“The Break-up Pact” by Emma Lord
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
“I love you June, it’s the only thing I’m certain about!”
Pros- OMG… I have found the ultimate summer read! This book would be perfect to read by the water or on the beach. Thank you NetGally and Macmillan publications for approving my first audio book. I am so thankful! Let's talk about that beautiful cover. It's so colorful and bright. I love it so much. It's what originally had drawn me into the book but I quickly learned the inside is as amazing as the outside. I will say it took me a couple of chapters to get fully connected to the plot and the characters but once I did I fell in love with the cozy tea shop and the sweet character relationship. Because how could you not? I do need to say that this was my first audio book and I have been missing out! I got so much done while listening to it, it was awesome. Back to the book, the epilogue was SO PERFECT.I could not have asked for a better ending with them all together and happy. This was the first Emma Lord book I’ve ever read and I really liked her writing style and have heard great things about her other books so I will definitely be picking up more.
Cons- I would have liked to hear more from Levis point of view or just multiple character POVs but besides that I think it was great.

Get the “Break-up pact” in stores August 13 2024

Tropes in this book
- Friends-Strangers- Lovers
- Second Chance
- Fake Dating
- Oblivious to Love
- Miscommunication
Songs that remind me of this book
- It's about damn time. lizzo
- Uptown Funk. Bruno Mars
- Just a friend to you. Meghan Trainor

I’m a bit unsure of how I feel about this book.
Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I had fun with the characters and the overall plot. But I did struggle with aspects of the story.
I really enjoy the friends-to-lovers trope, which this book includes. The limited communication between our main characters over the several years prior to the start of the story adds higher stakes to their currently situation, which is interesting. There seems to be an underlying animosity with our characters towards the beginning of the story, which I don’t think serves the overall romance.
There are times throughout the book where our male main character seems absolutely oblivious to the wants/needs of our female character, which is pretty concerning for a romance and doesn’t invest the reader in the connection between the main characters.
At times the story felt a bit chaotic, attempting to do too much all at once, and not necessarily landing the execution. This depletes the power of the messaging through this story and the overall enjoyment of the romance.
Do I recommend this book? I do if you’re looking for a quick fun read. The audiobook was an enjoyable listen and I suspect it’s a big part of this book’s star rating (in a good way).

Thank you, Macmillan Audio for this advance copy in exchange for my review.

This was a delightful romance. It was probably the sweetest friends to lovers I’ve ever read.
I loved June’s backstory and hearing all about the bakery and I loved Levi’s love for June.
The side characters added humour and complexity to the story that I really enjoyed.

If you’re an Emily Henry fan, you should definitely read The Break-Up Pact ASAP.

3.5⭐️ rounding up.

🎧📖 note: Natalie Naudus did a fantastic job narrating.

A series of unfortunate events... I sadly didn't get into this book. I had high hopes but they weren't met. An adult romance needs to be just that for me. Steamy and adult.

Thank you for this ARC.

Are you looking for a light and easy read this summer? Then look no further--The Break-Up Pact has you covered. The story focuses on estranged high school friends Levi and June. June has recently gone through an embarrassingly messy break up that went viral. Levi also faced public notoriety when his fiancee cheated on him with a celebrity. Both are trying to heal, but when their paths cross for the first time in several years, and the tabloids mistakenly assume they are dating one another, and a 'fake dating' plan is hatched. The publicity is good for June's failing seaside bakery, and Levi hopes his ex finance may realize her mistake if she sees that he's moved on.

The story moved quickly, making it good for a light beach read. I didn't feel a super strong connection to the characters or their relationship, but they held my interest long enough. My main issue with the story was that it didn't feel believable. It had a very Hallmark movie vibe, which isn't necessarily a bad thing-- I just wanted a little bit more depth. It was almost there, but missing just a little something.

Natalie Naudus did a wonderful job narrating. I look forward to listening to more narrations by her in the future!

Ah what to say about this one. First, there was plenty of humor that I enjoyed. Second, I love love love a good friends when we were younger and then went through life to become lovers later romance. Seriously, one of my favorite tropes. The grief in this book made things complicated- as did the exes. It seems like their reasons for not talking for 10 years felt pretty far fetched and even the ending wasn’t actually my favorite. The very end, yes but leading up to that it got a bit crazy for really no reason. So glad for the HAE in this one and that both characters found a way to their new life.

Let me start by saying that I DEVOURED this on audio. Thankfully I was off from work today and could consume the 80% that I didn’t get to finish yesterday.

June and Levi are both very publicly broken up with and then become the “Revenge Exes”. If this were real life I would be a top follower of the revenge exes on instagram, tiktok, and reality television. These characters are very relatable which just adds to the story.

Thank you NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Break-Up Pact was a cute, easy summer read. Childhood friends June and Levi are unexpectedly brought back together when they both experience embarrassing, and viral, break-ups. I love fake dating, but there was something here that would bring me out of the story. I didn't totally buy into their connection, and the communication felt off sometimes, but it could have been due to fact they used to know each other so well and then were navigating the fake dating situation. Overall, this was okay for me and enjoyable while I was reading it.
Natalie Naudus did a great job narrating June and the other aspects of the story, but I didn't enjoy the male voice as much and wished it was a dual narration.
Thanks St. Martin's Griffin for the copy through NetGalley in exchange for a review.

3.5 stars rounded up
Enjoyable second-chance romance that begins as fake dating in a beach setting. The female lead owns her own business but was recently dumped by her celebrity boyfriend in a dramatic scene that went viral. As she struggles with this, the male lead returns to town after his own break-up and they reconnect over their shared grief resulting from her sister's death. They begin to fake date as revenge exes which leads to a resolution of miscommunication in their past. Unfortunately, it was weighed down by some immaturity and frustrating choices by the main characters.

June and Levi haven't spoken since they were best friends in high school and have both suffered recent and very public break ups that went viral. While Levi is now a finance guy in NYC, June moved back to their vacation hometown to run her sister's bakery after her sister died, but the bakery is in trouble. Levi is in town for a few weeks and they hatch a plan to pretend to date to fuel the viral fire - they hope this fake relationship will get Levi back with his ex and bring in new business for June's bakery. Now of course, this is a rom com so - old best friends who had feelings at one time, now in a fake relationship...I'll let you do the math.

I ended up listening to a lot of this one because I had to prepare for my son's camp visiting day, but once everything was packed I sat down and finished it by reading. This book was cute but didn't grab me like other rom coms I have read recently. I thought maybe I was too old for it and it was just too cutesy for me so I had my 18 year old read it but she gave it the same rating I did (but she is a mini me). There wasn't anything super special about this one, it totally kept me entertained but never fully engrossed. I do love listening to rom coms though, so the listen was still fun. I know the author generally writes YA, I wonder if her next adult novel will be better, I will definitely give it a chance.

3.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan audio for the ARC to review

This was an okay romcom. From the cover, I was expecting more of a fun summer read than I got. There are some fun, flirty parts, but they're rarer than I hoped, with a lot of sad content about June trying to keep her sister's shop open without changing anything. I generally like it when romcoms have a more serious subplot, so I don't know why it didn't work for me here. The chemistry here was lacking and I think that overruled everything else. However, the narration is wonderful so if you're going to pick this one up, I highly recommend it on audio.

A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for this advance copy. I was interested in this book because of the cute cover, but was totally blown away by the end. I was pleasantly surprised by the depth of emotions brought on by the characters mutual history and shared losses. Many of my favorite tropes were present: childhood friends to lovers, second chance romance, fake dating, and lots of witty banter. This story was Emily Henry levels of angst and heartstring-tugging at times but so sweet that I was rooting for the characters (not you, Griffin) the whole way.

This was such a great read. Thank you for the audio version this made my day at work fly by. I loved the characters and how their love began.

This was a cute little romance, but it wasn’t all that I hoped it would be. Several times during the book I felt bored, and if I’d quit reading at any point, I wouldn’t have wondered how things ended.

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and to the author for this audiobook arc!

I wanted to love this one! Really! I love the fake dating trope. I love books about writers. I love scones! But I think I’m not the in right age demographic for this one. This entire book felt very very millennial to me, and it just wasn’t for me! There were a lot of “we’re so silly, holding up peace signs and dancing weird” moments that were a hard read for me. I think someone who relates more to being a millennial would appreciate the jokes, the way that the couple flirted, and the overall vibes of this book more than I did. I’m thankful for the opportunity and the audiobook anyway! The narrator did a great job!

I really enjoyed this book a lot! I specifically thought that the narrator did a wonderful job with the various voices and character quirks. I loved the secondary characters in this book and really felt like we got to get a sense into their lives as well. It was great being able to actually see an arc and growth of the main characters and for maybe the first time? I truly felt like the 'fake dating' scenario worked well. Really enjoyed!

Listening to this book was an absolute delight. June and Levi both experience very public breakups (or breaks) and they decide to work together to make the best out of their situations. As the book moves on, it really highlights their shared history and grief. They both communicate really well since they’ve been friends for so long and their fake dates were funny to see unfold. There are some really serious undertones to the book and I think the author handled the complexity of grief really well even though I wasn’t aware how present it would be when I started the book. With that in mind, this wasn’t a book I felt the urge to read all in one sitting, so slowly listening to the audiobook kept me engaged. Also, there was a real villain to this story and it was Nancy. I don’t like her one bit and I was so upset to see her come back in the epilogue. The ending overall, wrapped things up well but felt rushed and wasn’t as satisfying I wanted. Overall, this is a good read but be prepared for discussions of grief and the trauma that comes with it. 3.75⭐️, 2🌶, ⚠️

This book wasn’t per se bad.. but it wasn’t anything special. Some chapters felt like they drug on forever and others felt super rushed… I’ve said this with another Emma Lord book, but I think 16 year old Cass would’ve liked it better than 27 year old Cass did.

Thank you to Netgalley, St. Martins Press & Macmillan audio for the opportunity to read / listen to this ARC.

June and Levi were best friends in high school and then all of a sudden they were not and went their separate ways. Years later when they both experience public breakups, they reconnect in the beach town that June's tea shop is in and they decide to fake date to help their internet image recover after their respective breakups. Will they be able to convince the world that they are actually dating and in love?

This was such a cute fake dating story and I really enjoyed the friend group that they reconnected with in the beach town. I feel like we got to know June way more than we got to know Levi. Levi's ex created lots of issues for him and June and just seemed like she was acting like a dog trying to mark her territory by coming into June's tea shop and talking about how well she knew Levi. I really enjoyed the ending with the food truck helping June's business be successful. There are a few spicy scenes, but overall, I loved this cute second chance rom com.

After not seeing each other for ten years, June and Levi reconnect after both experiencing rather embarrassing and public breakups. Old high school friends, the duo decide to enter into a pact of fake dating after a steamy picture of them goes viral. June hopes to ride the fame wave in order to save her tea shop, while Levi hopes to make his ex (or separated?) partner jealous.

The story was cute, and that’s all I really have to say to describe it. I felt like it got very descriptive at points and had less dialogue than what I would have liked for a deeper narrative. I also only listened to this book, so I may have missed things? But I found that I was not really connecting and vibing with the characters. I liked the relationship June has with her best friend, Sana and I found her side story to be really enjoyable for the amount of time she was present. The miscommunication between the couple overshadowed so much of the depth I was looking for in the characters. Levi felt like a mystery to me, and it would have been interesting to learn about things from his perspective. And June was so caught up sometimes that I felt she was very narrowminded and would have easily solved a lot of problems and questions if she had simply talked to Levi. Despite all that, the story of their second-chance romance was cute. It had some spicy scenes and build-up that I enjoyed listening.

The narrator, Natalie Naudus, truly adds to the storytelling with different tones and voices for each character. Despite not really connecting with the story or characters, I did enjoy her storytelling and clear narration.

Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Emma Lord for providing me with an ALC in exchange for my honest review!