This book unfortunately was not for me. It was a bit too cheesy for me and I didn't love the characters.

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord is a second chance fake romance friends to lovers Rom Com. Both of the MCs (June and Levi) have viral public break ups and end up together in their hometown. She is trying to salvage her tea shop (a dream with her late sister). He is trying to finish his novel (writing is also a dream with June's late sister - his best friend). It is a pretty slow paced book for all the things that are happening. And there is a little bit of the "well maybe you should have had a conversation" frustration. The characters are all pretty likeable, And I didn't dislike the book. I just didn't LOVE it. Perhaps it is the fact that they were friends and both single, so when the faux relationship heats up, it was hard to understand why they were still waffling. If you like friends to lovers you might well love it. I thought it was ok. (I received an ARC)

Thanks to #NetGalley for allowing me to read this book! I give ⭐️⭐️⭐️ out of 5. It’s the perfect quick romance book. Levi and June are cute and sweet. I wish there would’ve been just a little more. But overall a great, easy read when you need to remember that you love reading and need to get out of the book funk.

I enjoyed this book but I felt like it dragged on a little. Also, there were so many times when the characters were so frustrating! 3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I've really enjoyed Emma Lord's other novels and was excited to get a chance to read The Break-Up Pact as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

When her sister dies, June takes over her tea shop and in the middle of grief for her sister, and struggling to get the shop out of the red, her boyfriend publicly dumps her and she becomes an internet meme, "The Crying Girl". Levi is a writer, one of June's oldest friends and the object of her unrequited affection (or was he?) and back in town because he too, was dumped by his longtime love, Kelly. June and Levi, after not speaking for years, decide to fake a relationship so that June can capitalize on the unexpected surge in business and hopefully Levi can get Kelly back.

June fights the return of those feelings for Levi and maybe he feels something for her in return.

I really enjoyed the secondary characters Matteo, her brother Dylan, and her best friend, Sana. They brought the laughs to the storyline that I thought were really needed. I enjoyed the book, but think that it really seemed to drag a lot. It was obvious that June and Levi had feelings for each other and it seemed to take forever for them to get together.

All opinions are my own.

A solid read that kept my attention. The characters are cute and relatable. I would have liked to have seen more of the back story. It felt too huge to be glossed over so quickly.

loved this friends to lovers who try and figure their relationship out but start fake dating to get over their exes. loved the food mentioned and that he was trying to write a novel. loved the family and friends and hope to see sansa in a romance. loved that they came together and found a way to work out.

I didn't quite connect with this book like I had hoped to. The characters are good together but the story didn't flow to easily and keep my attention. I do love the cover! Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you for the chance to read this NetGalley!
I genuinely loved this. As someone who has had that 'will they won't they' best friend relationship in the past, this ticked so many emotional boxes for me. June and Levi are once best friends who fell apart for many years, drawn back together by shared trauma, who must finally confront their long ignored feelings for each other. This focuses primarily on the best friends to lovers and fake dating tropes, both of which I tend to really enjoy.
I thought this also did a really good job navigating their relationship once they took that step: it was very complicated and nuanced, but never felt forced. I thought they could have pushed more into Levi's trauma from the death of June's sister, I would have loved a few head-hopping scenes in another POV. The spice/steam was JUST the right level.
Overall it was a really fun, quick, and moderately steamy read!

The fall out of breaking up on social media! I liked that June and Levi reconnected over both of them having had unfortunate breakups. I think they were what each other needed to heal and rediscover themselves. The adults they have had become from their teenager selves. This book was both light and dark but well done. Sana was definitely the best friend every girl needs. Thank you to NetGalley for this free advance copy. I’m leaving this review voluntarily

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

To be fair, second chance loves and friends to lovers isn’t my usual romance trope. However, I thought I would give it a chance. Lord’s writing style is unique and very self-aware. There were times when I laughed or smiled reading through this story, but about halfway through I was rushing the read. June and Levi’s romance is very sudden and needed more fleshing out. I wanted a little more angst and anger between the two. I also wanted to feel like June cared for her shop more. It felt very obligatory (which is fine) but I needed to just get more of how she really felt about it. I wanted Levi to have more of a presence! I’m not sure who he really is. But overall, I give this book three stars because the writing was pretty top tier.

Overall I’d say I found this book super cute and enjoyable. I will say that I found Levi a bit unbearable during the “ex returns to town” part of the plot - how difficult would it be to just send a text? This did feel a bit more like insta-love than I would typically prefer, but generally I still really liked it. Fun, quick read.

Thanks so much to St Martin's Press and NetGalley.

June and Levi were best friends as teenagers and then they were not. Both experience humiliating breakups that cause them to go viral, and then a photo has now caused the internet to believe they are a couple. They start a fake relationship to benefit themselves. Will real feelings come alive in a fake romance?

This had cute moments, but this trope is not for me. It feels overdone. However, Emma Lord writes really well and there were good qualities about both of the characters. I felt I was more interested in the scones however! For others who are maybe more into this trope or believe that love conquers all, this book may be for you.

Things I liked - I liked their back and for banter. June and Levi are pretty cute together and have great chemistry!

I thought they both had issues that they needed to work through.

The Break-Up Pact is a fake dating delight! Following their respective public breakups, old friends Levi and June reconnect and rekindle a (fake) flame. Levi and June are cute, and their story is weighty in a way that many romance novels avoid. Here it serves to make these characters more dimensional and believable as they have to navigate real challenges toward their happy ending.

There were quite a few times while reading that I just wanted to scream, “GO TO THERAPY,” but of course, that’s not the romance novel way.

Content warnings: death of a sibling, mention of breast cancer.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for this ARC!

I'm one of the biggest Emma Lord fans out there! Emma Lord typically writes YA romcoms, but this one is her first adult rom com. To me, Emma Lord is the Emily Henry of YA romance. Less spice of course, its YA after all.

I fell in love with "You've got a match," "tweet cute," "begin again" and "The Getaway List" (coming 2024) and was excited to hear that Emma Lord was trying her hand at Adult romance.

The Break-Up Pact is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romcom about Levi and June. These two were childhood friends until a misunderstanding destroyed their friendship. Now they're back in the same area and both going through difficult breakups. They come up with the plan to fake-date and make their exes jealous. What could go wrong? Look I'm all for a fake dating plot, but I'm not sure I would do it with someone I had a falling out with. Ahh, its a book so it works.

To me, Emma Lord's novels work because she is able to balance the fun lighthearted romance with some heavier storylines that make you feel something and reflect on your own life decisions. This book is no exception.

I got an advanced reader copy of this book thanks to the publisher and netgalley. I wanted to love this story because a good friends to enemies plot is my cup if tea, but it took a long time to get into and the whole reason they were enemies just didn't seem great. I did like the ending as it was cute.

3.5 stars! I've read and loved all of Emma Lord's YA novels, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to read her adult debut! The Break-Up Pact is a charming friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romcom about Levi and June, who were once childhood best friends until a misunderstanding ruined their relationship. Now they're both back in their beach town, recovering after devastating public breakups with their exes, when they come up with a plan to fake-date, their very own breakup pact. They'll make their exes jealous, show the world they've moved on, and maybe even salvage what's left of their friendship. Surely their scheme could never turn into something real...or could it?

In signature Emma Lord fashion, The Break-Up Pact is filled with witty banter, fun pop culture references, and delicious treats (seriously, wish I could try a scone from Tea Tides!). I always appreciate how perfectly Lord balances a lighthearted tone with heavier storylines, and she does a great job of that in this book, as June is still grieving the sudden loss of her sister Annie while also trying to keep Annie's dream of owning a tea shop afloat. I liked June a lot, but while I enjoyed the storyline about Levi rediscovering his passion for writing, I struggled to connect to his character a bit more, which made their chemistry fall a little flat to me. I was also frustrated with how he handled the relationship with his ex (trying not to be too spoilery here!), so it was initially tough for me to really root for June and Levi's relationship. Apart from the romance, I loved the side characters, like Dylan, Mateo, and Sana, and thought they were all such great additions to the story! While I did want a little more from certain aspects of the book, I thought the whole premise was really fun and creative. Overall, this was a solid romance from Emma Lord, and I can't wait to see what she writes next! Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC.

I've come to expect Emma Lord's novels to be entertaining, with laughable situations, and likable storylines all packed into a quick and easy easy read. The Break-up Pact did not disappoint.
Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 2.5 stars

I have read and enjoyed all of Emma Lord’s novels. Her books are always such a good time, and so I was very excited to learn that she would be publishing her first adult romance book. But sadly, it was a bit of a miss for me.

The book is rather bland in my opinion. Nothing distinguishes it from other romance novels that have similar tropes. The plot also moved at snail’s pace which made it difficult for me to want to pick the book up and continue reading. I wasn’t a fan of the amount of OM/OW drama either. I get that it is part of the reason why they agreed to do the whole fake dating scheme, but Levi was pining for his ex (who cheated on him!) for half of the book. There were some lighthearted and fun moments though such as the screaming poetry and the epilogue. But it was overshadowed by the problems I had with the book.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Stories with pacts are always a fun storyline for me. It was a cute story. A quick read. And made me laugh. A recipe for a good romance. The only negative was misunderstandings and conflict seemed to overwhelm the story sometimes.