Emma Lord has carved out a niche in the cute romance category! I have loved all of her books and this one was just as adorable as the rest. I always look forward to her titles!

There is something special about The Break-Up Pact. The Break-Up Pact follows June and Levi, who have just gone through some very public but humiliating breakups. While the two were childhood best friends, they no longer speak to one another, though the reason why at the beginning is murky. After being spotted together, the two decide to fake-date as a way to not only get back at their respective exes but also to accomplish their goals. As time passes and their fake relationship gains traction, the waters blur for the two.

What I loved about this book was the journey that June and Levi must take before they can be together. The tension is there from the start, but that does not mean their journey was instant-love. The Break-Up pact is a story of self-growth and of finding yourself again. June and Levi are both stuck in their ways, and that is what makes the story so special. They both have their own issues which makes it feel believable. There is that "third-act breakup" but it is not really a breakup. Rather, it is a situation that is handled well and in a way that I can see many other couples handling difficult times. I highly recommend this book to all, it is a great read.

Thank you to St. Martin's Griffins, Emma Lord, and NetGalley for giving me an eARC of The Break-Up Pact in exchange for my honest review.

quite a ride with this one and such fun characters!

Romance is so much fun because it’s the usual tropes that we always come back for. This one? June + Levi pretend to date — June is trying to save her shop and Levi wants his ex back.

Sometimes I struggled with all the telling and not showing portion of the book, which unfortunately was most of the first half. The second half started picking up and I really enjoyed how June grew as a character.

In the end, it did feel like it dragged a lot and I wish we got more romance than… conflict? And some of these characters felt 1-dimensional. All in all, 3 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Super fun and cute — a perfect summer beach read!

I love a fake dating romance, and this one didn’t disappoint. I immediately fell in love with June, Levi and the boardwalk of Benson Beach.

As sweet as one of June’s scones 🩷 Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the arc!

Emma Lord is a true queen. I was so thankful to be able to read her adult romance early - and so enjoyed it while laying by the pool! We get childhood friends with some fake dating, all after a missed connection! First, I think the premise is hilarious - two breakups go completely viral for different reasons and the two scorned lovers just happen to be childhood friends? So, in an effort to get back at their exes, they decided to fake date. Only to discover there were feelings there all along? I love it.

Romantically, this book was very quickly paced; while it can feel like a slow-burn with the character's histories, it moves along quite comfortably (and obviously encouraged by the fake dating/feelings they are putting on for the cameras). I did want to feel a bit more tension between the two - and not romantically or sexually - but in the third act breakup; it just felt a bit weak with him continuing to live with his ex and the slow unravel of his original relationship.

Personally, I appreciate the storyline around the tea shop more than his writing; it did feel a bit overkill to have both of them struggling professionally (and also romantically). But I overall did enjoy this romance and can't wait to see where Emma Lord goes with more adult romance!

Thank you to Net Galley for an early copy of The Break Up Pact by Emma Lord. I have absolutely loved Emma Lord’s past books and it was the biggest treat to have a delicious book about the beach and summer during dreary and gray winter days! This storyline follows the long term friendship of Levi and June which weathered some rifts, especially after the death of June’s older sister, Alice. June is trying to keep Tea Tide, a coastal bakery, scone shop and café afloat after her sister’s passing. When the bakery is at risk of losing its lease, June and Levi are also both in the midst of messy public break ups from famous exes. The two plot a pact to fake a public revenge on their exes and stage a relationship, also ending their long term silence. I loved the tender memories shared between old friends and the supporting role characters. The setting was palpable and so fun and perfect for the storyline too. Emma Lord crafts feel good, creative books filled with surprising and sweet (literally and figuratively!) details. I hope Emma Lord fans will preorder this gem to enjoy!

Levi and June were best friends but haven’t been close in the last ten years. They’re brought back together in a fake-dating relationship to show their recent exes, Griffin & Kelly, that they are doing fine without them after they both were publicly humiliated with the breakups that went viral.

The “revenge exes” pact is helping June keep her tea shop, Tea Tide, open with all the media attention and it’s also bringing she and Levi close again, the friendship that they have both been missing.

Will their pact work to show their exes the mistake they made or will June and Levi realize what they’ve been missing out on for the last ten years?

This was a great read. It was the perfect amount of spice, romance, fun and emotions. I would absolutely make sure this is on your TBR asap!

Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!

This is my first time reading anything by this author, and while I enjoyed the story in this fake-dating / estranged friends to lovers / second chance romance, I had a really hard time connecting with the characters. I never felt like I fully understood what made the main characters tick, and I wanted to get to know some of the secondary characters more, but they were just kind of “there” and didn’t add much to the story. That being said, I will try another book from this author as there were some really well-written scenes as well as humor throughout that I enjoyed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for giving me the opportunity to read The Break-Up pact!

I’ve enjoyed Emma Lord’s work in the past, but this one unfortunately did not work for me. The romance felt clogged and wrung out with overdone tropes like. The characters weren’t all that compelling. Particularly, I was disappointed with the MC’s portrayal as someone with no confidence, who is not sure of herself, who undervalues herself, and who settled on dating a man for 10 years who never told her he loved her. WHAT!? It is 2024. If there is any avenue where women should be consistently portrayed as strong and full of courage even when they have room to grow into this areas, it is romance books!

The syntax and plot as a whole felt burdened by too many unnecessary details, which ultimately displaced the important ones to strange places within the plot. The ‘revelation’ section at the end after everything is sorted out felt way too long for how long the rest of the story was.

While I wanted to Emily this romance set in a sunny, adorable beach town, I was ultimately disappointed by the structure and characters. If you want something quick and easy to read, this might be for you. It wasn’t for me.

Two stars: ⭐️⭐️

I gotta stop finishing books at 3 am, and then falling asleep because I always forget.

The idea of this was really cute but not really excused well? I think a lot of it comes down to the mmc not being fully in love with her the whole time. Like if the man isn't secertly pinning the whole time it's not worth it, he literally just wanted to be a revenge ex to get back with his ex and it wasn't working.

I also don't like the ending, it's still a happy ending, but in a way, it feels too compromised. Not the relationship but their lives outside of it. I just left me unfulfilled and upset for them.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this eArc in exchange for honest review.

The Break Up Pact is a fake dating, second chance, beachy romance between two childhood friends who have always lived by everyone else’s expectations. June lives on the beach and runs the tea shop that her late sister opened. It’s failing, just like her last relationship.

Levi had a ten year plan that was derailed when his fiancé cheated on him. Wanting to find himself again, he moves back to his hometown for a few weeks to try to get back on track.

I loved the start of the book and the ruse of the Revenge Exs. I felt like the relationship was really growing until Levi’s ex showed up and the miscommunication began. June literally ran. Literally. Numerous times. The way that she was so stuck in her head felt immature and frustrating. Everyone around her could see what was happening, but she was so lost in her thoughts.

I did love how the book ended. It was a slightly convoluted professional ending, but strong relationally.

Thank you NetGalley for the early read of this summery beach read.

I've read and loved everything I've read by Emma Lord and this book was no exception! It was a delightful book that hit a so many different emotions. From tears of grief to the joys of new love to the "Yes girl!" of rediscovering who you are, this book was it! Highly recommend!

I didn’t care for this story. It started slow and was extremely long when it didn’t need to be. It had cute swoony moments, but overall it felt all over the place. There were many storylines and it started to get disconnected. The characters had their moments, but overall I was ready for the book to be finished.

Didn't finish. Wasn't bad, just felt very YA and didn't connect with the characters or plot. Like we are supposed to believe 2 exes both had public break ups go viral within weeks of each other. Just wasn't for me.

June is in her twenties who takes over her late sisters bakery. She is known as the "crying girl' after being blind sided on a reality dating show. An experience she shares with her childhood friend, Levi, who was just publicly blind sided as well. They reconnect with their shared experience-both with different expectations out of their new-found relationship.
June wants to save her bakery and Levi wants to win his ex back. We get to watch them fake date but as time goes on-they begin to fall for each other.
I wasn't bored reading it-a well written story! However, it was just too predictable and Hallmark like. Would I recommend this book-probably not. It is such an over used plot. Would I recommend the author-Yes!!

The Break Up Pact is a summer hallmark movie in book form, cue the beachside town and bakery, and is perfect for a hot day lounging by the pool. It was a slow read for me, but the childhood friends paired with fake dating was a great combo. I was craving more depth and insight into June and Levi’s old feelings for one another and the fake dating scenario didn’t hit the mark.

The Break Up Pact is a great romance option for those seeking an easy read. It didn’t become a personal favorite, but it's worth considering if you're in the mood for a charming childhood friends to lovers story.

Thank you, NetGalley, Emma Lord, and St. Martins Press for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. The Break Up Pact releases August 2024!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Emma Lord does it again in this swoon-worthy romance! Second-chance is always a favorite, and she did it justice with a pair of friends who haven't spoken much in years being forced back together. I found myself rooting for them to end up together from the beginning, and loved reading their journey! I would highly recommend to other romance fans and second-chance romance fans.

I really enjoyed this book. I thought the main characters, June and Levi, were really well developed, and were fleshed out enough so that they weren’t just another set of characters in a romance novel, and were instead their own people with their own personalities. I really like that certain plot details that are important to the story, such as the respective viral break-ups that are a big premise to the plot, aren’t immediately told to the readers, and expanded upon when necessary. They could have just been thrown in our faces to set the scene but instead come about naturally like how they would if we were really getting to know these characters in real life, instead of having every single thing we needed to know given to us immediately. I also love how Emma Lord writes her characters and their developments. Levi and June had such good dynamics and dialogues throughout the book, and they don’t just seem like the standard romance novel characters and storylines you’d have in other books, even if that is in part what you’re getting. She writes in a way that makes it seem like whatever you’re reading is new, and not something that’s been written countless times before for hundreds of years, but she also is great at coming up with new premises for her books too. I usually get tired halfway through romance books because they all start getting predictable and follow the same formats, and while this book does have a little bit of that, I wasn’t annoyed by decisions and arguments the characters were having, like those in other books that follow similar formulas. I also liked the more minor characters because they did help expand upon the story, though they weren’t really as fleshed out as Levi and June were, and while that does make sense because they weren’t the main characters, I felt like what we did learn about the characters was either repetitive or came about a lot later in the book. My main issues were in other aspects of the book being repetitive or unnecessary in my opinion, and in the professions of the main characters. June runs a tea shop, but there’s more mentions of scones being sold in that shop more than the actual tea itself, and a relatively big portion of the story and developments has to do with the shop and the scones, so at one point I found myself replacing “tea shop” in my mind with “scone shop”. If the store didn’t have “tea” in the name, I would have outright forgotten that’s what was sold there. There’s also Levi being a wannabe author with a finance job, but that finance job is not really talked about much, and while I get that that is for a reason, it’s still a big part of him for a lot of the book, and yet it just seemed like a throwaway mention. His writing is mentioned a lot, on the other hand, but the writing itself isn’t really what’s talked about, more that Levi does it. There’s only minimal summaries of what his writing is about, but him being a writer is a big part of his character and what he writes about gives more insight into who he is and his motivations, and I didn’t really get that through what was said about what he was writing. Yes, it was talked about a lot, but it just wasn’t talked about correctly, in my opinion. Other than those two small grievances, I really enjoyed the book, and I believe anyone who enjoys romance will like this book, and even some people who don’t care for it could find themselves enjoying it. Emma Lord is a great author, and I add this book to be yet another book I’ve enjoyed from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy!

The Break Up Pact is a sweet story about two former friends who try to show their exes that they have moved on, by dating each other (and splashing it all over the internet). June and Levi haven’t seen each other in years, not since June’e sister (who was also Levi’s best friend) passed away. They come back into each other’s lives after they both go through very public breakups (hers in reality tv, his when his girlfriend leaves him did a movie star). June moves home to run her late sister’s struggling tea shop / bakery and Levi comes home in a desperate attempt to finish his novel.

It’s a story of first loves and second chances, and finding out who / what you thought you wanted may not be the path you’re intended to take in the long run. Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an early copy.

I am a huge Emma Lord fan and I was so happy to receive an arc of Emma’s debut adult novel. For me, it didn’t quite have the charm that her YA books have, but it was still a fun read. My favorite characters were actually Mateo and Dylan. I would love to read their story. I also really want a scone right now.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for this digital arc in exchange for my honest review which is not affiliated with any brand.