Thank you to the author for this awesome ARC!

*Spoilers *


This is a story of mistaken unrequited love, wasted time and the struggle to find yourself after a trauma. I love the relationships outlined in this story, each one building off another. A group of friends, and family, who never really missed a beat even after years apart.

After the death of Annie, Dylan and Junes sister, everything changes. June comes home and takes over Annie’s Tea Shop after an embarrassingly public breakup with her ex and is struggling to keep it open. After being back awhile, Levi also finds himself home after a very public break up and in the middle of writing a manuscript he has no interest in. They soon join forces as “revenge exes” as they are dubbed by the media. They team together as a way to save face, make Levi’s ex jealous and make people stop calling June the ‘crying girl’.

As best man and maid of honor for Dylan and Mateos wedding, they begin spending a lot of time together doing wedding tasks and figuring out all they’ve missed in each others lives in missed in a decade apart. Junes reporter friend, Sana, organizes photo ops to capitalize for the “couple” as well as the business. Through the fake dating farce, they finally admit how they feel about eachother, and realize they both always felt that way, even when they were kids. When they were dared to kiss at a trivia night and Levi looks at June and says “do you want me to kiss you?” SIGH … heart swooning! ❤️

5⭐️ no comments except I could’ve read more. The beachside views, the friendships and 2 wonderful friends finding their way back together and falling in love. Everyone should read this feel gooder! Can’t wait to read more by this author, I like the way she writes.

Thank you for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. I am such a lover of a good rom com, and this was a wonderful one! I was originally drawn to the cover, and loved the description. This was my first read by this author, but I loved it so much. Very lovable characters with a sweet storyline- I loved it!

This book was super cute - although you immediately know what the ending is going to be when you start it... I mean it's just SO obvious!!! But it's still a super cute book, I love Levi (add him to my list of book boyfriends), ad I want to live in their cute little town. I definitely recommend reading this book for a cute and fast paced read!

Emma Lord's newest novel had the wildest premise. Once you get past the concept that TWO incredibly public breakup tragedies happen within the week to estranged best friends in the cutest beach town and are able to fall in love with the characters, it's a great time! I'm happy to have read this beach-town romance!

Such a sweet story of two people who were destined to be together. Levi and June stole my heart from the very start. Two people who were torn apart yet still always shared a common tragic loss. The fake dates were just the start of it all. I loved watching these two rediscover themselves while also rediscovering love. A tea-riffic novel with the perfect happy ending.

3.25 ⭐️

The Break-Up Pact was cute in the end, but not a book I would revisit. The beginning was so rushed, literally on page 1 we were getting the whole backstory of June becoming Crying Girl, then a few pages later meeting Levi, and a few pages after that they were (unintentionally? Kind of?) fake dating. I usually love a fake dating trope, but this one didn’t do it for me - it was missing something. June and Levi were supposedly best friends all through childhood, but more often than not they acted like they hardly knew each other and were walking on eggshells, and I didn’t believe their chemistry.

I also hated that both of them allowed their cheating/horrible exes to continue stringing them along and going with it as if they owed them something after being publicly humiliated. Whyyy? Have some self respect and cut those people out of your life without giving them a second chance to humiliate you.

I did really like the journey everyone took to cope with the grief of losing Annie. It showed that there is no one right way to grieve or pay tribute to someone close to you. June in particular seems to have grown up and become the responsible adult that she was pretending to be through the whole book.

The epilogue was my favorite part of the book, hands down. That one chapter got the extra .25 stars because the proposal really made me smile. Overall though, it was a very average romcom, and didn’t have the same punch as Tweet Cute (which was adorable!).

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I think this just wasn’t for me. I loved the first half but once Levi and June got together I fell into a major reading slump and the book started feeling super boring to me. I absolutely love childhood friends to lovers but the ten years of barely talking because of a misunderstanding thrown in was not fun. There were multiple events that should’ve been on the page but were only told later (why do I complain about this is SO many reviews), and things felt both rushed and too slow.

I think most of my complaints are subjective so still read if you want, but I would not encourage someone to.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book.

This was a delightful story. I’ve really enjoyed Emma Lord’s YA novel so was excited and nervous for her adult debut. It was a sweet romance and the characters were well developed.

At first I thought this was going to be a fun beach read. It was, but it was a little deeper than I expected. I really enjoyed all of the characters. I related to June a lot. Couldn’t put it down.

*This uncorrected proof definitely needs to developmental and line edits to correct several plot inconsistencies, re-arrange a few scenes for linguistic and narrative clarity, and correct spelling and grammar errors. I am happy to write a public review for the books in a final state, but I don't feel comfortable doing so when it needs this much.*

I enjoyed this story a lot, particularly the setting and a lot of the story beats that get the characters into a fake dating scenario. It's the rare kind of fake dating book that does feel like it could be possible on some level. That said I did have problems with a few parts of the book, particularly the two lead characters.
June did not seem to have much of a voice, particularly when contrasted with Sana who has a ton of voice. I feel that we could have used a bit more individuality about what she wants, as well as more of a distinct voice for her narration and speaking.
Levi could use quite a bit more on-page development. He has a voice, but it's also unclear what he wants.
Sana is good, just needs a stronger reason to push June and Levi to fake date.
The side characters are mostly thin but fine.

Storywise I liked the book, and would definitely read this author again, but the characters need... more?

Two and a half stars. Would be higher (4 stars) if these issues were corrected.

The Break-Up Pact - Emma Lord
After an embarrassing public break up, June can't help but feel bad when her old friend Levi goes through a similar public experience. While they haven't talked in years, and there's a past full of hurt and unspoken words, June and Levi decide to team up and pretend to date to bring attention to June's struggling business and make Jake's ex a little jealous.
While their fake relationship is blowing up on social media, June and Levi navigate mending their friendship while facing their past and trying to suppress any left over feelings to keep the situation from getting difficult.
Can they pull off fake dating without the truth coming to light, while both figure out the path they want to take moving forward?
I always enjoy a light fluffy rom-com type book and this one was no exception. I loved the banter between June and Levi and them falling into a familiar but unfamiliar stride. I'm a sucker for childhood friend trope books. They give me all the feels. Besides their complicated relationships, I always truly enjoyed the story of June letting go of past obligations to her sister, making the business hers and finding a way to thrive in some not ideal scenarios!
In the end I gave this fun book ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5. I envision this one being a hit for all the readers looking for a beach read or pool side read this summer! Expect to see this one August 13th, 2024!

This book had likeable moments, but it just wasn't for me.

The pacing of the plot was very uneven. Some scenes took forever, while others that were nice, seemed rushed, taking away from the story as a whole.

The characters did not seem realistic or likable, which is a huge piece of getting me connected to the story.

The premise of the book seemed exciting, but it fell flat.

I absolutely love Emma Lord! June and Levi are childhood best friends who have fallen mostly out of touch but remained distant acquaintances. Now they have reconnected over as their break-ups go public and their “date” goes viral. We love a “fake date” moment in rom-coms!!!! As June and Levi add fuel to the viral fire they find their connection is more real than fake. Highly recommend for a summer read that will carry you away!

Completely consumable! This is Emma Lord’s transition to adult romance, and I loved it! She paints absolutely gorgeous writing and descriptions, and at the same time gives us plot complexity. Grief is woven throughout the novel in an authentic and careful way, which I really appreciated. I would love to be able to spend some time in Benson Beach, and of course I want to be friends with all the side characters. I wish we had gotten to see Mateo and Dylan’s wedding! There were times when it was hard to watch June struggle, but that’s always my experience when I love the main characters. The author crafted the spicy scene with great talent; I wish there had been more than one! I would love to see more adult romance from Emma Lord.

I've been a fan of Emma Lord since reading Tweet Cute a few years back. That has been my favorite from this author thus far, but after reading the Break-Up Pact I may have a new favorite.

In this story we follow childhood friends June and Levi. Both are picking up the pieces after facing public humiliating breakups, more June than Levi. When the two are caught together rumor spreads that they are the revenge exes and the two take full advantage of this.

This story was written for a more mature audience than the author usually writes for, but her writing still comes through the pages. June and Levi are still written as if they are real people in the world and the side characters add great moments throughout the story. The author does a wonderful job of demonstrating the history the characters have with each other.

This story is not without heartbreak. There are mentions of a sibling passing away off the pages and while it is important to the storyline, it isn't so present to make it hard to read the story itself.

The Break-Up Pact will be a great beach read this summer!

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

June Hart and Levi Shaw, childhood best friends who have been estranged for about 10 years, are suddenly reunited in their home town after both of their very humiliating breakups went viral. June and Levi become the internet's newest darling couple after a leaked photo of the pari innocently hanging out takes the internet by storm. Both quickly realize the benefits that go along with everyone thinking they are a couple could be extremely beneficial. June and Levi agree to put the lingering hard feelings aside to seize the opportunity. June has hopes to save her struggling tea shop while Levi wants to rekindle things with the fiance that very publicly cheated on him. As June and Levi go on fake dates to portray a blossoming relationship, the lines start to blur as real feelings develop between them.

The Break-Up Pact was the first book by Emma Lord that I've read, and it definitely didn't disappoint. I thought Lord did a fantastic job at fleshing out both Levi and June that made it easy to understand their motivations and to feel like I really knew the characters. While I really enjoyed this book, I just wish there had been a little bit more conflict between June and Levi. It just seems like any time a potential conflict came up, it was all resolved very quickly. The Break-Up Pact would be the perfect summer romance, and I would definitely recommend this book when it is released.

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord is an easy summer beach read. You want a book to through in your bag and casually check in and out of during a vacation? This is the book for you. We've got friends to lovers. We've got a small town bakery on the verge of collapse. We've a viral internet video. It's like the summer edition of a Halmark movie and sometimes, that's all you need.

The plot is easy to follow and the characters are endearing. I will warn you, the slow burn is slowwwww. Like to the point I was unsure if the characters actually liked each other or if the hostility was purely hostile.

TW: grief, off page loss of a sibling.

This book had me smiling all along.

I loved the whole fake dating journey with June and Levi. ‘’

Will definitely recommend

June & Levi were best friends growing up, but they went their separate ways despite having feelings for one another. Over a decade later, they find themselves in the same place (beautiful Benson Beach) nursing a broken heart. For separate reasons, their breakups went viral, so they decide to fake date as “Revenge Exes.” June wants her ex to know she’s moved on & Levi wants his ex to realize she really wants to be with him.

There are several tropes found in this story, but they all struggled to get their footing. We had some friends-to-lovers, but their friendship was fractured when they met back up. Why was it fractured? Because of the miscommunication trope from when they graduated high school & went their separate ways. Miscommunication trope has never been a favorite of mine, so I didn’t love that piece of the story. We also have fake dating, but the timeline of it needed some ironing. The agreement happened way too quickly & then it was serious, but not really. Again, it needed some ironing.

There were a lot of emotions that were just waiting to bust through. I was waiting for that gut-wrenching burst of emotions & I felt like it was all a little too mundane. I wanted more. I do think with the right narrators, this could be better on audio. They could potentially bring this story off the page where it often fell flat.

I liked this story, but I wasn’t enamored by it. I didn’t feel a pull to keep reading. The idea and outline of the story is there, but it felt two-dimensional in that it never came alive.

Thank you to NetGalley & St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This book releases in August 2024.

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
book was a light fun romantic read. The over all storyline was good. Unfortunately, the characters did not leave a lasting impression on me. That being said, I found this a quick and enjoyable book.