June and Levi were best friends – until they stopped speaking. Ten years flew by. Now they have both gone viral – for their significant others breaking up with them. June used to go on wild adventures with her boyfriends. Those adventures would help her dream up scone flavors for the tea shop she shared with her sister. But when her sister died, June came home to keep her sister’s dream alive. It hasn’t been easy. Levi’s girlfriend broke up with him for a celebrity. He removed himself from the situation and returned back home. He’s putting his head in the sand while he writes his novel.
The former best friends run into each other. As they start talking, they realize they could use this notoriety to their advantage. If they fake date, June will be able to save her teashop and Levi will make his ex-girlfriend jealous. It’s a win-win.
As they spend more time together, June and Levi easily fall back into their friendship. But fake dating complicates matters when they start developing feelings for each other.
THE BREAK-UP PACT is Emma Lord’s first adult romance; she has written several charming YA romances. She eases her way into adult romance with this new adult title that deals with grief and finding yourself. Romance tropes include fake dating and second-chance romance. As a fan of both the author and the fake dating trope, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the teashop and how June started growing the shop to include her vision. I loved the moments June and Levi spent discussing his writing. I would enjoy reading the secondary character Sana’s story. I loved June’s brother and his boyfriend/fiancé. This book has heart, and humor, and left me wanting to bake scones.
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Two best friends who haven’t spoken in ten years pretend to date after break-ups with their respective exes go viral, in this delightfully fun and deeply emotional novel from New York Times bestselling author Emma Lord.
June and Levi were best friends as teenagers—until the day they weren’t. Now June is struggling to make rent on her beachside tea shop, Levi is living a New York cliché as a disillusioned hedge fund manager and failed novelist, and they've barely spoken in years.
But after they both experience public, humiliating break-ups with their exes that spread like wildfire across TikTok rabbit holes and daytime talk shows alike, they accidentally make some juicy gossip of their own—a photo of them together has the internet convinced they're a couple. With so many people rooting for them, they decide to put aside their rocky past and make a pact to fuel the fire. Pretending to date will help June’s shop get back on its feet and make Levi’s ex realize that she made a mistake. All they have to do is convince the world they're in love, one swoon-worthy photo opp at a time.
Two viral break-ups. One fake relationship. Five sparkling, heart-pounding dates. June and Levi can definitely pull this off without their hearts getting involved. Because everyone knows fake dating doesn’t come with real feelings. Right?