Another fun fake dating scheme book! I enjoyed the characters June and Levi, and the development between the two. The book was sweet and funny, Also present is the friends to lovers trope which is really enjoyable. I’d recommend this book to friends, and I rate it 4/5!

June gets broken up with her boyfriend griffin, and is humiliated when pictures of her crying are all over the internet. Levi is taking a break from his girlfriend Kelly. June and levin were childhood friends and haven’t spoken inn10 years. But happen to run into each other and struck up a plan to fake date to get back at there exs.

This book wasn’t for me, it was terrible it just didn’t hit me in ways I needed. I didn’t get much emotion from Levi and I think that’s mostly what I needed. I also didn’t get much emotion from June. I’m an emotional reader. I would recommend it for a quick read.

This was such a cute adult rom com. There were some definite grammatical errors or things that didn't quite make sense that I feel will be caught by an editor. Cute story, flowed well, stalled at times and took lots of unnecessary twists and turns.

Having never read an Emma Lord book before, but being away of her work, I was excited to give this book a try, but it didn't work out for me.

The concept of two friends who drifted apart fake dating do to viral break-ups was fresh, and I think the set-up and early pages of the story were very strong. But the MCs are not.

The Heroine - June is stuck in her grief over the loss of her sister, Annie, which is believable and I am sympathetic towards, but nearly every single page has a reference to Annie and that doesn't allow June, Levi (Annie's best friend), or the reader to ever move on. It's exhausting.

The Hero - Look, I wanted to like Levi, but his entire reason for fake-dating June being to get his ex back (WHO CHEATED ON HIM) was depressing, lacking self-respect, and was mentioned way too many times. Add to that his own sadness over Annie's death and there is very little rom-com to be found.

Every time I thought June and Levi were going to have a Serious Conversation, one of them would say something that got the other to just accept the situation and move on - there was no growth.

I will say, the fake-dates were fun and felt the most RomCom-y, but they were bogged down with grief and unlikable MCs that I couldn't believe any of that connection between June and Levi would last.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Childhood friends-Check!!
Fake dating-Check!!
SO CUTE- Check, Check, Check!!

I really wanted to be on the beach while I was reading this book and that was my only complaint!!! It was really so cute! Thank you so much for the ARC!

This book is cute but really that's about it. It is the story of childhood friends, June and Levi, who drift apart and then end up back in their hometown again after at their subsequent breakups. The premise was cute, but there were a few things that didn't work for me.

There was so much focus on June's sister Annie who had passed, that at times it felt like it should have been her story. And I understand she was important, but at multiple points I wondered if her and Levi had been or had wanted to be in a relationship. Then there was Levi himself...he did a 180 so quick that it didn't make any sense to me, and definitely didn't feel authentic or believable. He was all about working on things with Kelly until he wasn't. If I'm June, I'm not trusting his intentions either!

Then there's June. June who felt so oblivious to everything around her. With Levi, her ex, her brother. Plus the ex drama wasn't enjoyable, with Kelly and Griffin being basically useless and only popping in when there was a need to move the plot along. Then they would just disappear again. June's best friend Sana was ok, but again didn't feel necessary to the story.

I just wanted to feel more of a connection to the characters and I didn't. I finished this a couple of days ago, and I had to go back to look up their names because I could hardly remember them. It's a cute palette cleanser read so it's 3 stars for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and SMP for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

🌟1.75

So many emotions for this book. Mostly disgust and disbelief. Honestly, I was baffled by the actions of both MCs in this book.

First... What person would want to remain friends with someone who cheated on you? Especially after giving 10 years of your life to them? The FMC, apparently. Even when the cheater publicly humiliated her on T.V.

Secondly... One of the reasons the MMC and FMC agree to fake date is so that the MMC can make his cheating fiance jealous so she'll come back to him. Where's the self-respect?!?!?

Lastly... The FMC easily forgives the MMC for every little thing he did wrong. That's not bad, necessarily, but there was ZERO groveling. He ditches her for a day when the MMC's cheating fiance shows up. No explanation and even acts like the fiance and FMC didn't meet. Oh, it's fine... I'll forgive you without little explanation.

I just didn't trust the decisions of either of the MCs. They were both too trusting. Frankly, they both gave me the ick!

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

The Break Up Pact by Emma Lord
This story is what happens when you are dumped in social media hell and so is your childhood best friend. You and your best friend end up in your childhood town and make a pact to fake date to get revenge on your exes as well as save face online….oh and maybe help to bolster your late sister’s struggling beachside tea shop.
I liked:
• The humour and wit in this story
• A quick light read
• June’s commitment to her sister’s legacy
Dislike:
• Predictable in spots
This would be a great read for 20-40 somethings that enjoy Rom Coms.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #StMartensPress for the ARC copy of this title in exchange for this honest review.

The Break-Up Pact was a fun quick read that follows the normal formula for romance books today. It is perfect for our readers who do not want an overly sexual book. It reminded me of a good old rom-com. Miscommunication, lack of communication, and funny supporting characters abound. All in all, I enjoyed this book, and will not hesitate to recommend it to our readers who are looking for a fun quick beach type read.

Received this as a digital arc. Idk why I enjoy the fake dating tropes so much.

It was a little cliche and cheesy, and some of the characters seemed a bit useless to the storyline, but regardless it was cute. Nothing too special, but also nothing too terrible.

3.5, rounded down.

There’s definitely a kind of sweet comfort that comes from reading a romance novel like this - you know what to expect. Here we have a couple of classic tropes: friends-to-lovers, best friends sibling, and fake dating. It was enjoyable, sweet, and seems like a nice summer read. After suffering the loss of their sister/best friend, the portrayal of grief felt legitimate and it was nice see 2 characters who are somewhat lost, find themselves. Although, I will say - the story as a whole fell a little flat for me… Can’t exactly pinpoint how though! There’s definitely millennial anecdotes: loving sweets, messy buns, “uptown funk” - which I’m just personally tired of reading. Ultimately, the contrived “virality” makes for an interesting start to the story but quickly becomes overused.

TLDR; cute romance novel involving fake dating/friends-to-lovers showcasing themes of grief, reuniting, scorned lovers, and internet fame

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing an advanced copy through Netgalley.

Thank you to @netgalley and @dilemmalord for early access to this amazing book. It was so fun, literally everything you could ask for in a romantic comedy. I’ve read some really amazing books this month, but some have been really heavy. This was the perfect palate cleanser. I absolutely loved this book. I flew through it. I’m not sure what more you could want from a romantic comedy- fake dating, second chance at love, and even a little enemies to lovers. If you’ve never read Emma Lord, do yourself a favor and pick up one of her books!

Two high school best friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral on social media. Cute story with familiar romance tropes and themes of self discovery, friendships and grieving the loss of a loved one. The indecisiveness and lack of communication at times between the main characters was sometimes annoying but it came together.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Publishing for an early release copy of this book.

This was a fun and easy read!

June and her childhood friend, Levi decide to fake date to help her business and help him win back his fiancée.

If you love fake dating, second chance romance tropes you will like this one! While it wasn’t a 5 star in my opinion, I did enjoy it and I still will recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks for the ARC on NetGalley.

When u started this book I was not in the romance mood so it took me a little longer to get into the book, but once I did I couldn’t put it down, when I wasn’t working or sleeping. I was able to be transported to a little beach town similar to the one I grew up in.

If you love a good story with scones that make you want to have them like “The Levi” or “The June” then look no further. Now I want to learn hope to make scones just to make those two.

The development of characters is great and it made me wanting to see where everyone ends up.

Hello Fellow Readers,

So I was so excited about this book, I've heard nothing but great things about Emma Lord's books and fake dating is one of my absolutely favorite tropes. Now, while I don't usually love books I do tend to enjoy them. The Break-Up Pact, unfortunately, not so much. If I had to put my finger on it, it would have to be the disconnection I felt from the Main Characters, especially June. She was just really bland and I guess nice but come on, she was just a mess and not even a hot mess.

I do understand that her sister has died and she's trying to save her failing business, but I still couldn't empathize. Levi was also just not my cup of tea. He was a cup of lukewarm day-old water. I also just didn't feel their chemistry, we were told multiple times that they were steamy together but I didn't even feel like I got one drop of condensation from them. Maybe it's just me and the whole friends-to-lovers trope just isn't for me.

Overall, just not one for me.

I absolutely loved this. I was expecting YA because Emma Lord is one of my fav YA authors but seems like she great at “real” adult reads well too.

This one follows June and Levi, childhood besties that unfortunately grew apart. They come back together when they both go through devastating viral break-ups with their respective partners cheating on them. June is deemed “crying” girl and Levi has to run back to his hometown from NYC. In order to overcome being laughing stocks and redeem their reputations they end up in a fake dating pack and are deemed as the “revenge exes”.

What I liked:
1. Childhood besties to lovers (oops spoiler)
2. Realistic fake dating despite the less realistic viral breakup
3. Supportive friends (Sana!) and family (Dylan and Mateo)
4. Set in a cute beach town. ( I love myself a good beach town read).

What I didn’t like:
1. Levi sometimes was unbearable, the whole help me decide my life thing was a little tiresome.
2. The sadness of Annie just always hanging in the air.
3. Being a tea shop instead of coffee haha. Just wasn’t relatable enough for me.

June and Levi were close friends as teenagers. Fast forward a few years later. June is struggling to keep a float her beachside tea shop, Levi is living a NY cliché as a failed novelist turned hedge fund manager. They haven't really spoken to each other.

They both experience public, humiliating break-ups with their exes that spread across TikTok and live tv. Making June a 'viral meme'.

Levi and June unintentionally make gossip of their own in the form of a photo that has the internet convinced they're in love. 'Revenge exes' is born. They decide to put aside their complicated past and make a fake pact to fuel the fire. Pretending to date will help June’s shop, and it will make Levi’s ex realize that she made a horrible mistake.

My Thoughts:

It was a really cute book. I loved the idea of the tea shop. There are a few things I wasn't a huge fan of, though. I wish there was more spice. The one very quick spicy scene made it seem more YA than anything.

Another issue was that some of the characters didn't really handle certain situations maturely. (I'm looking mostly at you, June!)

Lastly, the 'POC' was one dimensional and needed more than just writing articles about diversity. We started to see a small change in the end, writing wise for Sana's Fizzle article, but by then, it was too late.

This was my first book by her. I will read more of them. This book won't deter me.

This book was very cute! But not my favorite sadly and I did not love it.

I was so interested in this book for the fake dating trope and it was well done. The reasoning behind the fake dating was great as well.

My issue with it was that it didn’t consistently keep my attention. There were parts where I was like, oh my gosh this is so cute, I must keep reading and other parts (a lot more than the former) where I was just kind of meh about it. I also felt like it was entirely too long.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 ⭐️’s rounded up to 4 for me!

After a decade of not speaking due to their friendship being abruptly left in shambles, June and Levi find themselves thrust back into one another’s lives, and in a big way. They’ve both been publicly dumped and humiliated when a photo starts trending of the two of them together creating opportunities for both of them - and Revenge Exes are born.

June and Levi’s journey is full of ups and downs as they navigate their new friendship, process their childhood friendship and what caused its crumble, share their grief over their sister/friend Annie, and find their future thanks in a big part to their close friends, family, and they’re exes!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC - I enjoyed it!