AHHHH we love a fake dating trope!!
June and her childhood friend Levi embark on a fake dating scheme to boost her business and help Levi win back his cheating fiancée. (although, why would ANYONE want to do that?! is beyond me...) Their relationship pretty much breaks the internet and Emma Lord takes us on an amazing ride through all these fun dates that June and Levi go on. If it's drama the people want, it's the drama they get! And an even better bonus is that there is extra business coming in for June's shop and both of their ex's are actually getting jealous! (which hello, is what we WANT!)
While also being a friends-to-lovers-trope, we see humor as well as entertainment in ways that might make people wanting a more "solid" resolution so to speak. June and Levi find not only find each other, but along the way, they also find themselves. Such a cute and heartwarming story all around!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

The plot of this one didn't blow me out of the water. Overall - it was an average story plot line. I didnt connect with the characters as much as I would have wanted to. There is some humor but the story just dragged. Loved the book cover and I think most people will enjoy this even though it wasn't my favorite. Thank you to Netgalley for this EARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I loved Levi and June's friends to lovers story - plus a beach town setting? Yes please! This was such an easy read... I'll take ten more, please!

This was such a great summer read and I really enjoyed it! Such a good balance of rom-com and true feeling. The only thing, and it’s definitely a me-problem, was the heavy social media presence, but I guess that’s to be expected in this day.

Overall I think that this book was okay, but not great. I didn't fully buy the romance between the two leads, and the plot was confusing in the way of not feeling realistic, but not unrealistic enough for me to suspend total belief?

The breakup pact was a very cute rom-com perfect read to get you out of a slump. I enjoyed it very much.

Unfortunately this wasn’t a hit for me. I didn’t feel like it offered anything new or exciting. It took me a long time to finish it and I really only pushed through because I had an ARC. There were some great lines, but overall wasn’t an exciting read for me.

Quick read! Cute and sweet book! I really enjoyed the characters and I really hope this author does more adult fiction in the future. One of my favorite reads this year,.

As someone who loved Emma Lord's YA stuff, I was really excited to pick up an adult romance by her and it did not disappoint! Such a sweet story with a great balance of heat. Highly recommend.

Unfortunately has to DNF this one at a little over 50%. I typically love Emma Lord but this was not working for me. It just felt too slow and drawn out and I found myself skimming pages. I couldn't imagine reading another 45% of it and being interested enough in what happened.

Levi & June
I was so excited to read this. The adorable cover and the blurb just sucked me right in. Unfortunately, that's where it ended for me. It was very mid-level and was hard for me to really stay engaged in the characters. Perhaps they were just a little too young for me? I really just did not feel the romantic connection and as the story continued I just became more frustrated with them.

While I will continue to try this author again in the future, sadly this one just was not for me.

I enjoyed this but will not be posting a review due to the ongoing boycott! Will edit in the future if that changes

Thank you St. Martin's Press for the copy of this book.
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Read if you like: fake dating, second chance romance
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June and Levi used to be best friends, but they grew apart. Now the two are thrust back together after they each go through terrible and very public breakups. They decide to fake date in the hopes of showing their exes that they have moved on and help the business of June's tea shop.
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This was a heartwarming story of two friends reconnecting and I loved how each had to overcome some obstacles to get together. But I loved their journey. Overall, I really enjoyed this!

This book had it’s moments but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Pacing of the plot felt off. While the concept of the book was promising, the execution left much to be desired in terms of emotional connection.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
A fun heart warming fake dating romance that wasn’t super memorable

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
Childhood friends to lovers
Second chance romance
Small beach towns
Fake dating
Great side characters
Humiliating break ups
Heavier topics
Slow burn

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
The cover!

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Tik Tok mentions
Pacing felt a little off
Miscommunication

𝙵𝚊𝚟𝚘𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚀𝚞𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚜:
★ “Anytime I felt out of place, I would think of you. Something funny you might say. And then I didn’t feel so out of place anymore.”
★ “For a moment, there’s only us— two people who have weathered a storm and come out together on the other side. Two people built to withstand more of them, when they come our way. Two people built to last.”

4.5 stars-

What a sweet, loving romance! I loved how supportive all of the characters were of each other. The story involves two childhood friends who lost touch and reconnect in this book. The side characters are mostly their friends and siblings who know them both so well. We also have a couple of self-centered exes in the mix as well.

I loved the small beach town feel. There are strong themes of working through grief, supporting one another’s dreams, and mutual pining.

Overall a lovely story I highly recommend!

Thank you SMP Romance and Macmillan audio for my gifted copies. All opinions are my own.

I’m a huge Emma Lord fan and j was excited for her adult debut.

I mostly enjoyed this, but it seemed to lack some of the same magic/sparkle that her YA romances have. I listened to the audiobook in addition to the ebook and adored Natalie Naudus’ narration.

This is a story of two former friends who haven’t spoken in years, but are reunited when he visits her struggling tea shop. They’re both broken up with very publicly by their exes and when they’re seen together the rumors start.

I wanted to live this one, but I just didn’t. A lot of the romance felt forced. Friends to lovers is my favorite trope, but this just felt like it was missing something. I will continue to look forward to Emma Lord’s books and hope we get more YA and adult romances soon!

This wasn't memorable at all. Like I had to look at the synopsis to remember what the book was about. I think I just wanted more from June and Levi's relationship. I never really felt the connection I wanted, especially when they were supposed to have been friends for so long before they had their falling out. The plot was a little over the top and ridiculous at times but it was a fun, if forgettable read.

A fun, light hearted beach rom-com. I really enjoyed this friends to lovers book. Very cute and a great escape. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

I didn't love it, but I didn't dislike it... this one just fell in the middle ground for me. Honestly I forgot this one is labeled adult instead of her usual YA and I kept forgetting that while reading too. Friends to lovers is always hit or miss for me plus this had second chance romance vibes to me which is also not a favorite of mine. So it may just be me and others may enjoy this one more than I did!