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.

I love the fake dating trope and Emma lord's YA books, but I just wasn't as invested as I usually am. I didn't find the characters very memorable and the side characters didn't feel like they were present enough in the story to be important. There were also a lot of side plots that could have helped build up the characters and their chemistry but they felt unfinished and underwhelming. The obligatory cafe and bakery settings were very appreciated and one of my favourite things that come from emma's books, alongside the humour, which really helped to lighten the story, as grief and loss were pretty big topics of the book.

I really couldn’t connect with this book, some elements felt rushed and the communication between the characters felt pretty non existent

This book is a fun read for everyone who enjoys slow small town romances with focus on character development rather than an action packed one. I think June and Levi are likeable characters and they connect on a very cute way with another (besides knowing each other from the past and so on). I liked the fake dating trope as well but overall it wasn't a life changing book for me.

It's fun and it's quick. When two old friends reconnect and its because of their infamy over failed relationships its obvious it can only lead to a fake romance - right?!
There is a lot of miscommunication that you kind of expect in YA romance and neither of these characters were ever going to be dreamy for me so it's not going to be an epic memorable romance but I enjoyed it enough and makes for a light and breezy read.
It's a little cringeworthy and immature with the characters and how they all interact with each other but I wonder if that is because it based around the tiktok, social media world and so it has to have a certain level of fake to it???

I recieved this book as an ARC and provide an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown Book Group UK for the ARC

Emma Lord is known for her sweet romances and this one didn't disappoint! I really enjoyed the concept and found the execution excellent. I love fake-dating and this is no exception. Childhood friends to strangers to lovers also made an adorable couple. I had such a fun time reading the book and highly recommend it to everyone looking for the perfect summer romance

4.5 ⭐️

This was a really enjoyable read. Small town by the sea, cosy cafe with tea and scones. Plus some fake dating friends to lovers.

I loved the whole scone of the day thing, such a cool idea and a sweet way to connect June to her relationship with her sister even with her gone. Sana is probably my favourite character. She's just so bouncy, and I love that.

I liked the romance. It felt natural, and the steamy moments were well done. Levi is very sweet and clearly down bad for June. You can feel that even though the book is from June's POV .

There is a spicy scene, and honestly, it's probably one of the best ones I've read. (Please note I'm not a huge spice reader, but I know a poorly written scene when I read one). You get the emotional connection with the physical, and it gives it a very intense effect.

The 3rd act conflict was somewhat of an inconvenience, but it did allow for some needed character development. I'm sad that we spent so much of the book talking about Dylan and Mateos' wedding, and then we didn't get to attend it.

Overall, I quite enjoyed it, and I'm definitely excited to check more of the authors' works.

I received an advance review copy of this book, and this review represents my honest opinion. Thank you to netgalley, Emma Lord, and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

I really enjoyed this story. This is what I would classify as a quiet romance but definitely not boring in the slightest.

I've become quite weary of friends-to-lovers romances lately however this worked for me and I think that was due to the growth each of these main characters went through. Reconciling with their past, understanding the effect it had on their present and how to change their future for the better made this romance work for me.

I did think Anna played too much of a role on their relationship and I don't truly understand why but I also understand that a lot of past hurt happened when they were teens.

I enjoyed the writing and I will definitely read from this author again.

This book was hooked me from the get go which I loved. The chemistry between the two main characters were definitely there.
There was quite a bit of ding dong back and forth miscommunication but I’m really glad that the characters recognised it as a problem.
I loved the side characters most in this story, how they supported and rooted for the main female character really shows how much a good friend can change your life!
So did this book change my mind about childhood friends to lovers? Maybe? 😅Definitely a fun summer romance 🫶🏻
Thank you NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for providing me with this digital review copy in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Emma Lord's "The Break-Up Pact" is a heartwarming and delightful read that captures the complexities of love and friendship. Lord's knack for crafting relatable characters shines as we follow the journey of two best friends navigating a pact that challenges their bond. The witty dialogue and tender moments create a perfect blend of humor and emotion, making it impossible to put down. This story beautifully explores the themes of personal growth and the unpredictability of life. "The Break-Up Pact" is a charming and uplifting tale that will resonate with readers long after the final page. Highly recommended!

Although I thought this was a fun read, ultimately I just found it to be fine. Not groundbreaking, not that original but certainly fun. June and Levi are two high school former friends who end up fake dating after an online rumour announces their 'relationship' to the world.

I think my main issue was that June really isn't very interesting as a main character. She owns a tea shop, she's recently gone through a very public break up and beyond this I didn't ever feel we got to know who June was as a person. I also thought the pacing mewndered somewhat in the middle, as the plot goes back over June and Levi's past.

I just feel that with all the romance I've read recently, this one isn't going to be memorable for me.

A story about a two kids who grew apart but came together again helping them to grow and overcome personal issues.

This is a friends to enemies to friends to lovers story which I really enjoyed. It has been written so well I got investing in the main characters and there stories.

Each character was thought out and developed well. It was a slow burn wit a spicy scene in the middle.

I would recommend anyone who loves reading romance novels to pick this up as it is a great love story between two relatable characters.

I would like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and give an honest review of this book.