I enjoyed this enemies to lovers romance. I thought Aston was a good alpha male and loved that we get to see his softer side when he falls in love. One of my favorite things is to see is an alpha male's soft spot for the woman he loves. I thought Madelina was pretty annoying and shallow and not the best of friends, but she brought Everleigh and Aston into each other's lives. Overall, a good romance that flowed well and me reading it quickly.

How to Break My Heart
by Kat T. Masen
Releases September 23, 2025

4.75⭐️ (rounded up)

🍩 Best friend’s brother
🐸 Close proximity
🍩 Enemies to lovers
🐸 Second chance
🍩 Billionaire
🐸 Small town
🍩 “It’s always been you”
🐸 First person, dual POV

I hadn’t read one of Kat T. Masen’s books in a long time, and this one had me questioning why I stopped. I devoured this book. I usually take copious amounts of notes when I’m reading an ARC for my reviews, but I don’t have that many this time because I was simply too busy enjoying this book to take the time to write much down. It had just the right mix of story and spice for me, the writing style was delightful, there was plot and subplot and I was interested from start to finish.

The push and pull between Aston and Eva was absolutely addicting. It’s all too easy for back and forth between MCs to become annoying, but this again struck a great balance for me. Their connection is magnetic and you can feel it through the pages. I love when MMCs have nicknames for FMCs, but it’s something extra special when a FMC already goes by a nickname and the MMC is the only one to call her by her full name. Granted, Anson does the same with his sister Madelina, but there’s something about the way he calls her Everleigh. He says her name with such reverence and it gets me every time. Could I be imagining it because it’s in writing and I can’t technically hear his tone? Sure, but let me have this.

You may be wondering why, if I’m singing the praises of this book, I didn’t give it 5 stars. You’re telling me Eva is team Logan? Oh, I will absolutely deduct stars for that because it’s incorrect and I am petty. Team Jess all the way, baby! (I’m just kidding, I loved this book and it was a great read! I’m just wildly stingy with my 5 star ratings for some reason. I’m weird)

A few things I loved:
• Houdini
• the dancing
• cameos from Kat’s other books

“A devious smile plays on his lips before he leans in and whispers, ‘You’re an easy target, Miss Woods. But if you want, I’ll play nice. Though I’m much more fun when I’m playing dirty.’”

“Look, there’s a lot at stake. So it wouldn’t be a good idea even if I wanted to, which I don’t. You don’t mix best friends and their older brothers with pleasure.”

“Her warm skin envelops me, and I know the most significant thing weighing on my mind isn’t my father. It’s my heart falling for the girl I almost had all those years ago.”

Thank you to Kat, Atria, and NetGalley for the early copy of this book! Receiving a free advanced copy of this book did not influence my opinions or the content of my review.

I couldn’t finish it, it sounded super cute and would make for nice mood change but I just couldn’t connect with the characters or the story but it might just not be for me.

The description of this book sounded really sweet and right up my alley. But i feel like it took a weird turn the i wasnt expecting and didnt necessarily like.
Eva was honestly an amazing FMC. She cared so much about her friends and worked so hard for her donut shop but clearly didnt take enough time for herself. She red flagged every guy. But i didnt fully understand why she was red flagging them.
Now Aston was just an off duck. I wanted to like him but he was so broody and not in a good way. And his obsession with Eva after not seeing her for 8 years was just strange. He was so aggressive in a very off putting way. But then like halfway through the book he is a totally different character.
I liked the general idea of the story but i was underwhelmed. Also, Maddy was such an annoying and bratty character! They all catered to her but she gave zero back.!

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and Kat T Mason for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

They say not to judge a book by its cover but the cover 90% won me over and the blurb wasn’t bad either but the book itself wasn’t for me.

I found myself frequently annoyed with the FMC and got the ick from the MMC - the way he spoke, the way he treated women and how he treated the FMC.

I wouldn’t consider this enemies to lovers since they both just enjoy pushing each others buttons as a toxic form of foreplay.

Anyway, I enjoyed some side characters and storylines and wanted to keep reading to see how it would play out but overall it wasn’t for me.

The author's note at the beginning of the arc did not do this book any favors. I understand author's more than ever have to market their own books but the phrasing of cramming in tropes to make it sell well gave me pause. And it turns out for good reason. There's no underlying heart or passion in this story in my opinion.

Thank you to Atria for the eARC.

How to Break My Heart by Kat T. Masen is a romance set in small-town Cinnamon Springs. Eva’s world collides with Aston—the billionaire brother who once broke her heart—as they reunite to plan his sisters (and Eva's best friend) wedding. Its snarky, steamy, and sweet, and has some family drama that sometimes makes things a little messy. If you love fun banter and a spicy enemies to lover storyline mixed with second-chance romance this may be for you.


Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Thank you Atria Books | Simon & Schuster Publishing and NetGalley for the early Arc. It was okay, but expected more. Didn’t give enough character development and read like a Hallmark movie without developing.

How to Break My Heart is a pretty fun read if you’re into small-town romances. The story follows Eva, who runs a donut shop, and Aston, her best friend’s brother who also happens to be the guy that broke her heart back in high school. They’re forced to work together on wedding plans, and of course that brings up all kinds of old feelings and unresolved drama. It definitely has that classic enemies-to-lovers vibe. What makes it interesting is how the author mixes in family secrets and small-town gossip to keep the tension going.

I liked how the book balanced the funny, flirty moments with more emotional scenes about heartbreak and second chances. It’s a little predictable since it relies on a lot of well-known romance tropes, but that’s what makes it a comfort read. You know where it’s going, and the chemistry between Eva and Aston makes it worth the ride. Overall, it’s not super groundbreaking, but it's great if you’re looking for something dramatic, steamy, and a little messy in a good way.

Thank you, Atria Books | Simon & Schuster Publishing, for providing this Advanced Reader Copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I mean, myyyy gosh, I couldn’t be more honored.

This has all the tropes you could possibly ask for: small town, enemies-to-lovers, best friend’s brother, billionaire, second chance, forced proximity, etc. It truly kept me on all ten of my toes. The story follows a small-town café owner and her best friend’s billionaire brother as they’re forced to work together to plan a wedding. Eva and Aston share a little history—they made out once at a high school party and then never spoke again. Eight years later, they’re planning Maddy’s wedding together, constantly butting heads, but secretly still drawn to each other. I really liked the premise of this story overall. Eva and Aston had a lot of depth, and their chemistry was off the charts.

When a book is dual POV, you can count on me being locked in. But here, some chapters started and ended at different points in their timelines, which got a little confusing. As for the storyline, it felt like they barely planned the wedding together—it was mostly Eva. It’s totally fine, though; nobody really cares about the semantics of wedding planning when the tension between Eva and Aston is palpable.

This is definitely a spicy one, with some intense twists and turns toward the end. I was never bored—the Beaumont family was entertaining, to say the least. The ending sets things up in a way that makes me think this will become a series, which I’ll most likely be reading. Overall, I enjoyed this; my verdict is 3.8 stars. It was a really fun read.

unfortunately i was not the biggest fan of this one… im not entirely sure what i expected going into this one but definitely not this. i dont particularly like either MC, i think they are way too immature and eva’s grudge against aston is just insane honestly lol. im sure this is going to be loved by many but it was a miss for me sadly.

This was not what I was expecting from the blurb about a small town, brothers best friend romance. It read more like a bad Hallmark movie with insufferable characters. I mean Eva sucked and Maddy wasn’t much better. I think I liked Aston by the end, a little bit at least?

I struggled through most of it, but did appreciate the end. It did finally come together, but the journey to get there was rough.

How to Break My Heart by Kay T. Masen
📅 publishing date: September 23, 2025

⭐️3 🌶️3

Thank you to @authorkattmasen, @netgalley & @atriabooks for selecting me to review this eARC!

If you like;
- enemies to lovers
- Small town
- Billionaire
- Best friends older brother
- Second chances
Then be sure to check out this book!

This was such a sweet book that followed Eva, the fiesty small town cafe owner & Aston, her best friends older billionaire brother, who are essentially forced to work together to plan her best friends perfect wedding while hurdling through twists and turns at every corner.

Small side note - I HATE Aston’s dad with a passion!

This one was tough for me to review. It unfortunately didn’t stand out in any particular way for me.

I was hoping for more of a slow burn, but I found the romance plot a little bit rushed in spots. The conflict seemed a little bit juvenile and unrealistic - to be an adult who is holding a grudge since high school because of what someone did or did not do to you as a teenager seemed quite silly.

I do not have much else to say about this one. It fell flat for me.

This book was a fast, bingeable read, but I didn’t love it as much as I thought I would. It felt really bland for a small-town romance with a best friend’s older brother plot. I will definitely try reading the other books in this series when it comes out though.

Tropes:
♥️ Best friend’s older brother
♥️ Forced proximity
♥️ Billionaire MMC
♥️ Enemies to Lovers

Pros:
Dual POV
Pacing was good
Love the town name of “Cinnamon Springs”

Cons:

There was too much sexual tension/spice right off the bat. I really do wish there were cuter moments and a slow burn rather than just jumping right into the sexual stuff
Felt boring at times
Wasn’t really feeling the small-town vibes

DNF, unfortunately this is not grabbing my attention and I don’t find myself returning to it. Also, I’m sure the MMC has some character growth, but the “locker room” talk between him and his best friend at the beginning made it hard for me to want to root for him.

I unfortunately didn’t love this as much as I wanted to. I’m a huge fan of Kats and love her other books, but this one just didn’t hit for me like those did. The story is a good one, it just felt like a been there/read that. Morning overly stood out as amazing or noteworthy. The characters were ok. Nothing overly special about them. I enjoyed the read, but I didn’t love it. It just fell flat for me.

Yes yes yes! This book is so good and go into it blindly! Highly recommend! It’s filled with great character development and plot!

2.75 ⭐️

Listen, I’m not averse to these kinds of books or authors. While I don’t review many of them, Kindle Unlimited novels make up a big portion of my reading. You know the ones—series that focus on teammates, a family of brothers, or a group of small-town friends. They can be a bit cliché and melodramatic, but they’re fun reads nonetheless.

Unfortunately, this book didn’t quite deliver. What could have been an enjoyable romance ends up weighed down by plot holes, uneven pacing, and a reliance on familiar tropes.

Our main characters, Eva and Aston, also fall short. I could never quite pin down Eva’s motivations—was she afraid of relationships, or just not ready to settle down? I did appreciate that she was a good friend, both to her co-worker, Billie, and best friend, Maddy. But romantically, she’s a mess. And Aston—ugh. He starts out as the cliched, overly confident, cocky billionaire playboy who’s not ready to settle down. He eventually shows some depth, but it’s too little, too late.

My biggest issue with the book is the central conflict. The marriage of Maddy, who is Eva’s best friend and Aston’s little sister, becomes overly convoluted, full of family drama and shady business deals that never get fully explained.

Even with all of these issues, there were elements I enjoyed—books like this are little brain vacations, a chance to escape into a story that doesn’t demand much thought or emotion. I’ll likely check out the next book in the series when it’s available.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the advance copy of this book, provided in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

This enemies-to-lovers romance set in the charming town of Cinnamon Springs had all the ingredients for a delightful read - a cozy small-town café, wedding planning drama, and second-chance romance. Unfortunately, the execution left me with mixed feelings.

The good: Eva is a likable protagonist running her donut café, and the small-town atmosphere is perfectly cozy. The setup of forcing former high school acquaintances to work together on a wedding creates natural tension and plenty of opportunities for sparks to fly. The writing flows well and the pacing keeps you engaged.

The not-so-good: I really struggled with Aston's character and his behavior toward Eva. Despite them having minimal previous relationship beyond high school, he acts possessive and like he "owns" her in a way that made me deeply uncomfortable. What bothered me even more was that Eva actually recognizes this as a red flag - she literally calls it out - but then she's completely fine with it and proceeds anyway. This felt like a missed opportunity for character growth and sent a troubling message about accepting controlling behavior in relationships.

The romance development felt rushed because of this dynamic, and I found myself rooting against the main couple rather than for them. The billionaire aspect also felt somewhat disconnected from the small-town setting.

While fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope might find enough steam and tension to overlook these issues, the problematic relationship dynamics kept this from being the cozy, feel-good romance I was hoping for. The book delivers on the promised heat but falls short on creating a healthy, swoon-worthy relationship worth rooting for.