I love Emma Lord, I read her first novel as an arc and she has been a consitent 'must read' author for me ever since.
June and Levi are adorable. I was rooting for them, though sometimes I just wanted to scream "HAVE AN HONEST CONVERSATION".... I'm not a fan of the tip-toeing around the important conversations.
Sana is *chef's kiss*, everyone needs a Sana at their back.
The discussion around grief was well handled.
I really wish Kelly got a good slap in the face, but that's just me.

I DNF this one. I just could not get into it. The characters fell flat. While I love friends to lovers romance stories, there was a lot of history missing.

Soft DNF at 37%, I may pick this up later but we will see.

I truly wanted to love this book but it sadly wasn't for me. The characters fell flat, I had no true connection to them or the romance, and every time I went to pick it up it felt like a chore. The writing was promising, as were the plot and tropes (love fake dating and friends to lovers) but unfortunately it did not deliver. The romance happened too quickly, and social media was mentioned way too much (and as a millennial, it truly took me out of the book). The point of having June and Levi do all the wedding stuff when it was all already decided on by her brother made no sense. I just expected more.

I've ended up reading a lot of second-chance romances recently and while they aren't always my thing, I did really enjoy this one. June and Levi were best friends in high school, and June had a huge crush on him that she thought was unrequited. Levi was close friends with June's sister, who recently passed away, leaving June to run the tea shop that she had opened in their beachside town. June just had a pretty gnarly breakup that got public attention because she and her boyfriend did reality TV/social media travel stuff (I was actually a little fuzzy about this). Levi, a hedge fund manager who is trying to be a novelist, is also back in town after a very public breakup, and a picture of the two old friends goes viral, dubbing them the "revenge exes." They decide to take advantage of the spotlight when June realizes that the attention is drawing much needed business to the tea shop, and they embark on a classic fake-dating journey. I thought that Levi and June's relationship was sweet, and I appreciated that Emma Lord (who I don't think I've read before) didn't seem to shy away from serious topics like grief. A solid, summery second chance romance with some fake-dating thrown in for fun.

The characters in this book are written so well it is impossible not to love them (or hate them). Sana is such a loveable best friend and it warms my heart to read about her a Junes friendship. Levi and Junes relationship was such a whirlwind it was so exciting to read about. I loved that they both discovered what they truly wanted to do by the end and were happy doing it.

The Break-Up Pact is a fake-dating saga with a lot to enjoy. Author Emma Lord again distills some of the best of contemporary romances. Here, she introduces a love story that’s more than worth investing in. This is a perfect summer read, and a charming romance to delve into. This story speaks to romance in a social media age, and how we can all still make connections through all of the online noise.

Full review on Pages and Pictures.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. This was very cute, with surprising depth. It was not what I expected, but in a good way. I thought it was going to be a light rom-com which I have realized is not my thing, so I was happy with the more serious tone. It's definitely a Contemporary Romance, not a rom-com, which is a plus for me. I adore the fake dating trope, and this had all the elements I like. June and Levi were compelling characters, and I really liked seeing their journeys.
I'm quite tired of the failing business storyline, but here it was fresh because it's tied up in love, loss and not being able to let go. The first chapter had me wary and thinking this was going to be the same old, same old, but I was happy to see that wasn't the case.
This is a really lovely read, and I recommend it.

I'm an Emma Lord stan, and I'm not mad about it. I'm always slightly apprehensive when favorite young adult authors transition to adult (ahem, Erin Hahn) but I have yet to doubt any of them. Was it odd to read spicy scenes from the Dessert Gremlin of NYC? Yes, but spicy scenes are always weird.

June Hart took over her sister's scone and tea shop after she passed away. Either we never find out how the sister died, or I totally missed it. She's just been dumped on live television by her boyfriend of a decade when her childhood best friend reappears fresh off his own heartache in a public sphere. So they team together to make it seem like they're less miserable, and in a way it works.

Not my favorite Emma Lord, but I'd recommend if someone wants a beach-y read that isn't Elin Hilderbrand.

Thanks, NetGalley!

This story reminds me a bit of a Hallmark movie but with modern ages (aka TikTok etc.). I really thoroughly enjoyed and was pulled into the story immediately. I loved both characters and how they developed throughout the book. And ah, I just love their love.


The story goes along with fake dating and second chances, but something in the plot was missing though, not sure what but just something minor. I also did not see too much of a significance of bringing up the sister and her not wanting the two characters together, since it never really gave any background to it or why. It felt thrown in with the rest of the details and just did not seem to make sense to me besides to show "why" they ignored each other... which is also ignorant, but a lot more of that is my rant of the book versus any actual 'problems'.

This book was such a delight. I enjoyed watching the characters unfold while relishing in the memories of their pasts. Emma did such a great job writing each of these characters with such heart and depth while still making this a light and fun read for all. It definitely a book to add to your summer TBR. Make sure you read it as soon as possible! This book totally gave me all the warm fuzzy feels and I know it will for you as well!

I couldn’t get into the story just as I thought. Not disappointed but need more depth, I think. I can't remember when was the last time when I read a book in which the whole plot was 100% equal to what was written in the blurb and nothing more. There was no surprise there, no resolution to any of the plot threads and the whole story was blatantly predictable and painfully dull.

I felt the set up for this book was very convoluted. Two people who haven’t spoken in 10 years decide to fake date because the girl (June) was broken up on a “Shark Tank” like show her boyfriend went to be on. And her brought his new girlfriend with him to do it on live TV. A Meme of June crying goes viral. While the boy (Levi) has his real estate girlfriend cheat on him with a movie star she sold a penthouse to and paps photo of them kissing go viral online. Meanwhile June needs to save her deceased sister’s beach side tea shop. And them dating is going to help her shop somehow? And also them fake dating will make Levi’s not ex (because he says they’re just taking a break) jealous. All this just to get to them fake dating. Too much was going into just getting the MMC and FFM together. It bogged down the start of the book.

Perfect beach/summer read covering all the best tropes- fake dating, friends to lovers, and rom com vibes! Quick & fun read!

Best friends to estranged friends to fake dating to lovers......yes, give me all the tropes!!! This has such great small town, gilmore girls vibes to it. It goes even deeper than just a love story: it has dealing with grief, social media viral moments, and even finding new career moves. There was miscommunication, which I definitely did not like but it made for an interesting read. I love the creativity that June had! Loved Sana's articles too! It was so fun!

Usually Emma Lord is an auto-buy author for me. I struggled with this one more than her others but enjoyed the setting more than anything. Thanks so much for the advanced copy.

A perfect summer beach read! The Break-Up Pact is a swoon-worthy romance with charming characters, fake dating, and a cute beachside tea shop. The romance had me invested from the start, but it's more than a typical rom-com dealing with grief and finding your path as well. I couldn't put this book down and can't wait to read more from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This is my first book by Emma Lord. I liked it fine enough, but I found the plot to be incredibly slow (possibly to be more like real life) and the characters to be frustratingly stubborn. "He isn't being open enough with me after we froze each other out for years, so I'm going to give him the silent treatment and hope he figures it out."

This does make for a light and quick beach read, though. Pros and cons.

This was such a great read featuring fake dating and friend to lover’s romance. June and Levi haven’t spoken for about 10 years since high school graduation and now they have both have breakups that went viral on social media so they decided to fake date to help June with her struggling bakery and for Levi’s ex to regret losing him. I love the growth of the characters with June finally realizing that she doesn’t need to keep the bakery exactly how her dead sister had it and that she can change it to something she wants and still honor her sister’s memory and Levi has to let go of the life he had now which is not what he dreamed he would be doing but he changed to have a stable income since his mom got sick while he was in college and try to get back to what he really wanted to do which is be a writer.

Thanks to St. Martin’s Griffin and Netgalley for the complimentary copy of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

I was so excited to receive this arc late last year but i waited until the summer to read it because it felt like such a summery read, and boy was i right. The only thing i wish is that i had read it on the beach, I am an emma lord stan forever. her books never disappoint

June and Levi are childhood best friends who each experience public break ups gone viral. They decide to use this to their advantage and fake date, bringing lots of nostalgic feelings to the surface.

This book too long and slow in some parts but was overall a fun and summery read! If you enjoyed Funny Story by Emily Henry, then you’ll like this one too!

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Grab your copy of The Break-Up Pact on August 13th!