It just wasn’t for me :( I wanted to like it so bad but I found myself bored throughout. I’ll try something else from this author eventually!

Thank you Netgalley, publisher St. Martin's Griffin, and author Emma Lord for providing this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
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The Break-Up Pact is a cute beach read with all the tropes: fake dating, forced proximity, second chance, found family, friends-to-lovers, small-town romance, beach-town romance, summer love... There's probably more I'm missing. Some might even argue this is "trope soup", but I think inside this book there is a good story, and reducing it to "trope soup" feels a bit unfair. This is an easy-to-read, mostly-feel-good story with plenty of angst from the FMC dealing with her lingering feelings about the (off-page) death of her sister, and the fickle nature of fleeting TikTok virality.

Characters that aren't June or her childhood friend-to-lover, Levi, seem to have a maximum of two personality traits. June's brother, Dylan, seems totally left out of the grief process, despite the fact his late sister, Annie, was also his wedding planner. Dylan has major wake-up-at-dawn-for-fun, golden retriever energy, and his fiancé, Mateo, has quiet studious professor energy right down to the sweater vests that have a secret fan account on Instagram. They're cute, but there's no depth. The same can be said for June's BFF, Sana. Sana pops up with a snarky quip and a camera, ready to turn a candid into a viral tweet, and then disappears for a couple chapters, while she mutters about her dream article she has to write so she can land her dream job. June's ex that dumped her on a reality TV show and turned her into a viral meme only seems to have one personality trait: douchebag. In fact, in the epilogue, it's revealed that he continues to do spin-offs of the reality TV show, and embraces his "villain" era for the cameras. Kelly, Levi's sorta-maybe-ex who made him go viral due to a paparazzo catching her in a compromising position with a high profile real estate client, also has one personality trait: femme fatale.

Despite all characters not named Levi and June being fairly lackluster, I still maintain this is a cute beach read given how easy the plot is to follow along with and the chemistry/tension between the fake couple. Their staged fake dates lay the foundation for real conversations and real intimacy. The sub-plot revolving around the fate of June's beachfront tea shop, Tea Tide, introduced some stakes that weren't romance-focused, and provided a cute backdrop for many a conversation over a nice cuppa tea (because coffee is, according to June, Evil with a Capital E). Tea Tide also serves as a constant reminder of June and Dylan's late sister, since she was the original owner before June took over.

This review might make it sound like this book has a lot of moving pieces: there's internet fame, revenge, fake dating, a sister to grieve, a tea shop to save, a wedding to plan, and (insert Princess Bride reference here) a wife to m*rder and Guilder to frame for it. But, somehow, it all works together.

This book is very millennial-coded. To the point where I'm not even sure other generations would enjoy it. At it's core, there's nothing wrong with having a target audience in mind. If you're a Kindle Girlie who will die on the hill of side part over middle part, and you're looking for your next beachy romance with a single mild chili pepper (one scene, open door, lots of metaphors and euphemisms), this is it. I liked The Break-Up Pact, but I think it lacks the depth or power to be anything other than a beach read, even with all the angst.

This book was not it for me. The plot was minimal to begin with, and it went way too quick for me. In addition, I didn’t love how young everything sounded, not to mention the annoyingly frequent mentions of TikTok… I’m 30, I don’t TikTok. There was no character development and they were actually pretty annoying. Idk how books like this get trad published but great authors don’t… will never under

I'm so excited that Emma Lord wrote an adult romance! She's one of the few YA authors I always pick up. I loved this book. It is sweet and funny and a little steamy!!
I liked that even though the main plot is their relationship, both June and Levi were figuring out their careers, their relationships, and continuing to grieve the loss of June's sister and Levi's best friend, Annie. This is not a fluffy, fun romance at all times. The fake dating and second chance trope come into play here and for the most part are done pretty well, fake dating especially.
I didn't love always love how insecure June was, but we all have traits that are less appealing. I also get very frustrated by communication or lack of as a plot device, for two people who seemed to know each other so well even after 10 years with minimal contact, they seemed to make a lot of snap judgments without consulting the other. Just talk to each other!
BRB, off to lounge on the beach and then grab a scone at Tea Tide!

This was more like a 3.5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me. It was cute! But… frustrating.

Some of the preview reviews for this book mentioned it was a little like Emily Henry books, which I can see in that the story didn’t fully focus on romance—there was a lot of family and friendship side plot happening alongside the love story. And that’s fine!

But to me, this reminded me more of Abby Jimenez’s books because the miscommunication trope was like the entire book. (Her entire Part of Your World series is three books of miscommunication.)

Anyway, like I said, it was cute, but I kept waiting for the other show to drop. I’m just not used to books without third-act breakups.

Spice was there, but it was low. Mostly just one major scene. 1.5-2/5 🌶️🌶️

(Thank you, St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley, for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.)

2⭐️’s

Unfortunately, I did not love this one. I just never connected with any of the characters and the writing got very repetitive for me. I wanted to be sad about their sister, and love the side characters, but I didn’t know them enough in my opinion.

The author did a great job of setting the scene and describing feelings, but there were overused words and phrases, as well as fluff throughout that just didn’t seem necessary?

I don’t want to be too harsh because it was not entirely bad, I just got bored and because I didn’t feel connected to the characters, I didn’t care about their ending 😕

I will however pick a bone about the short lived OW drama and June constantly forgiving her ex! I’m all about perspective and understanding where other people are coming from but girl bffr (and you too, Levi, Mr. Keeping the Door Open Just in Case June Doesn’t Want This)……i can’t with you both

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an advanced reader copy of The Break-Up Pact prior to the publication date, for my honest review in return.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advanced copy of Emma Lord's "The Break-Up Pact" in exchange for an honest review :) "The Break-Up Pact" comes out on August 27, 2024!

Lord's "The Break-Up Pact" follows June and Levi, two former best friends thrust into the limelight after their breakups break the internet. June begrudgingly accepts the fame that her meme-worthy breakup has given her to boost the sales at her small beach-side tea shop. On the other hand, Levi returns to his hometown in hopes of escaping the newly-found fame. A run-in and a hastily snapped photo of them caught in a suggestive position goes viral, and suddenly, the internet believes that the two victims of viral breakups are now a couple. Recognizing the potential benefits (June's increased sales and Levi's ex-fiance wanting to reconnect), the "revenge exes" decide to fake-date.

Not going to lie, I'm not the biggest fan of a fake-dating trope. However, Emma Lord did such a fantastic job weaving complex adult issues with the silliness of a fake-dating trope (...and the miscommunication trope). Both June and Levi were strong and complex characters, and I enjoyed reading about them as individuals and as a couple (although I will say that Sana stole the show; the main character's bestie often does!). One minor pet peeve I had is that June's brother's wedding happens "off camera." I mean, Levi and June are the best man and woman, and many of their fake dates involved wedding planning shenanigans. It felt a little off not to have the wedding be a little more integrated into the novel.

This book is a beach read in the sense that I got through it quickly, but it does have a lot of depth that other light-hearted reads often lack. "The Break-Up Pact" will leave readers rooting for June and Levi. Lovers of Emily Henry, Christina Lauren, and Nisha Sharma will definitely enjoy this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

This cute second chance romantic comedy was a great read!

This was needlessly cute!

I like a second chance romance that addresses what went wrong in the past without belabouring it. This book focused a lot more on where the characters were now and it was nice to see them develop their relationship on page. It also had fun side characters and side plots even though at times they could have been a bit better developed.

Emma Lord has quickly become a favorite of mine, and her latest jump from young adult to adult romance hit just right.

There are two things that I've come to expect from each of her books - a social media aspect; and while this isn't my favorite and often adds degrees of drama, I've learned to embrace it. Then there are the quirky, fun foods that are incorporated as part of daily life. Sandwiches and cupcakes, scones, bagels, always adding cinnamon, there's always something, and I find myself looking forward to it. There's always an important tradition or element to the foods that impacts the characters life, and it's something I fully associate with Emma Lord.

As far as June and Levi are concerned, they are a cute couple, stuck for too long in the friend zone. In the heat of the moment, they both impulsively claimed to not be interested in the other when they were in high school, and haven't recovered from it. Their friendship couldn't take the turning point, and they've been radio silent for the last ten years.

Now, after they've both been dumped in very public ways, they find each other again. A post turns into a proposition - they can agree to fake date, take up the title of "revenge exes" and let public opinion stop portraying them as sad and pathetic, and triumphant instead. It's the opportunity they need to finally let themselves be friends again, and the lines are firmly drawn for both of them. There should be no future misunderstandings, right?

I thoroughly enjoyed this, and had to stop myself from reading in one setting, because I was having so much fun with these characters I wasn't ready to be done with them. As always, I'm looking forward to what Emma Lord brings us next!

Levi & June were friends in high school until they just fell apart. Now, all these years later they both experience very humiliating, very public break-ups. A photo of the two of them together went viral on the internet and now everyone thinks they are dating. So, they decide to just go along with it for a little while.

This one honestly took me a while to get into it. I didn't really get into it til the last 25%. I liked the setting. I loved the little beach town and the tea shop. It definitely made me want to go eat some scones. I just didn't connect with the characters. I didn't feel like they really had any chemistry. I feel like there was a whole lot of wedding planning that Levi & June did for her brother & his fiance, but then we didn't even get to see the wedding. I do feel like there was some good character development which I liked. I did feel like I found myself just skimming through it at times.

Thank you NetGalley & St. Martin's press for this ARC. This is my honest review.

Emma Lord does it again!! You really can’t go wrong with any of her books. I was hooked with this story from the beginning! I loved the setting, an adorable tea shop and the protagonist’s were well developed. I love a good relationship story and this one checked all the boxes. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars. I can’t wait to add this to my library. Thank you netgalley and publisher for the great book.

I landed with 3.5⭐️ on this one! In true Emma Lord fashion, I enjoyed this show me and the characters, but it didn’t have the WOW factor for me. I ADORED tweet cute, and now unfortunately look for her others to match up to that. I wanted more backstory with June and Levi— it seemed a bit unrealistic to me that they fell back together so easily without talking for so long. Something was just missing and I can’t put my finger on it, but it was still a fun summer read and I would recommend if you’re looking for something light and also if you are a fan of scones! Some of those creations sounded so good!

This one just didn’t crackle with the electricity of Emma Lord’s previous books. The adult romance was fine, but I missed the fun YA vibes Lord exceeds at. A solid rom com but I wanted more!

Both of the main characters of this story were really complicated at times, having not spoken for almost a decade. It think that times those moments made me want to strangle them so they'd figure it out. Overall I love the best friends to Lovers trope and think it was done well. I like the group of friends that surrounds the main characters as well. They are all supportive in the best ways.

Let me start by saying that The Break-Up Pact wasn't even on my radar but I needed a new book to read so I went with this one. It was incredibly well done and exceeded my expectations. I really enjoyed the pacing of the novel. I loved the idea of revenge exes and its even better that they fall for each other again. A guaranteed HEA. The setting was perfect for summer and made me want to go to the beach. Definitely will recommend this to all fans of romance.

This book was different than I expected. To me it read differently from the Emma Lord books I know and love. The characters almost seemed juvenile to me? While I did enjoy it, it was not my favorite of hers.

I really enjoyed the premise of the story. I enjoyed the history that June and Levi had with each other. One of my biggest hang ups was June and her brother. He expressed that he felt like they weren’t spending time together yet he had June and Levi planning his wedding and then when he confronted June I felt like there was no real resolve? I felt like that could have been handled better. But the fake dating and the history was enjoyable to read.

The Break-Up Pact is a friends-to-lovers romance with fake dating at its core.

June and Levi both get broken up with in a very public, humiliating manner and find themselves back in their hometown trying to recover. Even though they haven't spoken in ten years, they decide a revenge fake dating scenario could solve all of their problems.

There are a lot of emotional moments in this novel and it has all the makings of a great summer read. Unfortunately I never could fully connect with the two leads, and their chemistry seemed forced. Not to mention their entire relationship or lack thereof (from high school to current day) is based on miscommunication and people who can't express their emotions. (And it kept happening as adults!!!) Levi and June don't seem to grow too much until the very end and it becomes extremely frustrating.

Emma Lord does sweet romance really well and that shows with her YA works. I just didn't feel like that translated well into an adult romance novel, instead it just felt like it was missing something.

I literally spent a month reading this book bc I couldn't get into it. Levi and June are both meh people who let others take control of their lives and then spend 300 pages trying to make their own choices/ It took until midway to learn their ages, the fact they live in New York/Jersey, June's sister and their prior relationships. 50% of the book was focused on scone baking and her thinking of recipes.

Also a lot of typos!! There was at least 1 per chapter.

ARC Review:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

No matter which way you spin it, break-ups suck. Compound that with the utter humiliation of becoming a virtual sensations and the pain only intensifies. But when Levi and June are reunited, they agree to fake date in order to help give the impression they have moved on. Will their plan work, or will it result in double the heartache?

The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord marks her departure from YA Literature to Adult Romance. While I liked seeing her writing evolve into a more mature style, I found myself struggling with the explicit content.

Other than the unnecessary steamy scenes, I found the book to be rather enjoyable.

I recommend reading if you enjoy:
-fake dating
-friends to lovers
-small town romances
-slow burns

*Trigger Warning- this book does discuss the loss of a friend/ family memeber in depth.

Special thanks to Macmillian Audio, St. Martin’s Press, and Emma Lord for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my honest review.
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