Love to see Irish Romance having a moment, and Hargan's novel about two colleagues with a romantic past is a fun, enjoyable read.
Second-chance romance is not always my favourite trope, but (kind of)enemies to lovers is, so this worked well for me! I enjoyed the slow build-up to the full back story, and the New York setting was great.

An enemies to lover romance.
Fia is feisty and sparkly, while Ben is arrogant as well as charming and incredibly good looking.
Fia and Ben haven’t spoken in ten years since they accidentally got married in Vegas.
Then he turns up as her intern at a NYC Law firm.
We discover the history to their relationship and a whole lot more !!!
Loved the witty dialogue and the misunderstanding and miscommunication, as well a the NYC setting.
A laugh out loud romcom and fabulous summer escapist read.
Thanks @niamh_hargan_author, @harpercollinsuk & @netgalley for the eARC

I loved Niamh’s last book Twelve Days in May and tried my best to get into this one but I found the pacing a little clunky at times and I didn’t warm to the characters as much as I hoped I would.

It’s still enjoyable but not my favourite. I look forward to seeing what Niamh comes up with next

You know a book is 5 stars when you cannot stop thinking about it when you’ve finished! I loved the tension between Fia and Benjamin and wish there was more! I want to know where they are 5 years in the future! I’ll be recommended this to everyone I know who loves a great enemies to lovers trope. This one just had the extra twist!

Book boyfriend - check, cute funny moments - check, love story you wish would happen to you - check. Romantic comedy perfection - check check! Ben and Fia are the couple you root for, swoon worthy plot.

This book took me by surprise! It wasn’t the straightforward romance I was expecting. There were several points where I wasn’t sure where we were headed in terms of a HEA, which made it pretty gripping!

The enemies to lovers storyline and history in this was too good, and I laughed at lot at Fia and Benjamin’s sparring - very witty and funny.

The only thing missing for me was an epilogue! I would have LOVED one of them getting remarried, or even having that implied, as I think the author could have made that pretty funny and heartwarming.

What to expect:

-slow burn
-enemies to lovers
-kind of a second chance romance
-forced proximity
-workplace romance
-secret romance
-pretty closed door but still intense chemistry

This was a silly, fun read. There isn’t much in here that readers won’t have seen elsewhere, but it’s no less enjoyable for that. I enjoyed the section that took place in Ireland, and the supporting characters felt well rounded. I enjoyed the exploration of friendship as well.

The was such a fun version of exes-to-lovers, I really enjoyed every moment of reading it. The tension, the charm, the banter - it's all there. It always helps when you genuinely like both of the main characters and I loved these too. Great romance.

A fun romance with a great premise and enemies-to-lovers relationship. I really enjoyed the clashes between Benjamin and Fia, as well as their unusual backstory.

. "The Break-Up Clause" is a charming and enjoyable read that will leave you with a smile on your face and a warm feeling in your heart

From the start it is very obvious what is going to happen in this book. However its the bits in between that decide whether its a decent enough book or not. Thankfully this one was very enjoyable. Characters that you could get into and I loved the banter/dialogue between them and of course the storyline that ultimately gets them to where you know they are going. A good book for reading when going on holiday.

I am opinionated. Always have been. Always will be. So much so that my mum said I was born with opinions. And I love sharing my opinions (hello bookstagram!), discussing the reasons for my opinions and most of all I love finding out reasons to change my opinions. This makes me sound insufferable I know, but I’m also very laidback, and I do enjoy a good giggle I promise! So, believe me when I say I am shocked to find that I have very few opinions about this book.
It was nice.
Nice.
I largely bought into the romance.
I enjoyed the enemies to lovers’ plot.
There were some nice thoughts shared on finding home in a foreign country, returning home after a long break, and trying to decide which home is more home.
It was nice that friendship was treated as just as impactful and important as romantic relationships.
The spice wasn’t cringey.
It was an easy read.
I did get irritated by the explanation given as to why they were enemies and why he ghosted her for 10 years. They simultaneously had the ability to overthink and considerably underthink at the same time. It just had so many holes in it, it could have been a slice of Edam.
Sometimes I felt like there was too many 'other' thoughts; too much fleshing out done. It slowed the pace and made me put the book down and leave it for a while.
That’s it my friends. Read it if you want an easy read. Read it if you’re a fan of the enemies to lovers’ trope. Read it if you like a New York corporate world setting. Read it if you are looking for something with a little spice. Read it if you like a happy ending. Just don’t expect to have your socks blown off.

What are the chances of the man you drunkenly married in Vegas, a man you didn’t particularly like and who you didn’t see again, turning up as your summer associate ten years later? One in a million? Well Terry Pratchett says million to one chances crop up nine times out of ten you know!

It was quite funny reading about how horrified Fia was to discover that this scenario was actually happening in the New York law firm she works for. She’s not even American, just working in the NY branch of the firm she works for, so surely the chances had to be remote?

I really didn’t like Benjamin for quite a chunk of the book. It was because he hadn’t responded to Fia’s calls or emails that they weren’t divorced and he seemed determined to make things as difficult as possible for Fia. However, things aren’t always what they seem and we do find out that perhaps he wasn’t as intransigent as Fia had thought.

I loved when they went to Dublin for the annual get together of the offices across the world. The easy relationship between FIA and her parents was great to read about. It was so funny when Ben ended up staying with them and fitted right in. And the incident with the seagull made me laugh out loud – sorry Ben!

Of course, Fia and Ben come to realise that neither is that bad and actually that they might like each other, really like each other. That’s when the fun starts as the heat and attraction between them grows. Maybe they are going to be divorced but they can have a bit fun on the way can’t they? And phew, that was when things really hotted up on the page too with the sexual tension between them simmering away and reaching boiling point!

With two lead characters who you will come to love, this is a great take on the enemies-to-lovers narrative. But don’t think that means that this book is completely predictable. Niamh Hargan has a few surprises up her sleeve for sure. The Break-Up Clause is a smart, sexy and witty romcom and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was fun from the very first chapter all the way through to the end. Fia is assigned Ben as her summer intern ... the only little issue with that being they he is her estranged husband whom she has not seen for years. Fia tries to be civil with Ben (mostly) but she wants to be divorced and able to move on. Trying to figure out how Fia would make it through the summer without losing her sanity and what was going through Ben's head, not to mention the banter, made this one of the most enjoyable books I've read in a while!

Fia is working as a lawyer in a New York office and has a surprise when her summer intern turns top - she actually married him nearly ten years ago in a Vegas chapel, never to see him again.
Fia comes across as very human, although a high-powered lawyer she doesn't really understand herself and it takes Benjamin, the husband, to start seeing how she actually comes across. The relationship between the two does blow hot and cold and you are never really she of the outcome New York itself doesn't appeal to me, although I can see the attraction, and she also starts doubting whether she wants to be there herself. A book to make you wonder whether a job demanding that much of your time is worth the rewards but also on what makes a couple successful together or not.
I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley, however this did not influenced my review of the book.

I adored this book. It was so fun from start to finish and had a lot of heart within. Not only about a relationship that starts blossoming but also coming to terms with your past relationship and how much they’ve changed you and moving on.

Fia works at a big law firm and she will be taking a summer associate under her wing someone who will be the future of the company. The problem for Fia is that the man she’s been paired with is he husband. They haven’t seen each other in 8 years when they drunkly got married in Las Vegas. Now their jobs are on the line and they need to get a divorce before anyone finds outs but as time passes do they really hate each other as much as they say?

Fia is a wonderful main character. She has been living in New York for a few years after moving from Dublin. She misses her family and is torn between them. Ben just wants these weeks to get over with. Once he’s finished this summer he can hopefully not see Fia again. But it’s hard when the rude remarks turn into flirting and the more time they spend together the more they realise things are changing between them.

A brilliant enemies to lovers. The characters felt so real to me and I really enjoyed reading their story. Niamh is a fantastic story teller and this is a book I just couldn’t put down until I finished it. It was witty, moments that made my chest hurt as I was that in with the characters, chemistry that will make you fan yourself and knowing that sometimes being uncertain with where you want your life to go is okay.

Fia has got her dream job as a successful lawyer at top international law firm, ZOLA, based in New York. Her life is thrown into disarray when her new summer associate whom she will be mentoring for 10 weeks steps into her office and turns out to be the man she drunkenly married in Vegas 10 years ago and hasn’t been able to pin down to sort out the divorce!

She now has to work out how to get through 10 weeks of awkwardness and snide comments from Benjamin Lowry whilst trying to keep on track to bag her well-earned promotion.

But as time goes on, Fia realises that the situation isn’t quite what she thought and Benjamin is not the irresponsible and annoying person she always thought he was.

Thrown in for good measure were interesting sub-plots around the divorce of a social media starlet and some twists and turns with Fia’s friendships and relationships back home in Dublin.

Overall The Break-Up Clause was an enjoyable story but a little slow for me. It would be a good beach / holiday read but isn’t one I would come back to. Although the growing romance between Fia and Benjamin had some sweet moments, I couldn't help but think it was a little bit bonkers that these two high-flying professionals couldn’t find a way of communicating and sorting the sorry mess out sooner than being in the same office all day every day for a few weeks!

Fia Callaghan works as a lawyer in a high profile law firm Zelnick, O’Leary and Abbot or ZOLA for short. She is on track to make partner she just needs to prove herself as a team player.

Having been assigned a summer associate to mentor and to help out with her case load. You can imagine Fia’s shock and dismay when it turns out to be Benjamin Lowry.

Fia is instantly taken back to eight previous to a time when she was a camp counsellor, in charge of a gang load of American pre-teens. At the end of the season all the camp counsellors go to Vegas to blow off some steam and to spend some of their hard earned dollars.

While in Vegas there’s and accidental marriage in a little chapel carried out by an Elvis lookalike. The couple in question? Fia and Benjamin of course. They make a pact to get divorced within the year due to family issues on his side.

Back in the present day and Fia is standing face to face with her husband. Yes, her husband. Benjamin somehow fell off the face of the earth and Fia hadn’t been able to get contact with him to arrange the divorce.

This is bad, this is very bad. It’s only ten weeks they have to work in forced proximity. She can do it right?

The authors second novel and I loved it from the first page to the last. Accidental marriage isn’t a trope I’ve come across much but I’ve decided it’s a firm favourite.

I loved the setting in Manhattan and in particular the law offices and the fact that Fia actually spelled Fiadh is Irish. The way she felt it was necessary to simplify her name for the Americans. Having lived in England it resonated with me having softened my accent a bit while I was there!

Fia and Benjamin have been put up there with some of my favourite romance couples.
During the course of the story on a trip to Dublin, Hodges & Figgis got a mention which made me smile.

Any of my fellow booksta gals that love a bit of romance, a pre-order is a must.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆
When Benjamin Lowry is presented as Fia’s summer mentee at her top Manhattan law firm, she’s shocked. The guy she met and married one drunken night 8 years ago in Vegas and has ghosted her ever since is now someone she needs to share her tiny office with for an entire summer. And the rest of the firm can’t find out about their relationship, or lack thereof. Getting divorced is now a priority, but will the proximity send them over the edge?

𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀
So much of this story played like a familiar Manhattan legal eagle movie, with young singles doing their thing. While there is ever present work and long hours, I appreciated that Fia also grapples with guilt over a lost friend, living far away from her family and how much to share with her flatmates. She’s aware that she is able to hold back on her comments, especially when she doesn’t want to with Benjamin. I felt like this story would have benefited from a dual POV, and seeing the relationship from his side. From Fia’s side, she is protecting herself from loss, but you get the sense that Benjamin is too. It’s a fun read with a HEA. ❤️

The break up clause is the perfect beach read and I couldn't stop turning the pages. I finished over two evenings and I just got lost in the world. Finished it feeling so uplifted. The best kind of feeling finishing a book.