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Quick Breakdown

Second Chance
Celebrity Romance
Forced Proximity
Taylor Swift Inspired
Dual POV
Open Door - Mild Details

Thank you @berkleyromance for the gifted eARC & finished copy & @PRHaudio for the gifted ALC #berkleypartner

Max & Riley’s lives went in completely different directions after they broke up in college. He went on to manage the family’s struggling assisted living while she followed their once musical dream, becoming the next American pop princess a la Taylor Swift.

After 10 years apart, the pair reunite for her multi city tour promoting her new breakup album. Max will get the opportunity to see where his life could have gone if he continued to aspire to play piano professionally while making money to fund the family business. Riley’s hoping Max’s presence will thwart her toxic ex husband from claiming her most popular song was inspired by him.

There was a lot to love here. Emily & Austin’s writing felt as poetic & lyrical as I’d expect from a Taylor Swift song. It was beautifully descriptive & sucked me right into the pop star world. There are countless hidden Easter eggs woven into the story, too. I highly recommend you give this a go on audio. I listened more than I read & I credit Brittany Pressley & Dan Bittner for that. They gave another great performance together & I was completely enraptured.

Full disclosure: Second chance romances aren’t always my favorite. This one is done in a single timeline with the occasional flashback, giving all the angst & tension you look for with this trope. While I felt for both of them, I didn’t connect with the MC’s & their romance like I have with others & I think it’s because I struggled with how their initial split played out. Granted, these two fools were only 19 or 20 years old, so.. 🤷🏻‍♀️ There was a pretty amazing grand gesture at the end that made me full on swoon, though 🙌🏻

I'm pretty conflicted on this one as a romance novel. I think it's pretty good for a general fiction book about music and artists who write about their romantic experiences but the romance wasn't what I expected. It's there in the music and through the performances but it seems to be lacking offstage in the everyday activities and lives of the main characters that should be what builds a relationship. I have read a few of their books before that I've enjoyed and was very excited to pick this one up but it was a bit of a slow read for me. The cover is gorgeous and I like the inclusion of song lyrics and flashbacks in the text because they're fun but also they are entirely necessary to believe in the love between Riley and Max. There are also full lyrics to a couple of the songs at the end which is nice and it definitely brought me back to when I was a little kid and wanted to be a singer/songwriter.

The Breakup Tour is dedicated to Taylor Swift fans and Riley is inspired by her. While I'm not a big fan, I enjoy some of her music so I didn't go into this thinking I'd either love it or hate it as I'm sure some people who are big fans or critics might have. The comparisons are there and the nods to Taylor Swift are obvious even if you don't follow her career, but you can also read this without thinking about Taylor at all. The story is told in dual POV but while I feel like we get to know Riley pretty well, Max still felt like a stranger to me. I didn't love his reason for not staying with her either time but the grand gesture at the end is cute. Overall, this was an average read for me and I'd recommend it to people who are interested in music and reading about singer/songwriters in fiction.

I read and reviewed an advanced digital copy of this title through NetGalley provided by Berkley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you Berkley Romance for the digital ARC and PRHAudio for the audiobook. I read some on my Kindle, but mostly listened to the audiobook. Dual narrators Dan Bittner and Brittany Pressley did an amazing job making me feel like I was there alongside Riley and Max. The Breakup Tour is a
second chance & celebrity trope romance. Riley is inspired by Taylor Swift and Max is her college sweetheart who chose not to join her when she headed to Nashville to start her music career. Now a superstar, Riley sets off on her Breakup Tour, with songs all about her breakups. One of her songs of course, is about Max. Due to Max being in a position where he needs money to hold on to his family's business, Max decides to join Riley by playing piano for the song that's about him. I mean, you just know that's going to lead to lots of reflecting about their past relationship.
This is a dual POV story with lots of inner monologues and thoughts of the main characters. I really appreciated the dual perspectives and loved that the audiobook included a male and female narrator. I'll be honest, I can't call myself a Swiftie so I can't really comment about content specifically related to her. I did happen to catch some song title easter eggs and there are probably many that I didn't catch.
Second chance romance is becoming one of my faves and I think Max and Riley had a fun story that wasn't rushed. I really enjoyed this book and it solidified Emily & Austin as auto-buy authors for me. I absolutely love their writing. I don't know how to explain what it is that I love about it, other than that their word choices and writing style comes across as romantic and at times, poetic. I love the metaphors they use. They are great romance writers and I can't wait to purchase my paperback copy to add it to my Emily-Austin collection.

4 ✨

Thank you Netgalley, Berkley Publishing and both Emily and Austin for this ARC.

Tropes:

♡ Celebrity romance
♡ Taylor Swift vibes
♡ Second chance
♡ Forced proximity
♡ Slow burn

Before I start I just wanna say that this book is definitely a book you have to read from beginning to finish to understand the whole concept of. The beginning might feel bleak but it’s all part of the journey that Riley is on.

As a huge Swiftie myself the second I heard about this book I knew I had to read it and when I got a chance to read The Breakup Tour my inner Swiftie jumped up and down. The authors wrote this book heavily influenced by Taylor Swift and the main character Riley Wynn in all her glory. This story does take a specific approach to show how relationships, breakups, heartbreak and instant fame can affect an artist.

Riley Wynn’s level of fame rises almost from one day to the other when she releases a breakup song inspired by her college sweetheart, the one that got away. Now with a full album filled with songs inspired by breakup and exes, she has a huge tour to go on. But when she gets divorced from her now ex-husband, he starts to claim that her number one hit “Until You” is about him (spoiler alert: it’s not). To stop that from spinning out of control she seeks out Max Harcourt, the real reason behind the song and a person she hasn’t spoken to in a decade. Max agrees to help her change the narrative about the song if she lets him go on tour with her and help save the retirement home he’s running.

I feel like the dilemma that Riley goes through most of the book is if she can write anything other than heartbreak songs. It’s very valid feeling, when if you like her have been disappointed over and over again. She truly doesn’t think that she can find that kind love that’s worth writing love songs about. I think this book was a great reflection of how much criticism a female artist gets from not only the world around her but also herself. There’s a lot of self criticism and self doubting in Riley’s inner dialogue and it was pretty harsh at some points, but that just showed how human she was.

But when it comes to her relationship with Max, I truly think reconnecting with him played a big part in overcoming that fear of not being able to express herself through other emotions than heartbreak. Max was just so sweet and very down to earth and it was certainly the kind of guy Riley needed. Riley’s willingness to sacrifice her own happiness was something that hurt to read but the process from her doing that to her learning how to let love in her life again was beyond beautiful.

Riley is a music star that mines her life for songs. Her latest album’s theme is breakup songs - each song commemorates a past relationship. Her toxic ex-husband tries to glom onto her, stating that her hit song is about them when it’s actually about Max, her college boyfriend.

Max, meanwhile, is running his family’s retirement home that is losing money faster than a song peaks on the charts. Max’s sister realizes that the hit song is Max’s and gets him to listen to it. Riley comes to visit him after 10 years and realizes they still have chemistry. He joins her tour soon thereafter so he can pay for the retirement home. Most of the tour is stressful and anticlimactic. They finally kiss, he leaves and then they meet in the future - again. Do they fall back in love?

So let the record show I’m not a “swiftie.” I think I can name 5 songs, maybe? But I liked the synopsis. And overall, it was decent. But I didn’t really see a lot of the chemistry that Riley and Max were supposed to have. But maybe I’m missing it. Or the Swiftie-ness of it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for this eARC. The Breakup Tour is out now.

As a big time Swiftie, I was really excited to check out The Breakup Tour by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka. This book was the perfect palate cleanser after some of the heavier reads I have been consuming lately. The narration by the always wonderful Dan Bittner as Max and Brittany Pressley as Riley was enchanting (see what I did there?).

The premise: imagine if Taylor ended up marrying Tom Huddleston after their fleeting and widely publicized relationship. In The Breakup Tour, the fall out of Riley’s marriage happens right before a big tour to promote her newest album of breakup songs. However, the biggest hit is inspired not by her famous ex husband but by her long lost love, Max. Riley reaches out to Max, also musically inclined, to perform the song together on the tour. Angst, regret, and lots of rekindled chemistry ensues in The Breakup Tour.

My biggest criticism with the story is I just wanted more from Max. While readers get so much Riley, Max seems one dimensional. I honestly kept forgetting his name while reading.. not great when one of the main characters is forgettable. However, I loved all the music references. There are so many scenes that give me major A Star is Born vibes in the best possible way. The ending left me with a big cheesy grin on my face and all the butterflies. Overall- a sweet, quick read for those who love a star crossed romance.

Thanks to @BerkleyPub for the eARC of the book. All opinions are my own.

When I heard about a celebrity/pop star romance with Taylor Swift vibes, I was immensely intrigued. It feels like the authors were sitting around one day sharing “what if” scenarios and one of them said “what if Taylor Swift had a romance with a non-celebrity?” And then asked, what is one of the most non-celebrity jobs someone could do? Answer: run an assisted living facility where the MMC could still play piano.

This second chance romance was a light and quick read for me. I did find the story dragged out in sections a bit too much and it read more like fanfic than an original story concept.

The inclusion of song lyrics was fun at first, but then started to be a bit of a crutch and it felt like songs were used in place of a face-to-face conversation and being straightforward with feelings and thoughts instead of requiring characters (and readers) to read between the lines.

Riley’s mom was definitely my fave character and her story, as a recent divorcee who is figuring out what she wants next in life, and stumbling into a romance along the way, would make for a fun story, IMO.

Overall, a fun read but a bit forgettable for me.

HOT TAKE???? I LOVED THIS????

in my personal opinion EW/ASB are authors where you either love their book or hate it (for example, the same way you love or hate happy place) there really is no middle ground that ive ever noticed. they are very plot driven authors and i think that makes some people feel like the romance is pushed into the background, which is a totally valid point! thankfully i like the plot driven writing in my romances from certain authors so from time to time i love reading romance books that aren’t predominantly smut or where the main focus isnt entirely focused on the relationship building. i dont know if this makes sense at all but it does to me so im running with it 😂

i also want to say personally i did not see this as some rewriting of taylor swifts life, TO ME the FMCs comparisons to taylor and her life begin and end in this is a blonde woman who is famous for writing breakup songs and gets shit on by everyone for it but also has an amazing fan base who stick by her and love and adore her.

that being said there are probably HUNDRED of little nods to her, mainly being song titles or lyrics of hers transformed to fit into whatever dialogue or inner monologue is going on. and you know what? i LOVED them. i ate it up every single time i saw something.

i had a ton of fun listening to this. it was cute, i loved all of the side characters, i loved max and riley. there was the perfect amount of drama and i lowkey loved that for a hot minute i could not tell whether or not we were going to get a hea 😂

the only thing that made me stop and think seriously guys whats the issue is about 85% in when i thought “huh. why are they not going to try and make this work no matter what career paths they’re choosing bc BOTH OF THEM LIVE IN LA LOL????” so really thats the only part i thought was stupid.

all in all, i personally think that if going into this you 1) dont take it too seriously and 2) dont go into this thinking youre gonna get a taylor swift story and set it on some pedestal it has no business being on then youll enjoy it better lol.

This was a DNF after 40%. I really wanted to like this as I’m a Taylor Swift fan, but I found myself uninterested in the plot and the characters.
I couldn’t get into the writing style. It felt all over the place. Sadly this was not for me.
The cover art of the book however was perfection.

I really enjoyed this! Thanks to PRH audio, I listened to the audiobook and Brittany Pressley and Dan Bittner are such a great pair.

I enjoyed this second chance romance with Taylor Swift vibes. Riley and Max haven’t spoken since their breakup, but she shows up at his workplace. She’s written an album with breakup songs about all of her exes and she wants to share the song is about him. He joins her on tour to play that specific song. Between the tour and sharing a tour bus with Riley and her mom, they’re start to rediscover why they fell in love, but can they get it right this time?

I loved Riley. I understood why she was the way she was and how she felt her life had to be that way for her music. Max has settled into work at his family’s business where he plays music, but isn’t living out their dream like Riley is. I felt like Riley and Max discussed their feelings and their relationship. I loved the ending at her show!

This book is dedicated to the Swifties and the story is loosely based on Taylor herself but my advice is…put that out of your mind. If you spend the whole novel comparing these characters to her life, you’ll miss how much fun this one truly is on its own! I love how we get to see so many sides of Riley. She’s strong and independent, especially when she’s doing a show, but she’s also vulnerable and lonely which makes her more relatable. Max is a solid companion for her in my opinion. The chill and cozy to her loud and wild.

Definitely pick this one up if you’re a fan of second chance romance, a strong female MC, and lyrical prose that’ll make you smile.

The Break Up Tour written by Emily Wibberley and her husband, Austin Siegemund Broka was such an inspiring story. It was raw, pure, heart breaking, and heart warming all at the same time. I loved this book so much, it even brought tears to my eyes at times, it made me laugh a few times, it even resonated with me. If you have EVER had your heart broken, Austin and Emily hear you. They wrote this book just for YOU. When I saw the cover for this book, I knew I had to get my hands on it, because it's just so beautiful. But then I found out it was inspired by Taylor Swift. You don't have to like Taylor Swift to read this book, if you have ever had your heart broken, The Break Up Tour will definitely resonate with you on a personal level. Yes, The Break Up Tour is inspired by Miss Taylor Swift, the gorgeous queen of break up songs. When I was sixteen years old, I would scream Taylor Swift songs at the top of my lungs, I still do till this day, but this book was just so inspiring, it was so hard not to cheer for the characters during their difficult times. I loved every single minute of this book, it was beautiful to see the characters come out of their shells. I can't recommend The Break Up Tour enough, please do yourself a favor and grab a copy immediately.

THANK YOU TO NETGALLEY AND BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP FOR AN ARC OF THIS BOOK IN EXCHANGE FOR AN HONEST REVIEW!!!!!

PLAYLIST
You Belong With Me- Taylor Swift
Lover- Taylor Swift
Blank Space- Taylor Swift
Cruel Summer- Taylor Swift
Anti-Hero- Taylor Swift
Sparks Fly- Taylor Swift
All Too Well- Taylor Swift
Love Story- Taylor Swift
Fifteen- Taylor Swift
Welcome To New York- Taylor Swift
We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together- Taylor Swift

Riley Wynn went from a promising singer songwriter to a superstar overnight, thanks to her break up album. Riley has learned to turn all of her break ups and failed marriage into a song, which has earned her the name The Break Up Tour Queen. Riley has immersed herself in the deepest hurts of her life in search of something inspirational. Riley has written a total of eleven songs, each about a breakup in her past. Every song has come easy to Riley, except for the last one which is about her college sweetheart, Max Harcourt. Riley's relationship with Max is the inspiration for this song of the summer. When Riley's ex-husband claims her hit song is about him, continues to make tiktok's with Riley's song, Riley does something she hasn't done in ten years, she calls Max Harcourt. Max and Riley were college sweethearts, but their relationship ended when Max wouldn't go on tour with Riley. It was their dream to make music and tour together, but Max's family business was falling through the cracks. Riley returns to Harcourt Homes and makes a deal with Max, Max has to go on tour with Riley and preform this breakup song together. With Harcourt Homes failing, Max agrees to go on tour with Riley in hopes of saving the retirement homes his family owns.

Riley was such a sweetheart, my heart went out to her when she was telling the story about her failed marriage and failed relationships. When people took Riley for granted, I just wanted to reach into my kindle and give her the biggest hug and tell her she was an inspiration to so many people. When Max and Riley preformed together, I swear I had hearts coming out of my eyes, they were just the cutest. When Max gave Riley pep talks about how she was an amazing person, it just warmed my heart so much. Max and Riley were seriously the cutest, the love that poured out of their angelic voices was so beautiful and mesmerizing. During their time on tour, Riley and Max hit some rough patches, their tones weren't matching the pain of the song, but as they kept performing together you could see the changes they made to make this the song of the summer. It was so hard not to cheer for Riley and Max, they did everything to put their hurts behind them to make this tour everything Riley imagined. I adore how Max wanted to take everything off of Riley's shoulders even though they weren't dating anymore, ugh, Max was just so perfect, I loved both of these characters so much. Despite the tears that were shed, this story was so beautiful and inspiring in so many ways. Thank YOU Emily and Austin for breaking my heart.

This book is a disservice to Taylor swift and every single one of her fans. How can you write an FMC that is an embodiment of every stereotype that exists about Taylor and then say “here this book is for you.” This feels like it was written by a bunch of men that hate Taylor

I loved this book! It’s about a very famous female singer named Riley who writes songs about her relationships. Her latest is about her college boyfriend Max, the one who got away. Her ex thinks it’s about him, so Riley goes to Max to ask him to join her on tour and play the piano on this song.

Max has never gotten over Riley and joins the tour, not knowing if their relationship can be rekindled. The tour puts a lot of demands on his time and his emotions, but the more time they spend together ťhe more they want to be together again.

I enjoyed the behind the scenes view of a rock tour, and their romance feels very natural and real. 5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

This was okay, but I feel the target audience was for Millennials and Taylor Swift fans. I read it as part of Berkley Reading Buddies

I first read this duo with their YA debut. I loved the first two YAs they wrote, then the next two fell to 3 stars. They then switched to Adult books, and similarly, I have loved their first two that they’ve written. This one, however, it their lowest rating for me yet.

Riley Winn has recently his super popstardom with her recent album, The Breakup Album. Eleven breakup songs written about each one of her exes. She also recently got divorced from a jerk actor who is trying to claim her hit song is about him, while it’s actually about her college sweetheart. Max has been working at the nursing home his parents own, when his ex shoots to fame. He hasn’t listened to her album until she shows up and asks him to announce the song is really about him. Instead, he decides he wants to find out if he made a mistake giving up music, and asks to play piano for her on tour.

I hit about 75% of this book and just couldn’t keep going. I skimmed the last 25% which says eek. Riley is extremely unlikeable and Max is just whiney. This is supposed to be a second chance romance, which to be fair is not my favorite, but we don’t get enough of their history to understand why they work together. I dislike second chance romances because I often feel like they just have the people get back together without truly working on the issues that broke them up in the first place. This book does exactly that.

Riley pretty much moans the entire tour that she only knows how to write break up songs and therefore she can never find love because she’s broken and needs to keep her success. Yet she’s still obsessed with being successful and only wants to focus on her career. Max on the other hand, has zero idea what he wants in life. He is wandering through life completely unsure of anything except for the fact that he’s attracted to Riley. But again, that seems to be all there is??

The character development is poor. The drama is repetitive. The book is too long. I honestly don’t know if I could find anything positive to say other than the first 50% was relatively entertaining. But it lost me after that because it just continued with Riley moaning about her ex and wondering whether anyone would love her for who she really is.

It breaks my heart that I didn’t enjoy this book as much as I have their previous novels. It just felt too much like Swifty pandering and I didn’t feel the romance at all. I loved Roughest Draft and Do I know You, so I’d recommend picking those up instead. This one is a skip for me.

Short synopsis: Riley Winn is a worldwide sensation, taking her new album of Breakip Songs on tour. Max, one of her Ex-Boyfriends, joins her on the keyboards to make money to keep his family’s Retirement home afloat.

My thoughts: I knew I would love this the minute I read the dedication “to the Swifties, and Miss Swift. I can’t claim to be the biggest Swiftie, but I’ve always loved her music, and the storytelling she does through music. She is a mastermind!

Now on to the book, I loved how lyrically this was written, this duo just knocks it out of the park every time! Their writing goes so well together, and the dual POV just flowed seamlessly.

Max was the cutest cinnamon roll, wanting to save the senior center. And how much he loved and adored his residents was the sweetest. I also really liked Riley’s relationship with her mom, I loved how vulnerable they were with each other through their divorces.

Ultimately I liked how it was a bit of a slow burn second chance. I felt like because of their breakup from before they had to go through the process to see the growth and re-develop trust for each other.

Read if you love:
- T-Swift references and Easter Eggs
- Celebrity Romance
- Second chance
- Forced Proximity/Only one bus
- Workplace romance

3.5 stars! Calling all Swifties fans, this one is for you! I loved the concept of a singer and songwriter romance, with all the songs inspired by love and heartbreak, which was like listening to a Taylor Swift song on repeat.

Featuring dual POV, Max hasn’t stopped thinking about his college girlfriend and one true love, Riley Winn, who ten years later, is now a rising star after releasing a collection of breakup songs about exes.

Second chance romance and celebrity romance aren’t typically my favorite, but it was fun to be immersed into the music world with all the emotions that come along with heartache.

*many thanks to Berkley Romance and PRH Audio and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review

Enjoyable second chance romance but take it from me Riley ≠ Taylor!

After her divorce, singer-songwriter and superstar Riley Wynn pens the ultimate breakup album and is frustrated when her ex-husband claims inspiration to its hit single. So she calls up her college boyfriend-who she hasn’t spoken to in years, and real inspiration for the song, Max, to join her on tour.

Marketed as perfect for Swifties and while I appreciated the cute “easter egg” type nods to Taylor herself, as someone with an encyclopedic knowledge of Taylor Swift, the comparisons between our FMC and Taylor really ended there. And once I separated the main character from my expectations that she was a Taylor Swift-esque musician, I found myself enjoying the book much more!

The MMC is much more likable than the FMC, but honestly both characters were a little tough to root for. I think it took a while for the FMC to break her hard exterior which made it a little harder to connect.

I am a big fan of this writing duo and really enjoyed their previous works because they create an excellent push/pull atmosphere between the couple and that was definitely present here. The song writing and background of touring was also really intriguing.

Infinite thanks @berkleyromance for the e-arc!

Riley Wynn is a rising pop star, who is catapulted to mega-stardom thanks to her latest album, which chronicles all of her relationships which have ended in breakups, and especially thanks to its unforgettable lead single about the one who got away. That song was inspired by Max Harcourt, Riley’s college boyfriend and fellow musician. When Riley’s narcissistic and very toxic ex-husband starts telling everyone that song is about him, Riley approaches Max, even though she hasn’t spoken to him in ten years, and asks if he would be willing to go public as the inspiration behind the song. Max isn’t entirely comfortable with the idea but he eventually agrees to go on tour with her and perform the song at each concert.

I’m a huge fan of second chance romances and it was clear from the moment, Riley and Max first reconnect after a decade apart, that they still have major chemistry. I enjoyed watching them reconnect against the backdrop of the concert tour, and I especially enjoyed watching them interact as they learned to play together once again.

Now, this was definitely a slow burn romance as both Riley & Max have some personal baggage they needed to work through before they could even begin to consider a future together, but I was definitely invested enough in their journey to wait for them to figure everything out, especially since the authors write those angsty, emotional scenes so well.

This one is perfect for fans of slow burn, second chance romances! 💜