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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
Don't get me wrong, at first it was entertaining, I was really looking towards seeing how the "friends to lovers" trope would unveil and I liked that part. Then I started feeling how things were gonna play out and I was getting bored, like REALLY bored, but I didn't want to dnf the book because I had been trying to finish it for a month. Towards the end the female protagonist starts being treated like a piece of meat and I just wanted to see if she would realise it and tell the ones responsible to fuck off but she didn't, and I was disappointed but not surprised. At the end they all lived happily ever after except for me that had to go through reading this book.
4.5 'Cowboy and Baby Blue' Stars!
This is my first book by Karina Halle and I really liked the book, especially Linden.
As the blurb already says that two friend make a pact to marry each other of they are single till the age of 30.
Linden attracted me from the start. He is scottish and has the thick scottish accent. He is your typical player who sleeps around a lot and who incidentally fell in live with his best friend Stephanie.
Stephanie Robson is a woman with aims and dreams. She wants to own her own clothing store which she does by the age if 29. She even has a record for dating douche bags, one of then being her best friend James.
James was one character that I didn't take an immediate liking for. Actually I didn't even like him even after I finished the book.
I found James to be one of these seriously messed up people who blames someone else and keep comparing themselves with someone who had money a.k.a Linden. He even went as far as breaking Stephanie and Linden because he thought he was in love with her.
I mean really!!
How could you be so selfish and then even had the audacity to say that he wanted her because Linden had everything! James was actually three months too late to apologize and I hope I was not the only one who wanted to kick him in the balls.
The crazy ass characters in the book that you would literally want to bitch slap are Nadine, Janes, and Owen.
All in all I really loved the book, especially Linden.
This is my first book by Karina Halle and I really liked the book, especially Linden.
As the blurb already says that two friend make a pact to marry each other of they are single till the age of 30.
Linden attracted me from the start. He is scottish and has the thick scottish accent. He is your typical player who sleeps around a lot and who incidentally fell in live with his best friend Stephanie.
Stephanie Robson is a woman with aims and dreams. She wants to own her own clothing store which she does by the age if 29. She even has a record for dating douche bags, one of then being her best friend James.
James was one character that I didn't take an immediate liking for. Actually I didn't even like him even after I finished the book.
I found James to be one of these seriously messed up people who blames someone else and keep comparing themselves with someone who had money a.k.a Linden. He even went as far as breaking Stephanie and Linden because he thought he was in love with her.
I mean really!!
How could you be so selfish and then even had the audacity to say that he wanted her because Linden had everything! James was actually three months too late to apologize and I hope I was not the only one who wanted to kick him in the balls.
The crazy ass characters in the book that you would literally want to bitch slap are Nadine, Janes, and Owen.
All in all I really loved the book, especially Linden.
First all night straight through read I've had in quiet some time and my first 5 star book of 2015(thought it would take me longer than just the 3rd of January to find one I'm this crazy about). I just couldn't put this one down and go to sleep.
I really liked the dual perspectives and I really really liked that the main characters didn't just fall into bed with each other immediately. I felt that them not getting together until about half way through the book made their relationship seem that much more believable and real.
My only real problem with this book is one I have with almost all romance novels. Can we please stop with the 'oh we're at 75% of the way through and the couple has to break up and then get back together' bullshit? I get that all relationships have their ups and downs but not every damn romance novel needs to have the main characters weepy messes for a good 1/5 of the book before having a magical happy ending.
Anyway I really loved this one and I highly recommend it.
I really liked the dual perspectives and I really really liked that the main characters didn't just fall into bed with each other immediately. I felt that them not getting together until about half way through the book made their relationship seem that much more believable and real.
My only real problem with this book is one I have with almost all romance novels. Can we please stop with the 'oh we're at 75% of the way through and the couple has to break up and then get back together' bullshit? I get that all relationships have their ups and downs but not every damn romance novel needs to have the main characters weepy messes for a good 1/5 of the book before having a magical happy ending.
Anyway I really loved this one and I highly recommend it.
I really enjoyed the premise of the story and although there's tons of friends to lovers stories out there, this was very unique. The pact sucked me in from the very start. The characters were strongly written and there was tons of angst and tension. I had to bump down a star due to some issues with some of the end but otherwise I really enjoyed it!
Spoiler
The whole proposal/reconciliation was really underwhelming, considering the reader waits the entire book for this moment. It just felt really rushed
Great Book
This book was great! I love reading these types of novels. I can wait to see what else this author has written.
This book was great! I love reading these types of novels. I can wait to see what else this author has written.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is like if millennials decided to just do whatever they wanted and no one told them how fucking stupid it was. Also, I buy none of this. Like the romance was dumb, the characters were dumb, but all of that is it’s own thing. Millennials don’t buy stores or helicopters or whatever the fuck. They’re stupid credit-less fucks who don’t have assets because they’re stupid and they go further and further into debt and work stupid god damned jobs and the list goes on and on and on. And none of this is to say that Millennials’ problems are their own faults. Definitely don’t mistake my frustration for finger-pointing at them. Because my finger is clearly pointed at Baby Boomers. I guess this stupid stinky god damned book just reminded me of all the reasons I hate humanity, and that’s never what we want when we read.
When I first started The Pact it was so funny that I thought I would get a zany whirlwind romantic comedy. As I read on it became abundantly clear that I was heading for heartbreak. You know the feeling? Its’s that sense of impending doom when everything looks so fun and perfect but you just know something is going to screw it all up. But, like I said, it was hilarious so I kept reading and I’m very glad I did.
The Pact is the story of Stephanie and Linden who’ve been friends for years and (not so) secretly in love with each other. One drunken birthday they make a pact to marry each other if they are both single at 30. Thirty comes around and it’s time to either “nut up or shut up” out of lack of better terminology. I enjoyed their romance and the love they had for each other and was heartbroken when the inevitable break up came. (That’s not a spoiler! There’s always a break up!) The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that they couldn’t just express their feelings! Like come on! At one point I wanted to enter the book and lock the two of them in a room and tell them to start mating already!
Karina Halle’s writing style flowed so fluidly that I really felt like these were real people. (Also I completely talk the same way as Stephanie does so I was able to relate to her on a deeper level because of it.) These are people you could really meet in real life and want to be friends with. They’re messy and flawed and also amazing and hilarious. After reading The Pact I actually feel like I really know the characters. There were loads of hilarious dialogue and it’s hard to even narrow it down into my favorite funny quote because there were just so many! But I do want to put in at least one quote so here is my favorite emotionally deep moment:
It’s easy to rely on smut to sell a romance. Don’t get me wrong, the smut in here was grade A hot! But, it also had substance to fall back on. The characters were vivid and well developed, the setting was richly detailed, and it had a big old happy ending. I got pretty much everything I wanted out of reading The Pact. I think I will continue on with the series and read the next book The Offer.
The Pact is the story of Stephanie and Linden who’ve been friends for years and (not so) secretly in love with each other. One drunken birthday they make a pact to marry each other if they are both single at 30. Thirty comes around and it’s time to either “nut up or shut up” out of lack of better terminology. I enjoyed their romance and the love they had for each other and was heartbroken when the inevitable break up came. (That’s not a spoiler! There’s always a break up!) The only thing that annoyed me was the fact that they couldn’t just express their feelings! Like come on! At one point I wanted to enter the book and lock the two of them in a room and tell them to start mating already!
Karina Halle’s writing style flowed so fluidly that I really felt like these were real people. (Also I completely talk the same way as Stephanie does so I was able to relate to her on a deeper level because of it.) These are people you could really meet in real life and want to be friends with. They’re messy and flawed and also amazing and hilarious. After reading The Pact I actually feel like I really know the characters. There were loads of hilarious dialogue and it’s hard to even narrow it down into my favorite funny quote because there were just so many! But I do want to put in at least one quote so here is my favorite emotionally deep moment:
“Life leaves scars. Sometimes you don’t see them until later. Sometimes you don’t know where they’ve come from. Sometimes they fade before your eyes. But the world leaves it’s mark on us.”
It’s easy to rely on smut to sell a romance. Don’t get me wrong, the smut in here was grade A hot! But, it also had substance to fall back on. The characters were vivid and well developed, the setting was richly detailed, and it had a big old happy ending. I got pretty much everything I wanted out of reading The Pact. I think I will continue on with the series and read the next book The Offer.
Haven't read anything by Halle in the last 4-ish years but was reminded of how much I enjoyed this series by @arushofemotions on IG who was reading her creepy/horror series in October so I decided to re-read the series and I enjoyed it just as much this time around...although the third act break up was really dumb. Linden and Steph are best friends and we meet them just as she's turned 26 and is regretting the choices she's made - she wants to adult, stop the wild partying and one-night stands, and Linden is the friend who's secretly pined for her since they first met, only his best friend got to her first and because of bro code, she became off limits. He can't help himself though, and makes a pact with her that if they're both 30 and single, they'll marry each other. The jealous best friend is the asshole who comes between them and the conflict that brings them back together in the end is dramatic with a cross-country move and a near-death helicopter crash but they work their shit out and live HEA.
