June and Levi were childhood friends who lost touch following a misunderstanding just before he moved away. Following two heavily media-involved breakups they make a pact to fake date to get some benefits from their media attention.

This was a fast paced novel and had a great balance of swoon-filled romance alongside the harsh realities of adult life.

I think this story had a beautiful exploration of grief and with the anger you can feel towards someone which you wouldn’t blink at normally but have to deal with the guilt now they’re no longer here.

I think at the start of this book there may have been a few too many pop culture references which as a personal choice is something I don’t enjoy in books.

I would have loved to see a social media resolution due to the themes of the book but on the other hand I understand why it was passed over. Also I would have loved a bit more development of the sibling relationship between June and her brother.

(Ps I don’t care about any justifications Nancy sucked)

Although fake dating is usually a big hit for me, I struggled to connect to the characters. Some really good elements and moments but it didn’t quite hit the mark.
I can totally see that some people will really enjoy it and find it such a fun summer read!

The Break-Up Pact is an easy read. I loved the small town beach setting and the premise of the tea shop.
I did struggle to connect with the two main characters, they didn't really jump off the page for me. I enjoyed the book overall.

Thankyou so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for allowing me to read an e-ARC of The Break-Up Pact!

I went in to this one very excited by the premise of it. Fake dating is my kryptonite and I eat them up every single time. Unfortunately this one missed the mark for me, the reason behind the fake dating didn’t feel very organic to me, almost too forced if that makes sense so I wasn’t really on board with it from the beginning. I also dislike when plot lines are referred to as a “trope” by characters in the book - it somewhat takes me out of the story. Like I know what’s happening right now, I don’t need it highlighting if that makes sense? I wasn’t sure how I felt about the pacing of the book either, in some places it was done really well and the story was loving along, but in the next breath it felt like it was dragging - I enjoyed the writing for the most part but it felt clunky at times too.

Aside from that this was a good palette cleanser and I enjoyed the book as a whole, it was an easy and super quick read and Levi and June did have SOME really adorable moments, and the flanter was fun!

SIDE NOTE - I was absolutely craving a scone by the time I finished this one 🤣🤣

Overall, this book hit in certain places but missed in others. An overall fun read though and it won’t put me off picking anything up by this author in the future.

I wasn't really keen on this book. I didn't warm to the characters. I felt June was a bit wimpy and I wasn't very fond of the storyline. I thought it would be a bit more light hearted when I requested it as the blurb seemed interesting.
Sorry once I started reading ti I realised that it wasn't for me.
Thanks Netgallery.

Let me start by saying I love the cover, it is super cute and colourful which is what drew me to the book in the first place. I am one of those people, who judge a book by their cover . This is a second chance romance story, two best friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral online. I like the blurb for this book as we currently live in the digital age where things like this happen daily. The pair were great friends growing up and obviously both had feelings for each other all along, however when we found out the reason the two no longer spoke, it just all seemed a little drastic over a tiny misunderstanding. Also the way Levi was still pining over his ex who is out dating other guys, when he has supposedly been in love with June all along it just didn't gel for me.

I liked the writing style and the pace I just didn't really like how it was all put together. It is the first book I have read by the author, who I would read again in hopes of a better plot.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've seen the reviews on this book and tried to be objective going in just to give it a fair shot. First few chapters were okay but it went downhill from there.

Realizing that a misunderstanding caused Levi and June not to be in contact for ten years was maddening. The switch from pining after Kelly who had cheated on him and was toying with him to telling June he had always and had never stopped loving her all in one day also gave me whiplash.

Kelly's arrival in town seemed to erode every single thing they had laid bare when they had spoken the previous night. Levi just went off to speak to her even though he had called it quits the previous day. He didn't even seek out June later on. June herself seemed to not trust him at all. These two were finding excuses to not make a commitment 😂

At the end June revealed that Griffin had never once said "I love you" in their ten years together and I was confused. I had high hopes when I got the ARC but this was a miss for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars
Content warnings: toxic relationships, gaslighting, death of a sibling off-page, and the subsequent trauma of the loss
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital copy to review. All thoughts are my own.

As a fan of Emma Lord's emotional YA romances, I was eager to dive into her adult romance debut and this was a solid start venturing into telling other stories. I appreciated the emotional journey June goes on with Levi in this small town ex-friends to lovers tale. The humour surrounding their meme status from the start of this book aside, watching the pair reconnect after losing so much time together over the past decade was something special, and I enjoyed their friendship and romantic connection. It felt natural that they would fall back into a rhythm with each other, and you could tell their love was genuine.

June, being the main narrator of this story, is sometimes a little exasperating and her worst enemy, even when trying so hard to be so many things, and I appreciated her hustle, even if it meant she wasn't focusing on those who were really in her corner. Whilst the story didn't spend enough time rekindling everything with her brother, or June deep diving into her loss of a relationship with her grieving sibling, I did like how wholesome the family and friend vibe around June was. It helped when she was finally ready to move on from the things holding her back.

I did struggle with some of the actions feeling a little immature at times. If mature conversations and resolution solving had been better utilised some of this novel wouldn't have been so painful to endure, which is the main reason I dropped a star. I also think towards the end, the angst was just a little too much, and whilst everything resolves, it didn't feel necessary for June to go through that. However, Lord has once again been able to capture my attention with her characters, as I consumed this book in a single day, and I'm optimistic for her future adult stories.

I have previously read a Emma Lord's YA contemporary romance book before and loved it, and have a few more on my radar because I truly think she is a really great YA author. However, now that I've also read her adult contemporary romance as well.... I can safely say she's just a really great romance author no matter which age group she's writing in.

I truly loved this. The Break-Up Pact had the right amount of banter, angst and sweet moments for me. I love my romcoms a little more serious that also go in depth of the characters' life and development and The Break-Up Pact was exactly that. I loved June and I loved Levi and seeing the way their characters grow in this book was a delight. I also really loved the romance - mature and tender, just the way I like it to be.

It took me a while to get into The Break-Up Pact and during the first few days I was struggling to even get through the first chapters. The story was a bit slow and sometimes also kind of boring, but once I’d gotten into it, I finished the book within two days. It took me a while to warm up to the two main characters and even though the romance was cute, it was nothing special and I was kind of struggling with feeling the spark between them. Overall however, I still enjoyed the story which is why I’m rating the book three stars.

Aaah, this had so much potential and the blurb sold it to me but it just wasn’t for me. Maybe I’ve just read so many good romance books recently that nothing compares?

I didn’t particularly love the main characters at all. Felt Levi was a bit “wet” , and June just annoyed me.

The plot? Ummm - the concept was there but I don’t think it was executed very well :(

I ended up skimming the last 25% and quite frankly, didn’t care for how it ended.

I’m so sorry but this really wasn’t for me. I’m not sure if I’m growing out of YA romance but this was very juvenile for me and I struggled to connect with the characters.

Thank you for sending me a copy of the ARC! I’m still always grateful

I simply loved this book. It grabbed my attention and I didn’t stop until I had finished.

It was beautifully written, and I was routing for Levi and June the whole time. But it’s not just the romance that you want to happen. Essentially you are going side by side with two characters that lost one of the most people of their life and that are growing and figuring out who they are and what they want. It’s true, realistic and just a heart-warming read.

I definitely will be purchasing this book for myself, I’ll be rereading it and I definitely recommend it to everyone.

Thank you Little Brown Book Group UK for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Such a cute and easy read.

It’s generally a second change/fake dating starring June and Levi. June, her siblings and Levi were extremely close in school. June has always loved Levi but never acted on it.

We meet them both at a rough point in their lives. They’ve both been cheated on and dumped very publicly. During this time, June is running a tea and scone shop (Tea Tide), unsuccessfully, which was once owned and managed by her sister Annie, who passed away. Levi also is at a stagnant point of his life where he’s on a sabbatical of sorts from his job as a hedge fund manager to chasing his childhood dream of becoming a writer.

After years of having little to no contact, Levi and June reunite following their respective break up scandals when Levi shows up at Tea Tide. The story follows their stumble into becoming the “Revenge Exes”as labelled by the public after being seen together in their hometown.

During the story they both have to face their shared past (dealing with how they fell out with each other, becoming distant), their grief (following Annie’s death and how they avoided some truths) and their respective pursuits of finding their purpose/goal in life (their careers), all whilst maintaining the “Revenge Exes” personas.

This was generally a sweet but predictable read. It did feel a bit slow at parts, considering as readers it was clear what was going to happen, it felt like it took a bit too long to get there. I also think it would have been interesting to hear chapters from Levi’s perspective. Another bit of a personal pet peeve is was that some things were just unexplained and seemed illogical e.g. June travelling the world with her ex boyfriend after finishing school without either of them having a job. Lastly, honourable mention to Sana, June’s best friend. Sana provides the voice of reason throughout this book and wish we heard more about her. I felt June a little exhausting at times so was great to have Sana there to add balance.

3.5 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley, Emma Lord and Little Brown Book Group UK for this advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun read! I was rooting for June and Levi the whole time. Emma Lord has done it again

I adored the premise of this book, after equally suffering an embarrassing, viral breakup; old friends, June and Levi decide to fake date and become the Revenge Ex.

I adored their relationship the slow burn, longing, and the character development throughout. The pace dropped slightly towards the end of the book, which was slightly disappointing, but overall, an enjoyable read that had me swooning throughout.

I had read a few of Emma Lord’s YA books, and I am glad she has ventured into adult romance, a pretty impressive debut.

Read if you enjoy:
• Second Chance Romance
• Fake Dating
• Small Town Setting

Favourite Quotes (there were so many amazing quotes throughout):

𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒕 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒎𝒆. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒔𝒓 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆, 𝑰 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒕, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘.

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒒𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒌. 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒚, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍.

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝑰 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝑳𝒆𝒗𝒊, 𝒊𝒕 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒃𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒔 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒆𝒏𝒕. 𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒂 𝒄𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒆𝒏𝒅.

𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚. 𝑰 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒊𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒚𝒐𝒖. 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒓. 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑰 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍. 𝑰 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝑰 𝒕𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒕.

Thank you Little Brown Book Group for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Two best friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral. If that doesn't grab your interest I don't know what will. The fake dating troupe is well executed through the book.

Hi Emma if you’re reading this I’m your new biggest fan!! This is my first book by Emma lord and it won’t be my last 🥰

I loved the plot, if you liked Funny Story then this is also for you! We’ve got friends to lovers, fake dating and a really real depiction of grief. I loved June and Levi and their connection. I’ve seen some reviews say that it’s too fast in how it happens but to me, I feel like they were always tied together and it was shown by how quickly they bounced back to old times like when they were kids.

I like how none of the book felt rushed and it was detailed. One of my pet peeves in a book is when we skip over details and I’m craving more but The Breakup Pact didn’t do this thankfully.

I’m not a fan of miscommunication in a book but this didn’t feel like that in a way? I think because the characters are very adult about their feelings and they talked it through and took time and space it made it feel very real.

Overall I loved this and will now be looking for more to read by this author! Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group for this arc! P.s I hate griffin x

I was so excited to receive the ARC for this book. I’ve read ‘Tweet Cute’ and I loved everything about that book, the characters, the plot, the writing etc. Which makes it 1000% times worse to say that I did not enjoy ‘The break-up pact’ at all.

The book follows 2 ex best friends who both go viral after being dumped by their partners. They then get roped into a fake dating scheme to help with their personal situations.

Normally I eat up fake dating. I love everything about it, the awkwardness at the beginning, them finding their footing in their ‘relationship’ and the abundance of tension. But it was hard to get through that when I couldn’t connect with the characters at all. The FMC was selfish and stubborn and so bad at communicating. She has all this time to go on fake dates but can’t even text her brother back? And I don’t even want to start on the MMC wanting to get back with his ex who CHEATED ON HIM!!!! It just massively put me off reading the book, and I just about got through halfway before having to stop because I knew this would put me in a slump. Maybe it gets better in the next half and that’s great, but I don’t feel like I’m missing anything by not finishing.

I’d probably give around ⭐️ ⭐️

I felt so many emotions when I was reading this book and it kept me captivated. Funny, heart-breaking and so easy to read.