novel than a love story, but the romance was still a prominent part of the book. By the end, I definitely teared up and was rooting for June in all aspects of her life.

The only reason this wasn’t a five-star read was because the romantic conflict didn’t pan out the way I was hoping, but I am SO excited to read more adult romances from her in the future!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I've really enjoyed the previous Emma Lord books I've read, and her foray into adult romance here did not disappoint. The old best friends fake dating trope is a new favorite. I especially loved how much they pranked each other and made fun of each other the same way you would a childhood friend. They had just so much genuine fun with each other, so it wasn't all angst and pining—though that was there too, and was also enjoyable. The third act breakup was a bit drawn out and weird—like I wasn't sure what was going on with them and whether they were together or not for a bit—there was no clear break and it was all a bit hazy and confusing. But, in the end they were so cute together and I enjoyed myself and the beach town setting and all their little inside jokes and their adorable friends and family in the background. It was a sweet, cute story all around.