Fun and flirty, but not my favorite Emma Lord book so far. There were *some* steamy scenes between the main characters, June and Levi, but honestly it felt slow at times. I was a little confused where the landlady came from (seemed to be a family friend, but then wants to kick June out of her lease? There was a lot of buildup of planning the wedding of Dylan and Mateo but then never got there as a scene in the book. It was cute, but not a page turner for me. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I will forever and always be an Emma Lord stan, and her adult debut is no exception! I read this in a day (sleep is for the weak), it was *that* fun to follow.

THE BREAK-UP PACT is yet another swoonworthy, achingly-sweet-I-got-cavities, and too-cute-my-cheeks-hurt novel by Emma Lord. But I think what differentiates this novel from her YA novels is the hard-hitting and deeply emotional exploration of grief. Lord delicately and tastefully (please appreciate the pun) took us through June's emotions of dealing with grief, coming to terms with it, and finding herself in the process. Both June and Levi are figuring their lives out in times of distress, and ultimately, come to understand that doing what's best for you is the most important. The genuine and heartwarming way both of the characters evolved and re-connected with each other is especially authentic, and definitely left me yearning for as loving of a relationship as theirs :').

I will say, Levi definitely has his flaws, and could've handled some situations very differently - but isn't the point of a coming of age novel seeing how the character grows over time? The side characters were also a highlight, as most Lord novels are :)

No Emma Lord novel is complete with out mouthwatering baked goods, and this novel lived up to the expectation. I've never had a scone before, and now I really want to try!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

This is a lovely friends to lovers story mixed in with a little fake dating side plot! Emma Lord did such a great job hashing out and explaining June and Levi’s feelings throughout the story, I’m pretty sure she was a therapist in another life.

argghh. where do i start. well, first of all, i did not finish this one. i don’t usually dnf. in fact, there are only 2 or 3 books on my dnf shelf. but it was just too horrible to pass up on the wonderful opportunity of acting like i’m a picky reviewer.

yes, i will be marking it as read. don’t shame me, you’re not perfect either.

i’m not a hard girl to please. give me a pastry, i’m a happy gal. in fact, i’ve been known to give the best reactions to underwhelming birthday gifts. and emma lord knows that. both of the books i’ve read from her (what an extensive collection, #1 fan who?) were hits. she always delivers on plots, weird traditions, and ya goodness, disappointedly, what i learned from this book was that she should just keep writing books for teens.

no, i will not recount the plot for you. unlike lord, i will spare you from the monstrosity that is fake dating..when she writes it. instead, i’m going to tell you my problems with this without spoilers, or names, or context. reading this felt like one of those dreams you have when you take a short nap and wake up 300 centuries later, so i literally have no recollection of some parts of this book.

one. diversity. yes, it’s always wonderful when we see representations of ourselves in beloved book characters. and maybe some little girl will see herself in sana, so for that, hopefully emma lord inspired her and then those interesting (to say the least) thoughts about diversity would’ve helped someone. but it was apparent that emma might’ve had a checklist for things she needed to include in her book.

- weird-ass bakery with landowner telling main character it’s time to get out of the owl house
- chemistry and a connection (if she has time)
- most importantly…diverse best friend who’s only purpose is to help main character and be diverse and write diverse things

my friend is telegu, and also got an arc for this book. what she found, and i wholeheartedly agree with, is that it’s often worse to have a character of color who’s sole job is to be of color, than no representation at all. sana was written with countless micro-aggressions that were incredibly out of touch, and it was like lord set out on a mission to make sure she wrote the most stereotypical character of color there was.

two. steam? more like fog. what comes with writing an adult book is inevitably adult material. i feel barely old enough to read steamy scenes, and always skip them. call me a wimp, they’re just not for me. but what steamy scenes can develop are strong connections between characters and emotional bonds that we get to witness in the pages of our books. since emma is such a master at writing young characters who don’t need to have sex or make out in order to truly enjoy each other’s company, i expected the chemistry between our two main characters to be even better with more tools in her belt.

but no.
somehow, i was even more disconnected from their relationship than i was with lord’s ya books! thank god this isn’t ya, because i don’t know if i would’ve made it past the 5-page mark. both the characters were just so two-dimensional, so their chemistry and moments together fell flat.

i’m so disappointed, because i hate giving bad reviews for an arc. and i do love emma’s ya books, but this was any old unoriginal ali hazelwood romance doled out at starbucks moms’ meet and greets or green juice cleansing afternoons. the gen-z name-dropping didn’t help either, but i guess i signed up for that because of the oops-we-went-viral trope. should’ve been a red flag from the start, right?

sadly, i would not recommend. i hope emma can explore different facets of herself as a romance author with new ideas she can unlock now that she’s stepping outside of ya. but in my opinion, ya is the way to go for her now.

1 star for the beach vibes. the obscure celebrity references weren’t enough to save this book.

(insert crying meme face here. if you read this you would understand. believe me, it’s better not to.)

——————————————————
pre-review: and she never trusted her instincts again.

friends-to-lovers is always a hit or miss, but i trust in my lord and savior…emma lord! (also apparently they go “viral” so we’ll see if i’m going to be engulfed in weird vampire diaries fanfiction, obscure celebrity name-dropping, and rainbow bagel references?)

thank you to st. martin’s press & netgalley for the arc!

Thank you to NetGalley and the St. Martin’s Griffin publishing house.

This story is so beautiful. June is trying her best to handle the fact that her sister passed away. The grief that is explored in this novel is well done. June and Levi have been best friends since high school. But they drifted apart by the grief and some drama. Levi's character and main love interest wasn't my favorite which is why I didn't give it more stars. He is kind of frustrating and not trustworthy.

I highly recommend this novel. I will be picking up more of the authors works in the future.

This feel-good romance was an easy read. The setting and general premise was promising but the story lacked depth for me. The conflicts that existed to propel the plot felt weak and unbelievable to me. The internet-speak was a bit too much for me at times. I found myself wanting more development in regards to Annie and who she was to each of the characters. That subplot had a lot of potential to be emotionally powerful but fell a bit flat for me. Not sure I would actively recommend this book, but I certainly wouldn't warn against reading it either. If you like cheesy second-chance romances, you may enjoy this book!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was such a fun read and made this snowy weekend so much sunnier! I loved June, Levi, Sana, Dylan, and Mateo so much that they seem like good friends. They have so much history linking them and their ties become even tighter when June and Levi are both publicly and humiliatingly dumped. Their humiliation is spattered across social media and when they find themselves both in their hometowns, they are forced to confront their pasts, evaluate their presents, and decide what they want for their futures. When they accidentally fall into the hashtag #RevengeExes and agree to “fake” date, all bets are off and it’s so much fun! I couldn’t stop reading and loved it all.

Thank you so much @netgalley and @stmartinspress for the advance copy, I had so much fun @dilemmalord and look forward to reading more of your titles! ❤️

I really enjoyed The Break-Up Pact. Not only was it a cute rom-com, but both of the main characters went through a journey to find themselves. This added a lot more substance to the story which made it much more enjoyable. Emma Lord is great writer because her stories are easy to follow, and her stories make it difficult to put down. This is one of the best romance novels I've read in awhile. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

June and Levi have something in common. Both of them have just been dumped. Their significant others have cheated on them. What’s worse than that? How about having it done in the public eye. Now June is trying to erase her new viral legacy as the crying girl meme and Levi is just trying to lay low and not see his name splattered all over Page Six.
That’s not all these two share though. They grew up together. They shared a childhood filled with laughs, love, and tears. So when Levi comes back to their small town, it’s obvious what these two need to do… fake date each other and start a Revenge Exes trend on social media.
But what happens when old feeling emerge and it stops feeling so fake? What happens when the exes that humiliated them come back into the picture?

I loved this book. June and Levi not only have chemistry but their story was endearing. You can’t help but root for them. With both of them coming off of a bad break up and falling into their old friendship was the perfect setup for them to fall in love. I’m happy that it was a slower transition between the friendship and relationship. They both needed to heal from not only their breakups but their pasts as well before they could have a future together.
The only thing I wish the book had was a little more depth into why Annie acted the way she did. Was she jealous, in love with Levi, scared for her plans for the future to change? I was hoping for a little clarification on her actions. However it didn’t take away from the story

I loved this book! It was such a fun read…I read it all in one day. I loved the characters from the first page and couldn’t put it down.

Fake dating trope has to be top tier as far as I’m concerned. Also friends to enemies to lovers. This book was funny and sweet and romantic.

Maybe I should have given this book more if a chance but I can't read books I don't enjoy. This was not the book for me. The writing was so boring and the lead female character drove me crazy. I won't be recommending this one.

I really enjoyed this book. I especially loved all of the characters. This book is certainly more swoon than steam which is just fine! The characters are lovable and the plot is fun. There were times at the beginning that I thought were similar to Wreck the Halls (again totally fine). I did think at first there were too many character secrets that were played to close to the chest which was a turn off. However, things began unfolding and then I found myself really getting into the story around the 20% mark. Overall this is an endearing story and I definitely recommend it!

In the first third of the book, I was asking myself “Who is Annie?” amidst the circus of a televised breakup that led to a fake dating scheme. I didn’t get a sense of whether the story was a romcom or a drama because any scene with Annie would mute any action. I later learned why, but it took a while. I’m not sure that I needed the mystery of who or what Annie’s role is in everyone’s life.

While there were aspects that I enjoyed about this book, Alex’s relationship with the characters who are her family and chosen family, I was also frustrated by the storyline for Alex and Levi, the ones fake dating. Just when I would buy into the possibility of a romance, I’d be pulled back. This push and pull did not feel like a slow burn. It felt more like insecure characters who had no idea what they wanted. I suppose that’s the point, that I was feeling what Alex was experiencing.

The 3 star might be my bias that I don’t like to mix romcom with drama, and this book is both, depending on the chapter. The story is fairly standard romance, but the scones were fun.

This is an incredibly cute book.
Levi and June grew up together along with her sister Annie and Dylan. Many wonderful things kept them close until Levi moved away to school altering everyone's plans.
After tragedy strikes and they lose one of their own. Levi and June continue on separate paths in their lives.  June runs the tea shop that her sister and her dreamt of and started up and Levi works away in New York. Losing touch over something in their past. These two are brought back together for some crazy break ups with their now exes in one of the most adorable stories I've read. 
The cast of characters, the fun locations and stories  are all one of the most charming parts of this book. The Revenge Exes are something you won't want to miss.
5 stars. I loved it.

Overall, this was a very enjoyable summer romance. I liked June, her brother and his fiancee, and June's best friend.
However.
I did not like Levi. His reasoning for agreeing to the break up pact was infuriating and I could never root for the guy when he seemed so hung up on his cheating ex. Also, I wanted more closure with June's feelings towards Annie.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and St Martins for the eARC in exchange for my review.

I loved this story — a high school friendship renewed and reimagined. I love how the characters redefine themselves in the course of the story. Younger readers will relate to the impact of social media and reality TV as part of the narrative.

The premise of this book is funny and different. I liked the characters initially they started grating at my nerves. June is so weak and unconfident when dealing with Levi. And on the other hand, Levi is frustrating as well. Who actually wants to get back together with their fiancé who is actively dating the person they cheated on him with? I don't know, I just don't think this book is one I can recommend.

This had the potential to be a cute, summer, friends to lovers, fake dating romance, but it wasn't for me. I loved the setting (she owns a tea shop by the beach) and the idea of the "break up pact" to get back at their exes but it was missing something. There was also a heavy focus on social media which I'm not a fan of in books, and a lot of references and slang that will be outdated in a year.

*Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing this book, with my honest review below*

A great friends to lovers book by Emma Lord, The Break-Up pact was a comforting romance that had the best slow build between the two main characters. In doing this we got a chance to grow close to them separate from the romance, and to read through their development as individuals, especially when it came to how they honored Annie, June’s sister’s, memory. This was not about revenge but genuine love that came about from a pretty funny event. Recommended for anyone who wants a romance that isn’t all light and butterflies, but feels genuine.