Love love love this book. The banter, the drama, the romance. I loved all of it. I haven’t read anything by Emma Lord but I added all of her other books to my TBR!

Love this! The Break-up Pact explores the ins and outs of two best friends as they reflect on failed relationships, old feelings, new feelings, and major life decisions. You feel along with them as they start to understand whose opinions really matter as they start to live for themselves.

The story was cute, but I wish it gave a bit more. It was somehow both too fast and too slow. I loved the premise of childhood friends and second chance romance but I also feel like we didn’t actually get any of June and Levi’s childhood friendship. Also the fact that these two ghosted each other for a whole decade just made the timeline feel so odd.

I feel like a “less is more” approach was taken with this, meaning it felt like a lot of things were hinted at but never actually explained. I would have preferred more.

Loved the side characters - Sana, Dylan, and Mateo were fantastic.

THAT WAS SIMPLY PERFECT.

I loved every moment with June and Levi, I couldn’t put the book down. They’re so beautifully human and brought out so much emotion in me, it was impossible to not fall in love with them.

I’m really happy with the way the plot unfolds, it doesn’t fall into easy tropes or predictable holes the way I might have expected, and I really loved June’s narrative voice. She’s intelligent and emotionally complex, she doesn’t skip over any basic questions or feelings for the sake of the plot, and it makes the story feel that much more real.

10/10 wonderful heartwarming experience that I’d recommend to anyone who loves a deeply felt love story.

Super cute! Pretty much every romance book trope is present here but sometimes that’s fun. Reminded me a bit of Carley Fortune’s books (a compliment!). The scone focus was cute but probably could have used less of it as a main focus? Lol. Still enjoyed!

This book is cute if you are looking for a quick, summery romance. It’s maybe a little too quick (but also too slow? Not sure how that works) for my taste. I had some trouble believing the whole Crying-Girl meme and that two random people would go viral for being cheated on, especially since the people who cheated on them weren’t even all that famous themselves. I also didn’t connect much—or at all—with the two main characters, which kinda sucks since I’m supposed to be rooting for them to fall in love.

Also, the words “TikTok” and “scone” were mentioned way more times than necessary 😭

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an arc in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 stars
This was a super cute rom-com, beach read kind of book. As always, Emma Lord's characters are very quirky, which I appreciate. My only gripe is that the ending seemed to drag a bit and even though I knew full well what was going to happen, I was annoyed that it was taking so long to get there.
That being said, I would still recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the ARC!

I adored this book! I loved the main characters and the relationship they had throughout the course of the book. I love fake dating and thought this concept was so fun! Also, the fact that Levi called June different months— LOVE IT. This book doesn’t have the usual miscommunication that fake dating usually does, which I really appreciate. All in all, I loved all the characters, thought the grief aspect of this book was well done, and enjoyed it immensely!

Fun romance read about family, grief and friendship. Plays out over a summer in a small beach town. I liked the characters and one of the few romance books told just from the view point for the female main character. Not my favorite book but a solid beach/pool read

I liked this book. It was sweet and more of a slow burn than other rom coms. It felt fresh compare to other fake dating stories. I liked the ending. But there were some parts that felt a bit unbelievable, such as why June and Levi didn’t speak for 10 years and why June stayed with Griffin. It could be cool if the book started with a quick prequel of June and Griffin on one of their adventures to get a sense of her mindset back then.

US pub date: 8/13/24
Genre: romcom (fake dating, second chance romance)
Quick summary: Former BFFs June and Levi were publicly dumped by their exes, and a picture of them together sparks dating rumors. So they figure - why not? Maybe it will help save June's bakery...

Based on this cover and description, I was expecting this to be a new favorite romcom! Unfortunately, it didn't have the same magic as my fave Emma Lord book, WHEN YOU GET THE CHANCE. I think most of this was due to June - her major insecurity just killed the vibe of the book. I get that characters have issues like the rest of us, but she felt so passive and unwilling to take concrete steps to move forward in her life. I just wanted her to go to therapy and work on herself!! There's a lot of miscommunication in this book, so if you don't like that trope, I would skip this one. At least the beach town setting was fun!

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffin for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a 3.8 star rating for me. June and Levi were friends and fell out ten years ago and now they’re thrust together in an interesting way. They’re both facing their own problems an decide to work together to get revenge and do it publicly. This is a cute story of a more realistic relationship timeline that readers can relate with. You have light and witty and then a more serious side with some self reflection and get to see how they navigate this “fake relationship” and how things turn out. Definitely a good book that I’d highly recommend! My first ever book by Emma Lord and I can’t wait to read the next one!

Emma Lord has delivered again! I love her books and all that goes into them: witty characters, interesting plot lines, and curiosities throughout. This was another fun edition to the mix. Thank you for the opportunity to read this one!

I gave this book a 3.75. I loved the banter between June and Levi, and thought their overall chemistry was great. I struggled with June's interior monolog, it felt very long and rambly at times and I found myself wanting to skim through those parts.
Overall, it was a cute story, and I loved the side characters just as much as the main ones, I wish we could have gotten more time with them.

I loved The Break-Up Pact!

This is my first Emma Lord novel and she did not disappoint. I picked this up in between the books I was reading for my degree program to make things a little lighter. It was exactly what I needed it to be. I pick up faking date trope novels because it's the least realistic trope ever (yes, there are other unrealistic tropes e.g. amnesia, marriage of convenience, etc.) and if I wanted something realistic I would watch a nature documentary or read a nonfiction book. I want the stuff that takes me to another dimension.

The WAYYY Emma brought this trope to life was brilliant. The chemistry that June and Levi had was perfect. The banter was even better *chef's kiss*. And then the added layer of the foundation of friendship they cultivated from their childhood made me feel nostalgic about something I didn't even experience firsthand. It reminded me of summers of skinned-knees, crushes on the boy next door, and staying up too late with your neighborhood friends.

The scones, the cute seaside cafe/bakery, the aesthetic of living in a beach town... I could imagine spending my summers there, going to June's cafe, and comfortably reading a book. I loved the references to memes and TikToks of our day because they genuinely made me laugh. I couldn't put this one down which mmade it a quick read but one that I would certainly read again.

This was an entertaining read! The storyline is interesting. However, the plot and pacing have some problems, mainly due to the fact that everything happens so quickly (the main characters don’t talk for years but then within the same day are all of a sudden fake dating) while not much really happens. The characters are pleasant but unremarkable as they don’t have much depth to them, things happen to them and they react. The setting was great though, I found myself clearly imagining the small beach town and its quirky shops and people.
Thank you for the opportunity to read prior to publishing !

This was a sweet romance that filled many different tropes: Friends to lovers, fake dating, miscommunication, and still in some respects almost insta-love, but in other ways was a slow burn. The main characters are June and Levi, who used to be best friends, but haven’t spoken (basically) in 10 years. Then they’re bonded over internet-famous breakups, and plan a “revenge pact” to use the publicity to help June’s business and Levi’s relationship with his ex. The first half of the story was super enjoyable. There was lots of backstory and buildup, but the June/Levi shenanigans and sweet moments were adorable. The plot took a more serious turn towards the second half, and there was a lot of miscommunication, but it ended in a lot of growth. Although it’s nice reading about a more realistic relationship that actually takes time to rebuild, the last fourth of the book still felt like it didn’t flow as well, I think it was the focus on June’s business. I know she needed a growth arc for her character, but it just wasn’t enjoyable to read about the business aspect in such detail. Overall, I’d still give this book 4 stars though. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

There were a few things I really enjoyed about this book and a couple that I didn't.

What I loved: how the communication within the relationship grew, the ways that the relationship. brought out the best in June and Levi, how they got to the root of their issues and struggles rather than focusing only the surface-level issues, the cute little moments that showed how well they understood each other, and the emotional growth in June. Also, this was the first time I've encountered an open-door scene that actually added to the plot instead of just being there for the sake of having an open-door scene. Thank you, Emma Lord!

What I struggled with: the plot felt like it wandered too much, which meant it didn't feel like there was an overall build or fall and it instead felt like we were experiencing the same rises and falls within each scene. Also, there was way too much focus on the scone side of June's business. It had me questioning if she ever served tea (or literally anything else) at a cafe that's called Tea Tide.

Overall, I thought this book was super cute. I was happy to read it and will definitely be looking at other books by Emma Lord!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Ugh this was so fun. I had a few things that stopped it from being a 5 star, but overall the vibes were amazing and I really loved reading each of these characters.

I did find the pop culture references a bit CONSTANT. The main character is my age, so they were all relevant references, but even I cringed a bit.
I also felt like the start of the fake dating was incredibly abrupt, we were intro-ed to this guy who she apparently has a long history with, and all of a sudden they are fake dating?
Finally, she kept talking about her past of travelling all over the world and I just wanted to hear more about that LOL even if it was with her shitty ex! I would have liked to get some flashbacks.

However, overall - I couldn't put this down!

Super fun and cute! I’ve read all of Emma Lord’s books so far and they always deliver. A perfect summer beach read!