This was hilarious and heartfelt. My first read from Emma Lord and definitely not the last. I quite enjoyed the banter between the characters and the friendships and relationships throughout! Sweet and perfect for an end-of-summer read!

Having never read a book by Emma Lord before, I think The Break-Up Pact was the perfect introduction to her writing. I always enjoy a good childhood friends to strangers to friends again to lovers (a lot of words, I know) trope and this book does it sooo well. And with a dash of fake dating too. I’ll say one thing; it was very easy to fall in love with June and subsequently with Levi; both of them are going through a lot; the grief of losing someone, the fact they suffered very public breakups and a viral photo leads to people thinking they are dating…I wanted to give both of them a hug. It was pretty much clear from the start that the two had never stopped caring for each other; it was so nice to see them fall back into old patterns, of becoming friends again, of recognizing each other’s old habits. And their chemistry? Off-the-charts, insane, wild. And the tension….oh my god, the tension!! Even before they kissed for the first time, you could feel their passion on the page. I honestly felt like I was intruding on a personal moment.

Emma Lord writes in a style that is so pleasant to read; this is the type of book that I would want to curl up with on my couch after a long, long day. The Break-Up Pact was a wonderful read that I know I’ll be revisiting later! And I will definitely be pushing Emma Lord’s books onto my priority TBR!

I enjoyed this story.

I felt an instant connection with Levi, June and the rest of the cast. Especially romantically between Levi and June. I enjoyed how their history rolled out through the story, how they used their past to overcome their difficulties.

This book had me crying and then laughing a minute later. The author handles grief in such a raw and informative way and that really was the icing on the cake for me.

One of my favourite reads of 2024 for sure.

A cute and fun read that made me smile. It has themes of love, friendship, loss, grief, heartbreak and family. It is quite light and fun to read. It has the friends to lovers, fake dating and second chance romance tropes that I enjoyed reading.

The two characters reconnect after their public breakups which was very well written. The supporting characters too add to the story. Overall a fun holiday read.

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group UK and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

this started off so well and j was really intrigued by the small town setting. But between the poor pacing and constant miscommunication, this became a slog to finish. I think the romance aspect moved too quickly and the MMC was a dickhead.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC

I was very excited to read this book. It was an easy and fun read. I am more of an enemies-to-lovers trope girl, but this book made me see the friends-to-lovers trope in a new light. While I loved the book up until it reached the middle, I started losing interest after that. This book is more of a one-time read for me. I am sure readers who love romance in a small town setting and love the friends-to-lovers trope will enjoy this book.

this is perfect for fans of emily henry.

i was expecting a bit more bit overall enjoy.

Tropes & Themes:
🍪 second chances
🍪 best friends - to strangers - to lovers
🍪 small business owner
🍪 small town setting

To you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending my an e-arc of The Break-Up Pack by Emma Lord.

I think this book is very cute. This book talks about grief and is very realistic with it. It just felt a little flat on some occasions and I had a hard time actually caring about some of the characters. I think I got confused in the beginning with the siblings and friends' name. So many names were thrown at me and I just could not handle it (it's definitely on me)
I also was disappointed because we talked about Matheo and Dylan's wedding ALL THE TIME and we actually did not see any of it... Such a shame.

I loved the dynamic between June and her friends (especially Sana) and her dynamic with her brother, really cute.

I loved this book so much! June and Levi's story is so touching. And all the secondary characters really add to the story. I really like the way the story navigates the grief and inaction that often settles when you loose a loved one. I will be carrying this story with me and recommending it to friends.

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.