The Pact

4.5 Stars!

If you're looking for a new book to fall in love with, this friend-to-lovers romance was fun, hot, a little angsty, and kept me glued to the page from the minute I started until the end!! I loved it! Linden and Steph were best friends since they first met and were both tired of a never ending stream of bad dates. So one day, when they were both in their mid-twenties, they made a pact and agreed that if neither of them were committed to someone by the age thirty, they’d marry each other. They even pinky swore.

“If neither of us are in a serious relationship by the time we are both thirty,” he says, looking at me so dead in the eye that I can’t help but hold my breath, “then we agree to marry each other. Agree?” I find my voice. “Agree."

It started out as just a fun agreement, but as the years ticked by, life went on, boyfriends and girlfriends passed... Linden remained hopeful, Steph remained skeptical, and the pact began to become more and more real until suddenly they were thirty and it was time to decide!

“I want her to realize we’re both not with the people we should be. And if she already knows that, I want her to know it’s not too late.”

Okay, seriously guys, Linden McGregor was pure swoon! Holy heart-melt!! He was a tall, sexy, rugged dirty-talking helicopter pilot with a Scottish accent. He'd wanted Steph from the first time he met her but unfortunately, one of his friends asked her out first, and he never got a chance to tell her how he truly felt. She never knew just how badly he truly wanted her or how serious he was about the pact.

“I’d give up everything for you.”

I genuinely couldn't put this book down. It's a full length novel but I flew through it in a few hours because I just kept flipping those pages and didn't want to stop. I loved the characters and I really liked how this wasn't just a fairy-tale "boy meets girl and they get married" romance. I liked that it addressed the ins-and-outs of dating and the struggle to find the right person. I'll admit though, while I was reading it, I did find it a little hard to read about them with other people, but I was enjoying the book enough that it wasn't a big deal. But actually the author's note at the end really made me re-think all that and looking back, I can appreciate it even more.

“That was real. That was something. Tell me you felt something, that you felt what I felt.” “What did you feel?” I whisper. He runs a thumb across my lips. “I felt you. The you I’ve always wanted.”

The story is told in dual POV showing us what they both went through over the years. There was a great balance between light-hearted fun and a more angsty side. There were times when I seriously just wanted to drag them both off and lock them in a room together until they admitted their undying love for each other... and there was another time where I definitely wanted to shake some sense into a certain someone... but the story was so fast paced that it wasn't long before my romantic heart was satisfied.

“Don’t act like you haven’t been thinking about that kiss every single day since it happened. Don’t pretend you haven’t thought once about what it would be like to do it again. To do more.”

Once they gave themselves the green light to be together, things were pretty explosive between them. Hot, steamy, sexy. Years of pent-up UST and hidden feelings suddenly came to the surface, but with natural wariness too -- could friends last as lovers, and even more?

"This is huge, isn’t it?” He cocks his head and grins, nodding his head. “Well, the ladies seem to think so.” I roll my eyes… “I’m serious,” I tell him. “One minute we’re just friends and the next…” “The next I’m kissing you. And I realize I’ve been a fool for not doing it sooner.”

Honestly, this was a really great read. I loved that it was a standalone that gave us the whole story at once. I couldn't put it down, loved the characters, the writing was addictive and I'd definitely recommend it!

"Nine years. I've been waiting nine years for this. Nine years to finally have you the way I've always needed you."

#contemporary #adultcontemporary #REVIEW #45STARS #bestfriends