Unfortunately, this was a conflicting one for me. I’m not sure if it was the book itself, or the way it was described that made it unfair for the book from the beginning—maybe I was expecting something that it never was. It’s touted as enemies to lovers, with a lil competition promised between our FMC Eva and our MMC Aston, as Eva’s best friend and Aston’s sister, Maddy, is getting married, and they’re fighting to see who can be the better right hand man. I felt… absolutely none of that? Eva was obviously extremely interested in helping her best friend plan, but Aston was annoyed about it from the beginning, and in my opinion, never really got more excited about it. That doesn’t really give me the competition vibes of them trying to one-up each other to prove they care more, but it ends up biting them both in the butt, that I was sort of expecting, you know?

Additionally, the enemies to lovers is supposed to come in on the fact that Aston broke Eva’s heart in high school. but, according to Eva within the book, they didn’t even really know each other or interact in high school, and the act of breaking her heart was just… kissing her once and then saying he couldn’t do it again? (This is not a spoiler, it happens in the first chapter, which I think also fed into my disappointment. Where was the intrigue as to why Eva held such a grudge against Aston? We just found out at the very beginning, and I think that made it all the more difficult to connect with any feeling of betrayal or heartbreak that we were supposed to feel with Eva—we didn’t know the characters that were experiencing this moment.)

However, there were portions of this that showed so much promise and kept me reading. I really enjoyed the relationship between Maddy and Eva and the highlight that this story placed on the importance of friendships, even between people who have never really been experiencing the same things in life, but love each other anyway. I think that friendship was very special. Also, Kat writes extremely enjoyable spice. I enjoyed very much. And when Aston was allowed to have his sweet moments, he really could be very swoon-worthy. The love confession was very well done and in my eyes, showed a real understanding of what his love interest truly wanted in life, which is something I always look for in my MMC’s.

In Kate’s Keys,
— rivals to lovers more than enemies to lovers
— strong female friendships
— billionaire MMC x small business owner FMC without it feeling sketchy and weird
— v enjoyable steam
5/10✨

Eva leads a quiet life in the quaint town of Cinnamon Springs, but her calm is disrupted when her best friend Maddy announces she's getting married. Maddy is Eva's childhood friend and is the daughter of a billionaire, and her only request is that Eva collaborate with Maddy's brother Aston to help pull the wedding off in record time and without a hitch. Only one small problem: Aston is Maddy's one-time crush who really did a number on her back in high school when he kissed her and then ghosted. Lots of feelings come to the surface as Eva and Aston enter each other's orbits again, and keeping those feelings from interfering with the wedding becomes a bigger challenge than they both anticipated.

I enjoyed this book and loved the small town setting. I could really picture Cinnamon Springs, and especially the abandoned house that was Eva's happy place, in my mind. Some of Aston's more controlling tendencies were a bit of a turnoff to me, but his other traits outweighed that, and the chemistry between Eva and Aston kept me reading. The plot line with Aston's parents, and in particular his interactions with his father, allowed for some growth that made this a little deeper than it appeared on the surface and allowed me to develop some real empathy for him as a character.

How to Break My Heart by Kat T. Masen is pitched as an enemies to lovers second chance romance, but unfortunately, the story didn’t quite deliver on that promise for me. The book centers around Eva and Aston, whose supposed animosity stems from a single high school kiss and Aston’s role in “breaking her heart.” The problem is, that moment never felt substantial enough to justify the tension that’s meant to fuel the entire romance. Without a strong emotional or dramatic conflict between them, the enemies to lovers trope fell flat. At best, there was mild dislike, but even that didn’t hold much weight.

Because of that missing spark, I struggled to feel invested in either Eva or Aston’s journey. Their chemistry leaned heavily on the physical—this book definitely has plenty of steam—but emotional connection was lacking. The spice sometimes felt over the top, especially when other elements of the plot felt thin. I found myself wanting more depth, more push and pull, and more reason to root for these two to find their way back to one another.

On the positive side, the small town backdrop of Cinnamon Springs was charming and cozy, a setting I genuinely enjoyed spending time in. It had that warm, inviting feel of a close knit community, which softened some of my frustrations with the romance. Still, while the atmosphere was lovely, the central relationship never quite hooked me. Overall, How to Break My Heart had potential, but for me, it missed the mark in execution.

This book was amazing! We pick up when everyone is in high school, Maddy and Eva are crashing a high school party where Maddy’s brother Aston, is celebrating graduating and about to leave for London. Primed to take over his dad’s business, he talks to Eva where we see hints of attraction between the two.

Eight years later, we get everyone as an adult. Eva is running a donut shop with a friend, and Aston is working with his father preparing to take over as CEO. Much to everyone’s surprise Maddy gets engaged and a rush wedding is planned. Eva, Maddy’s best friend, works with Aston at the demand of Maddy to help her get the wedding planned and how she wants it.

This is where the fun begins, because these two think they hate each other but are forced to be around each other to help plan this wedding for Maddy.

The tension and chemistry between these two is both thick and hot, because things in the past may have possibly not stayed in the past. It was such a fun read, and we got some appearances by another character by this author. (IYKYK) I loved book and the story, because the burn may have been slow, it had a great pay off in the end.

Eva Woods believes she lives a very fulfilled life. She owns her own business, a donut shop in the small town she grew up in. She has her best friend Maddy that she has had since they were kids, and other friends she has made along the way. She has not found the right guy for her but she is content with her life.

Then her best friend Maddy gets engaged and is getting married in a month and Eva is the maid of honour, and with that title comes the consequence of having to help Maddy plan this wedding and be in close proximity to Ashton, her childhood crush, Maddy's older brother, and the reminder of the kiss they shared before he went off to college. Being back in each other's proximity will stir up feelings they both have denied for the last 8 years.

I love a best friend's brother romance, and while this had a lot going for it, it did not totally hit for me. I think the author put so much into the side plots and giving the side characters page time that the romance between Eva and Ashton took a back seat and was not as central and developed as I would have liked. It was more telling and now showing of their chemistry and it made it hard to buy into the love story.

Although this wasn’t my favorite it was a good book. I really liked the premise of it but it didn’t quite meet the mark for me. Something was missing and I can’t figure out exactly what it was. I am glad these two got there happily ever after though.

if you're looking for a cutesie (maybe somewhat cheesy) small-town romance...look no further!

this book was giving hallmark channel in all the best ways. the setting of cinnamon springs perfectly captured the vibe of an upstate NY town where manhattan-ers come to escape the city.

at first i wasn't sure if this one would be for me because the writing started off a bit stiff, but i should have had faith in two of my favorite tropes: second-chance and enemies-to-lovers! i ended up really enjoying getting to know the MC's, as well as the characters that will show up in the next book and beyond!

Childhood crush, enemies to lovers, best friends billionaire brother, and planning a wedding together. These are all the tropes you’ll get in How to Break my heart by Kat Masen. I enjoyed this book so much! I love all the characters (except Harvey—read the book to find out why!). The town of Cinnamon Springs is a stones throw away from Manhattan and I fell in love with it. All the quaint shops have cute and creative names. I love the towns people. It felt so homey. This follows Eva who is the owner of the donut shop and she is tasked to help her best friend Maddy pull off a last minute wedding. Her childhood crush and best friends brother Aston has also been tasked with the job and sparks fly! This is a slow burn but it’s so worth it! I’m really hoping we get a book two that features Elliot (Eva’s brother).

He was the first one to break her heart: her first crush, her first love, her best friend's brother Aston. He kissed her at a party and then treated her like she was nothing. She hasn't seen him since... until her best friend calls with the news that she's getting married in a month and she wants Eva and Aston to plan it. From the start, Aston is cruel and sarcastic and... jealous? Eva has stated dating Marco, the new doctor in town and Aston vows not to let another man touch her, getting in the way at every date. What she doesn't know is that his father controls his every move and he'll never allow Aston to be free.
This is a sweet enemies-to-lovers romance with fun banter and relatable characters. The pacing is good with some show burn and some spice. It's the first in a new series and I'm curious to see what happens next with Maddie.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Unfortunately this book wasnt for me.. normally I can finish a book this length in 5 days, I'm going on 10 and just hit 50%. I hate to dnf books... but like I said just not for me. I'm sure many people will love it.

How to Break My Heart is my first Kat T. Masen book. I’m unsure why, because I have several of her books on my TBR, and now that I’ve read one, I can understand its inclusion. How to Break My Heart is just like what the title says. Eva’s heart was broken by her best friend’s brother, Aston, back in high school, and for reasons unknown to her, he left after that. He only returns because his sister and her best friend are getting married and are both involved with the wedding planning. Though time has passed, I loved Eva’s confidence, which had built over time. She owns her own business, a cute doctor in town she’s beginning to date, and she stands up to Aston.

I love drama, and there is a fair amount of it with Aston and his family. The slow burn between Eva and Aston was well written, and I liked the building tension between them. The spice scenes were steamy, too. I really enjoyed Kat T. Masen’s writing style, and I’m bumping her books up on my TBR because I need to read more from her.

I wanted to love this one because it’s super opposites attract. The tropes we see? Billionaire and small town bakery owner, best friend’s brother, forbidden, and “it’s always been you”. You know, tropes that make us absolutely swoon.

We follow Eva and Aston. Eva’s best friend is getting married and leans on Eva to basically tackle planning the wedding. She takes off work a bunch to try and alleviate as much as she can for her friend - which is absurd to me how ungrateful and even how unaware the best friend is of how much she’s asking for.

She wants Eva and Aston (her bigger brother) to plan this wedding so Eva “isn’t doing it on her own”. And I just wanted so much more from Eva. She seems so childish on page and I struggled to like her character. Was kinda giving teenager vibes, but is in her mid-twenties.

I absolutely adored Aston - his swagger and attitude were just one in a million. It also kinda felt like the book was one giant miscommunication - or lack of communication, which is also super frustrating.

I liked the way this started out but then it took a turn. I did not enjoy the possessiveness and jealousy of the male main character. Especially after only one kiss years and years ago. It felt icky and almost non consensual. I also didn’t feel any chemistry between the characters and they lacked dimension and development.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for this ARC.

I REALLLLY wanted to love this. Enemies to lovers and brothers best friend? Sign me up! Unfortunately, this fell short for me.

First, I didn’t pick up on any animosity, or at least not enough to consider them “enemies”.

Also, why is there a constant reference to “heartbreak” when they barely knew eachother?

I feel like Eva was just annoyingly immature.

How to Break My Heart 💞💞

Written by Kat T. Masen
Cinnamon Springs, Book 1
Interconnected Standalone

Adult • Romance
336 Pages
🗓️ September 23

💞dislike to love
💞something to strangers to lovers
💞best friend’s brother
💞small town
💞billionaire romance

Tension. Of both kinds. Some small town proximity and lots of yearning, even if they don’t care to admit it.

They shared a kiss when they were teenagers. He left. She stayed. And they never spoke again. Until now. Now there’s no escaping. His sister — her best friend — is getting married and they are summoned to help. Now there’s no denying the pull they always felt.

Small towns have that unique power of not letting a single one of our characters run away from their feelings 😜

Kat T. Masen brings the perfect blend of small-town charm and sizzling tension in How to Break My Heart. Eva Woods is a heroine you can’t help but root for—grounded, passionate about her café, and bracing for the chaos that comes with her best friend’s wedding. Enter Aston: cold, successful, and infuriatingly irresistible—the very boy who once broke her heart, now a billionaire forced back into her orbit.

The magic of this story lies in its contrasts. Cinnamon Springs is warm and cozy, a setting that feels like a hug, while Aston is all sharp edges and city polish. The push-and-pull between Eva and Aston simmers with sharp banter, lingering resentment, and undeniable chemistry that bursts into steamy moments guaranteed to make readers swoon.

Masen doesn’t just give us an enemies-to-lovers spark—she layers it with vulnerability, second chances, and the bittersweet reality of what it means to risk your heart again. The tension builds beautifully, leading to a payoff that feels both inevitable and hard-won. By the end, you’ll be as torn as Eva: can you ever really trust the one who once shattered you, or is that the truest test of love?

I expected to love this book, based on the synopsis but I found the characters to be lacking in dimension and the plot to be very thin-not for me.

I read this book quickly because it was pretty fun, but struggled with the pacing, character development, and writing. It feels like it needed another developmental edit.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This book had more promise than it actually delivered. The initial hook was there but it just kind of fell flat for me. I didn't get the whole possessive thing. It was cringy. It just didn't vibe right with me.
Thank you for the opportunity to read this arc.

Eva Woods lives a peaceful and quiet life in Cinnamon Springs. She owns a donut shop called Donuts Ever After and dreams about buying a dilapidated run down home that overlooks the lake one day. Ever since she got her heart broken in high school by her bestfriend's brother, she always tends to look for red flags in men which stops her from giving them a chance. Aston Beaumont is the picture perfect son and billionare. He played football in high school and is now the CEO of his family's business. He is extremely smart and charming. Aston was raised to give up everything in order to further the family business thanks to his father, Harvey.

When Maddy Beaumont tells Eva that she wants to plan a wedding within a month and that Aston will help, this sends Eva thinking about how Aston broke her heart back in high school school and she has truly never forgot about him—even when the new handsome doctor in town takes a liking to her, Aston is still at the back of her mind.

There were a couple of things I would have liked to see with this book and I wanted a little bit more explanation when it came to the prologue and what happened there. I also would have liked to know what exact instances that Maddy saw that made her question Eva and Aston. Besides that, I enjoyed this read and I loved this little small town that Kat created. How to Break My Heart was sweet with a touch of spice and I'm excited to see what else she has in store for Cinnamon Springs and who her next couple is going to be.