A sweet rom com with fun, multifaceted characters! This was a great debut novel by Kristyn J. Miller and she'll be one to watch for more great books. The novel had a fun concept and I'm glad that the main characters did not fall into the typical stereotypes of podcasters/influencers. Instead, they felt like real people and were likeable.

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts by Kristyn J. Miller

I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley for review. My opinions are my own.

5/5 stars

I did not expect to like this book. I was very skeptical because I am not a fan of influencers and people who make their money this way. Reading an entire book about this seemed like torture.

Alas. I love this book.

Margo, who goes by “Go” on social media and podcasting, is a famous podcaster, along with her best friend, Jocelyn. They’ve built their fame based on being single and teaching their followers 7 rules to now get their hearts broken. This all falls apart when Jo falls in love and gets engaged to Peter.

Enter Declan, a boy from HS, coincidentally Peter’s best friend. Margo decided to experiment with breaking the rules for the podcast. As you can imagine, things don’t go as planned and she “catches feelings.”

Please read this fun book. You will catch another glimpse into the influencer life and I promise, it is NOT annoying! So well done.

Loved loved loved this fun rom com. As a huge podcast fan I loved that the main characters were podcast hosts and how sometimes as you grow you have to change you expectations about your own life. Such a fun book to read and would recommend it to all my friends!

Margo (Go) and Josephine (J0) have been best friends since kindergarten. They have been doing a podcast together for several years that revolves around being okay with being a single female and not needing a man in your life. But, Jo goes and falls in love and is getting married. This means the podcast's future is uncertain. Jo is getting married and there's a two week vacation around the ceremony which Jo and her fiance Peter and Margo and the best man Declan will be in attendance for the entirety. Margo doesn't like Declan for pranks he pulled on her in high school. Margo doesn't do relationships because she thinks marriage is a farce based on her parents divorce. Declan doesn't do one night stands. Over the course of several days, Margo sees Declan in a new light. I really enjoyed this story, I wasn't sure that I would based on career of the main character. I was glad to see Margo ditch the GO persona and grow as an individual. It was sad to see such a vindictive character in the story, who does that, especially to a stranger? Just because people are in the public eye, doesn't mean we know them.

I wish I could give half stars because my actual rating is 3.5. This was a cute book. I loved the characters, the themes of friendship, second chances, and pop culture/social media. I would have loved to see a little more of what happened between the last chapter and the Epilogue because I love the relationship that Margo and Declan have so much. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC! ☺️

I LOVED this lil romcom and couldn't put it down. Quick, witty, funny, and surprisingly emotional (especially if you're a former afraid of commitment girlie. . .)

I don't usually love the integration of social media/youtube/podcasts etc into novels, but Miller does it so well. It's never overwhelming and it never comes off as cheesy. It's used as a fantastic plot device and the transcripts of the podcasts in particular is really unique and well done.

The "big conflict" at the end is realistic, understandable, and I was really pleased with how it was resolved. The whole book felt very grounded in reality, which i appreciate.

10/10 would (and have recommend). Declan alone is worth the read. I love an enemies to lovers where the "enemy" doesn't know they're enemies.

Thank you Netgallery for this ARC!

I loved this book and the story !! The characters chemistry was amazing! It’s was a lighthearted book!
Overall, a great slow burn romance. I recommend this to others. I feel like it would be the perfect beach/ vacation read. I felt like I was right there with the characters. I loved it!!

Thank you again!

Bₒₒₖ ᵣₑᵥᵢₑw ✏️
ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ ʀᴜʟᴇꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ʙʀᴇᴀᴋɪɴɢ ʜᴇᴀʀᴛꜱ
ʙʏ: ᴋʀɪꜱᴛʏɴ ᴊ. ᴍɪʟʟᴇʀ
ᴘᴜʙ ᴅᴀᴛᴇ: ᴍᴀʏ 16, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ / 5

Qᴏᴛᴅ: ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʟɪꜱᴛᴇɴ ᴛᴏ ᴘᴏᴅᴄᴀꜱᴛꜱ? ɪꜰ ꜱᴏ, ᴡʜᴀᴛ’ꜱ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜰᴀᴠᴏʀɪᴛᴇ?

🌺 Synopsis:
Love breaks all the rules. Margo has sworn off commitment. Jo is Margo’s best friend and together they run a viral podcast about the rules for single women to follow for hooking up without catching feelings. But Jo falls in love and wants to get married where one of there sponsors offer an all expenses paid wedding trip to Catalina Island. Declan Walsh, best friend of the groom and best man, is Margo’s high school nemesis. Margo remembers him as smug and annoying before so there is absolutely no way he changed and a he could catch feelings for him…right? The more time they spend together, she may actually enjoy getting to know Declan. But can she let go of the rules and find a happy ending for herself?

Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts is fun, witty, and well written. The characters were perfect and makes you feel like you can fit right in with Jo & Go. It had the right amount of spice and I enjoyed that it focused on all aspects of Margo’s life and not just her love life. This book is the perfect beach/ vacation read and should be added to your TBR for summer! ☀️🌺🐚

Thank you @netgalley & @stmartinspress for this advance reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts warmed my heart! I loved the SLOW Burn of this romance. It was fantastic. The characters are rich. The story is fun and there is a lot of heart. I highly recommend this one for your next book club read!

Kristyn Milller’s Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts does not read like a debut novel- this cute and enthralling romance was like curling into a warm hug from the first paragraph. The flow of Miller’s writing is familiar and comfortable- the pace was perfect, the descriptions of characters and scenery were informative and sensory without being wordy, and the plot followed the predictability of the romance genre while avoiding being ‘boring’ or feeling cliche.

FMC Margo Anderson has made her claim to fame on avoiding commitment- along with her best friend Jo, “Go and Jo” are hosts of the “Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts” podcast. The podcast episodes drill in the seven fundamental rules of avoiding committed relationships. With close to a hundred thousand followers and multiple sponsorship deals, Go and Jo share their one-night stand escapades with their viewers and have built a recognizable brand out of themselves- at least until Jo drops a bombshell- she’s getting married!

Margo was a highly likable and authentic lead character- while she was struggling with finding her purpose, she was not whiny or self-deprecating. She owned her feelings, her behaviors and her mistakes. When her high-school enemy Declan is revealed as the best man to accompany her role as maid of honor, Margo is forced to reconsider events of her past and get back in touch with Margo Anderson the person, rather than Go the Social Media personality.

While not an ‘in-your-face’ or judgemental approach, Kristyn Miller draws attention to the ‘dual life’ conflict of social media influencers- ‘Go’ is an independent, single woman, happily avoiding a relationship and full of wisdom to those who want to follow in her footsteps. Margo is a stressed-out influencer, constantly looking for the next opportunity to create exciting content and live a life on social media that is ‘worthy’ of her following. Tied to her phone, Margo spends most of her time considering what others think of her, and very little time focusing on what SHE actually wants. Jo is a beloved podcaster, until the moment she decides to ‘break the rules’ she created and falls in love, and then her followers turn on her.

All of the above would make for a great novel, but Seven Rules does not stop there- the slow-burn, “he falls first”, childhood-enemies-to-lovers romance between Margo and Declan is DELICIOUS! Declan is adorable, and with Miller describing him as a Jamie Fraser doppelganger- he had my affections from his intro paragraph. I loved the banter between Margo and Declan, I also really loved their ‘pillow talk’ moments of deeper conversation. Every single time Miller wrote ‘the scene’ that made the reader think they were FINALLY going to kiss, I fell for it. As a reader, I was completely invested in their story and challenged myself NOT to flip ahead to ensure the book ends with a happily ever after.

If you’re looking for a great new romance read, I highly recommend picking up Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts when it releases on May 16, 2023!

This was a fun quick read. I really liked the concept of the book about podcasters whom have made rules on how to stay happily single but are now seeing what happens when they break the rules. It was well written when discussing how a podcast on your dating life could actually control the decisions you make and possibly hold you back from living honestly. I also liked the take on influencers and how different people would interact with them.

Declan was almost too perfect that I'm not sure how he was still single. It was clear from the ferry ride how he felt about Margo and what she may have gotten wrong about the past. The chemistry was fantastic. I liked the end where is seemed like it was resolved enough just with Margo and what she learned that we didn't need a HEA (though it was nice). I only wish Margo didn't apologize so much - I'm not sure what went down was that terrible but maybe that's because we got the whole story from her POV and knew her intentions.

I hope some of the side characters get their own stories since they all seem interesting even though they didn't get much page time.

(Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC)

This was such a cute read! I loved the intro with the red record button and the unraveling the author did to tell the tale. Margo and Declan were high school “enemies” by chance and yet forced to support their friends on their wedding day years later. Once the past was revealed, the feels began and the pages turned so quickly. Solid romantic read.
I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I really enjoyed this book! I liked the combo of enemies to lovers and first loves reuniting in a unique way. I also liked the look at the “other side” of social media influencers! Would have been a 5 star read for me but there was just too much miscommunication for me to absolutely love it. A solid debut novel and totally worth picking up on publication day!!

This is Kristyn J Miller’s debut novel, and I felt like I was reading another version of How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days. The only difference is that Margo is the only one with an ulterior motive.

Margo (and Jo) are podcasters with rules about hooking up without the commitment. When Jo breaks all of those rules to get married, they must scramble to find content to end the show without looking like they are complete liars. So Margo decides to break the rules as a social experiment. What could possibly go wrong?

I found the beginning of the novel to be rough going. I don’t really listen to podcasts nor do I consider a social influencer a celebrity. Maybe I haven’t found the right podcast to listen to, or maybe I just remember that these are people like me, but I found it difficult to relate to Margo’s career. Not only that but the third act breakup didn’t really make sense to me. I mean it felt forced, because there had to be a breakup, but its reasoning was really lost on me.

Once the reader pushes through the beginning, all the stuff in between becomes enjoyable. I felt the romance part of the novel was very well done, and I loved the banter between the two. Many of the characters are mentioned but are more one dimensional, like they are simply there to move the novel forward.

Overall, I rate this novel 3 out of 5 stars. It’s a lighthearted and fun novel definitely meant for the summer on a lovely beach day.

I loved this book! It reminded me a lot if The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren. Lots of laughs, great characters, and good life lessons wrapped up in a happy ever after! I also loved that the author made the guy a red head 😊 Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC!

This was a fun story to read! The lifestyle and setting were unique which kept me wanting to keep reading. The relationship between Margo and Declan had. the right blend of humor and heat. The ending did feel a bit rushed but otherwise it was a great book!

I h ave stubmbled upon a new-to-me author and totally loved her entire book, the premise, the characters, reading about my own backyard (Catalina island)...it all worked so well for me!

Bring on the beach reads - pack this one for your summer read-a-thon!

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC.

I loved this book.

Was it predictable? Yes.

Was it also a good palate cleanser from the mystery novels I've been reading lately? Also yes.

We start with Go and Jo, two podcasters that host a dating podcast focused on dating without commitment or getting your heart broken. Kind of like Call Her Daddy, but it seems less explicit. But now the podcast seems to be changing or ending since Jo has broken the biggest rule of hooking up, falling in love and getting married. Of course the best man is Go's (Margo) enemy from high school. A boy now sexy man who once filled her tuba with shaving cream that exploded during a school concert.

If you've ever read an enemy's to lovers book then you know how the story goes complete with a miscommunication trope.

This is a cute beach read that I would say is light smut. Though there is a dressing room scene that is two thumbs up.

I really enjoyed this feel good enemies to lovers romance. The setting was wonderful and had me longing for the beach. I enjoyed the tie in with the podcast element and text messages. Margo finds herself and love by the end of the book. Margo and Declan are great characters alone and even better together.

Definitely recommend for a fun summer romcom. Easy to read feel good story.

Rules are meant to be broken...but not the rules Margo "Go" Anderson lives by. She and her best friend from childhood, Jo, run a popular podcast called "Seven Rules for Breaking Hearts". The problem is, Jo broke the rules and fell head over heels in love with their high school quarter back. Now, the seventh season is looming, Jo is getting married at a sponsor's destination and Margo is face to face with the idiot prankster best man from high school, Declan.

With no ideas for content presenting themselves and their viewers voicing their disappointment, Margo decides maybe it's time to prove the rules are there for a reason. She'll break the rules too....with Declan, to prove the rules are there for a reason. But nothing goes to plan, as Margo throws the rules away, the walls of her heart fall with them. Through insane kayak trips, cake tastings, some spicy time in a dressing room, Margo starts to realize maybe the rules are meant to be broken for the right person.

Super cute, and sweet read.

What I liked:
-I liked the podcasting aspect of the story. As someone who is constantly busy with the day to day, podcasts are my life. So, reading the transcript was appealing as it gave me all the vibes.
-I thought the spicy level was on point for the what the book is.

What I didn't like:
-I'm not generally one for drama, but I thought the climax was a little wanting.

Overall, a great book for on the go travelling when you need a quick romantic pick-me up. 3.5 stars!

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Griffin for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.