This is a super cute, funny, and steamy enemy to lovers rom-com.

Margo and her best friend Jo have a viral podcast titled Seven Rules, where they talk about how to stay sin gee and hook up without "catching feelings". However, Jo has gone and done the unthinkable... she's fallen in love, gotten engaged and is about to get married. So when Margo finds herself on Catalina Island for Jo's all expenses paid wedding, she begins to question how the 7 Rules podcast will continue post-celebration. As if she wasn't already frazzled enough, all hell breaks loose when Declan, her arch nemesis from high school, shows up because he just happens to be the groom's best man. Talk about throwing a wrench into your plans/career/life.

This will make for a great beach/summer read. It's hard to believe that this is Miller's debut novel. I certainly look forward to reading more from her.

A huge thank you to the author, NetGalley and St Martin’s Griffin for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

How do you pivot your "identity" when it is based on staying single and you find love???

Margo and Jo are best friends and run a viral podcast on how to not get burned by "love" They have a series of rules to ensure that they are always in the drivers seat of a relationship and therefore can protect themselves from heartbreak... and then Jo falls in love and is getting MARRIED. It is a 2 week vacation/destination wedding paid by a sponsor in return for shout outs on social media and in their podcast. But how can they pivot their podcast on staying single when one of them is getting married?

Margo comes up with a plan for their next season on the podcast... to show how bad it is when you break all of the rules of staying single... but is it really that bad? Has following the "rules" prevented her from finding someone of her own? When she lets down her guard and lets someone in can she finally find love?

A fun rom-com summer read!

3.5 stars

Though it was insta-lovey, I liked the risked the author took with the characters. The writing was enjoyable and pacing was nice! I felt some characters were not as fleshed out as they could be, at times most felt young, naive and at other points older, knowledgeable and stoic.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts was such cute and fun debut romcom. I found myself giggling multiple times throughout the book and I shed a few tears. Margo cohosts a podcast along her best friend Jo where they both share insights with their listeners on how to avoid commitment and heartbreak. However, things take a turn when Jo announces her engagement, and their followers start questioning their authenticity. Now insert a wedding trip to Catalina Island + Declan Walsh (childhood nemesis) and you get CHAOS. Honestly, I thought this book was an easy read, fast paces and I truly enjoyed all of the characters. I thought the relationship between Margo & Declan was unique and well developed. Declan has made it to my book boyfriend list. Make sure to pack this book for your next vacation. I wish I was in Catalina Island after reading this.

Overall Rating: 4/5

Thank you netgalley and St. Martins Press for gifting me an eARC!

This book wasn't for me. The characters were too superficial and their chemistry wasn't believable. Thank you, NetGalley.

This book was quite cute. I enjoyed seeing how Margo found her way through not only a career crisis and the marriage of her best friend, but also an unexpected attraction to someone she never saw coming.

When Margo goes away to a resort for her friend's (who also happens to be her co-worker) destination wedding, she anticipates cake tastings and a bachelorette party. She does not anticipate falling for the best man who happens to be someone who traumatized her during her high school years. And is it her imagination? Or does he seem to be trying to get along? That's even more difficult to deal with.

Margo has a great deal of relationship baggage thanks to her parents' ill-fated marriage and the way she felt abandoned by her father. It all goes to make it nearly impossible for her to trust men and believe that she could ever find happiness with another person. Yet she finds that she really wants to believe in love and hopes that she can actually find it for herself.

Of course, in the middle of her personal romantic crisis, Margo is also dealing with career challenges because she and her best friend ran a podcast based on happily staying single and now with one of them marrying, they are losing ground on what their podcast can be going forward.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. I voluntarily chose to review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is the debut novel for author Kristyn J. Miller. Best friends since kindergarten and podcast partners Margo Anderson and Jocelyn Rodriguez have finished out the sixth season of their advice show which is meant to empower women who are #singlenotseeking. Margo has sworn off relationships since the demise of her parents’ marriage and the disappointment in her dad’s philandering ways. Her philosophy is that women can play the same games that men do and has created a set of seven rules to keep from getting hurt. However, Jocelyn has caught feelings for Peter Figueroa and an approaching wedding is being planned at a Catalina resort in exchange for advertising on their podcast.
This really upsets future plans for Margo, from how the podcast will go on to where will she live as the two friends have shared an apartment? But perhaps what bothers Margo most is the fact that she too is restless and ready for something else. Then add in the fact that the best man to her maid of honor is her high school nemesis Declan Walsh, and Margo is really dreading the wedding and the two week vacation leading up to it with so much time around Declan.
This is a very funny romcom with crazy characters and a beautiful island setting. I very much enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!

Synopsis: Margo and Jo run a podcast about rules for how to be single without getting heartbroken or attached. When Jo gets engaged, Margo's podcast future is left in the balance. Margo decides to break the rules to show their value to her listeners. But when she breaks them with the wrong person, Margo realizes that there might be something to living a life with attachments after all.

My take: Wow, what a debut! I loved this novel so much. I read it while I was on vacation for a wedding, which was fitting since this story is about a two-week vacation wedding. Reading Margo's evolution was so satisfying. Her relationship with Declan was fun, adorable, and steamy. I''m also married to a ginger, so it was nice to see a hot red-headed male love interest for once! Check out this perfect summer read - you won't regret it!

I think 7R4BH was a case of Right Book, Wrong Time for me. It's got a cute premise and I think it's well written BUT something about it just didn't click with me. Most days I didn't want to pick it up and keep reading. That said, my life has been pretty chaotic the last few weeks, so I know that contributed to the issues I had. I might pick it up again later for a reread and will definitely update if I do :)

Read if you like:
-enemies to lovers
-second chance
-BFFLs
-beach vacay romance

I thought this book was adorable & super charming!

Margo & her best friend run a podcast helping young women stay unattached and in control of dating in the modern world. Her best friend ends up engaged, and Margo ends up the maid of honor opposite her high school nemesis (super cute Declan). Margo thinks hooking up with him could be a great story for her podcast but leans quickly that sometimes things don’t go as you plan!

The fun and flirtatious banter between the characters was so fun & the relationship didn’t feel forced or rushed at all. The book moved at a perfect pace, and I felt super invested that the characters get a happy ending.

Read if you love - enemies to lovers, forced proximity, long harbored crushes, misunderstandings.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for my ARC!

Overall, this was a cute story about Margo and Declan, two former high school nemesis who reconnect years later at their best friends wedding. I had a difficult time liking Margo. She was very self-centered for the first half of the book. She did improve as the book progressed, but it was hard for me to get to the point where I actually liked her character.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts-this was a good book, but for whatever reason it took me a long time to get through. I didn’t feel compelled to pick it up and find out what happened next. Maybe it’s just a case of wrong book wrong time?

The story follows two best friends, Jo and Go, just as Jo is about to get married. The catch is that the two friends run a podcast about how to stay happily single. I loved the podcast element of the story and how relevant it felt to today’s times with social media and influencers. I think it made for a good source of conflict between the friends, unfortunately, I felt like their conflict was never truly resolved. They continued to have the same argument and same hard feelings about one of them moving forward.

I enjoyed the setting of Catalina Island in this story and thought it made for a great summer read. It’s an area I don’t know much about and enjoyed the small town feeling and reading about the wild Buffalo that makes this place unique. I also enjoyed the romance story. I like to see someone that has sworn off love, change their tune when they meet the right person.

This book has a lot going for it, even if there are a few situations I think could be wrapped up better. All in all, a fun summer read.

Margo and her best friend, Jo, run a popular podcast about rules to follow to avoid catching feelings in hookups. When Jo blindsides Margo by getting engaged, Margo must figure out new content for their podcast. She decides to break her own dating rules to prove that it’s a bad idea to break the rules, and she knows the perfect man for the role: high school nemesis and the best man, Declan Walsh.

I do love an enemies to lovers romance. It’s so sweet watching people uncover the truths about others and realize that they actually didn’t know this person the way they thought. The warm and sunny weather, the tropical drinks at the bar, and the non beachy island life off of California makes this one a great romance to read this summer!

What I didn’t love was the lack of character development from the supporting characters. Jo was supposed to be the best friend since kindergarten, but I didn’t feel like I knew her enough to believe that. Maybe it was tough love, but I didn’t think a real life friend of over 20 years would act the way Jo did. Margo, too, acted shocked when Jo got engaged, but I don’t think a BFF would really be that surprised. And with Declan, I liked him, but only because the story told me to. I didn’t really know him, and he could be a bit confusing. Example: not into one night stands, but then we had the dressing room scene. I feel like that wasn’t the same Declan!

Miscommunication was prevalent here, and typically I'm not into that. However, in this case, the miscommunication was a part of Margo’s character growth, so I think it bothered me slightly less than the typical miscomm. trope. Yes, I still felt like the whole third act breakup could have been avoided by some simple conversation, but it played into Margo growing up before our eyes. I thoroughly enjoyed the author’s writing style and will definitely read more from her.

Thank you to @stmartinspress @smpromance @macmillanusa and @netgalley for the advanced e-copy!

A cute enemies-to-lovers romance with a beautiful setting and commentary on social media, personas, and reputation. A fun read for the summer!

Go and Jo, friends since high school, host a podcast dedicated to avoiding relationships and commitment. When Jo falls in love and decides to marry, the pair is in a bit of a bind. Sponsors pay for her wedding in exchange for advertising in the podcast's next season--but what will the season be about? Go has a brilliant idea involving Declan, the best man and her high school nemesis. But as she gets to know him better, she realizes that not only is he not as bad as she thought, he's actually pretty delectable.

This unique rom-com offers plenty of cringey moments and a great setting. Go--a.k.a., Margo--is more likable as the novel progresses and Declan is wonderful throughout. Although I'm a bit long in the tooth to really appreciate twentysomething characters, this one kept my interest. #SevenRulesforBreakingHearts #NetGalley

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I LOVED this book!! I finished it in half a day while floating in my pool. I could not put it down! It had all the things I look for in a good book: A cool setting, well developed characters that I absolutely adored, a smooth plot, consistent pacing…everything was just so on point! Summer is my season of RomComs, and I’ve had so many misses lately, it was refreshing to feel so immersed in a story again! Bravo Kristyn Miller for debuting with such a fun, well written read! I can’t wait to read more of her work in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffen for sharing an advanced digital copy with me in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are 100% my own.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for a review. The premise of this book was good, but I did feel that it fell flat in terms of chemistry and tension between the main characters. This book took a lot of time to build and gain momentum, and I just didn't feel a connection to the story or characters as I hoped I would.

This book follows Margo, who I’ve got to say starts out as a very bitter, very sad woman with a lot of brokenness and cynicism inside her and it was kind of hard to like her at first. She redeemed herself some, though, and by the end I was rooting for her though I felt the book lacked some emotional impact.

Her love interest Declan, was a treat to read about though he fell one-dimensional at times. I still liked his sense of humor and overall wholesomeness.

The secondary characters could have been a little more fleshed out and brought on more to the story than they did. I liked Jo (for the most part) but I felt like we never really got to know Peter and that bummed me out. I don’t know, I like my characters vibrant and these were definitely not.

Overall, it was an okay book. I’m not crazy about it and it would not be the first book I recommend to someone seeking a cute island romance, but it did have some good points and some good moments. They just weren’t enough to win me over and overall the book felt flat at times. It was cute, just not cute enough.

Thank you @netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review.

This was a fun destination rom-com featuring podcasters. I enjoyed the podcast element of the show and all the talk about sponsors and content! I thought the theme of the podcast was a fun and interesting concept #singlenotlooking. The plot was predictable but decent enough that I didn't DNF. It's a slow start and the comedy felt forced in the beginning, but it gets better as it goes on. kind of enemies to lovers, kind of fakeish dating. The male love interest Declan was wildly boring and one dimensional. He was a cinnamon roll but a very boring cinnamon roll. 4 stars. Margot on the other hand was a good time! Thank you to NetGalley for this eARC!

3.5 stars!

"Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts" by Kristyn J. Miller is a little clunky in its execution, but it's a decent read. I liked the main characters, Margo and Declan, as individuals, but I wasn't entranced by their chemistry when they were together. Margo shows some significant growth by the end of the book, and I love what Miller does with her character in the last few chapters! And thank goodness, but Margo is quite immature and a little grating at the beginning! Declan is a pretty solid, lovable male romantic interest... so, I'm not sure what went wrong with these two! I chalk it up to the dreaded miscommunication trope. The miscommunication trope is strooooooooong in this book. The author "swears" they were enemies in high school, but all of their interactions and disputes were pretty one-sided. It's like this every. single. time. JUST HAVE A CONVERSATION!! GAH! I want to pull my hair out! The real enemy of the book is Margo's podcast co-host, Jo... my god, what an insufferable character. I wanted to slap her silly! With friends like her, ya know? Speaking of such, I like that the premise of this book revolves around podcasting and getting burnt out by it. As someone who used to do a podcast, I saw myself represented in Margo's apathy about her podcasting gig, catering to sponsors, not believing in the content you're putting out, etc. "Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts" feels a little too long and a little repetitive at times, but I wasn't *so* annoyed that it detracted from my experience reading this book.

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin, and Kristyn J. Miller for providing me with an ARC copy of this book! All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for my review.