DNF at 50%. It couldn't hold my interest, even though I have loved other books from this author. I feel as though this story was supposed to appeal to a slightly older audience, and it just didn't have the same fun banter as her earlier novels.

I FLEW through this book in about 3 hours, which is a true testament to Emma Lord's writing style. I haven't read any of the Author's other novels, but am interested in doing so now, especially with the prose within the YA category.

The Good:
- Premise was really interesting and engaging
- The prose! I really love Lord' dialogue and internal monologues
- Setting and vibes were descriptive and immersive

The Could Be Better:
- I didn't really love either main character. There was something about them that didn't really invite me in quite enough to be rooting for them, either individually or to end up together. They were likable, but forgettable.
- I thought the romance could have used a little more tension toward the end. Maybe if one of them chose (wrongly) to go back to their ex, and realize their mistake, or be a little more torn on the decision, I think it would have been a bit more believable.
- I think because this Author has been in YA, she might need some more time in the adult space to not have it feel so juvenile. I had a hard time believing that the characters were in their late 20s with some of the mannerisms - not to mention the sex scene. It was almost there, just not quite.

Overall, I still thoroughly enjoyed this and would recommend as a beach read to anyone this summer. Thanks again for letting me read!

A delightfully fun rom-com read. This book will have your heart melting at all the feels. Recommended beach read!

This was a really fun and simple romance book. I love the banter and just had fun with it. There was nothing crazy new about the plot, but I did appreciate how the woman stood on her own, he was still there to support but didn't rescue her.

This was absolutely adorable! Emma Lord made this characters and setting so vivid and beautiful! I loved every second of it and can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!

I really was not a fan of this one. Not for me. The pacing was not hitting right for me- it felt really too fast, but also a drag to get through this. I really was disappointed with this one. Not for me, but may be for others!

Overall a really cute book! Personally I'm a huge fan of second chance friendship turned into romance (i this case via fake dating) type books, so seeing June and Levi reconnect and move forward was such a fun journey!

This was such a fun and light summer read. I loved the friends to lovers romance and the family component.

June finds herself as the newest meme on the internet after a very public and hysterical breakup with her boyfriend of a decade, Griffin. As June is reeling from the break up she is also trying to keep her sister’s legacy alive in their tiny seaside tea shop named Tea Tide. At the most in opportune time walks her previous high school crush Levi who has also just been very publicly dumped by his very famous girlfriend. June and Levi decide to try and make the best out of a bad situation and decide to start fake dating and publicly share their adventures deeming themselves “Revenge Exes.” But as Levi and June fake date each other to get back at their exes they discover what has kept them apart since high school. Do they really have what it takes to make a real relationship work now despite their completely different lives?

I loved the relationships between June, Dylan, Mateo and of course Levi. There were so many cute things like the racing in the sand and the speciality scones that really made this book memorable.

"BE LIKE GOUDA. KNOW YOUR WORTH."

Plot- 4/5🔆


This was a fast, easy read. It felt pretty low stakes and like I could just read and enjoy the plot. The conflict between main characters was resolved quickly which I am a huge fan of. I hate miscommunication tropes that drag out. All of the characters were enjoyable. It felt like a grief healing journey for everyone.

4.5 stars
I have loved all of Emma Lord's novels thus far and I am so excited to see her venture into Adult Romance.

June and Levi are childhood friends who have barely spoken in the last ten years, but after they both go through embarrassing, public break-ups, that go viral across social media, Levi returns to their hometown where June is running a failing tea shop. A photo of them together spreads online leading the internet to believe they are a couple. They decide to seize the opportunity and keep up the ruse in hopes that the increase in business will be enough to save June's shop and that Levi will be able to make his ex jealous.

I really loved this novel. I have adored Lord's writing in her YA novels and I am pleased to say that I felt the same about this one. Something that I have always loved about her characters is the growth that they go through as they are learning who they are and coming into adulthood. I worried that I would miss that in a romance with older characters, but June and Levi are also at a real crossroads in their lives and I was happy to find that they too went through a lot of personal growth and discovery.
The fake dates were fun and quirky in the delightful way they only can be in rom-coms. I really felt the connection between them and was rooting for their love right alongside all of their online shippers. This novel did feel a bit heavier than Lord's other ones, due to the recent passing of a loved one, but I thought it was well balanced with her beautiful words on grief and love.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Happy Memorial Day weekend!
I couldn't find a better way to kick off the unofficial start of summer than with some beach read romance books!

"The Break-Up Pact" is such a lighthearted read with a modern day rom-com twist.

The book follows both June and Levi. The two used to be best friends in high school until an incident occurred where they stopped talking. After ten years, they finally begin to rekindle their friendship after they both had humiliating break-ups with their exes (that also went viral).

Both June and Levi decide the best solution to resolve the situation is to fake date each other.
For June, her career resides at the beachside tea shop and she's struggling to make rent. If their plan goes accordingly, she is able to generate social revenue through the publicity of her new relationship with Levi.

As for Levi, his main concern is getting his ex girlfriend to fall back in love with him.
The two learn the value of using social media as a way to influence their needs.

Both June and Levi also realize that fake dating each other comes with crossed boundaries and second chances.


Thank you so much to NetGalley and MacMillan for an ARC of this book.

#emmalord #thebreakuppact #fakedating #smallbeachtown #revengeonexes #friendstolovers #beachread #romancebook #romance #book #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #romcom #romcombooks

I thought this book would have given me Beach Read vibes but that was not the case. I feel like these arcs are putting me into a slump lately

Despite its cute rom-com vibe and ok writing style, reading this was like pulling out my teeth.

The plot follows June and Levi, who fake a relationship after their public break-ups, but Levi's obsessive attitude towards his ex, who cheated on him, was a major turn-off. His constant need to teach her a lesson and justify her actions felt problematic and went unaddressed by the other characters.

Overall, this book was not for me and I could not finish it.

I was not a huge fan of this book, but it was a fun summer read. I was hoping to get into it but I couldn’t. The main character really was not up my ally and the pop culture references felt forced and a bit over bearing

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be published August 13, 2024.

This is my first book by this author. I was really hoping for a fun rom–com but it fell short of my expectations. While the plot is clever (two break-ups lead to a new couple called The Revenge Exes) I just didn’t really care about any of the characters.

The best part for me was Tea Tide, the restaurant June tries to keep open in honor of her late sister Annie. I really enjoyed the creative names of the scones she made but sadly that alone didn’t save the book.

Cute story, if not predictable. The plot is exactly what you would expect by reading the title. The characters are fun and make this book readable.

This book has inspired me to learn how to make scones inspired by all my travels (and all my loved ones.) Milk chocolate orange? Cookie crumble? French ham and cheese? Mouthwatering. Now I'm wondering what a scone inspired by me would be?

June Hart is now an internet meme. When her boyfriend reveals he was cheating on her on a reality TV show, the only good thing is the spike in business (and scone sales) at the Tea Tide. The only person who understands her plight is her former best friend, Levi, who is back in Benson Beach after his fiance very publicly cheated on him with a mega star. Together, they make a break-up-pact and become the Revenge Exes. Are their dates merely for press, or are they rekindling something they lost long ago?

I loved the premise of this book, but the stakes never felt high enough and the tension was always quickly resolved - or passed over with an ongoing miscommunication trope. I was rooting for these two as it was clear they were meant to be! I also felt like we never got enough from the relationships with the ancillary characters in the books. With a sister, brother, soon-to-be brother-in law, a best friend, and two former lovers, I never felt I got to know any of them to fall in love with them. That being said, this was fun, charming, and a great beach read. [And I'd love to get my hands on the ARC to Levi's YA fantasy novel.... :)]

Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own and freely given.

I loved Emma Lord's Tweet Cute, and still check out her new books looking for another fun read. Unfortunately, this is not it. The set up is just not believable and the reader can see where everything is headed from the first few pages. I knew immediately that the person sitting outside the bakery would be Levi Shaw. It's stupid that he isn't officially broken up with Kelly but obviously it helps with the plot contrivance. And then wtf who takes creeper pictures of people running and then secretly post it online. Ugh. I had to stop. It's just not fun or believable. DNF

June went back to her small beach hometown when her sister died to take over the tea shop they created together. When both her and Levi - her sister's best friend turned family friend turned her high school crush who turned her down - go through viral break ups at the same time, they decide to fake date while helping plan for June's brothers wedding. June can get attention to her business, Levi can get his ex back, and June's best friend can publish everything. And it'll all be okay because they're just friends! Totally!

I hadn't read from this author before, but I'm usually a sucker for friends to lovers, so I thought I'd give this a shot. My main takeaway from this book was that it was so bogged down with trying to accomplish so many tropes that it didn't really succeed in any of them. For friends to lovers, I didn't fully believe that they were such close friends for a long time. For fake dating, I found a lot of the romantic stuff they were trying to do cringey instead of swoon-worthy - and all the "trying to go viral" stuff felt so untrue to real life to the point of being annoying. This book has solidified that I will avoid romances with the internet anywhere in them like the plague. Then with the wedding planning forced proximity, it didn't pay off in the end (because we don't see the wedding) and they even say in the book that most of it has been planned so what they're doing doesn't really even matter. This book is the exemplification of the romance genre sticking way too hard to tropes rather than telling interesting stories. I didn't have any huge problems with the characters, but I didn't find myself invested. I did think the small beach town/ small business was cute, but I wish that June's arc about what she wants to do with the business was much more developed. This third act conflict was one that I typically don't like, and I didn't like the beginning of it, but for some reason the ending did end up landing for me. I thought the characters handled everything in a really mature way. I think that's the first time I've ever liked the ending of a romance book I otherwise didn't end up liking.

Overall, this book tried to do too much and ended up with very little. I didn't find myself invested with any portion of this, and often was annoyed.

I love a fake-dating trope and I thought it was well-executed here. Both June and Levi were compelling characters and I enjoyed learning about their past history, as well as watching them learn about each other all over again. They are both dealing with some fairly serious adult issues, with their careers and their recent break-ups, and the examination of those things does take up a good portion of the narrative. Because of that, this has a much more serious tone than Lord's previous works, IMO, but it makes sense. My concern for this novel is that people will go in expecting a super punchy, witty, fun Rom-Com and they'll be surprised by the more serious tone; maybe causing them to not rate it as highly. I would pick this up expecting an Adult Contemporary with a convincing fake-dating trope. It's not all giggle and laughs and swooning; although there is some of that too. In my eyes, this is a successful transition into the Adult space for Lord. I thought the characters were very well-developed and it did fill my heart watching the evolution of their relationship. I feel like as far as couples go, Levi and June are perfectly matched.

As far as summer romances go, this was a pretty good one. The tone was lighthearted throughout and the setting is in a small beach town, so those components made it perfect. Overall, the book was cute, but I didn't feel like there was significant character development and ultimately it fell flat for me. I do think the main characters changed during the book, but it wasn't a change we saw on the pages. It felt very sudden and unexplained in my opinion. I thought there were a lot of loose ends in the book that could have been cleaned up with a little more editing, so that was a bit frustrating. For example, it felt like Annie, June's sister and Levi's friend, played a significant role in their relationship over the years, but because she died unexpectedly there's no confirmation or closure on this.

If you're looking for a light summer read, you should still add this one to your list. However, if you're a book snob you might be disappointed in the end.

Tropes: Fake Dating, Second Chance Romance, Beach Town

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy of this ARC.