June Hart came back home to take on the boardwalk tea room that she had dreamed about with her older sister Annie for years. While she was off on adventures all over the world with her boyfriend Griffin, Annie opened the Tea Tide at home and got scone inspiration from her sister. But when Annie died unexpectedly, June moved back home to take over the Tea Tide, to keep her sister’s dream alive.

Coming home was certainly easier when her boyfriend went on the reality show Business Savvy with his idea for a new startup. He made it on to the show right away, and invited June to sit with him for an episode while he explained that he and his new love Lisel have merged their business ideas and their hearts. June was caught off-guard by the news, and the shot of her crying on the show became a viral meme, with people showing up at Tea Tide to ask is she was #CryingGirl. She tells them she is and makes them buy a scone. But that is not enough to sustain the tea shop long term. June needs some inspiration.

When Levi Shaw shows up at the tea shop, or rather, outside the restaurant, June has mixed feelings. He was one of her best friends when they were growing up, but she’s barely heard from him in the last decade. They do have one thing in common though. Levi’s long-term relationship also blew up in a very public way, when his girlfriend Kelly became the realtor to hunky movie star Roman Steele. They fell for each other, and Levi was another ex for the gossip sites.

But June’s best friend Sana has an idea. She’s a freelance reporter who has been itching for a job at the popular culture site Frizzle. And she thinks that if she can takes some photos of the two of them together, as the Revenge Exes, then she can put together an article that might get her a new job. And the photos are pretty easy for them all, since June and Levi had already agreed to help Dylan and Mateo plan their wedding.

Dylan is June’s little brother, and the three Hart siblings used to hang out with Levi all the time. They were a foursome, with Annie and Levi particularly close, since they were both writers. June had a big crush on Levi, but he hadn’t felt the same. And then they all left to go to college. Annie came back after graduation to open Tea Tide. Dylan came back to coach track at the local college, and he and Mateo fell in love. So sending June and Levi out to taste cake flavors or check out a deejay means Sana can get some cute pictures to leak online, so they won’t be seen as just the exes anymore. They can get their own story.

But things rarely go as planned. As June and Levi spend more time together, old feelings creep back up. But so do paparazzi. And exes. And the consequences of old choices. Until both June and Levi find themselves at a crossroads, both in their individual lives and in their new relationship. In order to move forward, they will need to face their pasts. But will they move on together, or will they be drawn in different directions?

Emma Lord’s latest novel, The Break-Up Pact tells the story of a teenage crush that ten years later turned into a fake relationship, and where it goes from there. Lord is a master of a character-driven romance, filled with heart, humor, and honesty. She creates characters with such rich stories that one of her novel equals about three novels from some other writers, so there is never a dull moment in her stories. Each character is fully-formed and really thoughtful, so the emotional journeys are always rich as well, and the romance develops between two complex characters, with autonomy and intelligence.

I listened to The Break-Up Pact on audio, narrated by Natalie Naudus, which was such a fun experience of this book. Naudus brings these characters to life with all their quirks and foibles, all their grief and humor. She does well with the denseness of the story, the richness of these relationships, and all the gossip and reality show messiness. I am a big fan of Lord’s, and The Break-Up Pact is just as entertaining and masterful as her other books. But I will add one warning about this one. You will find yourself craving creative scones, so be sure to stock up on tasty snacks for your reading or listening.

Egalleys for The Break-Up Pact were provided by St. Martin’s Griffin and a copy of the audio book was provided by Macmillan Audio, both through NetGalley, with many thanks.