I want to start by saying I really enjoyed Emma Lord’s YA novel, Tweet Cute. It was adorable. I also enjoyed her new adult book, Begin Again (just not as much as Tweet Cute). Her adult book, The Break-up Pact, was not a win for me.

First, here’s what I liked. The setting was great. Who doesn’t enjoy a good tea shop on a beach? The sub genre - friends to lovers - was one of my favourites in romance. The side characters were delightful.

Here’s what I didn’t like….the main characters June and Levi. To be fair, I liked Levi way more than June, but that may be because we only read the story from June’s perspective. I’ll try to avoid spoilers as I share some of my issues with these characters.

Here’s what I’d say to them if they were real people.
1. They cheated on you and humiliated you! You don’t have vows or children that encourage you to try to make things work, so get them out of your lives and don’t let them try to weasel back.
2. On that same note, if you’re willing to show grace or give second chances to someone who betrays you in one of the most crushing ways, then you darn well will do the same for someone who truly loves you.
3. Quit being so self absorbed.
4. You are surrounded by people who love you. Stop blocking them from your life and let them in. Be a true friend/lover/sibling.
5. Stop complaining about your troubles if you’re not going to try and do something about them.
6. When someone gives you much needed advice on how to succeed in your job, listen to what they’re saying and give their suggestions a try if the ideas are worthwhile.
7. Stop using your dead sister/friend as your excuse. Take ownership of your life and your decisions.

Another thing that bothered me about this story is that one of the main characters didn’t show potential growth or have their eureka moment until the story was almost done. Because the awareness didn’t slowly evolve throughout the story, it was hard to believe that any real change was made.

Although I didn’t enjoy this book, I know many others who will.

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I just reviewed The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord. #NetGalley

Incredibly poetic. Told from June's point of view and through the lens of her renewed relationship with Levi, this novel embraces the slow tides of dealing with a past that shapes her future with all the joy, grief, and self-reflection that happens along the way. While I would recommend this book to others, the pacing was far too slow for me to become truly engrossed in the book the way I prefer. Despite this, it was clearly well written and I believe most who pick it up will enjoy it.

Any book by Emma Lord is always going to be a hit in my opinion. She never fails to write a sweet romance, and The Break-Up Pact is no different.

When they were younger, June and Levi were inseparable, but after an awkward confrontation as teens, they haven’t been the same. Not enemies, or strangers, but more so acquaintances, with a cursory “Happy Birthday” or brief check in. However, after both June and Levi are publicly, humiliatingly, dumped they reconnect. While nothing happens, a photo is shared online, and the two decide to take advantage of all the attention they’re receiving; June could use the business at her failing business, and Levi is hoping to make his ex-girlfriend jealous so she’ll want him again. Instead, old feelings resurface, and things don’t feel so fake anymore.

A cute romance, with a spicy scene in the middle, that will give you happy endings for all plus a craving for a scone.

The Break Up Pact
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was so cute, such a feel good read. When June and Levi become the Revenge Exes, it is apparent of their natural pull to one another, except them!! Each glance and interaction was so obvious I just want to shake and scream at them to get together already. Their races, cake tasting, DJ hunting, and the ORANGE SLICE. It’s a slow burn for sure.

Now, it starts off SLOW. I was a bit frustrated with June not confronting Levi head on and just hopping into this fake dating scheme while she’s rightfully angry with him, wasn’t a good way to start their friendship again. And the whole Kelly situation was ugh. In the beginning, it seemed like Levi wanted to have all the cake and eat it too, but towards the end I became more empathetic about how difficult change was for him, as he’s done everything according to this 10 year plan.

Overall, a lovely read and I really enjoyed the take on their relationship, as it reflects a real adult relationship with realistic communication and to the uncertainty of moving forward with a partner. SHE is the story, he wrote about the people she loves for her 😭

June and her childhood best friend embark on a fake dating adventure in order to minimize their embarrassment after both of them became memes. The premise was very interesting and explored how social media is changing our behaviors. However, I found most of the plot very ridiculous (a restaurant is too busy so the landlord is upset?!)I. found June's character resistant to growth, which made it challenging to connect with her. June also was not fully honest with Levi and her friends, which frustrated me. Levi was very ambivalent about most things.
I enjoyed the friendship between Sarna and June! Sarna was my favorite aspect of the book.
Overall, I could not connect with the main characters and it felt like a chore to finish the book. June and Levi kept making the same mistakes over and over and their motivation was not fully explained.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the chance to read an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Any book by Emma Lord is always going to be a hit in my opinion. She never fails to write a sweet romance, and The Break-Up Pact is no different.

When they were younger, June and Levi were inseparable, but after an awkward confrontation as teens, they haven’t been the same. Not enemies, or strangers, but more so acquaintances, with a cursory “Happy Birthday” or brief check in. However, after both June and Levi are publicly, humiliatingly, dumped they reconnect. While nothing happens, a photo is shared online, and the two decide to take advantage of all the attention they’re receiving; June could use the business at her failing business, and Levi is hoping to make his ex-girlfriend jealous so she’ll want him again. Instead, old feelings resurface, and things don’t feel so fake anymore.

A cute romance, with a spicy scene in the middle, that will give you happy endings for all plus a craving for a scone.

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord: 3 stars


I’ve loved all of Emma Lord’s YA books that I’ve read, so I was very excited for an adult fiction novel. And while I enjoyed it, I think they should’ve trimmed quite a bit of length from this novel. It felt like it dragged several times throughout and went into too much detail. With that being said, I still enjoyed the story and will still continue to read anything Emma Lord writes.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the digital ARC.

Emma Lord is the queen of cozy romance YA stories and this just proves it! This story was so sweet and funny! The FMC ran an ocean front tea/scone shop and I wish I could try one of those scones in real life, they sounded delicious!

The romance between the two main characters was such a sweet second-chance story and I was just rooting for them from the beginning.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for my digital ARC!

First off, thank you Emma Lord and St. Martin’s Griffin for the opportunity for the eARC. The cutesy cover sucked me in and I’m glad it did. This was a cute story about a tea shop owner and a writer working through past feelings and current break ups. The main male, Levi, occasionally bothered me with his indecision BUT I still liked the story enough to keep reading. If I could change one thing, it had a few slow moments that could have been cut out. Overall, if you’re looking for a romance with a HEA, give this one a chance.

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the advance copy of The Break-up Pact by Emma Lord.

The Break-up Pact is a second chance, fake dating romance between childhood friends who have a falling out in early adulthood.. The story takes place in a small town where June and Levi meet again after both are thrown into internet fame when their respective exes break-up with them in very public ways. This is a slow burn romance that builds immense tension between the protagonist June and Levi.

In addition to the romance, this story has themes of grief and self-discovery.

This is a great read for those who enjoyed In Five Years by Rebecca Serle.

As a second chance romance and fake dating romance trope fan obviously i had to read it as soon as i saw it! And i am glad that i did. I really enjoyed this book. I loved the characters and their romance!! But did i wish that we got more romance? More indepth? Definitely yes. However, still i had a great time reading this book!

Emma Lord is a new author to me and her latest book “The Break Up Pact” ticked all of my boxes for the perfect romance. Second chance romance? Check. Fake dating? Check. Delicious food? Check. Excellent start.

I enjoyed the protagonist, June, although I found her character somewhat inconsistent. I definitely rooted for her, although I also found myself wishing she would just lose it, yell, scream, have a little breakdown. Maybe I am more wired for drama, but she seemed to take everything on the chin, and I found her calm approach to conflict somewhat disconcerting.

I also enjoyed Levi, however, I felt that I never really got to know him as well as I would’ve liked. We never got deep into his goals or feelings about his future. Hearing about his writing, his process, his stumbling blocks, was lovely, but made me yearn for more detail. He never felt quite real to me.

I did love the way June and Levi treated each other throughout the book. Despite their tumultuous history, their interactions remained calm, respectful, and for the most part drama free. When they were hot, they were hot. They seemed to truly like each other before admitting to loving each other, which seemed like a recipe for long term success.

The beginning of the book was a little slow for me but the tension in the middle of the book ratchets up nicely. The resolutions to the conflicts are believable, although again I felt somewhat quiet considering how momentous they were. Nevertheless, “The Break Up Pact” was a solid three star read for me.

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

‘The Break-Up Pact’ by Emma Lord is a super quick and fun book, perfect for a pick-up while lazing on the beach in the summer. I rated the book 3 out of 5 stars.

The book follows June and Levi who were childhood best friends but slowly drifted apart when they grew older and their reconnection and love story through grief. The friends-to-lovers trope is one of my favorites of all-time and this one did not disappoint.

June and Levi’s love was sweet and heartwarming. Levi knew June like the back of his hand and June was so patient with him. The writing in this book was great and allowed for the deep trust and love the had for each through the years to be conveyed convincingly to the me as the reader. The highlight of this book was easily the healthy communication between the two which made me like them that much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-ARC.

Completely spoiler-free review!

Read this if you like: fake dating, friends to lovers, slow burn

Overall, this was a cute story with a lot of potential. What made me give it a lower star rating were the characters.

I had a bit of a hard time connecting with them. The characters were immature and not really likeable in my opinion. Sometimes, they would act in a way that did not make sense to me, but there was little. to no explanation as to WHY. I could not justify their actions and feelings. What I love the most about books is being able to feel as though I am in the characters' heads, but I had such a hard time doing that in this case.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of The Break-Up Pact ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for a digital ARC of The Break-Up Pact.

I gave this one 3 stars, but if I could I would give it 3.5. The writing was well done with flushed-out and fun characters. I easily got lost in the story and finished it in two days. I thought it was cute enough, but not one of the greats as far as rom-coms go. I like how there was a grief aspect in the story, and how it was handled. Emotional, deep, and laugh-out-loud moments. The reason I didn't give four stars is because the miscommunication between them was a little drawn out. The needing space, I don't know, something about it didn't work for me. I would definitely read more from this author though, as I believe this was her adult novel.

This was a sweet book! The main character is easy to relate to and the dynamic between her/the love interest has enough tension to keep you interested from the start of the novel. I'd recommend to my contemporary romance reader friends. This was the first novel I've had the chance to read by Emma, and I was impressed by easily it hooked me!

"There's a moment our eyes meet, and there's a spark between us that feels like it could light a flame."

This book was so sweet and was the perfect valentines day read! I loved the whole vibe of this book. Small-town romance meets slow burn and childhood friends.

It never really felt like fake dating to me. You could see the feelings coming from all angles but almost like it was ignored until just the right moment.

Another thing I loved was that the romance wasn't always front and center. These characters clearly had lives to live and other things going that they had to take care of and do, which was another thing that I loved from the beginning.

There was no real communication, even when tensions were high, it would almost get played off like no biggie and there would be no real resolution to the issue at hand.

Overall I loved this book, it was a good palette cleanser and a very easy read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for providing me with an eARC of The Break-Up Pact in exchange for my honest review!

My first thought to share is that this one felt too long. Plot wise it was interesting, but it felt like it was moving too slowly (or too quickly in some places) so it failed to keep my attention for more than a few minutes at a time. Some parts of the plot didn’t make much sense to me either - I couldn’t understand how the male lead and female lead’s sister remained so very close over the years, but the female lead herself had next to no contact with him despite their closeness. Then there is the idea that their previous breakups went completely viral - it didn’t seem realistic at all to me. And then within a few pages of seeing each other again they decide fake dating will solve their problems? This just wasn’t what I was in the mood for in a book. It didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

I really enjoyed the plot of this book. It was very entertaining and I had a good time reading it. The only thing I didn't buy in this book was the social media aspect. I didn't really understand how their past (and current) relationships were blasted all over social media and the paparazzi was after them to take photos when they aren't celebrities or famous figures. I think I would have bought this more if it was a local newspaper versus TikTok or social media as a whole.

The break up pact was a cute read. I would file under predictable but lockable none the less. The rom-com checklist was reviewed and all the boxes were checked. I am by no means saying this was a bad book! It’s a comfort read, like many other rom-coms. There’s no surprises, not a million details and names to remember- just a cute comfy read. I will read books like this any day of the week!
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read in exchange for my opinion.