This was a cute, lighthearted story. It started off a little slow, but if you stick with it you will be rewarded. I loved the dynamics between June and Levi. I was fully sucked into their love story. The side characters were great but I wanted more of them. We got little teasers of their personalities, but they could be so much more. Overall, a fun read.

I LOVE Emma Lord's YA books and was so excited to get this ARC if her first adult romance.

I think the plot was really interesting and loved that it was friends to enemies to lovers AND fake dating tropes all rolled into one. I also was laughing at all of the viral moments that brought he main couple together and kept them together. In typical Emma Lord fashion, there was a large focus on the sweet treats of it all (which I loved and now feel like I have a new appreciation for scones) and every time I read more I wanted a nice cup of tea and a baked good.

I do think that I enjoy this author's YA books more than this adult debut, BUT I will continue to recommend all her books and read everything that she publishes.

June and Levi are childhood friends/crushes that get a second chance in this charming read. June is grieving her sister while going through a very public break-up when Levi comes back into her life. They embark on a fake relationship with undeniable chemistry, ostensibly to help save her failing tea and scones shop.

The SLOW BURN and LONGING in this book! I enjoyed the lead-up to the romance so much, almost more than the couple actually getting together. I do think that the main character is a bit of a doormat/lets the love interest off too easily and doesn't grow that much from her experiences. Levi does some bone-headed stuff and June is like "oh well! I understand!" like girl. You deserve better.

There's a lot of pain and trauma that gets re-hashed and starting to be dealt with, but I feel like at times it became the same drum beating again and again. June is stubborn about the tea shop and the scones and I get that it's about the memory of her sister but I don't really feel like the ending gave a satisfying conclusion/resolution. It felt more like a sudden flipped switch than a gradual understanding of pain and loss.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, but I feel like the first third/half of the book build-up was more enjoyable than the resolution.

This was such a fun summer romance! The story pulls you in right away, and as you follow the ups and downs of the main couple, you can’t help but root for them to be successful both in love and their business ventures.

The setting is quintessential small town, there’s a prevalent fake dating scheme, and terrible ex’s. This book was so fun to read.

I do wish it had moved a little faster, and I felt like at times it was drawn out, but overall enjoyed it!

Holy cuteness. Imagine friends to enemies and then enemies to lovers with a fake dating trope. It had all my favorite parts of romance novels intertwined throughout. And the perfect amount of drama. The character development was incredible. I couldn’t put this book down.

This book had cute moments, but there was something missing with it.

The pacing was so slow to get through, rushed at some parts, and the relationship felt off to me.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This review has been temporarily removed to align with the SMP boycott. Content and links will go live whenever the situation changes.

If you’re looking for a quick and easy beach read this is for you. Emma Lord hits all the emotions in the Hallmark with a little spice style book.

June lands herself as the meme, “crying girl”, after she had a very public break up with her long time boyfriend, Griffin. Griffin blindsides her with a televised breakup after he joins a reality show and finds “the love of his life.”

Levi, June’s childhood best friend and crush, also lands himself in the news when his fiancé cheats on him with a big celebrity.

When these two reunite after a contentious separation when Levi left for college years ago and the loss of June’s sister, Annie, sparks and big emotions are flying. Enter the miscommunication trope (my least favorite and one used twice in this book). Levi’s still not over his ex and June is trying to save her Tea Tide tea shop. When someone takes a photo of the two of them looking intimate, it goes viral online and they become the “Revenge Exes.” Both are benefiting from the extra attention between the tea shop and Levi’s fiancé/ex, so why not use it. Thus begins their fake dating relationship…but is it really all fake feelings?

This single POV story deals with topics and tropes of grief, loss, second chance romance, friends to enemies to friend to lovers, found identity/self, fake dating and classic miscommunication.

I loved the friendships June had with Sana and Mateo. A big part of this book is June and Levi both dealing with their grief and their shared past. Honesty could have solved a lot of their problems much sooner, but who really wants to lay all their insecurities and emotions on the table when they have both just been publicly humiliated. Would I recommend this book? Maybe for the right kind of reader of for someone wanting a quick romance. I appreciated that the main characters had depth, but something just didn’t suck me in quite like other books I have read.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press and Emma Lord for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t know why I could not finish this book. The writing wasn’t bad and the plot was good I just could not finish it. Maybe one day i’ll get back to it and finish it but for now I had to DNF.

I ADORED this story. June and Levi were such a fun couple to follow and I really enjoyed the fake dating portion of the book tied in with social media.

This story was easy to get sucked into with the character’s banter and chemistry and would be the perfect summer read.

This was another delicious read! This time it was more about the sweet side of things with June’s scone shop taking (almost) center stage in this funny, somewhat second chance, friends to lovers, fake dating romance. June and Levi were best buds in high school but ten years later they’re thrust together after each being unceremoniously dumped in the public eye. Solution? Fake date. Of course! The solution to all problems ;) Or how to creat a few more AND explore a relationship. While planning June’s brother’s wedding, because apparently that’s a theme of books I’ve read recently too.

This was a fun read - perfect for the beach or cottage!

Best friends as kids, June and Levi haven’t seen or spoken to one another in years. Until they both go viral for getting spectacularly dumped by their respective exes. So now they make a plan to fake date and show their exes that they’ve moved on.

Just from that short description, I’m sure you know where this storyline is going. And of course, so did I. But that isn’t why I read these books. Often it’s just for a fun escape. And in this case it was to keep up the summer reading vibes I had going. The author did a great job of setting us right inside this tiny beachside town called Benson Beach.

But sadly, this one didn’t work for me quite as much as I was hoping, the more I got into it. It started off strong for me, but the more it went on, I felt like it started to drag. And at a typical novel length, the page count wasn’t really the problem, more so the pacing. I felt like we got very bogged down in the details. And I think because of the slower pace, I never got those typical butterfly feelings I’m always looking for in a romance novel.

Levi and June were both working through their own issues - including finding their own dreams outside of their past partners, and the grief of losing June’s sister - and I really appreciated those aspects. But I think the slow pace and the predictable nature just made this one okay and not great for me.

This book has childhood friends, fake dating, a little second chance romance, and some secret feelings.

I loved the romance and the relationship between the main characters. It was an all around good, fun, little romance book.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the arc of this book.

Feel good, second chance romance from Emma Lord that does not disappoint! Beach side setting, death of a sibling, cheating (not on each other).

June and Levi were best friends growing up but they haven't spoken in years.
June is living in their beach side hometown, running a tea shop that was her sister's dream and her legacy. Levi is living in NYC as a finance bro and aspiring novelist. They both have viral breakups and a photo of them reconnecting in their hometown adds fuel to the fire.

The 'Revenge Exes" milk the situation so that June can make enough money selling scones to pay her rent and Levi to get his ex back. They make a "Break Up Pact" to fake date until they both benefit.

The side characters in this are SO SO good, and this was so sweet with a few spicy bits. Reads a bit older than Emma Lord's previous YA works - the MC's are in their late 20's.

Within a few pages of The Break Up Pact, I knew I was going to really enjoy this story. I loved the character of June and her best friend Sana. And the whole dealing grief process of coming to terms with the loss of a loved one rang really true to me. Definitely looking forward to reading more books by Emma Lord!

The Break Up Pact is a cute story that covers all kinds of relationship. Relationships with family, friends, and significant others. I really enjoyed the general idea of the book but I struggled to continue reading. I felt like it dragged in some parts and then just shot past others leaving you wondering what just happened. I also also less than thrilled with the idea that June and Levi had SO much going on yet they were expected to plan every part of Mataeo and David’s wedding. Like it’s one thing to help, it another to do it all.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s press for the ARC!

Sometimes you just need a classic romcom to make things feel just right, and Emma Lord captured it perfectly.

In this one you follow June, who is best known for here meme face from a tv show, and Levi - her old best friend growing up. While making ends meet with her tea and pastry shop everything is looking down, even the paps that still follow her. When she bumps into Levi they make a plan that sounds like it will benefit them both. But what if their fake feelings turn real?

FIRST OFF, my favourite romance trope is friends to lovers. So if you make people feel like thy are 'signed' into being friends via a fake dating trope I am a sucker. The writing is so witty and easy to read that you don't want to put this one down when you pick it up. I also appreciate the amount of smut, which is not a lot! I give this one 4/5 stars.

Pub date for this one is August 13th, so i suggest you grab it than!

I really loved this book. It was super cute. I loved the characters and the writing was really well done. The story was interesting to follow along and held my attention. I laughed out loud a few times which is unusual for me so I knew right then that this was going to be at least a 4 star book. I can’t put my finger on exactly what is was but I just needed a little more for the last fifth star. I think this is one of those books that actually would have greatly benefited from flashback scenes. It’s just that they had so much history that I wanted to see scenes of them from when they were growing up but als I feel like I needed it to fully understand and get how right their bond was that they’d still be so close and easy to get back into the groove of things together after not talking for so long. But this was still a very enjoyable and cute childhood friends to lovers fake dating second chance romance. I shipped the characters wholeheartedly and rooted for theme all the tropes worked and the writing style is just amazing so I would definitely recommend this one.

this book was just what i needed! i’m a sucker for friends to lovers and when an author makes them strangers before they turn to lovers… an actual weakness of mine.

i truly did not expect this to be as good as it was! the only problem i had with the book and why i’m not giving it five stars is because i feel like the story could’ve wrapped up quicker. regardless, it was a fun read!

This book was so cute, looking for a fun little rom com, that will pull at your heart strings and maybe put it back together again. This will be your book for the summer. I enjoyed this book very much. June did annoy me though sometimes, but I understood why she was the way she was. And Levi wow he may be your next book boyfriend just saying.
When both have gone through internet breakups with well not so very nice people... June and Levi run into each other and sparks do fly. But can they both put the past friendship behind them and the death of a sister and very good friend?
Besides how to get back at a ex boyfriend and girlfriend? Well you fake date your friend is how.
With June hiding her real feelings and trying to keep tea tide afloat fake dating seems to help bring business in... But will it resurface old crush feelings?
I hope this would be a series or something, I do like the side characters. Dylan and Mateo and her bff are so cool.