This book pleasantly surprised me, First off, I love a good childhood unrequited crush story and to top it off the fake dating trope is definitely a fun one. Here you can relate to the immaturity of kids, their big feelings and unable to understand how to navigate them to hey! we were really stupid before let's take this one day at a time. It's a good growth arc and I think the author did a good job showcasing that.
I did feel the story dragged a bit in between but it wasn't too bad.

Second chance romance, fake dating and childhood friends. Say no more, I'm in.

I love Emma Lord's books and this one was so cute. It gave me the best summer read vibes. If you like any of the tropes mentioned above, you'll like this one.

It was also the perfect mix between a light and sad read, I was crying in some parts for sure. Really enjoyed all the characters and the different things going up with all of them.

Some things that happened near the end of the book, I didn't love though, just seemed to be added in there for some plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me have an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I’ve learned recently that the childhood friends to reconciled adult lovers is not one of my favorite tropes because it’s very hard to pull off. There’s a lot of groundwork the author has to lay in order for me as the reader to become fully invested in the characters’ journeys. There has to be a lot of history between the main characters, a solid reason for why they stopped being friends, and then, of course, a lot of chemistry and mutual yearning when they finally reconcile as adults. And unfortunately, in The Break-up Pact, all of this led to far too much telling, and not nearly enough showing.

I hate being told over and over again how attracted the characters are to each other, how much of a connection they share, because if you have to tell me that three hundred times in a three-hundred-page novel, then I just don’t believe it, which is why I could only give this book a three-star rating.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced e-copy in exchange for my honest review!

3/5 stars. This author is hit or miss for me and I started off really enjoying this book but I felt it focused a little too much on Annie and not enough about the couple. This took me out of the romcom vibe the description makes it out to be and makes it a little more depressing than intended.

If you’re looking for fake dating, with a twist this is the book for you. As you discover not only do these two have a common goal, but a linked and misunderstood past. As they try to find themselves again, they also make sure not to give up on love. A great book with a very solid and lovable cast.

Perfect for fake dating, and friends-strangers-lovers tropes.

Spice Level:
🌶️ 1/5
One graphic scene with building and tension beforehand. Overall very nice and added to the story well.

3.5 Stars This is my first Emma Lord novel and it was delightful! I loved the beach setting for the story and the journey the main characters went on. I don’t like the miscommunication trope when it’s the cause of conflict in the third act, but it was done well this time since the main characters were aware of it and worked through the miscommunication together rather than running away.

This was my first Emma Lord book and I really enjoyed it! It was funny and sweet and surprisingly horny (in a good way-I wasn't expecting an open door scene!). The second-chance, friends-to-lovers romance was a total treat but I loved that the plot went deeper into themes of self discovery, grief, comparison, and how it feels to find your niche. I was chuckling, smiling, blushing, and kicking my feet all the way through this. The side characters were hilarious and made scenes where the two main characters weren’t together just as enjoyable as the ones where they were.

My critique is that I felt a little lost in the last ~30%. I was getting confused when Levi talked about Kelly and her expectations for their life, and confused further with where Levi and June stood. I had a tough time understanding what it was Kelly wanted and how that differed from Levi’s goals and how that affected him. However, there was a sentence later on that cleared up my confusion about Levi and Kelly and added some context to how their relationship dynamic compared to June and Griffin's. Ultimately, I appreciated that they felt similar things in their past relationships (June being pushed too far and Levi being held too far back). Despite this trust-the-process moment, I would totally recommend for fans of Emily Henry, Jessica Joyce, Kate Clayborn, Katherine Center, etc.

One inconsistency I noticed was that in the article about June and Levi at the beginning of the book, Annie was mentioned as being their high school’s valedictorian. But then when June finds Annie’s speech, she noted that it was for being salutatorian. Thought perhaps that would need correcting :)

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

I liked this book - loved the setting of Benson Beach, it felt really homey and small town. Loved June and Levi and the supporting characters. Romance often has a “miscommunication” trope, and I appreciated that when the main characters were miscommunicating in the third act, they were conscious of it and that it was a problem they wanted to face, instead of running away from it. Loved the Tea Tide cafe and the business element!

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC. Below are my honest thoughts on this book.

The Break Up Pact tells the story of June and Levi, friends in high school, whose respective breakups were both plastered all over social media (for different reasons). When a photograph makes the internet think they’re a couple they decide to play that up for mutual benefit. This brings back the feelings that Levi and June had for each other when they were teenagers, and their relationship develops from there.

Friends to lovers is always such a feel good trope for me. It feels cozy, and add that this story is set in a beach town, just adds to my cozy vibes.

Unfortunately I had difficulty connecting with June, which always makes it difficulty for me to get into a book. From the beginning of the book June just got on my nerves. I found her to be very judgy… not my cup of tea.

Slow burns? Also not my cup of tea.

While I didn’t love this book, the writing was still enjoyable, and I loved the cozy vibes. This experience with this book would not stop me from reading something by this author in the future.

Such a wonderful, delightful read!!

1st person, single POV. Friends to strangers to friends to lovers. Fake dating. Revenge plot line. Previous crushes/pining on both sides. Slow burn. Swoony MMC. Competent FMC. Open door. MMC is a writer. NOT second chance because they were never together to begin with.

I’ve read two Emma Lord YA novels previously and I didn’t love her writing style. It was very dense and heavy, with emphasis on Contemporary instead of Romance. It was like if Women’s Fiction was a thing in YA, it had that style of writing. And I didn’t love it in YA.

But then it worked so so well for this one. Heavy with exposition, but I'd still stay it's very firmly Romance.

I requested it to see if I’d like her better as an Adult writer and oh my god guys I do.

This was a book I could tell within two chapters I was going to just love. I wanted to draw out my reading and linger in the story with the characters but at the same time devour the story. It just beautiful writing, a beautiful story, and beautifully realistic characters.

Levi was so refreshing as an MMC because he was a little on the shy and reserved side, and I guess I just don’t read a lot of those. He felt more realistic than fictitious. And I love a realistic pining MMC.

June is competent though struggling with moving on in her grief. Her sister’s death isn’t super recent, but the cafe she runs was her sister’s baby, basically, and a lot of her character development comes from reconciling moving on with the past.

Technically there is not a third act break up as the couple doesn’t break up. FMC needs a little space and time, and MMC is more than willing to wait around for her. The time and space doesn’t take long—she just has to reconcile her anger at the past and her tea shop issues, and she does very quickly.

My only complaint is, just once in a fake dating for revenge story, can we NOT tell the exes?! Can the couple just get their HEA and the exes are just bitter in their corner? Especially because this one really blew up.

I’m actually really shocked by the low reviews on GR, and I can’t help but think that’s because of so many YA readers, because that’s where Lord got her start, picking this one up. You should absolutely ignore them and pick it up yourself. A captivating and engaging read that you'll want to linger in.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Quote to get you intrigued: The loose strand falls out from behind my ear again. This time Levi is the one who reaches out, the tips of his fingers skimming my forehead, grazing my ear as he tucks the strand back. “You know you’ve always got me, right?” he says. “I know things weren’t great between us, and I’ll regret that forever. But if you ever need me. No matter what. You’ve always got me.”

Triggers: death of sister prior to story but heavily mentioned

3.5 stars I previously DNF'd this book but since then I went back and finished it. Ultimately it was an okay read, Where the book fell flat for me was the way the main characters June and Levi handled their relationship, Levi especially. I just wasn't a big fan of both of them which made it harder to connect with the romance aspect. It was also incredibly messy at some points. It did however have a very cheesy hallmark charm to it.


Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm starting to realize I don't love the romance stories revolved around a plot that something goes "viral". Maybe its something about the word TikTok being in a book that doesn't do it for me. I couldn't connect with the characters but I did love the best friend Sana, I'd read her story.

I must start by saying this book had a good story and gave me a few laughs.
This is a cute story about fake dating between old friends who became strained and got in contact again after a few years.
It was okay overall but it took me a while to sort everything out. The story had so much going on between breakups, wedding planning, family death, managing a business, etc that it got me a little lost in the beginning! But still this was a quick read.
Thank you NetGalley and St.Martin’s press for providing me this ARC in exchange for my honest review

I really enjoyed the premise of this novel and everything that it represented, as well as the fact one of my favorite authors was diving into the adult novel world, so I was overjoyed to get the opportunity to read an advance copy. And this is definitely an open door adult novel.

It follows June and Levi as they enter into a fake dating/ second chance romance with a little bit of baking and best man/maid of honor shenanigans thrown in. This is a great beach read, with lots of fun elements that I thoroughly enjoyed

got an arc from netgalley!!!

the writing was a little slow in the beginning but got more captivating later on. it was definitely a roller coaster of emotions but the chemistry between the two was def there 😻😻. overall it was thoroughly entertaining and an easy read. i gave it a three out of five bc of the slow beginning but pretty good!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and Emma Lord for the ARC of The Break-Up Pact!

I REALLY wanted to enjoy this book, the fake dating trope is one of my absolute favorites. I do love a quick short read but this one felt like it could've been 200 pages longer to thoroughly resolve and explain everything.

The summary says they both broke up with their exes but the FMC (June) is going viral for crying after being dumped (by her ex griffin) because she had to move home and take care of her sisters tea shop because her sister DIED and so she wasn't being "adventurous" enough for griffin (they dated for 10 years, never said I love you) and the MMC (Levi) is actually still together and fully intends to stay with his ex (Kelly) after she's done continuously cheating on him with a GQ model movie star guy after it going viral and then blaming himself.... but then he sleeps with the FMC after claiming to be in love with her since childhood (they are childhood besties who haven't spoken more than a handful of times in 10 years after all) and still isn't sure he wants to break it off with his gf so he goes back to NYC to "take care of things" and goes back to living with his ex gf where he then promptly tells said ex gf about the fake dating pact and then the FMC's ex is aware because the MMC's ex told him about the dating pact and the FMC gets humiliated AGAIN on television and she just.....goes home and forgives Levi......ok?

Sana was the saving grace of this book. I need a friend to show up at 8am with pizza and beer when I'm sad.

I needed June to get mad. I needed her to get ACTUAL revenge. Levi sucks and June deserved so much better.

There's something about a childhood best friends to lovers that makes me so giddy I want to kick my feet and squeal.

I think this is the perfect cute, low-stakes, summer beach read. Also, June and Levi are amazing MC names, so bonus points just for that.

The Break Up Pact is a cute, second chance at love story, however, I feel that this book fell short in many ways. The storyline unfolds in an unnecessarily drawn out manner, resulting in a boring plot with an anticlimactic ending. I think that if you’re drawing out a storyline, make the ending worthwhile.

The misunderstanding trope that echoes is more of a middle school romcom rather than a story about mature adults. Which made it difficult to connect to the characters & to truly immerse myself in the story.

Emma Lord is a new author to me, but definitely one I will add to my comfort reads. The Break-Up Pact may not be revolutionary in its cliches of friends to enemies to lovers format, but there is something to be said about a well written romantic comedy. From the back blurb, I knew that June and Levi were going to be a cute pair that weren't quite done with each other yet despite their separation over the years. As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words but when it becomes fodder for the masses that word count definitely rises; hence, the two decide to "pretend," but neither is ready for the catch-feelings.
As I have stated, it is one giant cliche after another in this cutesy rom com. But cliches are a thing for a reason and I love me a good romantic comedy trope. While I wasn't expecting much, this story still gave me laugh-aloud moments and warm tingles from the communication between June and Levi. Due to this easy-to-read gem, I have decided to add Lord to my feel good reads. Perfect book to read by the poolside or at the beach. I'd say a solid 3.5 stars.
** I received this ARC from NetGalley for an unbiased review.**

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨 » ★★★★★

I loved this book for all of the genuine banter, close friendships, heartache, karma for scummy exes, brilliantly themed scores, and all the perfect romantic drama that it is!

There’s a typical rom-com banter and then there’s June and Levi. Their connection was so genuine, I felt like I was in the same room and could feel their deep love for one another.

My heart ached every time June’s sister/Levi’s best friend is talked about, but it was a perfect touch to their story.