This was a cute book that had a slow start, but it got be hooked in and invested in the middle. I love a fake dating premise, and this had the added bonus of pining from being childhood friends as well. There were a couple of place when I wanted to yell at June and Levi, but honestly that just made me more invested how the story would play out.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Although this book deals with grief and grieving, this book was sweet. June is running a tea shop near the beach, taking on the struggle of keeping it open. Levi, her childhood best friend (now ex-best friend) is back in town.

Both June and Levi are recovering from very, very public break-ups and decide to fake date in order to distract the media. June hopes this extra attention will boost tea sales, and tries to come to terms with enjoying being around Levi.

While it’s not necessarily a super fresh take on fake dating, it’s a fun read full of heart. Levi and June have to come to terms with repairing their friendship and deal with how to yearn for something more.

June and Levi were best friends as teenagers until their friendship mysteriously fizzled. 10 years later they're reunited under strange circumstances: the internet is obsessed with their personal lives. Both having recently been publicly dumped, so two decide to fake date in hopes of changing the narrative. Although the beats of this rom-com felt familiar and comfortable, the way Lord uses documenting fake dates to build this slow-burn was well done and memorable.

4 out of 5 stars - If you ask me, I'll tell you to read it.

Super cute book. I enjoyed reading it and getting to know the characters.

I walked into this read with zero expectations and my GOODNESS was it good !!!! Such a wholesome story and truly one where you are rooting for the main characters from the beginning. Absolutely loved my first Emma Lord adult romance book!

Thanks to NetGalley for the advanced review copy.

June and Levi were best friends as teenagers, but then all of a sudden they weren't anymore. Years later they have lost touch and both are failing in their lives. After embarrassing breakups, the two reconnect and realize that if they fake date maybe they can each find the success they are looking for.

Such a cute story.

Thank you, NetGalley for the ARC!

This book had everything you could want out of a summer romance. Levi and June were the freaking CUTEST. I loveeeee a good friends to lovers. It did feel a little slow and repetitive at first, and it was definitely a slow burn. But when it picked up, it picked UP.

Though the Break-Up Pact is one of my favorite tropes, fake dating.
I had a hard time falling in love with this book.
It was very cute, and an easy read.
If you’re looking for a beach read this summer where you can just breeze through with the predictability of a Hallmark movie I would recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC of The Break-Up Pact. Easy fun romance that kept me readying. Loved the characters and will continue to read this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for sending an e arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.


June and Levi were friends in high school and recently crossed paths again due to their public break-ups. When both of them were photographed together, the internet believes they are a new couple. They make a fake dating pact to get back at their exes but end up falling in love.

This was a cute easy read but unfortunately, the lack of communication trope really did it for me. I thought their story was rushed and lacked a lot of communication. This made it difficult to love both of the main characters. However, it did have its cute moments and i found myself reading multiple chapters in one sitting!

Just finished reading “The Break Up Pact” by Emma Lord.

This book is cute - very Hallmark movie feel.

I did find that there wasn’t much character development at the beginning. It felt like the author assumed you knew the characters and their back story. However, as time went on there were little titbits that came out about their backstory.

Two former best friends who haven’t spoken in years are dealing with very public break ups so they pretend to date. What continues is a lot of miscommunication, misunderstanding and assumptions but no big shocking surprises.

3.5 stars

First off thanks to Emma Lord and Netgalley for for the eArc!

- Fake Dating
- Childhood friends to lovers


June and Levi find themselves both struggling with a humiliating breakups that are both smeared on social media. June is trying to save her and her bereaved sister's tea shop and Levi is back home to work on his writing and figure out his next steps. An innocent tuble in the sand and a pic pops up on social media titled #revengeexs and that's when June's BF brings up the idea of fake dating to help save the tea shop and maybe bring Levi and his ex back together.

This is a sweet romance between June and Levi and I loved how the author brought these two to life and how she wrote their sweet and sad moments of the two of them. They are both trying to fix their complicated past, their current life struggles and how to move forward in their new friendship that is turning into more that they have both hoped for.

I loved this story and highly recommended it. I would have given it 4 stars but I felt like something was missing and I think it is that I would loved to have Levi's pov even it was just a few chapters.

I am going to preface this by saying if you do not like the miscommunication trope this may not be the book for you.

Okay now moving on, I enjoyed this book and thought it was a super cute friends to lovers story. It's definitely giving summer beachy rom com vibes. I liked the story of June and Levi and i can say that I will most likely be reading more books by Emma Lord. The stipulations I had was that i really did not feel a connection with the characters and at times felt like the relationships were forced. I had a tough time getting through the end because of the lack if connection i felt with June and Levi.

All in all it was not a bad read, thank you Netgalley for my first ever arc!

This was an enjoyable read. While I loved some moments, some of the story felt disjointed a bit making it harder to fully connect to the characters. There was so much going on. The two main characters were lost in their own ways and it made the plot feel a little bit like that as well. Mistakes make us human, but I wanted to love Levi so much more. But I understand the fact that neither were confident in anything was part of this story. The steamy scene was so good! I felt all of the friends to lovers first time feels and that was fantastic!
Thank you for this ARC in return for an honest review.

I typically enjoy a good rom-com, but this wasn’t it for me. I got hung up on how much the main characters still clung to their high school days/experiences as adults. And I never could quite put my finger on exactly why, but June grated my nerves. The authors writing felt way too contrived and immature. I forced myself to finish it and was relieved when it was finally over.

In "The Breakup Pact," Emma Lord crafts a tale that goes beyond the surface of internet memes and struggling businesses, revealing the depth of her characters. June Hart, initially introduced as an internet meme and owner of the beachside cafe Tea Tide, undergoes a journey of self-discovery throughout the book. It takes time for her to unravel her true identity, culminating in a satisfying revelation that matches the creative descriptions of her cafe's scones.

Childhood best friends June and Levi both just suffered through two very seperate and very public breakups. Levi heads back to his hometown, Benson Beach, to get away from it all and runs into June at the tea shop she took over from her sister who unexpectedly passed two years prior. But these two haven’t spoken in ten years, when Levi up and ran away to New York after high school.

Through the course of this book, these two go through losing partners they thought they’d spend their lives with, grief over losing their beloved friend/sister, finding out what they really want out of life and who they want to be through it all.

Levi and June really tugged on my heartstrings. These two aren’t just a cutesy couple who engage in a little fake dating wrapped up with inside jokes (even though those parts are so fun)… no, these two are full of so much love for each other that they will do anything to make the other happy.

I enjoyed every one of these characters so much! Including the sugar loving, muscled up little brother, to the loud, out-spoken best friend. This plot was so entertaing and kept me engaged the entire time. And the beachy, small town vibes are perfect for summer!

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

I so wanted to love this, but I think there were a couple of steps missing in developing the earlier relationship of the characters and so I didn’t buy their relationship. I also think some additional time needed to be spent on the character of the sister because she is so prevalent but it doesn’t feel like we know enough about her.

I really wanted to like this book, but was frustrated by the characters and extremely slow burn. The story unfolds with unnecessary length and drags at times, which contributing to a feeling of immaturity in the characters through miscommunication or rather lack of communication.

The set up of the fake dating seemed rushed and lacked the reasoning rather than just to gain exposure to try to save the bakery. After that the rest of the book was SLOW. Overall was like a hallmark movie - lacked substance and had simple troupes.

If you’re looking for a fun, easy read and love Hallmark movies- this one’s for you. I love the character development throughout the book and you’re rooting for the protagonists the whole way through. The friends to lovers trope gets me every time!