It all started with a pinky swear…
Linden McGregor is tall, rugged, and gunslinger handsome; a helicopter pilot with a Scottish brogue and charm to spare. He’s also one of Stephanie Robson’s best friends and has fit into that box for as long as she’s known him.
Beautiful, funny and an ambitious businesswoman (with one hell of an ass), Stephanie Robson is one of Linden McGregor’s best friends and has fit into that box for as long as he’s known her.
But some relationships can’t be boxed, can’t be classified, can’t be tamed.
Back in their mid-twenties and tired of the competitive hit-or-miss dating scene of San Francisco, Steph and Linden made a pact to marry each other if neither one of them were in a serious relationship by the time they hit thirty.
It sounded like fun and games at the time but as the years to thirty tick past and lovers come and go out of their lives, the pact becomes larger than life.
Sex is inevitable. Friendships are tested. Hearts are on the line.
The pact is about to change everything.
Note: due to the dirty talk and sexy times, The Pact is not meant for anyone under the age of 18. All characters in THE PACT are in their thirties, therefore this is NOT a new adult book...even though love can mess you up at any age.
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MY REVIEW
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
4 it really grew on me STARS
“Life isn’t a linear journey. Sometimes it’s one step backwards, two steps forward and then a jump out to the side. It’s kind of like the “Time Warp”, when you think about it.Life follows many directions and hopefully, eventually, your mind and body and life and love, all catch up with each other.”
Oh boy. Something is not like the others, isn't it?
I honestly didn't expect for this book to turn out the way it did. I have read two books in Karina Halle's Artists Trilogy and yeah, I was a bit shocked that this one so isn't anything like that. Most authors stay in their lane and produce the same thing over and over again. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing. But to see Ms. Halle switching it up like this was unexpected and at the end of the day really interesting.
The Pact is a book about friendship, love, growing up (in a late 20s kind of growing up) and deciding what to do with our lives. It's a mellow and very slow read, but it grew on me and a lot of the themes hit right home. But more to that later on.
“I’m nowhere but I’m somewhere and it’s not where I want to be. I don’t really know what I want. But I know I don’t have it.”
Two best friends, Linden McGregor and Stephanie Robson at the age of twenty-five on a drunken night out make a pact. If they are both unattached and single at the age of thirty they will get married. Now keep in mind they are only friends and have never been in any kind of romantic relationship and/or hook-up together.
Steph takes it with a grain of salt but Linden on the other hand is far more serious about his proposal. What both don't know is that the friendly relationship they have had for a few years runs deeper and they both are willing to further explore. Thing is - they don't tell. 'Cause what would happen if the other one doesn't feel the same? Is it worth ruining their beautiful friendship and maybe even sacrifice other friends and relationships in the end? And the pact was just a silly idea, right?
What follows is a yearly check into the state of affairs told from both Steph's and Linden's POV.
“Sometimes I wonder if I’m falling in love with her. Sometimes I wonder how long I can pretend I’m not.”
More than once I caught myself screaming at my kindle 'seriously, you stupid people, get it together and just go for it'. It's a frustrating read. Especially with the dual POV you know how both of the feel and yet, nothing happens. They just keep jumping from one relationship to another and not with each other.
The first 30 to 40% where particularly draining, because it felt like one event stated after another. A cumulation of facts if you will. It's not until the last 40% that things get more emotional and gripping.
But what really hit home for me and what made it a very painful and self-reflecting read, are the things that don't involve their love life.
The Pact takes an in-depth look at the lives of people in their late 20s. The friendships, the decisions you make about your work life, learning how to be independent and just live, I guess.
I'm turning twenty-nine in a few weeks and I can relate. In some ways this books is written about me and my friends. It feels so familiar. How some of us succeed and others just get stuck with trying or no trying enough. And the ever looming 30 at the end of the tunnel. It's hard. I'm just glad I already found Mr. Right. ;D
“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 its mark on us.”
I have seen a lot of mixed reviews for this book and I can most certainly understand that. It's probably a bit boring and most definitely frustrating, but it's real - it's life. There is no big twist and there are no unforeseeable turns. The Pact was not like the books I normally read, but I really enjoyed it never the less.
Beautifully written, highly quotable, a wonderful love-story and it's a standalone. Wohoooooo!
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