Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for access to this arc but I no longer want to work with this publisher.

The Break-up Pact by Emma Lord was a 3 star read for me. This is a sweet, fun read with a mix of fake dating and friends-to-lovers tropes. June and Levi’s journey from estranged friends to a “pretend” couple keeps you entertained with some charming and lighthearted moments. While it wasn’t everything I expected, the banter and the quirky supporting characters added a lot to the story.

Levi and June are childhood best friends, they were inseparable as teenagers but haven't really spoken in a decade. June is living back in their seaside hometown running a tea shop, and Levi is living in NYC aspiring to be a novelist while he works a corporate job.

They have both just experienced very public break ups, June was broken up with on camera for a reality tv show and is being referred to as "Crying Girl". Levi is cheated on by his fiancee, and they agree to take some time, and he goes back home to hide out. Levi and June pick up right where they left off, and the media picks up on it and pushes out the narrative that they are a couple and deems them the "Break Up Exes". They decide to go along with it and fake date to help them both achieve what they want. Jone wants more steady business for her tea shop, and Levi wants his fiancee back.

An adult novel from Emma Lord was better than I could have ever hoped. The author really knocked it out of the park. The characters felt mature and their age, I really bought into their history and chemistry. The secondary characters were fun and added a lot to the story. I also love a fake dating trope, and the characters were good communicators. It was really a lovely book to read. Also everything to do with the baking and scones recipes was perfect.

“I want to know what the future holds before I take too many steps into it.”

✨ Genre: Romance
🩷 Steamy rating: Moderately Spicy
⚡️ Profanity: Mild

June and Levi were childhood friends and high school crushes. Then something happens and they don’t talk for a decade. Randomly, both of their lives are blown up when both of their respective lovers publicly cheat on them, and it goes viral. To pick up the pieces and get revenge, they fake date, which also goes viral.

This was a solid fake dating, friends to lovers, and even a little second chance romance. Though quite predictable, I loved the two main characters and the supporting characters in their lives. The heavy dynamic of June coping with her sister’s death and discovering how she can honor her sister yet be her own person, was an interesting aspect to the plot.

Triggers: Death of a sister, cheating, and gaslighting

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinions.

I really, really wanted to enjoy this book. The premise seemed fun and lighthearted. However, I am sad to admit that I am deciding to DNF at this time.

The biggest problem for me is that I am struggling to find anything believable. Neither one of the "famous" exes seems to be an A-List celebrity...so I find it hard to believe two random people in the same small town are constantly being chased by paparazzi, fans, etc. A tweet goes viral and suddenly within minutes the failing bakery/tea shop has a line miles deep? I was just struggling with this aspect and given that it's the baseline of the plot, nothing else really stood to work for me. Also from the get go the MMC is technically just not out of his relationship....just on a break (clearly I am #TeamRachel here)....so we're just okay with him fake-dating??? Because fake-dating always means only fake-dating right??? Add in the fact that in the first few chapters, both the main characters acted more like 15 year olds over 27 year olds, I had no concept of location except for small beach town, and knowing we had miscommunication tropes ahead....I just had to call it quits on this one.

So far I had really enjoyed a few aspects: loved that the FMC and MMC were both runners and previous cross-country team mates. the sport is rarely represented in books so loved to see that. The supporting characters were on their way to being the best part of this book, and Dylan, Mateo and Sana all deserve a shout out for that, they were great comedic adds.

All in all, I wasn't connecting and this book just was not working for me. I hope it finds its readers who love and cherish it! Even though I am DNF-ing I am still giving 2-stars, as the issues I have are just due to incompatibility.

I loved the childhood friendship between June and Levi. Their friendship was estranged for years and now they are both back home and begin fake dating. I enjoyed reading this love story. Thanks NetGalley for the early release copy.

ARC Review
2.5⭐️
I wanted to love this so bad. I was excited to see an Emma Lord adult novel and have had this in mind for MONTHS, but it just didn't live up to my expectations. I think a big part for me was that I didn't feel their connection from their past friendship, but also, their coming together in the beginning was so unrealistic to me. In my mind, you can't go that long without talking to someone and then immediately wanting to fake date. If I were seeing someone for the first time in that long, with no social media connection in between, I would want to know everything about that last ___ years. Not to mention, how realistic is it that you're even the same person after that long that you can just assume the other person is worthy of this favor in the first place? There were aspects of this book that I did enjoy, like dealing with grief and moving on from someone else, but the majority of it was just not my cup of tea unfortunately.

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. There were great moments, but overall it fell flat for me. I've really enjoyed Emma Lord's YA books, there is something about that time of transition that she captures really well. Here, I felt that part was still the most interesting for her, as what happened with they were teens and young adults was key to the relationships of the main characters, but since we didn't see it on the page, it didn't have much emotional resonance, and we keep being told things instead of seeing and feeling them. There were so many pieces of the plot that none of them felt developed.

I really enjoyed this one! June and Levi were besties with a crush in high school and a misunderstanding separates them for like 10 years. And viral internet break ups bring them back together. Go figure!

Nothing says we’re unbothered by the public destruction of our relationships like dating each other!! I love a good fake dating set up, so I was so excited to see how this played out since it was obvious to everyone involved that these two were meant to be.

While this was definitely a slow burn romance, it was also a story of personal growth for both Levi and June. They both had put their own needs/wants/happiness on the back burner for everyone else in their lives. I love that they brought out the best in each other and wanted only for each other to live their most authentic lives.

I really enjoyed the bakery aspects and the fun names of the scones. This was such a fun story with an important message.

3.5

The Break-Up Pact follows June and Levi, two high school friends who kind of lost touch after high school. They reconnect after both being part of separate humiliating internet break-ups with their respective exes. I thought the plot was cute and fun. Both June and Levi are dealing with not knowing what they want to do or who they want to be, especially following a tragedy that was close to both of them. Seeing them reconnect and grow with each other was very sweet. I also especially loved June’s relationship with her younger brother because they were very close and did a lot together.

Thanks to Netgalley and St.Martin’s Press for providing me with an early copy in exchange for a review!

This was a cute little rom-com with a cute fake dating trope. At first I didn't know if I was going to like it or not, It didn't capture my attention at first but im glad I kept going. This turned out to be a very heartwarming story,

Thanks to the publisher, NetGalley and Emma Lord for a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This novel is a second-chance romance, and a friends to strangers to lovers mix. I was hoping The Break-Up Pact' by Emma Lord would be fun, angsty yet easy read. While I enjoyed the novel, it was nothing too groundbreaking, but not disappointing either.

The book revolves around June and Levi, two high school friends whose messy breakups become social media sensations. When a rumour spreads online suggesting they're a couple, they decide to go along with it for their own reasons, leading to a rekindling of old feelings. I always like a good second-chance romance - although here their feelings relating to when they were in high school weren't really explored or shown to the reader which takes away from the reader really understanding each character. I was rooting for them but also didn't really care at a certain point as I didn't understand their attraction towards each other, apart from their shared history.

If you're in the mood for a light-hearted second chance romance with a small beach town setting, "The Break-Up Pact" would be right up your alley.

As a huge fan of Emma Lord’s YA books I was thrilled to see she was writing an adult romance. And it did not disappoint! The Break-Up Pact was such a fun, second chance romance full of heart, humor, and all of the quirkiness you’d expect from one of Emma’s novels.

I’m such a sucker for fake dating and thought it was done so well here. This is a second chance romance between childhood friends June and Levi. It’s been years since they’ve talked to each other, but when they both go viral for being dumped, they decide to turn this into a mutually beneficial fake romance. There’s a lot of history between the pair, so it’s not long before they’re not sure what’s fake and what’s real. Even with all the time that has passed they’re still able to slip into their old relationship easily. While this was set entirely in the present, I felt readers get enough memories to make their relationship feel legitimate.

Even though I liked the relationship between June and Levi, I think my favorite part of The Break-Up Pact was the beach town it was set in and all of the inhabitants. The author really brought Benson Bay to life and I felt like I was there. All of the secondary characters were fleshed out and I loved seeing June reconnect with her brother and friends from high school.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for a review copy.

The Break-Up Pact is YA bestselling author Emma Lord’s newest romance for adults. It’s a second chance, fake-relationship romance with plenty of steam.

10 years ago June and Levi were teenage best friends. Now they are living very separate lives, unhappy and humiliated after public break-ups. When a photo of them together causes people to believe they are a couple, they lean into it and pretend to date. Levi is hoping this will cause his ex to come running back to him, while June is expecting the publicity to increase business at her tea shop. Naturally they fall in love while fake-dating, but is it real and will it last?

I enjoyed reading The Break-Up Pact although it packs more heat than I personally prefer. What happened to both June and Levi is cringe-worthy, so when they run into each other, it seems like a miracle. The snowballing lies remind me of my favorite romcom movies. There are funny scenes and some angst, as the reader waits on them to figure things out. The Break-Up Pact is a great beach read.

I received an advance review copy (ARC) from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I was so excited to read this book because I love Emma Lord’s books and they always drag me out of my reading slumps. This book definitely accomplished that. I could not put it down once I started reading it. I felt like both June and Levi were really three dimensional characters and I liked that there was a more serious tone while still having a lot of fun elements. I do think that they went from not talking for pretty much a decade to dating at an unrealistic pace but to be honest, I don’t necessarily need realistic in romance novels. I was also so excited to be able to read Emma Lords Adult Fiction debut. I love her young adult books but reading about characters my age is always much more fun. I definitely cried throughout the book but I did like how it ended because it felt like June and Levi would be a book couple who could actually survive since the relationship was built on so much trust. I can’t wait to read more of her books whether they are YA or Adult fiction.

Thank you to Emma Lord, the publisher and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5

I went back and forth a lot while reading this on whether I was enjoying it. There would be some great sections where I was loving the characters and their banter back and forth, then we'd have a section where everything that I didn't like was being brought up all at once. I really struggled with Levi's original want to be back with his cheating ex-fiancee. And with the naivety that June seemed to have in regards to how manipulative her ex had proven to be. i also think that the original/past miscommunication was a bit frustrating. I get that they were young but both of June's siblings kept up a friendship with Levi for a while and no one tried to heal the friendship or correct the misunderstanding. A small kind of weird complaint I also had was about June's shop landlord? It just seemed so weird/wild to me that she was so adamant about Tea Tide being "a part of the community" but then proceeded to rent out the space for a year before welcoming Tea Tide back afterwards. That seemed pretty illogical.

Overall I did really enjoy Lord's writing style and I've heard better things about some of her YAs so I'll be reading more from her. I think this Adult Debut just felt a bit too much like a debut when I expected more from her. I think the characters had a strong base but just needed a little something extra to get me fully behind it all.

✩ 3.5/5
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a digital reviewer copy in exchange for my honest thoughts and opinions.
In The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord, June Hart becomes an overnight sensation as the viral “crying girl” meme after her breakup with long-term boyfriend Griffin is aired live on national television. Beyond TikTok For You pages and Twitter feeds, June is the owner of the Tea Tide, a charming yet struggling beachside café. When June is unexpectedly reunited with her high school best friend Levi—who is also famous for his own viral breakup—she’s forced to confront past feelings, craft a believable fake relationship with Levi, and figure out how to save her tea shop from closing for good.
If I had to sum up The Break-Up Pact in more than a few words, it would be a “silly romantic comedy that you’d watch/read and think, ‘Yeah, that was good. What’s next?’” I didn’t feel particularly attached to any of the characters, as they all felt like typical romance book archetypes. Yes, that’s often the point, but they should still feel like real people. The character arcs of Levi and June, as well as the tropes used, felt drawn out. Even though the book wasn’t long, I genuinely felt it could have been shorter. For most of the story, I was practically shouting, “Just get together already and end it!”
This book was my first introduction to Emma Lord, who has earned a solid reputation in the YA romance genre. I’m hoping her other works live up to the expectations she’s set, as I did enjoy the quippiness of her writing. Anyone who loves a fun and easy read would likely enjoy this book. For me, it was just “meh,” which isn’t necessarily good or bad.
Side note: The blueberry and sriracha scone is diabolical and June deserves to be in prison for that.

Following a break up that went viral June has become a meme and has nosy tourists flocking to her beachside tea shop. A tea shop that she’s been trying to keep afloat by herself since her sister’s death. June is at a loss of how to keep the tea shop moving forward until an opportunity presents itself in the form of Levi, her best friend who she hasn’t spoken to in ten years. Levi has recently gone through the same viral break up situation and can relate to June. Together they come up with a plan to fake date in order to help June get back in her feet with the tea shop. Their ‘celebrity’ status will have customers lining up at the door to get a glimpse of ‘the Revenge Exes’. Fake dating never goes as planned and this time around is no exception. Will Levi and June be able to make it out of this with their friendship in tact? Or will their friendship turn into something more?

I was drawn in by the cover of this book and was ready for this fun romance. It didn’t disappoint. I enjoy a good friends to lovers romance and fake dating is always fun, even though we always know it’s not going to go as planned. I liked June and Levi together and enjoyed finding out about their pasts together. The romance was sweet and perfect for a fun summer romance read. Each character had their own baggage and grief that needed to be sorted through and I think this added a lot to the story and their relationship. I enjoyed the main characters, but I really want to know more about the side characters and see their own stories play out. I know this isn’t a series, but I did grow attached to some of the side characters and wish I could see how their lives unfold. Overall this was a fun, lighthearted summer read that is great for romance fans!

“It isn’t the love that scares me. It’s what might happen to it.”

Two best friends who haven’t spoken in a decade pretend to date after their recent viral break-ups. What could go wrong?!

This was such a sweet slow-burn romance that also had some heavy hitting topics weaved throughout, giving the story some depth.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing the ARC.

I really wanted to like this book, but there were a lot of glaring issues that I couldn't overlook.

The first issue being the pacing. There was absolutely no development of characters between seeing each other after ten years and them jumping into a fake relationship with each other. It was like all of that hurt and anger was just forgotten in a few pages and they were friends again. Additionally, one of the characters was still holding out for their ex, but then almost immediately had feelings for the other character. Again, the lack of development made these transitions feel jarring.

The second issue - holy miscommunication Batman! It is nothing but miscommunication between the two leads going all the way back to when they were teenagers. If they just talked to each other instead of ignoring each other for ten years, this would have been a very different book.

Not my favorite, by any means.