It was cute! Not my favorite book ever but I would recommend to someone.

It took me a long time to get into it but once I did it went by really fast. This book had me laughing out loud to some parts.

I would like to thank NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is my first book reading by Emma Lord and I’ve got to say that I’m a fan! Super easy and enjoyable read! Super cute storyline and loved all of the characters! Can’t wait to read more books by this author!

In support of the SMP boycott, I will be withholding my review of this title until SMP speaks out. If the boycott is resolved, I will update with a full review.

I loved the story. I loved the friends to lovers and the fake dating aspects of the n book. The burn was slow and angsty between Levi and June but too much. I think a lot of girls can relate to the guy best friends that they have feelings for and it makes the book more relatable. I’m giving 3 stars due to multiple editing errors through out the story. Spelling errors that happen more than 3 times in my opinion bring a reader out of the hole they get sucked into when enjoying a book.

I enjoyed this book! The friends to lovers was developed well, though I was not a fan of the initial miscommunication trope. This book made me think of bridge to terabithia, and June and Levi were the grown up versions of Leslie and Jess. Their running scenes were some of my favourites and my favourite character was Mateo :)

I had such high hopes for the book but imo it just did not deliver. I have never seen a faking dating trope I didn’t like but this somehow fell into this category for me. I was sadly disappointed in their lack of chemistry imo. Emma has delivered better tension and chemistry in her ya books so that was confusing in its self to me.

"The Break-up Pact" is an amusing story about two people, June and Levi, who had a comfortable friendship growing up and who should have become a couple long ago, but stubbornness (June) and indecisiveness/fear of conflict (Levi) got in the way. Instead, they ended up with other people and were involved in lengthy relationships that imploded publicly. June became a meme (Crying Girl) after her boyfriend started dating a costar on the reality show he was part of and proceeded to dump June on national television. Levi's (former) fiancée was a realtor in NYC with a high-profile clientele, and who was found cheating on him with a famous movie actor. June had previously returned to their hometown of Benson Beach to take over Tea Tide, the tea and scones cafe her older sister Annie had started, after Annie's unexpected death. Levi is back in Benson Beach trying to figure things out and to finish the manuscript he had been writing. June and Levi reconnect as friends but when a photo of them together, which suggests they are more than friends, goes viral, they suddenly start trending as the "Revenge Exes." They decide to "fake date" in order to help June's business, which is floundering, and to make Kelly, Levi's ex, jealous. However, as they spend time together, they remember what made their friendship so great growing up, and they begin to address the issues that pushed them apart, much of which revolves around Annie. The "fake dating" becomes more real and more serious, but numerous obstacles present themselves, including their former partners, and unresolved issues from their past and about their respective futures.

The "fake dates" are some of the best parts of the story. There is also a great supporting cast with Sana (June's best friend), Dylan (June's brother) and Mateo (Dylan's fiancé). A good portion of the fake dating occurs in the context of June and Levi helping with preparations for Dylan and Mateo's wedding, which presents numerous opportunities for intimate moments, as well as humorous moments. The dynamic between June and Levi is wonderful.

NetGalley ARC Review✨

The Break-Up Pact
By Emma Lord
Pub Date: 08/13/24
My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The Break-Up Pact is about 2 former best friends who both go through their own, very public break ups and come together to fake date each other to change the narrative around their stories.

June, was broken up with on a reality TV show and became a viral meme. She is struggling to run the business her deceased sister started and is on the verge of closing down. Levi, was cheated on by his girlfriend with a famous man, is struggling with his identity as an author and decided to go back to his hometown.

After 10 years of not talking, June and Levi decide to fake date to show their exes and the world that they have moved on. June is trying to use the publicity to save her business and Levi wants to get his ex back.

Along the way they rediscover their friendship and the crushes they had on each other in their youth. Their fake dates start turning into real ones and their feelings start to grow.

Will June's business be saved? Will Levi's ex realize what she lost?

This was such a cute story and perfect for anyone who loves a good, happy ending!

Childhood friends June and Levi agree to a fake dating scheme after both being humiliated publicly by their respective exes. This one just didn’t work for me, for several reasons. The idea of successfully capitalizing on a one-off viral moment felt really far-fetched - I don’t buy that anyone would be interested in June and Levi past the initial reveal of their relationship. Second, June’s insta-love for Levi while he pined for his ex didn’t lend itself to the best build up. Overall the plot just fell flat for me and the characters didn’t have enough chemistry to revive it. I might try other works from this author in the future but this one just wasn’t for me.

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord is a second chance, friends to enemies to lovers, fake dating, slow burn book which will be a wonderful summer read!

June and Levi were best friends as teens, along June's siblings Annie and Dylan. All four of them were inseparable. When Annie and Levi left for college, and after a series of misunderstandings and bad communication, June and Levi did not each other again - until now. After Annie passes away, and after a couple of viral breakups, June and Levi find themselves back in their hometown, and thanks to June's best friend, decide to enter a break-up pact. They will pretend to date to clean their online reputation, and hopefully save Levi's old relationship and Annie's (now June's) tea shop from closing.

Through a string of odd dates, trivia nights, and morning beach runs, June and Levi find their way back to each other, pact or no pact.

This book was a slow burn and it takes a couple of chapters to get really invested, but once you do, it is a true can't-put-down book you will truly enjoy. One of my favorite parts about this book was how much we got to enjoy their relationship - instead of just skipping to the happy ending at the end - it was nice to see them develop the relationship with each other and get to a good place for that happily ever after. The people around the main characters were great - Dylan and Mateo and their wedding planning shenanigans, Sana and her snarky, lovely personality, and the town in general with their screaming poetry, lively community, and small town vibes.

Give this book a try - it takes a minute to get invested but I promise you will enjoy it.

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with this digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This was a really sweet story. The characters are very lovable in which i love. It was a great rom-com as this was her first adult romance book.

My first book by this author was You've Got A Match which I've read multiple times and it's always 5 stars. In that book, I loved the emphasis on sisterhood, and i felt like romance was more a side plot. I'm gonna have to give this one a 3 stars coz it was mid. Maybe it's also that I'm in a slump and I'm pretty sick of romances coz they more or less have the same trope.

I know this author (I've read 4 of her books including this one) so I know she can do so much better. I hate how fast paced this book was, especially the first few chapters with the MCs going straight from "We're meeting after so long" to "lets fake date" in the blink of an eye. I also wish we had both POVs instead of just June's. This was Lord's first Adult novel venture, and I didn't like the attempts to make it adult. The adult problems or kissing scene or whatever, just not a fan.

This book was just so surface level I couldn't get in the MCs head and feel anything. It's like the author just wrote something for the sake of it. Like what I would imagine an AI bot would conjure if I fed it the terms "beach read", "friends t lovers", "fake dating", and "second chance romance". Of course, it wasn't THAT bad, and I'll talk about that in just a second. But please, where's the chemistry and sparks? What's happened t the writing I don't understand I just couldn't root for the characters. Could be me having high expectations but I'm not sorry for wanting something Abby and Savvy level from the very same author.

Why didn't I completely hate this book or DNF it? Well, it's the little bits that took me through. The familiarity between the MCs and the bond they share. I loved the relationship and memories of the MCs with June's sister, and how their loss of her bought them closer. I love Sana she's such a badass and how June later grows as a person. I liked Levi's backstory, surface level as it was and loved his quirks and insecurities and how those changed throughout the book. I also loved the very beginning when the MCs meet for the first time and that's the only time, I see the romantic potential. I genuinely think this is one of those books where friends to lovers shouldn't have happened and they should've just been left alone as friends.

Do I recommend this? No. Not a fan of the writing style on this one, or the execution or just the hesitancy reflected in the characters. I think I'm just going to resort to treasuring You've Got A Match and not get crazy hopeful about the next work by this author.

You'll love this friends to fake dating story and it will make you crave scones!

Best friends in high school then don't speak for 10 years until they both end up in their hometown because they both just had very public breakups. To get back at their exes they decide to make an revenge exes pack and start fake dating.

Thank you to NetGallery and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin's Press, and of course the always amazing Emma Lord for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
I would give it a 4.5 stars out of 5, I rounded up for the rating.

Part of my love for this book was the personal connection that I had to the main character. I lost my mother at at very young age, so I related to the themes of grief, finding yourself, and the guilt of moving on. The FMC, June lost her sister before the book begins, and both her sister and my mom were named Annie ironically. I liked Levi as well. I've been a pushover most of my life, just following along with other people's plans and ideas because I could never commit to what I wanted in life, so I connected with that as well.

The BEST tropes are here: second chance, friends to enemies to friends to lovers, small town, beach town vibes, found family.

I wasn't a huge fan of the current social media name drops in here. I would expect that more so in a YA, but the good totally outweighed this here.

For more - see my review @bookish_starry_skies (and yes, I'm fully aware I just complained about the social media name drops and then DROPPED MY INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT on here, insert face palm here)

I can't wait to read more Emma Lord!

Standard fake romance, rekindled friendship. The spice is lower end. This was a good ready, you feel for the characters, losing a loved one and the grief that comes from that.

The main characters were good, lots of little details about them give you the warm fuzzies at moments. The secondary characters were wonderful, and I wanted more of the mentioned secondary characters wedding. So much more.

I was hooked on June’s story from the beginning. So many parts of her life were so relatable that there were moments I found myself yelling at her, getting choked up or my face hurt from smiling. Loved her relationships with everyone in the book. I couldn’t put it down.

I adore a good little rom-com and this checked all of the boxes. Also the cover is so cute, and drew me in from the very moment I saw it. Excited to explore more of this author’s writing in the future.

This book was such an experience to go through!! There were so many parts of this book that had me actually laughing out and just smiling widely while reading. This book felt so real and close to home despite me not experiencing this or anything similar in real life. I also love how everything was so slowed down and meaningful. I don’t know if I would call this a slow-burn but it truly was just a passionate journey to go through with the characters. Even the one spicy scene was so slowed and meaningful throughout it that it made it feel so much more raw and engaging rather than rushed and horny. I will say that were were certain parts where I wish there was more angst and more explosive feelings, but this could also just be the characters’ personalities which were a bit frustrating, but it was still something that kept me reading and looking for more. This book was such a fun introduction to this author and I am so excited to read more of her work. (Also, even the author’s note at the end had me laughing, I love her writing style for sure!!)

I will always grab a book by Emma Lord. I loved “Tweet Cute” and I adored “The Breakup Pact!” I could not put this book down! The characters were fun and fresh, flawed and lovable. I loved the interactions. Dialogue was well-written, paced moved fast enough but didn’t feel rushed, and there was enough description to picture the scenes without going overboard. Definitely a show-don’t-tell novel that kept me hooked. I highly recommend!

Loved the premise of this book - two friends fake dating after their respective break-ups go viral. Unfortunately, I stopped reading this book about 25% through, I just didn’t connect with the main characters which made it hard to want to keep reading. However, this book does move quick if you’re looking for a quick read!