The Break-Up Pact

A slow burn between childhood best friends who enter into a fake relationship animates this fluffy contemporary from bestseller Lord (Begin Again). June Hart and Levi Shaw were best friends and would-be high school sweethearts before a miscommunication tore them apart. Ten years after they last spoke, they both happen to go viral online at the same time and for the same reason: someone filmed their devastating breakups from their respective partners. Now they’re both back in small-town Benton Beach to recuperate from the humiliation. June takes over her late sister’s struggling tea shop, while Levi decides it’s finally time to write his novel. When internet sleuths realize their connection, the two decide to use the online gossip mill to their mutual advantage by faking a relationship. Levi hopes to make his cheating ex jealous, while June hopes the buzz will drive customers to her store. But what happens when real feelings enter the arrangement? The romance is set at a slow simmer, leaving plenty of room for June’s and Levi’s necessary character growth. The steamy scenes, when they come, are well worth the wait and grounded in a believable connection. It’s light, feel-good fare that’s perfect for the beach. (Aug.)