I have kind of been putting this review off for a while because I feel really bad about it.

First off I want to thank the other and NetGallery for giving me the opportunity to have an ARC of this novel. I am a big fan of romance reads (or romantic comedies) which is why when I read the synopsis I thought this was a book for me.

When I started reading the novel however I found myself having a hard time getting through the book and almost DNF. Its really a 1.5-2 out of 5 stars for me.

While a second chance romance or friends to lovers tropes are not my ideal reads I do not mind them, that being said I really was hoping for more revenge on their exes I guess. The characters were just to nice in my opinion.

Then everything just kind of seemed rushed by the time they finally get together and the end. It just didn't flow well in my opinion.

I would probably recommend this book to very tame readers.

June and Levi were best friends when they were younger but had since grown apart. Recently they had both gone through some very public breakups.

June owns a tea shop by the beach and is struggling to make ends meet. Levi is a hedge fund manager in New York City and a failed author. He comes back into town to try and make amends as well as try and get back into writing.

June and Levi start talking again and end up having pictures of them posted on the internet which go viral. Due to that June's tea shop business starts taking off with lines out the door to get in. They decide to make a break-up pact to help benefit both of them, Levi with his ex and June with her tea shop.

I thought this fake dating trope was done very well in this story. I enjoyed both stories of June and Levi, it did have some serious moments but it was well handled.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Sadly, this one wasn’t for me. It felt very under developed. Having tropes for the sake of tropes and very little character depth.

I was bored and not invested in any of the characters. Felt very YA.

The Break-Up Pact
By: Emma Lord
Review Score: 4 Stars

Boogie’s Bulletpoints
•I love June and Levi, and how their lives are interconnected in so many ways.

•This is fake dating at its finest!

•While a story with a lot of fun, there is also a lot of emotion (Lord honestly writes the best characters).

•June really has to go through so many phases to get where she needs to go, and I think we can all relate to that.

————

The Break-Up pact follows June and Levi, two people who were both broken up with by their significant others in a way that goes viral. These two actually have history, and so they start fake dating (a favorite trope of mine). Obviously, old history is brought up and feelings are shared.

While this book has all of that, it has heart too. No spoilers, but June and Levi have both lost someone very close to them, and those feelings shape who they are. I really resonated with that throughout the story.

Such a cute read! I’ll definitely be recommending it to my followers. June Hart and Levi Shaw were so easy to love as was the seaside town of Benson Beach. I wish Tea Tide was a place I could actually go and sit down with a book and a cup of tea. Emma Lord created such an amazing setting for such a great text book rom com. The banter was superb and I caught myself laughing out loud. Sana was the best kind of best friend too. Overall loved this book and can’t wait to read more from Emma Lord.

June and Levi were best friends in high school; however, neither could figure out their feelings for each other. Levi left for the city and June helped her older sister open a tea shop on the board walk. Years later, Levi is back in town after a break up and June is also recently single. Together they are planning June's younger brother's wedding and decided to fake date their way through the breakups to make them seem not so bad. Are they able to figure out their feelings for each other this time around?

I enjoyed this book. It was a fun romance to read by the water. I was cheering on June and Levi throughout the book and I so badly want to visit June's tea shop. Thank you Emma Lord, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the premise of this book, but I had an extremely hard time really getting into and connecting with the characters. I felt that there were several sections of the book that were unnecessary and those parts in particular made it hard to keep my attention. I also felt that the "ex" portions of this book were very unrealistic.

Good premises on this one. June gets broken up with on live TV when her boyfriend of ten years, decides to go on a reality show. She decides to move back home to take care of her late sister's shop.
Enters Levi, her high school crush and best friend - the guy who she overheard telling her sister he did not like her in that way at all - who is going through his own very public break up. With the help of one of June's friend, they decide to start a fake relationshipm going on dates to get revenge on both their exes.

So far, pretty good. I enjoyed the general ideas this book put forward.
Then we get to the reason why Levi told June's sister why he was not attracted to her back in school and it was so anticlimactic that the whole book lost appeal to me.
There was zero communication between these two once they decided they actually loved each other. The author came out with the excuse that both of them just came out of relationships where their parteners pushed them into doing that they wanted disregarding June's and Levis' feelings. So now, neither of them want to do the same to the other. Yes, of course I get that. But telling Levi that she loves him and wants to start a relationship with him it's not the end of the world. Is it long distance when you're a 90 minute bus ride away? Not sure.

I really did not like Levi. He slept with June and the following day he ghosted her because his ex girlfriend showed up because she wanted to get back together. Then once he decided he actually wanted June he went back to NY to sort out his job and life, while at the same time living with his ex? Nope, I'm sorry, you can't keep two feet in one shoe. You decided you wanted June, move out. But I guess that was not interesting, plotwise.

Great start, great premise, but half of the book was big let down.

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this arc.

This was my first Emma Lord read. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was slow for me to get into. Could just be my summer reading slump. There were cute moments for sure as can be expected with fake dating—that element was my favorite. June and Levi fall into a fake situationship after their own relationships with other people blow up. There's a little of friends to lovers, second chance, and fake dating but it's defintely a slow burn which I'm realizing I'm not a fan of. Still worth the read!

The Break-Up Pact narrates the tale of two ex-best buddies who haven't had a word with each other for nearly a decade, both navigating through the turmoil of viral breakups. They decide to create a fake date to assist June’s Tea Tide enterprise and to demonstrate to Levi’s fiancé, Kelly, the potential loss she might face. This story was captivating and filled with warmth, offering a fresh perspective on love and recovery. I completely liked this novel and would strongly suggest it. Thank you to Net Galley for the eARC!

4.5/5

The Break-Up Pact, an adult romance debut, solidifies Emma Lord as an auto-buy author for me. Her stories are always well-written, have unique storylines, and include endearing characters you can’t help but root for. It doesn’t hurt that she loves to write one of my favorite tropes: best friends to lovers.

I loved The Break-Up Pact specifically because of Levi and June, their history, their present, and their potential future. Romance novels can follow such a scripted formula most of the time, and while this book does have a HEA, there were twists and turns I can honestly say I didn’t expect.

My only small deduction to result in 4.5 stars instead of a full five is because of the pacing half of the second half. It seemed to wrap up a bit slower than it should have, in my opinion as a reader. I got to the climax, looked at the percentage done, and was still only about halfway through. This made the rest feel like it was taking too long (but was still overall enjoyable). Once again, though, it’s a minor con in a story I otherwise loved.

It made me laugh at points, tear up at others (and not just in sad moments but for cute ones too!), and most importantly it made me truly care about the characters—main and side—while I was reading.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If a book has the fake-dating trope in it, you can guarantee that I will be reading it .. it is one of my FAVOURITE tropes in a book. This book did a fantastic job at executing this trope. It was a cute, quick read and I really enjoyed it. I was expecting to get a more Romcom type vibe from this book and was a bit surprised at the more seriousness that it presented. However, this book was still enjoyable and would recommend it to those who enjoy the fake daing trope.

I loved this story! June and Levi’s story was SO MUCH more than many others I’ve read with the fake dating trope, because their background and relationship was well-developed and layered. The two best friends had a multifaceted past with one another that impacts the way their relationship plays out in the present. At the same time, the evolution of their relationship is impacted by other relationships, June’s business, life in a smaller town, and the media. All of these factors made the story super interesting to read, while drawing me in to the characters more and more.

The fact that this story was complex yet lighthearted, thoughtful while hopeful, and full of storylines that weren’t challenging to keep track of made it a joy to read. The beachside setting makes it a perfect, fell-good summer read!

I have a read a lot of Emma Lord books and this one just kind of falls in the middle.
It wasn't bad but also wasn't anything special. June and Levi are a good match and I think the chemistry showed through the pages but the storyline itself just felt like it has been done before, but with that being said I will still be picking up Emma Lords books going forward.

STORY LIKES
⭐⭐⭐

SPICE
🌶️ mild(ish)

RECOMMEND
💳 yes

Emma Lord's "The Break-Up Pact" is a short and sweet story about two high school friends who've lost touch only to find each other after they've been publicly dumped by their respective partners.

"The Break-Up Pact" is a sweet friends to lovers romance with a bit of miscommunication and it's always been you micro-tropes.

"It's love and it's fear and it's everything in between. It's ancient with understanding and fresh with desire. It's everything I feel reflected back at me, anchoring me in this moment so surely, so steadily, that if feels every bit as shocking to my system as everything that came before it."

June and Levi were best friends growing up, but certainly no longer. However, they both recently went through a breakup, a public and mortifying break up for each of them. So when someone grabs a photo of them together and the rumors start flying about them dating, they wonder what would happen if they make a pact? They will pretend to date, and make sure it is very public to show how well they are both doing. Could it work?

3.5 stars, The first thing I thought while reading this book is why the heck are Levi and June both still in contact with their horrible ex’s? I really didn’t understand why either of them wanted them to still be in their lives after they had broken up with them, and in mortifying and public ways. I enjoyed the story overall, but I did feel like it was missing that extra spark that Lords books usually contain. I just found myself wanting a little bit more from Levi and June’s relationship, but I still enjoyed the story for a quick fun read!

Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted copy of this book!

After the loss of her sister Annie, June has returned to her beachside hometown to run Annie's scone and tea shop, but she's struggling with grief and to make the rent. To top it all off, she's gone viral after her boyfriend, a contestant on a reality show, dumped her on national television. Her high school best friend Levi, with whom she has barely spoken in the last 10 years, also shows back up in town after a viral breakup of his own, when his fiancé hit tabloids for an affair with a People's Sexiest-type actor. Through a confluence of events they end up making a fake dating pact to work the social media moment in their favor - to get customers to June's shop, and to get Levi's fiancé to come back. Until, of course, sparks fly in another direction. I am a huge fan of Emma Lord's YA rom-coms (especially Tweet Cute and When You Get the Chance, but I'm afraid the transition to "adult" rom-com didn't work so well for me. The characters were young enough and were pretty much 100% still friends with their high school pack and still reminiscing so much about their high school days that it felt young - but then it lacked the cute, carefreeness that YA rom-com can have, and also it felt very jarring to have a really hot & heavy sex scene thrown in sometimes... And meeting this pack of friends 10 years after their high school glory days felt confusing at times, and like I didn't really know the depth of their history well enough. This one is for people who like a small-town or old, close-knit group of friends vibe, have a sweet tooth, want an escape to a beachy boardwalk, enjoy friends-to-lovers romance and/or fake dating trope, or get really into a social media viral moment. I received an advance copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ★★★.25

Summer is quickly passing and I am trying to savor all the summer beachy vibes for as long as I can.

The Breakup Pact offers the perfect small beach town romance vibes. Our love interests are old childhood friends both suffering from painful (and very public) break ups while simultaneously sharing the experience of grief of the loss of a loved one. This story has both second chance romance and fake dating tropes and a whole host of supporting characters. For fans of small town romance, baking romance, and revenge plots.

I will say that I struggled with the pacing of this book. The beginning felt very bumpy and as things started to roll more smoothly it felt slightly dragged out. That being said, I adored the ending and the very beautifully handled grief representation.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book; all opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the fake-dating trope with a healthy dose of realistic issues, including the loss of a loved one, small business troubles, break ups, and not feeling fulfilled in your career.

The tea shop by the sea was a super cute idea and I really loved following June’s small business journey. It was a cute and quick read.

I was so excited to try another Emma Lord book after reading all of her YA books.
June and Levi were best friends until they weren't. Levi moved away and June was traveling the world with her boyfriend until her world came crashing down and she had to return home. She inherited Tea Tide from her sister and wants the legacy of her dream to live on, but she is struggling. All the while, her boyfriend of 10 years dumps her on national televison and she is now viral for her crying face meme.
Levi also has a very public break up and once he returns home to hunker down and focus on himself, he goes to a place he feels at ease.. until June comes out and smashes that all up.
They divise a plan to fake date so the internet will get off their backs, but you know what they say about fake dating your former BFF.. its fake until it isn't. I understand the breakups were fresh but the chemistry between June and Levi was instant. You could feel that there was so many things left unsaid and unfinished business between them. There were parts of his story that I didn't love, but I really loved June's story of navigating her way through what she has always done and realizing that it is ok to have a new dream after one might have not panned out the way it was supposed to. So I am rounding up to 4 stars for her journey.
Thanks to St. Martins, Netgalley and Emma Lord for an early copy.