Emma Lord’s newest literary delight The Break-Up Pact further reinforces her heavy hitter status in the romance genre.
Lord’s story centres around the characters of June and Levi. June and Levi were close friends in their younger lives and for various reasons become estranged. They then bump into each other many years later after their respective romantic relationships implode very publicly. The media looking for their next big story misconstrues this as a revenge tactic by spurned exes. An internet frenzy immediately ensues and the option to go along with the world’s assumptions to make their exes jealous comes into play. Other reasons for this plan also become apparent throughout the storyline. The ultimate question of what could possibly go wrong with this plan bears asking.
This book gives a unique voice to the trope of fake lovers with an all star cast of engaging, lovable and relatable supporting characters. These characters show their ability and willingness to cheer June and Levi on and catch them if their plan should fail. The themes of courage, regaining your forgotten authentic self and being intentional with your life despite many setbacks/roadblocks are hightlighted throughout this work. Lord’s writing style creates a seamless narrative that both keeps you invested in what will happen next and continuously rooting for that happy ending that we as romance book lovers most often crave. This is a home run and was an absolute pleasure to read. Thank you to NetGallery and St. Martin’s Press for the early preview and the opportunity to discover another work of literary genius.

Sweet, endearing story with unique enough details to keep it fresh and engaging. Strong characters and a well developed sense of place and space.

NetGalley Arc: The Break Up pact was a great read! I’m not a huge fan of books where the characters’ growth is completely dependent on their relationship with each other, and I thought that the author did a good job balancing having the characters experience individual growth and building their relationship. This is the first book from Emma Young I’ve read, but I definitely will read more of her books!

I wanted so much more!

This is the first ARC copy I have received through NetGalley and I was so excited. I had pre-ordered this book and just finished up Emma Lord's "The Getaway List". The cover of this got me and I am truly a "judge a book by its cover" reader - at least from the get go.

Would I recommend this book- sure. I would recommend to someone looking for an easy vacation read or a palate cleanser if you will, after too many thrillers or suspense.

What I loved- the setting of this book. I felt like I could smell the salty air of Benson Beach and fill the grainy sand every time June hit the beach running. The emotional story of Levi and June was sugary sweet, just as I imagine the scones and Tea Tide are.

What I didn't love- It felt a bit like whiplash. We go from no contact for ten years, to fake dating. There are so many characters I wanted to know more about and understand, but felt like I did not get that. Especially from her sister who passed, Annie. Annie felt like a character who was so antagonistic at times to the story and we never understood why. I think some chapters that were set in the past would have helped to tie things together better.

One more thing to add, publisher if you see this, a great note to put at the end would be recipes and lists of the scones made. The scones in this story were basically its own character and I am sure there is some parallel perhaps to the bigger picture, but I was to blinded by wanting to try "The Revenge Ex".

Can't go wrong with an Emma Lord book for any mood 🫶

📖 The Details:
The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord
YA | Childhood friends | Fake Dating | Slow-ish Burn

⏱️ Quick Summary
After childhood friends (who haven't talked in 10 years), June and Levi, both experience break-ups gone viral, they find themselves in a fake-dating situation. Wonder where that leads...?

💁‍♀️My Take
This was cute. Pretty formulaic, but that's why I read these types of books (YA, rom-com). Since I pretty much know what's going to happen in the end, I really depend on two things: character development and banter! This one had some great banter and the character development....happened eventually. It took me a while, and a few mental leaps, to get into these characters and whyyyy they hadn't talked for 10 years. It was dragged along for too long and didn't make total sense. But overall, a cute read with pretty likeable characters!

3.5 stars, would recommend!

I enjoyed the book at first but there was nothing to set it apart from any other book in its genre. Not the best but also not the worst . I wish the characters had not been as hung up on there exs. But thats real life.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks St. Martin's Press and NetGalley.
Two best friends who havent seen each other in years pretend to fake date after their own breakups go viral.

I’ll be honest, at first this book was charming and then it got stressful for me. Both people aren’t over their exes and continue to have some issues with trust and opening up. Theres a lot of miscommunication and bad feelings without really discussing. One of the exes is an abusive turd and that doesnt help matters at all. I'll be honest and say that for most of this book I couldn’t see a way to happiness for these characters because they have too much resentment and trauma over the past. They are also trying to heal over the tragic death of the MC's sister and that also makes it a bit sad. This book is a bit too heavy to be a cozy romance but I think a lot of people who have had hard relationships could really connect to this book and appreciate the healing process this couple went through. If I went into this book expecting it to be a fiction instead of a cute summer romance, I would have enjoyed it a lot more.

Note- There is a short sex scene that's lightly descriptive.

This book really resonated with me….i have experience life-altering loss like the main character and loved seeing her get a HUGE win in this book. Its not just chick-lit or a beach read, its a must-read for me!

This was just deeply okay. I found it a little boring because I’ve read books just like this a thousand times the only difference is this didn’t have anything to set it apart.

I was very excited to read this new Emma Lord book, and the premise has me excited. I am not a reader that is put off by mentions of pop culture references or TikRok. Overall it was a solid read, but it was missing that magical *something* her other books have had.
Levi and June are cute, and I loved their dates! I started to feel like it was dragging towards the second half. With the revelation of her sister being the catalyst for the miscommunication and the fact they didn't talk for years, I was half expecting when June was going through her stuff so see something pointing to the sister having a crush on Levi. Glad it didn't veer that way, as Kelly and Griffin provided enough drama lol.
I would recommend if you're into either the fake dating or friends-to-lovers trope, and don't mind Tiktok references and a story about going viral.

both the characters were just so two-dimensional, so their chemistry and moments together fell flat. I didnt enjoy this.

Cute book. I enjoyed the main characters, June and Levi, and the friends to lovers/fake dating tropes. I would have enjoyed more of a reaction/dialogue when June was thrown to the wolves for the second time on national television. She just swept it under the rug and didn’t want to talk to Levi about the events leading up to that humiliation. I wish there were more secondary stories with the side characters (Mateo, Dylan, and Sana). I really enjoyed all their personalities. Cute ending. Overall a fun read.

3.5 Stars! The Break-up Pact was a cute Rom com with likable characters. I really enjoyed Levi and June as a couple and appreciated the internal work they each had to do to end up together. This book was close to being a 4 for me but some of the outlying plot points don’t make sense. However, it was fun read with moments that were light hearted and moments with real emotional depth. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

The Break-up Pact was a beautiful book about self-growth, grief, friendship, and love. Taking a modern day twist, the main characters each had some internet fame which did not go the way they would have liked, but took it into their own hands. Once best friends, and now ten years later, they lean on each other through some hardships, while finding themselves in the process. I thought The Break-Up Pact gave us a deep look into June’s life and thoughts, and how she handled so many things going on all at once, while also building a relationship with someone she thought she wouldn’t be a part of her life again after something happened in the past. I really enjoyed this book, the modern storyline, the growth of the characters, and the support the characters gave each other throughout the book, including friends and siblings. I would highly recommend this book to romance readers who may also like to read through how someone else was dealing with grief, as well as the friends to lovers trope.

Could you imagine getting dumped on national tv then being hashtaged the Crying Girl? Could not get worse? Sure why not running into the boy you had a severe crush on in High School that didn’t reciprocate those feelings!
Soooo while taking over your older sisters tea shop and trying to pay homage to her, helping your brother plan his marriage …. You should fake date your old crush to help him get back at his ex while helping your best friend try and get published in her favorite magazine!
It must be exhausting being a people pleaser who pushes their own feelings aside to make sure that they get what they want. But what happens when you deserve more, discover that maybe what you thought wasn’t true could be a reality?

This book was adorable and so sweet but really was great for people like me who are transforming from a people pleaser to someone who knows what she wants and goes after it

Oh goodness gracious….. to say I loved this story is an understatement. I was so invested in every moment of this fake dating with a side of childhood besties. I loved watching both June and Levi navigate their way back to one another one fake date at a time. I always love a witty funny side character and June’s bestie Sana was just perfection. I was routing for them to deal with their grief and toxic past relationships and to realize they are just better together. I had some major Emily Henry vibes with Emma’s writing style. I really really enjoyed this heartwarming story of second chance romance. Side of pop rocks #iykyk

This was ok. Didn’t love, but didn’t hate. I loved the idea of Tea Tide—my dream hideout. I also really liked the idea of the book. Jilted lovers, publicly dumped-come together for a somewhat second chance. But I didn’t feel like I was “inside” the book; almost like I was at arms reach. I didn’t feel like there was much relationship or character development. They always had these feelings, but never acted on them. When they did act on those feelings it fell flat. The book touched surfaces of everything and didn’t delve into any one thing. Kind of bland for me.

This one was just okay for me.

Two people, June and Levi, who were part of an awesome threesome, including June's sister as kids, are now together again after going viral for all the wrong reasons.
June's ten-year relationship with an adventurist ended on live television, and Levi's fiancée left him for a mega-movie star.
Wounded, they each go back to their roots, the town they grew up in, and face the loss of a loved one, which draws them together and gives the paparazzi a new story to push- the Revenge-Exes are a couple!
While the concept is good, I couldn't get behind June and Levi's growing relationship. Rather than feeling organic, it came across as fake as they pretended it was supposed to be for the cameras.
Levi is wishy-washy with his feelings, a definite back-away-before-you-get-hurt in my book, and June kept giving him passes, which struck me as wrong.
I love second-chance romances, but this one missed the mark for me.

I loved the Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord. It's a fun look at a fake-dating storyline with an interesting twist of both parties having recently gone through viral breakups. The setting is dreamy and atmospheric.

I just reviewed The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord. #NetGalley. It is about two best friends who haven't connected in ten years.

I found myself rooting for June and Levi to not just find each other and what they want from their lives.

I liked the plot and the characters and I would read another book from this author..