Emma Lord’s novel tries to spark up a second-chance romance between June and Levi, but falls short of delivering. Lord drops the reader into this awkward fake-dating situation between two people who couldn't make it work in the past without creating any sense of depth or connection between the two. Second-chance romances require a lot of good plot explanations to come across as believable, and I don't believe The Break-Up Pact succeeds. Another area that felt lacking was world-building. Much of the novel lacked personality when it came to locations. The writing style felt generic instead of lush and did not draw me into the world of a seaside cafe owner.

WOW. Easily a 5 star read. This was lighthearted and fun in so many ways. Even though this book deals with the impact of grief and loss, the author does it in a way that really captures how it can sneak up on you when you’re least expecting it. She captures how you can continue to live your life and move on while still honoring your lost love one. And, while that was happening as the undertone of the story, one of the quaintest fake dating tropes was center stage. The connection between June and Levi was evident from their very first interaction. The tension was screaming off the pages. There was moments that I really felt everything to my core, but also moments where I was hysterically laughing (Catch me making a bracelet that says be like Gouda). The side characters were also woven into the fabric of this book in such a beautiful way that truly allowed them to be a huge part of it and not just an afterthought. I loved everything about this!!

I absolutely abhor what I’m about to do. It pains me and I do not say this lightly. Keep in mind that Emma Lord is one of my favourite YA contemporary authors. She writes extremely moving stories about young love, growing up and figuring out what makes one tick. She writes characters that are quirky and relatable. Her stories are just filled to the brim with heartfelt emotions.

I DNF’d this at 28%. I thought maybe it’s me and I’ll come back to it. For the life of me I cannot motivate myself to pick this back up. This is Lord’s first foray into adult romance. I thought because she had the tools in terms of writing such wonderful charming characters and emotions that moving into adult romance would seem like such a natural next step. It didn’t work. Somehow as her characters aged and dealt with more “adult” circumstances, they became more juvenile, naive and less likable.

June and Levi are estranged childhood friends. Brought back together after each suffering viral break-ups, the natural next step is for them to fake date each other until the attention dies down. Their behaviour didn’t really seem all that believable and they both never really questioned each other’s past actions. Their interactions with each other felt constantly contrived. They both lacked the charisma and charm to make me want to continue reading.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for providing an ARC. All opinions are my own.

Childhood friends and fake dating is a recipe for a cute story. There was some miscommunication between June and Levi that was frustrating, but overall an enjoyable read

Ah, this book. Beach-y cover? Check. A cute little shop? Check. Friends-to-lovers/ fake dating? Check. I should have loved this one - it should have been a home-run for my tastes. But unfortunately I just could not connect with story or main characters and ended up skimming the last 100 or so pages.

The Bad: I personally could not connect with the main characters and did not believe their relationship. It took too long to figure out what the fight that lead to them drifting away. Their reconnection was needlessly drawn out. The chapters were also LOOONG. Long chapters in a romance novel is a hard sell for me, and this book did not sell it well.

The Good: I will try any book with a bakery/bookstore/coffee shop ect. Give me all the cozy vibes.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

I didn’t enjoy this one and it ended up being a dnf. The characters were just not people I wanted to read about.

Unfortunately this just wasn't for me. I think fake-dating stories need to have a really solid reasoning, especially in contemporary novels, and this just didn't have that.

All the social media talk, combined with the fake-dating just made our characters seem immature.

Also June. Her ex boyfriend of ten years cheated on her with his reality tv costar, and then broke up with her on television. Yet she can't bring herself to be mad at him?! WHY?! He humiliated her on purpose, and she's all like 'if I think about it, I'll have to blame myself as well for all the read flags in our relationship'. Like no, you ignoring warning signs is not the same thing as him cheating on you.

Thank you to Netgalley and publishing team for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

I was very excited when I able to read the ARC of The Break-Up Pact. It sounded quirky, fun and romance galore! But at the end, I felt like I was needing more from the story to pull me in.
I am a big fan of second chance and small town romances, and this book contains this. I did find that the connection between the characters needed more spark and fire, at times their chemistry felt a little stale in my opinion....and I needed more banter!
Overall, good plot and concept, I just wanted more from the main characters, but that is just my opinion.

Thank you to St Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. #Netgalley

June and Levi were best friends in high school, he moved to New York and they drifted apart. He comes back to Benson Beach after both he and June have very public break ups with their partners and decide to fake date for their own gain. Childhood friends to lovers, fake dating, second chance romance.

After 10 years of not speaking the fake dating and how fast they agreed to it made me raise my eyebrows. After I got over that blasphemy I actually did enjoy the book and their connection. I was smiling and giggling at the inside jokes that Levi and June had. I wish we got Levi’s POV, I thought everything flowed nicely with the timeline of them falling in love, loved the side characters!

*3.5
This was a solid book! I liked how the characters in the relationship communicated with each other because I'm so tired of seeing silly misunderstandings break up relationships in books! The story was also more than a romance which was nice; there were clear friendships the characters had outside of the relationship. It did take me several months to read this book because I was invested, but it failed to hold my attention. Overall, I enjoyed the book, but I would definitely rather pick up something else as a summer read.

This is the first Emma Lord book that I’ve read. I’m still on the fence on whether I enjoy the writing or not. I will definitely need to attempt other Emma Lord works to determine this.

June is running a teashop that’s on the brink of going out of business, all the while she has become a meme due to her recent. At the same time Levi, an old friend of June, is also experiencing a very public break up and has come back home to avoid the publicity of it all.
The two were once childhood best friends until they lost contact/stopped connecting with one another. Now they’re thrown together in a ‘fake’ relationship to better their image in the public eye. Unsaid past feelings begin to surface and the two start to question whether things are fake or real between them, and their exes seem to also be budding in continuing to cause drama in their lives.

This was a slow burn romance in my opinion. But I did find June and Levi’s relationship to be very cute. I honestly wish there was more drama that occurred when their secret was revealed to the public, or that June and Levi were able to better tell their side of the story to the public. I also found certain portions of the story to be a little over drawn, there were a lot of moments where there was such a deep explanation of the scenario, as well as times where we’re stuck in June’s thoughts in such a way that I found did not really help the storyline progress. I also would’ve preferred a deeper explanation to June and Levi’s fall out, and not just ‘I panicked and lied and you overheard the lie and it was too late to fix things.’ But all in all I did quite enjoy the story, and have now been opened up to reading other works of Emma Lord.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

June and Levi were best friends as children but grew apart. After they both get dumped on very viral and public scales, they decide to capitalize off their misery and become "Revenge Exes". Chaos, romance, and hijinks ensue.

I absolutely flew through this book. I thought the writing was very well done and compelling, and I liked the way the author wove the main characters' history as friends into their future as something more. The subplots were well-done, and I rooted for the characters in every aspect of their lives.

I would definitely read another Emma Lord book! This book was all sorts of fun when it called for it, but also had more serious and thought-provoking subjects woven throughout.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the e-ARC!

Forgot to review this, but it was such a fun book! I’ve read another EL title. I definitely keep her name in mind when searching for new titles. Thank you!

This was very very cute, very pop culture. I loved the way they dealt with the exes, and the twists and turns were believable enough to be satisfying.

This book was a fun, quick and easy read. The friend to lovers trope was cute but the emphasis on them being attracted to each other was a little much. I didn’t feel like it was a natural development of a relationship, it felt like the author was force feeding us them falling in love. It was still really cute and I enjoyed it.

A fun, comfy read with major hallmark vibes. If you need a lighthearted rom com, this is definitely it.

June is upset to find that her recent breakup crying face has turned into a viral meme. Her long lost best friend, Levi, has also gone through a very public, embarrassing breakup. A photo of them together causes rumors to start, pegging them with the name: Revenge Exes.

I’m always a fan of fake dating, and while this one wasn’t exactly my favorite, I did still enjoy it. It was a very quick read, and I recommend giving it a shot!

Read if you love:
-friends to lovers
-fake dating
-slow burn
-scream poetry
-lots of social media references

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for my advanced copy!

This was a cute friends to lovers story. June and Levi were estranged childhood friends who both find themselves in the public's eye over a recent breakup. They try fake dating to take the sting off themselves, and eventually find love.
The characters were great, loved the beach town setting. I just felt at times the plot became repetitive and moved a little slower than I like.
Overall an enjoyable beach read.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The Break-Up Pact has a great premise and an interesting plot line. I enjoyed the book overall, but I did find a lot of it to be a bit wordy. There was quite a bit of inner monologuing, and I felt it lacked enough relationship building between the main characters. There was not a lot of banter, and the relationship seemed to rely heavily on the characters' shared past without going into much detail about it. I also felt some parts of the story were oddly unrealistic, particularly the one "spicy" scene.

However, this book was a very cute and quick read. If you are looking for a quick and easy romance, this one is for you. It featured a fun friends-to-lovers storyline and an abundance of scones.

This was giving me Hallmark vipes but also it was so cute and modern. It was my first by this author.
I'm a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope, and the setting of a beach town added a cozy touch to the story. However, I found the constant emphasis on the characters' physical attraction and connection to be a bit overdone.

Two best friends have a falling out with their exes and are faced with a hard decision. They both decide to fake date to make their exes jealous and for a way to boost their likeability with the public. They plan to not have feelings but as they find out that is hard to do!