3.5 stars for me - I listened to an advanced audiobook (thanks NetGalley & MacMillian Audio!) and found it to be a quick, breezy listen. This is my first book by the author as well.

Overall, I thought the story was a bit half-baked (pun intended!) and I just didn’t connect with the MMC very much. The FMC did have some depth that I liked! But the story as a whole was just… lacking. To be fair, I’m not a friends-to-lovers fan, and these MCs were bffs growing up. So right off the bat, I wasn’t attached to them. The exes were not fully fleshed out, I definitely didn’t understand the FMC’s previous relationship.

The story, already not hooking me, also dragged on and became rather repetitive. I do like the ending and the characters’ & relationship’s growth! The setting was also sweet and made for a nice summer-y read :)

This book was the perfect beach read! A cute tea shop, friends to lovers, fake dating, and a bit of spice? What more could you want?!

Big shoutout to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the awesome opportunity to dive into this book! Thanks for letting me join the adventure early!

This was a quick, fun read that I'd recommend to fans of these tropes: fake dating, second chance romance, friends to lovers, and small town settings. While I enjoyed it on a surface level, I can't say that I felt attached to the characters or that the storyline was anything special.

The narrator was great and made listening to the audio more enjoyable. Thanks to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for the audio ARC.

I really enjoyed this cute fun story. The audio was great and I really liked the narrators. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher.

3.5 stars.

This was Emma Lord's foray into the adult romance genre, having previously written a few YA novels that I've read. June and Levi used to be bffs in high school until they had a falling out (miscommunication). Several years later, they both wind up in their hometown following humiliating public breakups.

Lord has a thing for dessert, which she weaves into all of her books. In this case, June owns a bakery/coffee shop. I think the dessert thing works for YA, but I didn't love it in this. I did appreciate Lord's signature wit and humor, however. Overall, I would say this was a cute and heartwarming summer read. I'd recommend it to fans of the following tropes:

*Fake dating
*Friends to lovers
*Second chance romance
*Small town
*Mild spice

Thank you to Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for audiobook and ebook arcs to review!

While I did enjoy this book, I feel like the climax came at about 80% through, and the last 20% was all fluff. Meaning - the author could have wrapped up the ending more succinctly and I probably would have rated at least 4, if not 5 stars. I did enjoy the social commentary on what affect social media is capable of producing in our lives, and how misguided the internet mob can be, ultimately being able to make or break someone’s business and life. The author may not have intended it to be that deep, but it definitely made me think about those people who don’t choose to be famous, but have one moment of their lives go viral and are forever changed.

This was a super cute book light and easy to read and follow. I'm a big fan of fake dating so I enjoyed that part of the book. I loved watching June and Levi's relationship grow and begin to mean something.

The miscommunication in the book drives me crazy though you could have saved so much time if you had of actually spoken in the beginning.

But it was a really fun read and I'd be happy to recommend it to others

I enjoyed listening to this book narrated by Natalie Naudus! I wish I had this one before the ARC because I think I would've enjoyed it more listening the first time.

I look forward to reading more books by Emma Lord. I see that she writes more YA rom coms but I think this was a great debut contemporary romance!

Thank you NetGallet, Macmillan Audio, and Emma Lord for the ALC of this title!

I'm one of the biggest Emma Lord fans out there! Emma Lord typically writes YA romcoms, but this one is her first adult rom com. To me, Emma Lord is the Emily Henry of YA romance. Less spice of course, its YA after all.

I fell in love with "You've got a match," "tweet cute," "begin again" and "The Getaway List" (coming 2024) and was excited to hear that Emma Lord was trying her hand at Adult romance.

The Break-Up Pact is a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers romcom about Levi and June. These two were childhood friends until a misunderstanding destroyed their friendship. Now they're back in the same area and both going through difficult breakups. They come up with the plan to fake-date and make their exes jealous. What could go wrong? Look I'm all for a fake dating plot, but I'm not sure I would do it with someone I had a falling out with. Ahh, its a book so it works.

To me, Emma Lord's novels work because she is able to balance the fun lighthearted romance with some heavier storylines that make you feel something and reflect on your own life decisions. This book is no exception.

As a romance, The Break-Up Pact left me underwhelmed. There was a lot of miscommunication and indecision between the love interests, making me question whether they really were “meant to be”. While I didn’t buy the romance, I fell for the setting. Lord’s descriptions of the beach town where this book takes place were beautiful, saving this title from being a total flop.

This is a super fun read. There is actual conflict and story development that keeps you engaged and interested without being too predictable but still being what you want.

Thanks to @netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the chance to review The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord. I absolutely adored this SUPER sweet second-chance love story. Levi and June have been dumped in completely embarrassing, viral ways. In order to get back at their exes, or to get their exes back as in the case of Levi, they pretend to be dating. Levi is a broody writer and June has a bakery - they were the best of friends when they were running cross-country together. Everyone around them, so I said they would end up together… So fun.

I initially read this book a few months ago, and was so excited to get the chance to listen to the audio version. I will listen to Natalie Naudus read pretty much anything, and she delivered yet again. Her diction, pace, and voice changes are perfection.

3.75/5 stars rounded up.

This was my first Emma Lord book and it will not be my last.

I really enjoyed her writing style. She has a way with words that paint a vivid picture of the characters and scenery in my brain. I was right there with June and Levi on the beach, on the boardwalk, in Tea Tide… The story felt like a movie playing in my head, and I loved every second of it.

The only problem was that I didn’t really connect with the characters, especially June. They were well fleshed out and believable, but some of their actions and reactions felt so dramatic and unnecessary. I know that there is almost always a big conflict in the third act of a romance book, so I was expecting one here, but it really got on my nerves because it felt so immature on June’s part. And, I get it, she had past relationship traumas she needed to get over, but I could not help being frustrated when Levi was trying to talk things out with her and she just kept shutting down and pushing him away.

Still, the ending tied everything up in a pretty little bow and redeemed the messy middle for me a little bit. And made me want to eat some scones.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook. I liked the narrator and thought she brought great energy to the story. Emma Lord is a new-to-me author. The premise of this contemporary romance is two childhood friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral, I enjoyed the small town beach setting and June's scone shop, and that the author also explores the topic of loss. Unfortunately June and Levi have difficulty communicating and there's a lot of indecision. As a result I never bought that these two people should end up together. I'm completely indifferent to them as a couple. Overall I think fans of Emma Lord will enjoy this book, but to me it didn't rise above an average rating.

This was a quick easy read. It was overall enjoyable. Unfortunately, I didn't feel connected to the story. The characters didn't have much depth and the slow burn didn't really burn.

First, I'm endlessly grateful to St. Martin's Press and MacMillan Audio for early access to the ebook and ALC of this story! These are my honest thoughts!

I enjoyed listening to this book SO MUCH. I was drawn in by the narrators and while I enjoyed reading it, I think I actually loved listening to it even more! The audio performance gets 5 stars. It felt like watching an old favorite rom-com, with so much energy and ridiculousness and fun and serious all mixed in the bag!

This story is tied together with tragedy, with June's sister/Levi's BFF passing away, but not before she causes a chasm to form between June and Levi right out of high school. Years have passed, and yet these two haven't managed to reconnect. However, they both are facing public humiliation in the form of their exes publicly breaking their hearts for all to witness. Rumors start rolling, and these two form a break-up pact in order to ward off the public interest in their love lives.

The best part of this whole story is Levi coming to June's defense. He's best friends with her brother still, and his intentions are pure. When all their history finally comes to the surface, you see Levi as the sweetheart he really is.

This is a childhood-friends-to-strangers-to-fake-dating-to-lovers story, with a lot of emotional turmoil in between. It's sort of second chance (they both had crushes in high school). There's grief. There's embarrassment. There's failure. And then there's a lot of fun, too. And the spice was... brief but spicy all the same!

I'm excited for this one to be in the world. It vibes sort of like a spicy Sarah Adams romance novel, and I'm glad Emma took the leap from YA, making The Break-Up Pact her contemporary romance debut. A solid 4-star read for me!

I read the arc for this book and it was a DNF for me. Once I saw the audiobook I figured I’d give it another try if I could.
It was good and cute. But nothing extraordinary

ℝ𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ | 𝔽𝕠𝕣𝕞𝕒𝕥: 𝐸-𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀 & 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜𝒷𝑜𝑜𝓀

ℝ𝕖𝕧𝕚𝕖𝕨: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑩𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒌-𝑼𝒑 𝑷𝒂𝒄𝒕 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐞, 𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲! 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐧, 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞. 𝐈 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭-𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧. 𝐈 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝!

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢, 𝐀𝐊𝐀 “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐬.” 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐝, 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤-𝐮𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. 𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥, 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐢 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩 𝐢𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚/𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐬.

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝐸𝓂𝓂𝒶 𝐿𝑜𝓇𝒹, 𝑀𝒶𝒸𝓂𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶𝓃 𝒜𝓊𝒹𝒾𝑜, 𝒮𝓉. 𝑀𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒾𝓃’𝓈 𝒫𝓇𝑒𝓈𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

I picked up 'The Break-Up Pact' by Emma Lord hoping for a fun, easy read, and that's exactly what I got - nothing too groundbreaking, but not disappointing either.

The book revolves around June and Levi, two high school friends whose messy breakups become social media sensations. When a rumor spreads online suggesting they're a couple, they decide to go along with it for their own reasons, leading to a rekindling of old feelings.

I'm a sucker for the friends-to-lovers trope, and the setting of a beach town added a cozy touch to the story. However, I found the constant emphasis on the characters' physical attraction and connection to be a bit overdone. It's like, okay, we get it, they're into each other—no need to keep hammering that point home.

My main issue with the book was June. Right from the start, her judgmental attitude grated on me, making it hard to fully get into the story. It's tough to enjoy a book when you can't really connect with the main character, you know?

That said, there were still some sweet moments in the story that I enjoyed, and overall, it was a decent read. If you're in the mood for a light-hearted romance with a beachy setting, "The Break-Up Pact" might be worth checking out.

I usually really like Emma Lords books and this one was no exception. The protagonists were best friends growing up, but have grown apart. They both get broken up with by their respective partners and their break ups are now viral. What could go wrong if they fake dated? Quite a bit but in the direction you’re hoping for! What I was a fan of was how fleshed out and realistic (well as realistic as possible) the characters felt. However a LOT was left for the ending and for them to untangle themselves from the mess was a journey in itself, which I didn’t quite enjoy as much as the rest of the book! And yet, it was quite fun!