The book was a cute, quick read and I enjoyed the characters for the most part.

I wish the characters just had better communication and admitted feelings to each other and others, I think it would have been nice to just have Maddy on their side through out the story.

I hated Harvey, I think everyone hates Harvey. I hated Aston as times too, but in the end he redeemed himself.

Kat T. Masen’s How to Break My Heart is everything I love in a romance—intense, emotional, and completely unputdownable. From the very first page, I was hooked by Eva and Aston’s complex, slow-burning relationship. What starts as a simmering enemies-to-lovers dynamic is layered with years of hidden feelings, misunderstandings, and one unforgettable kiss from their teenage years that changes everything.

Their shared history is what makes this story so addictive. The way they dance around their unresolved emotions—fighting, hurting, yearning—kept me turning pages late into the night. I literally stayed up until 1 a.m. because I had to see how their story ended. It was that compelling.

Masen’s writing is honest and raw, never shying away from the pain that comes with love, loss, and second chances. The tension, the chemistry, and the emotional payoff hit all the right notes. Eva and Aston aren’t just characters—they feel like real people with real scars trying to find their way back to something that’s always been there.

If you love angsty, slow-burn romances with depth, history, and heart, How to Break My Heart will keep you up all night—and you won’t regret a second of it.

Kat T. Masen does it again! Everything she writes is so good!

She is back with a new series set in Cinnamon Springs. I loved Eva and Aston! My favorite, best friend's brother 💜, enemies to lovers💜 and the ANGST and SLOW BURN💜!!! Soooooo good!!! She's a donut shop owner in the small town, he's a billionaire who broke her heart and moved away years before. The coming back together is just so good, the steam is so good. AND I LOVED getting to see some of our favorite characters back from the Dark Love and Forbidden Love series! Can’t wait to read more in this series!💜

Thank you to NetGalley, Kat T. Masen, and Atria Books for the eARC of this book.

This book honestly felt like the author was trying to cram in every single romance trope known to man, like a bad romance novel salad. At one point, the internal monologue literally repeated the phrase “forced proximity”, which is… an actual trope, not something a character should be consciously thinking. Super odd language choices throughout. The premise was decent: best friend’s brother, second chance, small town vs. billionaire lifestyle, but it never fully delivered on the drama. Aston, the love interest, was kind of unredeemable, and I never really warmed up to him. The tension and stakes were lukewarm, and it felt like it was missing that emotional punch to make you care. That said, it was entertaining enough to finish. Light, fluffy, and easy to read, but ultimately forgettable in the grand scheme of romance reads. Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books, and Kat T. Masen for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved the book, I really enjoy this authors writing so I might be biased but i definitely recommend!

This book was the perfect amount of spice and banter! I loved the dual POV and will definitely be reading more from this author!

3 stars – Not terrible, just not for me

How to Break My Heart had a really fun premise featuring a cozy small town cafe owner, a billionaire brother back in town, and a wedding to plan? I was all in. Plus, it had some of my favorite tropes: enemies to lovers, best friend’s brother, forced proximity, and a good bit of spice. But sadly, this one didn’t totally hit the mark for me.

The biggest issue? The writing style. It felt kind of all over the place and didn’t flow very well, which made it hard to stay in the story. Things felt rushed, and I was confused at times. It honestly read more like a debut book, even though it’s not.

The main guy, Aston, was hard to connect with. I usually love a possessive MMC, but this guy took it too far. He came off more controlling than swoony, and considering he and Eva hadn’t seen each other in eight years (after just one high school kiss!), his behavior didn’t make much sense. Eva was okay, but some of her scenes were kind of cringe, like that birth control convo? Nope.

And Maddy… oof. She wasn’t very likable and felt super spoiled. Most of the side characters didn’t have much depth either, which was a bummer.

I will say, the small town setting and the cafe vibes were cute, and there were a few sweet moments here and there. I just think the author tried to throw in too many tropes and didn’t give any of them enough room to really develop.

This was my first read from Kat T. Masen, and while I didn’t love it, I’m open to checking out more of her books in the future. If you’re a fan of her writing or like trope heavy romances, this one might work better for you.

Thank you to NetGalley, Kat T. Masen, and Atria Books for the eARC of this book.

Kat T. Masen writes gold!!! And the first book of Cinnamon Springs is no exception. I received an ARC copy.

My thoughts:

This book follows complex characters who always sacrifice their happiness in order to keep the peace. I loved the flow of this story, as we follow Eva and her relationship with her best friend who’s getting married.
Aston has the fate of the world on his shoulders with father breathing down his neck.

I loved seeing some characters from the Chasing series, Masen’s previous books make an appearance, and seeing how these world collide, as I wasn’t sure if this new series would fit in the world of Masen’s book library.

Love has no place in Aston’s life and Eva red flags all men after a first date, but they always say love and hate are just passion that can draw two forces together.

Loved this story and can’t wait for the rest of the series….

❤️Enemies to lovers
🩶brothers best friend
🖤forbidden love
🏡small town romance
💰Billionaire grump

I found this book an effortless read. It took me a minute to realize that the chapters switched viewpoints, but once I did, I appreciated the different angles. I liked the overall plot but found the characters unrelatable, especially Aston. His over-controlling manner and overall arrogance was off-putting. This book was very spicy and over all not a bad read. I loved the cover and wished more books in the romance category would follow suit.

3 stars if you are wanting spice and an emotional plot. 5 stars if you are looking for a young adult read to ease yourself into romance with smut. I've read every single one of Kats books and they have made me cry, yearn and feel jealous over fictional characters. This book gave me hints of that so I rated it lower than I usually would. If you want an emotional pull I would start chasing love by Kat. There is some miscommunication but it gets resolved pretty fast. The characters live in denial but find their way to each other. I will recommend this book to my friends who are just getting started in romance.

I received an ARC for “How to Break my Heart” from NetGalley. I give this one a solid 3.5 stars. It was an enjoyable read. It did leave me wanting a bit more at times. I think the author may have tried to put too many tropes in the story and thus was unable to put actual meat into the story. The plot felt very basic and non emotional. The sub character, Maddy, was admittedly not very likable and a bit spoiled. Despite all this, it was still an enjoyable read over the past two days. I’m thankful to have read it. Thanks again for the ARC!

How to break my heart by Kat T Masen is my intro this author and it won't be my last.

Eva and Aston gave me all the angst and romance I love. She's a cafe owner and loves her life in her quintessential small town, until the man that broke her heart is back and he's a billionaire that broke her heart years ago but they have to be within each others proximity for her friends wedding. I love how instead of playing nice with each other they fight fire and fire and the bicker and banter and hot chemistry between them is just amazing. There's mutual longing, tension, second chance romance, spice, cozy small town romance, I loved seeing their dynamic and how they fall back as adults and mature now and they make it work. it's swoony, spicy and comforting!

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. Eva lives in a small town and owns a well-known cafe in the area; she is content with her life and its pace. Her friend, Maddy, is soon to be married and wants Eva to team up with her brother, Aston, to assist with the wedding. This is problematic for Eva as it shakes up her life - Aston hurt her years ago, and he just so happens to be a well-known billionaire. Rather than the two coming together to mutually plan the wedding, their involvement becomes a competition, until the balloon bursts and they re-connect one night. Eva, in an effort to protect herself, leaves Aston behind, without explanation, until they meet again on the wedding day.

While the billionaire storyline was not relatable, it did add a fun element to this book that otherwise paced well and had a lot of chemistry between Eva and Aston. This is a book that has more depth to it other than the steam; there is a second chance at love, as well as characters actually working through their emotions.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5/5. At first I almost DNF. The start was just not for me however it really grew on me as I read. I just wish there was more of a backstory between Eva and Aston. Really great easy ready once you get into it!

I really enjoyed aston as MMC. I think he was just over all developed really well. Eva I feel like could used a little bit more depth.

The story was written really well. It all flowed and was cohesive

sadly this just did not hit with me....
The writing is what I mainly didn't like due to how it just didn't flow together at all and I was super confused most of the book.
The MMC was the biggest problem I had with the characters, I just couldn't connect with him and he was really hard to like. I like possessive men in book but he was way too much... to the point he just seemed controlling of Eva. The miscommunication trope in this book was insufferable......

Unlike many people my issue wasn’t with Aston, it was that the writing felt really choppy. There were a lot going on and I felt lost honestly for most of the book.

Thank you Net Galley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
This book is a fun quick read that doesn’t feel like a waste of time. I love a quick romance read and most of the time I feel like I have wasted my time. My favorite part is the friendship that the FMC has with her friend group. Again this book was fun and would recommend if you want a short read with best friend’s brother trope and pretty spicy.

The steam was great! The story was disconnected at times. I wanted more! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Eva’s best friend Maddy is getting married in one month, and has enlisted Eva to help her plan the wedding. Only problem is she also asked her brother Aston to come back home and help too. Eva and Aston haven’t spoken since they shared a kiss at a high school party 8 years ago, and she never heard from him again. Will she be able to put her old feelings aside to help her best friend?

*** Best friend’s brother
*** Dual POV
*** Small town romance
*** Lots of spice

I wanted to love this one, especially hearing enemies to lovers and brother’s best friend tropes. I didn’t really like the MMC very much. Understanding that his childhood and the overpowering billionaire father very much made him that way, I just couldn’t warm up to him. I also didn’t enjoy how he was possessive over Eva with no context to be after not seeing each other for years and only sharing one high school kiss. It didn’t make sense.

I will give other novels by this author a try in the future but unfortunately, this one just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this novel; all opinions are my own.

This book was like a warm cinnamon donut with a spicy surprise inside! How to Break My Heart had me hooked from the moment Eva was forced to work with her best friend’s billionaire brother—aka the same guy who shattered her heart in high school. Cue the tension, the banter, the stolen glances… I was GIGGLING and KICKING MY FEET.

Eva is the queen of cozy café vibes, and Aston? Ugh, he’s infuriating, broody, and of course… completely irresistible. The angst and slow-burn had me screaming “JUST MAKE OUT ALREADY,” and when they finally kissed? Fireworks. Literal fireworks in my chest. It’s enemies to lovers (but like soft and longing), full of family drama, wedding chaos, and second-chance tension. I need more!