ARC Review: The Break-Up Pact by Emma Lord
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Series: None
Author: Emma Lord
Published August 13th 2024 by St. Martin's Griffin/Piatkus
Goodreads Synopsis
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 new 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?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
In The Break-Up Pact, former best friends June and Levi are recovering from humiliating break-ups, which have taken TikTok by storm. Both back in their beachside hometown, a photo taken of the pair on the beach one morning makes everyone, including talk show hosts, think they're together, and putting aside their differences, they decide to roll with it and convince everyone they're a couple, if only to help June with her store - which has had more custom in the past few days than ever before - and make Levi's ex jealous. They know each other inside out, so it won't be hard to convince the world that they're in love. The hard thing will be convincing themselves that it's all 'pretend'.
I have loved all of Emma's YA books, so seeing that she had an adult book coming out, I knew I needed to get my hands on it. As soon as my eARC arrived on my kindle, I had to dive in, and it was so worth it! Levi and June were the best of friends all throughout their childhood. But a misunderstanding in their senior year led to a break in the friendship that has never recovered. Facing public humiliation at the hands of their ex's, and both home, they reminisce on the beach one morning, and a would-be pap's photo soon goes viral. Rather than face more humiliation, they decide to let bygones be bygones and have a bit of fun with it all. Pretending to be in love isn't hard when there's always been feelings there, and a few well time photos will help convince the world that they're over the break-ups, and don't need any more pity. This book had one of the best fake-dating plot lines that I've ever seen, and it's always better when there's a past there to give the romance stronger foundations. The book isn't all fun though, there's some really hard hitting plot points, especially with June's struggles with the tea shop. However, Emma executed them carefully, and they helped the story, rather than hindering it. Such a solid adult debut from one of my already favourite authors!
Dates Read:
September 27-29, 2023
Rating
4 Stars
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