REVIEW :: 5 Stars for The Pact by Karina Halle

Posted December 29, 2014 by FMA in 5 Stars - It fed my addiction!

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 are in a serious relationship by the time they hit thirty.

It sounds like fun and games 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.

★★★★★

I have to give it to Karina Halle. This book was like emotional warfare! I think when an author can make me so pissed off at characters – just the mere act of causing such strong feelings – I actually come away loving it. I may not like what they did, who they were or how they acted, but dang, the writing was engaging and captivating. I wanted to throw my iPad so many times and hunt down James and Linden and kick them in the balls! Because really, they were BOTH equally despicable. While this read much like a screenplay, I can’t classify it as a RomCom because there wasn’t tons of comedy in it. There was, however, a TON of angst. So much so, that at times, it was difficult to read because the tension was so tight, so strong, my jaws hurt from clenching my teeth. Call me a wimp, but I feel a little emotionally scarred from this book.

“It’s my heart in a claw trap, bleeding and pierced, and I can seem to loosen it.”

As the blurb suggests, it all started with a pinky swear. But, in reality, it all started with a friendship. Linden, James, and Stephanie became friends at 21 when she applied to work at the same bar where they were both employed. As their lives change and they “grow into their own”, both Linden and Stephanie become as close as you can be with your best friend. You experience each other’s failed attempts at dating and as well as grow to love each other – as friends. When it is decided that at age 25, the dating scene sucked and the future didn’t look much brighter, Linden makes a pact with Stephanie that at age 30, if they are both single they will be married – to each other.

What I liked:

The progression as friends to lovers. It was slow, it was tension-filled, it was sexy. These two truly belonged together.
DESPITE my feelings for James (as described below.) He was the only one to come clean about his feelings and actions! Were they despicable, hell ya! But at least he had the balls to talk about it!
I LOVED, that despite her broken heart, Stephanie stood up for herself! She knew she deserved more than she was being given. I wanted to give her a high-five.
Their nicknames for one another – Baby Blue and Cowboy! Really?! *sigh

What I disliked:

Linden had everything he could want, two great friendships, a great job and he made horrible decisions because of guilt and misguided sense of loyalty.
James, he’s an a$$. Well, I think both he and Linden are actually. But James was a self-centered, whiny boy who hated when others were more successful than he.

While much of the time, I held my kindle with my mouth open, pissed off and raring for a fight, I loved it. It was a quick read. It had many sweet elements and had me swooning, (this book was pretty sexy, and had lots of dirty talk) laughing, (despite wanting to inflict violence on some characters) and even crying. For me, this was another KH hit!