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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
The Pact is a hard one for me to rate. It's a book that I really really wanted to love but I didn't. Don't get me wrong, the story, the writing, the pace and the flow of events are all great. It was light, fun, and steamy with a bit of drama along the way. But I don't know, I just felt disconnected with the characters. It is a friend-to-lovers trope and I think for me to like it I have to be invested and convinced with their friendship and sadly, that didn't happen for me.
In a nutshell, Linden and Stephanie are bestfriends and both are having difficulty finding the perfect person for them, so they decided to make a drunken pact that if they don't find anyone at the age of thirty they will get married. As the years go by, they couldn't resist the attraction between them anymore and so they gave in but they decided to keep it a secret because they're afraid they might hurt their other bestfriend, James (the ex-boyfriend of Stephanie who can be an ass at times). However, true feelings was revealed and Linden chose to let Stephanie go for James. And that is where I freaking hated everything else. 9 years Linden harbored feelings for her but he didn't do anything and when it matters most he didn't fight for her, he just gave up.
Linden needs to grow some pairs. James needs to fucking grow up. Stephanie needs to stay awesome. I love her. So overall, this is a well-written book but doesn't wow me and the last 20% of the book makes me want to pull my hair out. But I love Karina Halle so I'm still looking forward to read her other books.
More book reviews in https://callowaybooks.wordpress.com
In a nutshell, Linden and Stephanie are bestfriends and both are having difficulty finding the perfect person for them, so they decided to make a drunken pact that if they don't find anyone at the age of thirty they will get married. As the years go by, they couldn't resist the attraction between them anymore and so they gave in but they decided to keep it a secret because they're afraid they might hurt their other bestfriend, James (the ex-boyfriend of Stephanie who can be an ass at times). However, true feelings was revealed and Linden chose to let Stephanie go for James. And that is where I freaking hated everything else. 9 years Linden harbored feelings for her but he didn't do anything and when it matters most he didn't fight for her, he just gave up.
"I don't think Linden knows what fighting is," he (James) says.
“Maybe not. Maybe he does. But I think I deserve that. Someone to fight for me. To believe in me. And trust in love. Sounds cheesy but…once you have love, you have to trust."
Linden needs to grow some pairs. James needs to fucking grow up. Stephanie needs to stay awesome. I love her. So overall, this is a well-written book but doesn't wow me and the last 20% of the book makes me want to pull my hair out. But I love Karina Halle so I'm still looking forward to read her other books.
More book reviews in https://callowaybooks.wordpress.com
I'm honestly at a loss for how to rate this book. And I don't think that has ever happened to me before. I'm not even sure I know how to begin this review but I'm going to give it a try because I have a LOT of thoughts and I need to express them, even if no one else reads them.
The quality of the writing, the pacing, all of that was unquestionably good. Great, even.
So, then, why am I so conflicted over this book and how to rate it?
I started off loving this book. I love a good friends to lovers romance - it is easily my favorite romance trope. The same way I love that trope, I hate the love triangle trope. I just can't deal with it, usually because one of the parties ends up being written as a total douchebag or just ends up heartbroken. Either way, I get annoyed (exception: if the rejected person ends up heartbroken and the author writes a book giving said person his/her own love story). This book had the dubious distinction of having the rejected person be a douchebag AND be heartbroken...sort of.
I also, in turn, loved both of the main characters and yet absolutely hated some of the choices they made. Which would indicate strong NEGATIVE feelings towards the book. Except...isn't that a perfect metaphor for life? Sometimes, the people we love are also the ones who hurt us the most, the ones who annoy the crap out of us, the ones we occasionally want to punch in the face.
This book just felt very real to me. Almost uncomfortably so. I felt super judgmental towards the characters in certain scenes, only to look within myself and feel ashamed for doing so because, quite frankly, these were some of the most human, honest, flawed characters I've ever come across in a romance. I'm still not entirely sure how to rate this book. There were things in the book that annoyed me but upon further reflection, I feel like, it was the most honest writing I've ever read in quite some time. I think maybe my feelings on this book can be best summed up by directly quoting from it.
But through it all I'm learning to appreciate all the grey between the black and white. And just like the Bay Area fog, grey can be absolutely beautiful.
The quality of the writing, the pacing, all of that was unquestionably good. Great, even.
So, then, why am I so conflicted over this book and how to rate it?
I started off loving this book. I love a good friends to lovers romance - it is easily my favorite romance trope. The same way I love that trope, I hate the love triangle trope. I just can't deal with it, usually because one of the parties ends up being written as a total douchebag or just ends up heartbroken. Either way, I get annoyed (exception: if the rejected person ends up heartbroken and the author writes a book giving said person his/her own love story). This book had the dubious distinction of having the rejected person be a douchebag AND be heartbroken...sort of.
I also, in turn, loved both of the main characters and yet absolutely hated some of the choices they made. Which would indicate strong NEGATIVE feelings towards the book. Except...isn't that a perfect metaphor for life? Sometimes, the people we love are also the ones who hurt us the most, the ones who annoy the crap out of us, the ones we occasionally want to punch in the face.
This book just felt very real to me. Almost uncomfortably so. I felt super judgmental towards the characters in certain scenes, only to look within myself and feel ashamed for doing so because, quite frankly, these were some of the most human, honest, flawed characters I've ever come across in a romance. I'm still not entirely sure how to rate this book. There were things in the book that annoyed me but upon further reflection, I feel like, it was the most honest writing I've ever read in quite some time. I think maybe my feelings on this book can be best summed up by directly quoting from it.
But through it all I'm learning to appreciate all the grey between the black and white. And just like the Bay Area fog, grey can be absolutely beautiful.
4 stars for Linden's hot Scottish accent and this great romance between two best friends!
I started reading this, and I knew that I would like this immediately. I love the movie My Best Friend's Wedding, but I hated the ending! So I was happy that this book was out there for me to devour. I have to say I'm a sucker for the trope of two best friends who are secretly in love with each other and are obviously perfect for each other. The drama was just right in this one. It wasn't overly angsty as well which I needed after reading Addicted to You. I mean I had a few eye roll moments at the decisions that the two main characters made. I mean Linden was being so many kinds of dumb at one point, but what do you expect from an adult romance? That's the FUN PART. The chemistry between Linden and Steph was palpable. I really rooted for them the whole way through. I love that Steph stood up to Linden at the end as well when Linden was being dumb. I also really enjoyed Steph and Linden's friendship minues all the romance. It was believable, and it's what made me want them together. The plot isn't original, but it's so worth the read. This is definitely steamy and pretty explicit compared to new adult books. This is definitely an adult romance!
“Sometimes I wonder if I’m falling in love with her. Sometimes I wonder how long I can pretend I’m not.” - Linden
I started reading this, and I knew that I would like this immediately. I love the movie My Best Friend's Wedding, but I hated the ending! So I was happy that this book was out there for me to devour. I have to say I'm a sucker for the trope of two best friends who are secretly in love with each other and are obviously perfect for each other. The drama was just right in this one. It wasn't overly angsty as well which I needed after reading Addicted to You. I mean I had a few eye roll moments at the decisions that the two main characters made. I mean Linden was being so many kinds of dumb at one point, but what do you expect from an adult romance? That's the FUN PART. The chemistry between Linden and Steph was palpable. I really rooted for them the whole way through. I love that Steph stood up to Linden at the end as well when Linden was being dumb. I also really enjoyed Steph and Linden's friendship minues all the romance. It was believable, and it's what made me want them together. The plot isn't original, but it's so worth the read. This is definitely steamy and pretty explicit compared to new adult books. This is definitely an adult romance!
Overall, I really enjoyed this cute steamy romance between two best friends. This is pretty much everything I wanted in "best friend's wedding" kind of romance! I definitely recommend to those who enjoy romance!
*** 3.5 STARS ***
"Life follows many directions and hopefully, eventually, your mind and body and life and love, all catch up with each other."
"The Pact" is another one of the little gems I found while scrolling through the free books on the kindle e-books shop. I'd already read a couple of Karina Halle's books before starting "The Pact" and really liked them, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw that the kindle edition of this book was free on amazon.
I mainly decided to read this book because I was looking for something to read after having finished ACOWAR. I felt like a "book hangover" was coming my way and knew that once it was there, I'd have a hard time getting into a new book. The other books by her that I've already read were really well written and you could literally just get lost in the stories without really having to think about it. That's what I was looking for again and "The Pact" definitely didn't disappoint. I just got lost in the story of Stephanie and Linden and suddenly I'd read 30% of the book, then 60% of it and suddenly I had finished the last page.
In her acknowledgements Karina Halle says that she had actually just spontaneously started writing this book on vacation and then it had suddenly been finished. She just wanted to make people happy with this book and I feel like she's definitely achieved that and made me smile a lot while reading it.
All in all, "The Pact" was a really enjoyable book that you can easily read in one sitting. It's well written and features some great characters. But it's definitely more of an adult book and not only new adult since the characters are in their thirties for most of the novel. But if you don't have a problem with explicit sex scenes, you'll definitely this book.
There's not really anything negative to say about this book except that I still liked some of her other books a bit better because they were a little more gripping and that there are still some typos in this book. Nothing major that would disturb your reading but there are a couple of words that are spelled incorrectly among some other minor things. As far as I know though Karina Halle is still self-publishing the majority of her books so you really can't hold that against her.
3.5 out of 5 stars for The Pact!
"Life follows many directions and hopefully, eventually, your mind and body and life and love, all catch up with each other."
"The Pact" is another one of the little gems I found while scrolling through the free books on the kindle e-books shop. I'd already read a couple of Karina Halle's books before starting "The Pact" and really liked them, so you can imagine how excited I was when I saw that the kindle edition of this book was free on amazon.
I mainly decided to read this book because I was looking for something to read after having finished ACOWAR. I felt like a "book hangover" was coming my way and knew that once it was there, I'd have a hard time getting into a new book. The other books by her that I've already read were really well written and you could literally just get lost in the stories without really having to think about it. That's what I was looking for again and "The Pact" definitely didn't disappoint. I just got lost in the story of Stephanie and Linden and suddenly I'd read 30% of the book, then 60% of it and suddenly I had finished the last page.
In her acknowledgements Karina Halle says that she had actually just spontaneously started writing this book on vacation and then it had suddenly been finished. She just wanted to make people happy with this book and I feel like she's definitely achieved that and made me smile a lot while reading it.
All in all, "The Pact" was a really enjoyable book that you can easily read in one sitting. It's well written and features some great characters. But it's definitely more of an adult book and not only new adult since the characters are in their thirties for most of the novel. But if you don't have a problem with explicit sex scenes, you'll definitely this book.
There's not really anything negative to say about this book except that I still liked some of her other books a bit better because they were a little more gripping and that there are still some typos in this book. Nothing major that would disturb your reading but there are a couple of words that are spelled incorrectly among some other minor things. As far as I know though Karina Halle is still self-publishing the majority of her books so you really can't hold that against her.
3.5 out of 5 stars for The Pact!