June and Levi were friends in their teens until a misunderstanding separates the two. Now years later June is running a struggling beach tea shop. He is burned out of a NYC career he doesn’t love and a girlfriend who isn’t the one. Both have made choices following others and staying with it longer than they should. After both have break ups that are collecting hits on TikTok, a photo of the two of them has the internet shipping them for romance. It seems an odd set up but she by fake dating and playing it up on social media her shop will benefit. He hopes to make his ex jealous.

Creating fake date photos does lead to some cute dates and time together. I think the cute cartoon cover made me think this would be more funny and light. But the pair are hitting serious turns in their work and lives. They don’t want to repeat the cycle of making choices to please partners. June has also lost a sister which is handled well and with honesty. A lot of these things edge the story towards general fiction but the romance stays the main focus.

I only know the author from her YA novel, The Getaway List (Jan 2024). But I am happy to see that she can write adult contemporary romance as well. I liked the story but didn’t connect as well with the main characters. I did like it showing positive and negative sides to social media. (3.5 Stars)

3.5⭐️
Fake dating is one of my favorite tropes and I couldn’t wait to dive into this one! I loved the premise of the story but I had a hard time connecting with the main characters. They are suppose to be in their late twenties but they felt very high schoolish to me. The story started out super slow and it was hard to get into. I did enjoy June and Levi’s “dates” though. Overall this was an okay book and would be great for more of the 18-25 crowd.

I thought the premise of this book was good but the actual story could’ve been better. The fake dating was done well and the reasoning behind it but I wish there was more about their actual dates and how things progressed over time. Wasn’t a fan of TikTok being mentioned throughout but otherwise it was alright.

This is a cute story about growing up, heartbreak, loss and coming to terms with adulthood. Levi and June were childhood friends who went separate ways in college. Both are back in their hometown after a series of life events and they find it pretty easy to slip back into their old friendship, and maybe more.
Great summer beach read. Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for the digital ARC.

This was a highly anticipated read for me because I love Emma Lord’s YA books. I liked the writing style and the steamy parts were well done IMO, however I was super disappointed overall in the story. It felt very jumbled and almost like it was trying to do too much— friendship story, grief story, childhood friends-to-lovers, but I didn’t really get the basis of that relationship. I’d skip this one. Lots of other better romances out there.

This was cute but not particularly memorable. There wasn't nearly enough dialogue so I did end of skimming some as well.

Two former friends end up getting broken up with in different ways that cause their relationship endings to go "viral." When they happen to reconnect in their home town, someone sees them together and they become dubbed "the revenge exes" which leads to fake dating antics that they try to use to their advantage. The thing is though, there's a lot of history to unpack here, along with unrequited love, hurt, and the ghost of a friend/sibling that seems to be holding them back in life more than pushing them forward.

The miscommunication trope is a common theme here, as these two can never seem to honest with each other for the fear of being hurt or left behind.

It was hard to relate to either main character unfortunately. June doesn't seem that hurt by her ex, but is holding on to so much regret she's just stuck. Levi, ugh. Levi is holding out for possible reconciliation with his fiance and that just seemed pathetic honestly. Throw in the miscommunication trope until it's worn out and I was just exhausted by these two once the end came. The author apparently normally writes YA/NA type books and it shows, because while these two were in their late 20's they had a certain level of immaturity to them to make them seem younger than that.

Overall it was just fine. Not memorable in the long run and didn't wow me.

3 Stars

I’d only previously read one book by Emma Lord (it was YA) but I really liked it so I jumped at the chance to read The Break-Up Pact. I also love the cover!

Overall, this book was okay. I liked it. It had some of my favorite tropes—fake dating & friends to lovers. At times things in the book seemed a bit too villainous & over the top for me. I think I just personally wanted more banter and more chemistry!

All that said, I liked The Break-Up Pact and would most likely read another book by Emma Lord in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Well that was cute! Former best friends to fake dating, to lovers? Sign me up.

We meet June and Levi at a pivotal time in their lives. They’ve both just gotten out of long-term relationships—through very public breakups—and are trying to navigate where they go from there. Finding themselves again. Who they are, what they want. Oh and on top of all that, they’re also both dealing with life after losing someone important to both of them—Annie, June’s sister and Levi’s best friend, who passed away about 2 years ago.

These characters feel very reminiscent of the YA ones we’ve come to love. They’re just more grown up now—more adult (as they should be!) Having said that, I do feel like there’s a hint of a coming of age theme going on. And that isn’t a negative thing for me, learning and growing is not age-specific.

Could the timeline/pacing be better? Sure. But I feel like it was a very enjoyable (adult romance) debut. It was funny and cute but also emotional, and I appreciate the topics included and how they were navigated.

Emma Lord’s voice is loud and clear, so if you enjoy her YA books, pick this one up!

CW: Death of a sibling/friend (past) and navigating complicated emotions, cheating (not MCs, but by their exes)

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story.
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

I enjoyed this story more than I thought I would. I thought Levi and June were very genuine and believable characters. Both of their personalities really jumped off the page for me. The idea of them going viral though several times over was a bit unbelievable though as I really don't think the public would latch onto mundane people like that for very long. What made me give this book four stars instead of five though was how June spiraled after a conversation with Kelly and assumed the worst about Levi which in turn led to her accepting Griffin's proposal to appear on his stupid reality TV show again. I really thought she'd be smarter than that the second time around and refuse to be on the show after what he did to her. The way she folded though made me cringe so hard because I knew it would lead to disaster. I also hated how she ran away from Levi when he was right there in the lobby wanting to talk to her and get everything straightened out. He followed her back to Benson regardless and they talked it out in seemingly the same day so I don't understand why she couldn't pause and talk to him while they were both in New York.

June has a failing scone and tea shop and was dumped by her long term boyfriend on tv and becomes a meme.

Levi moves back to his hometown after his long term girlfriend cheats on him with a movie star. .

June and Levi are childhood friends and after their super public breakups decide to fake date. Nothing could go wrong, right?

Emma Lord writes some funny books! I was hooked from the beginning and enjoyed how June and Levi grew.

This was my first book by this author, and certainly will not be my last. I love the characters so so much! The heartbreak, the plot, the spice, ooof it was all so amazing. I really loved how I thought I knew how it was going to end, I should have, but it surprised me, in the most wonderful way! Definitely recommend to anyone who loves a good, sweet, fun and addicting romance!

3.5 stars

This is Emma Lord’s adult debut, and she brought some angst with this book!

Fake dating, with a hefty side of finding myself again journeys. June and Levi grew up together, but grew apart ten years ago. Due to both of them getting dumped quite publicly, they are sort of thrown together, and decide to pretend to date to help each other out.

This is a single POV, and I would have loved if we had gotten some of Levi’s POV. But that probably would have made it a little less angsty (at least to me).

I was extremely pleased with the level of spice, since the authors prior books had been YA/teen and closed door. As a reader, I don’t need open door so long as the tension is written well.

June and Levi both have a lot of self discovery in this book, and there’s a level of grief they both deal with. It’s definitely present, but not fresh.

Overall this was an enjoyable read, and I look forward to reading the next book from the author, whatever it might be.

I wanted to love this one, but I really didn’t - it seemed to drag and have too many paragraphs and not enough dialogue or banter. When there was dialogue, it was always really entertaining! I also found it a bit too cheesy for my liking. Loved the Benson Beach setting though. Thank you for the ARC!

First, thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for an ARC of this book.

June Hart narrates the story of her viral breakup with Griffin, which brings her back home. Her ex-best friend/crush Levi appears home as well, though not exactly from a break up as the synopsis states. Levi and his fiancée Kelly are on a break after she cheats on him. We follow an equally slow and faced paced journey where June and Levi fake date to fall in love.


This is my first read of Emma Lord’s and, frankly, might be my last. I was immediately put off within the first few pages because there was zero character introduction. It felt like I was a new face in an old group of friends - expected to know everyone and their history together. It took about half of the book for us to learn the full history between June and Levi and I still feel like I barely know the characters. I also found almost every single character to be toxic in some way or another, not just the obvious issues with Griffin and Kelly.

As for the pace, the book itself was slow, but the characters moved at such a fast and unbelievable pace. It was unrealistic to me that two former friends who stopped talking a decade ago would fall back to normal so quickly, particularly when you layer in the drama surrounding them that never seems to be resolved.

This book is tough for me to rate, to be honest. It was enjoyable for what it was, but it left me disappointed. The overall idea was good, but it was poorly executed. The characters had potential, but were never really given a full story. In sum, the good and the bad even out, and I was left indifferent.

4.5⭐️ I devoured this book, and will now need to read every book by Emma Lord. Part friend to lovers, part fake dating, and part second chance romance. This was all my favorite things rolled into one book, and I just could not get enough. I read this book in less than 24 hours and enjoyed every second of it!

This was an advanced read copy I received through Netgalley so it’s not going to be officially published until August 13, 2024! But this is my honest review!

Add this book to your to read list, I promise you won’t regret it! & then let me know what you thought!

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4 and 1/2 stars.

I enjoyed the plot of this book, fake dating is one of those tropes that is a lot of fun. I’d love seeing the dates they would go on as Revenge Exes and also getting the backstory of their friendship and then falling out. I would love to visit Tea Tide and try all the special scones and would also love to read Levi’s novel.

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

June is in shock after being blindsided with a break up from her long-term boyfriend. To make matters worse - it all took place on a reality show Griffin was competing on, and she’s now become a meme. Her old friend, Levi, is back in town after suffering a similar public break-up. Too bad the pair can’t commiserate, as they haven’t spoken in ten years.

With help from mutual friends, they are able to put their differences aside to take their sudden infamy into their own hands - they become the revenge exes. All they have to do is convince everyone around them that they are in love. No biggie, right?

This seems to be a much-anticipated little number from Emma Lord! I haven’t read any of her other books, but I would read another one. I liked the Break-Up Pact, but didn’t love it. I think this could be a 4-5 star read for a lot of people. It was just missing something for me. The banter wasn’t quite bantery enough. The chemistry wasn’t quite chemistry-y enough. I hate when exes are basically just super villains, because then I question the choices of the FMC/MMC.

I thought the premise of this novel was really cute, and one of the only situations where fake dating kind of makes sense (do people actually fake date in real life??)

This book is about second chances - at friendships you lost, at figuring out what you want to do with you life, at love with someone you thought could never feel the same way. It’s a ball of emotions wrapped up in a very fun fake dating package, and I loved every minute of it. June and Levi feel like real people you could be friends with, just like the rest of us muddling through their 20s figuring out life and dealing with grief and heartbreak and the slightly less relatable viral humiliation.

The fake dates were sometimes funny, sometimes swoony. I loved how natural their romance felt, and all the supporting characters added great depth to the novel. My one quibble is that there were a couple too many instances of June pushing Levi away, but even that felt realistic, just possibly not what I wanted in a narrative.

This one tugged at my heart strings in the best ways and was almost completely perfect.

Overall I had a really fun time with this book. I felt with the writing that I could tell Lord was previously a young adult writer, but this didn't impact how I felt about the book. I really enjoyed the all of the characters and I love a beachside atmosphere. I will be reading more from this author in the future.

This story is a deep, emotional, second chance romance between two former friends who haven’t spoken in years and years. June and Levi are both struggling with work and have each recently lived through a viral breakup. Struggling on all sides, an accidental fake relationship seems like it might be the answer to all their problems. Or at least a life vest to keep them afloat while they figure things out. A hometown, seaside setting - with a tea shop - and a fantastic supporting cast push this dramatic love story over the top. Loved it! 4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.