3.5 ⭐️

this was such a cute story!! June and Levi (former childhood friends) find their lives turned upside down in simultaneous viral breakups with their partners. They both end up in their hometown and devise a plan to fake date to help each other out, while messing with their ex’s heads. They haven’t stayed in contact in a decade and the story is about re-connecting as friends, discovering new things about each other, and having those old high school feelings for each other resurface.

I thought this was so cute! June and Levi are both easy to love characters and the story played out like a real life rom-com (she literally owns a tea shop & he’s a writer… I mean cmonnnnnnn) however, I found the pacing to be a bit off at times & I wanted a bit more from both June and Levi at the end. it feels like it all happens very slowly & then suddenly all at once! I did still overall enjoy it :)

Thank you NetGalley, Emma Lord, and the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a quick, cute and engaging read. This read definitely kept my attention with the viral break ups of the main characters, their revenge fake dating and the happenings of the main characters tea and scone shop. I also enjoyed getting to learn about the main characters history together and also their friendships with the side characters.

This was a strong first foray into adult romance for Emma Lord. I thought it had some slow moments, but it was a sweet second chance romance.

June and Levi are both victims of brutal, public breakups. In order to take back their dignity and get back at their exes they decide to fake date. Things get interesting when old feelings resurface between these two.

This was one of the best fake dating situations that I've ever read. It felt believable. I liked June and Levi together. They were working through a lot of separate issues, and I enjoyed how they challenged and supported each other. I also appreciated the look at grief and the growth that stems from those circumstances that the book explored. If I had a criticism it would be that the book felt a little slow at times. It kind of just meandered along, but in a lyrical, romantic way.

I would say this book is a mixture of Kate Clayborn and Emily Henry. It has vibes of both of those authors. I haven't loved Emma Lord's latest YA rom-coms, but I would read more from her at the adult level.

Thank you to NetGalley and Griffin for the e-book in exchange for my honest review.

3.75⭐️ but rounding up

To be honest this had a very slow start, but to my core I am a romcom lover so I was determined to power through and I’m glad I did! By the 50% mark I was all in and really enjoyed it! To me, this was a very sweet introduction into Emma Lord & her adult contemporary romance. If you enjoy a rom com, fake dating, &/or second chance lovers, this is a fun beach read. Thank you so much to netgalley + the publisher St Martin’s press for my very first ARC.

June, currently running her late sister’s tea shop in her beachy hometown, has become an internet meme after her social media influencer boyfriend broke up with her on tv and she cried. Levi, her childhood best friend, is hiding out after his fiancée dumped him for a famous athlete.

After photos popped up showing June and Levi in a quasi-embrace, they became internet famous for being the break-up exes together. June and Levi decide to continue to fake date so that June can stop being known as “Crying Girl” and Levi can win back his fiancée.

I like the friends-to-lovers trope and June and Levi certainly epitomize this. I enjoyed the sneak peeks into their history and how June’s late older sister was involved in both of their lives. I think if the storyline gave us more chemistry between the two of them and gave the exes less space, it would have been more enjoyable, especially given the whiplash of Levi wanting his ex back. I needed more spice between June and Levi.

Thanks to NetGalley and SMP for this eARC. The Break-Up Pact is out this week.

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I haven't read a book that had a viral meme and another viral part to distract from the first. It had so my funny parts but I felt like it drug on quite a bit. I also thought Levi's storyline with his fiancé was a little bit too much and the on again, off again was a little repetitive. I really enjoyed June & the tea shop & her bff, they were lots of fun.

June and Levi decide to pretend to be dating so she can save face and he can make his ex jealous.

The Break-Up Pact is a stand-alone, contemporary romance. There is some open-door content.

There are almost too many tropes to point where the storyline gets a little messy. They’ve known each other since they were kids (second chance), then they had a falling out (frenemies to lovers), but now they’re going to pretend to be together (fake dating). There is quite a bit of angst but that’s not unusual for a couple that’s known each other for so long. I do think it’s exacerbated by having the book written in single POV. Some of the spicy scenes seem like they were thrown in much later in the editing process and don’t always fit the flow of the moment.

The audiobook is done well. Natalie Naudus does a fantastic job solo narrating.

I have read one other book from this author but it was YA (Tweet Cute). I would be interested in reading more of her work in the future whether it be YA or adult contemporary.

I voluntarily read, listened to, and reviewed advanced copies of this book and audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thought too much of this happened within the main character's head and it took away from the progression of the story. Other than that, it was fine and I enjoyed the banter.

This is not my favorite Emma Lord book by any means, but I will still read anything she writes. Fake dating is probably my favorite trope, so I was super excited about this one. Unfortunately, it did fall flat. I'm glad I had the ebook & audio of this, because that helped me speed through it. There was nothing really bad about it, it just felt very "meh" as I was reading, and I never really felt that urge to want to keep going.

3.5⭐

June and Levi are both going viral for break ups, so the childhood friends make their own pact. But fake dating soon turns real, so what will happen next?

I ate this book up, I really enjoyed it! I thought it was a super cute fake dating/kinda second chance romance with adorable characters. I truly found myself rooting for June and Levi, both in their relationship, as well in life. This was more than just a romance, it was about finding yourself again after you lost your way and I thought Emma Lord depicted that very well.

One of my favorite things about Lord's books is how developed all of her characters are, including the supporting characters. They all feel so flushed out, flaws and all, to make them feel like real people. I find a lot of time authors only flush out the main characters and leave the supporting characters lacking dimension, but not Lord. It really and truly does make her books seem more real and definitely more enjoyable.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Neither of you wants to change the other one or tell the other what to do. You just want each other to be happy. And that’s what love is supposed to look like.”

I was really excited to read this book and I truly enjoyed it! The little town of Benson Beach is a great backdrop for this story. I enjoyed the backstory of how Tea Tide came to be and how it was woven into Levi & June’s story. I loved seeing their reconnection and watching their relationship bloom. The premise of the story was good too as well as the feelings of grief and guilt that permeated the story and how the characters interacted in certain instances based off those feelings.

Overall I really enjoyed this book and I loved seeing the fun scone ideas as well- made me hungry!

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!

This one was just okay for me. I didn't really feel a spark between Levi and June. Even with all of the fun dates, there just didn't seem to be enough chemistry between them. Also, there was some fun banter in the beginning of the book but it fizzled out and the dialogue between stale. My biggest problem with the book was that the foundation for everything, the past friendship issues, the current relationship issues, the inevitable third act break up, was miscommunication. I hate a miscommunication trope and it ran through every part of this book. June and Levi both just kept burying their heads in the sand and not talking to one another. it just felt juvenile over and over again and led to a real disconnect in their relationship Overall, there were some funny and cute parts but there lacked depth and maturity.

I enjoyed reading The Break-up Pact by Emma Lord. You will fall in love with all the characters. I received an ARC of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. All opinions expressed in this review are my own and given freely. Happy Reading!

In "The Breakup Pact," Emma Lord weaves a story that delves into the personal growth of its characters, particularly June Hart, a meme-turned-café owner who embarks on a journey of self-discovery. Alongside her childhood friend Levi, they devise a fake dating scheme to boost her struggling business and help Levi win back his ex. While the staged relationship brings moments of fun and humor, their romantic dynamic feels immature, relying on overused tropes like misunderstandings from their high school days. Though the beachy setting and humorous elements shine, the narrative drags at times, with drawn-out character development and a complicated friends-to-lovers trope that makes it hard to fully connect with the characters' indecision. Despite these shortcomings, "The Breakup Pact" offers entertainment, though it falls short of the emotional depth and impact seen in Lord's previous works.

3.5/5 stars

This is an adult contemporary romance.

It features June and Levi. They were great friends as teenagers. But have not spoken in years. Now they've both experienced public humiliating break-ups with their exes. And they decide to make a break-up pact. So that she can save her tea shop and he can win back is girlfriend.

I liked the setting by the ocean. I liked that June ran a tea shop that was her sister's before she died. I was also interested in Levi's writing. He used to be a writer, but now works in finance.

I really enjoy fake dating. I did like June and Levi together. Although it did take a very long time for any actual romance to occur. But there were some funny parts, which I enjoyed. Overall the book was a cute quick read.

I was really looking forward to this book and it didn't disappoint! I really enjoyed this quirky rom com and had a great time reading it. There was good banter and I thought the characters were good together. A great pallet cleanser book.

4/5 stars! Great friends to lovers. June and Levi grew up together. As they got older and moved on and moved away they did not keep in touch. However, one day June is running on the beach and here comes Levi. They start talking and get an idea together to “date” to get back at their ex’s. June and griffin recently broke up, and it wasn’t the easiest for her. As time goes on June realizes griffin was not for her, and spending this time with Levi has brought up old feelings. June and Levi begin to grow together. June runs her scone shop and Levi writes his books. They growth throughout this book is amazing.

read this book if you like anyone but you, beach towns, tea, running, viral tiktoks, small businesses, grief rep, second chance romance, scones, and fake dating.

⚠️ book review (SPOILERS AHEAD): this was a sweet and funny read! unfortunately it took me until the last quarter of the book to truly get into it. while i loved the little beach town and the tea shop, i had a hard time connecting with the characters. i didn’t feel like they really had a ton of chemistry. and i also felt like there was so much wedding planning that levi and june did for her brother and his fiancé (first of all, i just got married and found this alone so unrealistic lol), but then we didn’t even get to see the wedding. there was good character development but it wasn’t my fav. i even found myself skimming through it at times. ☹️

rounding down as my rating was 2.75 stars

I want to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to read this ARC.

This story follows two estranged childhood best friend's after they both get burned in romantic relationships and decide to exact their revenge and take the internet by storm with their new relationship together. what the internet doesn't know is that the "revenge exes" are fake dating to make their previous partners jealous (*gasp).

june hart is the struggling owner of her deceased sister's scone shop and she was recently the victim of internet memeification (is that a word?) when her boyfriend reveals to her that he cheated on her and she becomes "crying girl". she runs into her best friend from childhood, who has had a similar experience, and they decide to have a ... fake relationship?

so idk about the rest of you, but if i ran into my bff from high school that i haven't seen or spoken to in like 10 years, my first flinch would not be "hey let's fake date and make everyone jealous". but whatever, maybe that's just me. as they continue into this fake relationship, a lot of real feelings come to the surface. i am a huge fan of the fake dating trope, so this book should have been my cup of tea. but the back and forth when we got into the meat of the story really irritated me. i understood some waffling in the beginning, but it. just. kept. going. it made it hard to really understand the characters' apprehensions about being together when from my pov, there were no more reasons, so just do the damn thing.

i also had a hard time with the long chapters. i actually fell asleep a couple times because the chapters were so long at times. but i made it to the end, and if there was one thing i really liked about this book, it was the epilogue. one part of the book that actually made me smile.