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! 💜

This is a love story filled with lyrical writing and hope. It’s told via dual POV’s of Riley and Max, and I loved the sprinkle of song lyrics throughout the book.

Read if you enjoy
Celebrity Romances
Second Chance Romances

Some things I didn’t like was that I felt like Riley and Max really didn’t have any chemistry, the book was lacking the tension and banter that I typically enjoy in my romances. Also, I feel despite it being told by dual POV’s, I don’t know anything about Max.

Riley is a pop singer, who had a shorter than expected marriage. She used her heartbreak to write hit songs on her latest album, all inspired by past love. When her ex-husband of 3 months tries to take credit for the biggest single, Riley asks her college boyfriend Max if he would go public as the real muse behind the song.

Max wanted to be a musician and loved to play music, so he puts in the condition that he could join her band and go on tour with her. He’s been working at his family’s business, a retirement home, but it’s not what he dreamed of doing with his life. As Riley and Max begin to get closer, they remembered what they liked about each other back in college and they wonder if they should rekindle their flame. Riley still has a lot of emotional baggage from her short marriage, but ultimately decides it’s worth exploring.

This is clearly inspired by the world’s biggest pop star, Taylor Swift and her mega hits about falling in and out of love. I’m a huge Swiftie! But I wanted to love this so much more than I did. Max has zero personality besides being a martyr for his family and their business. He finally shows a little when he asks Riley to join the band. Riley seems so young for being 30 years old. The second chance romance was pretty boring for a mega superstar. I did like how Riley was also helping her mom move on after a divorce together.

Thank you @berkleypub and @prhaudio for my gifted ALC. The Breakup Tour is out today.

Pop superstar, Riley Wynn is going on tour for her latest album and bringing along her first love as her pianist for the hit song inspired by their romance. As they tour across the states, they reflect on why their relationship ended so long ago and feel the tugs of an invisible string pulling them back together 😉.

It was such a fun read during my winter vacation. I was rooting for Riley and Max the entire time (while imagining that Travis Kelce was a pianist and not a football star.) It’s Taylor Swift fanfic and just plain fun! *Gifted by Berkley Publishing

THE BREAKUP TOUR is a second chance romance about a superstar singer who is on tour performing her breakup album, each song inspired by one of her exes. The hit song is about Max Harcourt, her college boyfriend who she’s never been able to forget.

This is a Taylor Swift inspired romance — I’m not a huge swiftie (getting there!) so I probably didn’t pick up on all of the little Easter eggs, but I did catch a few song references 😊🎶

I loved the dual POV and the second chance angst (my fav trope). The heartbreak and healing journey to love was beautifully written. THE BREAKUP TOUR is a slow-burn and the HEA was perfectly satisfying.

I am a huge Wibbroka fan and will read anything they write 🫶