Review: The Pact by Karina Halle

The Pact
by Karina Halle
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: Dec. 28, 2014
Genre: Romance
Rating:

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.

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.

 

 

My thoughts…

The Pact is a friends-to-lovers romance and I love those, however this one didn’t work for me. It started off so strong with Linden and Steph at their best friends bar making a pact that if they aren’t in a serious relationship by the time they are thirty, that they’ll marry each other. Linden is dead serious. He’s been in love with Steph since day one but unfortunately their best friend, James, got to her first and it’s bro-code to not go after your friend’s girl, even if they are no longer together. So, Linden has boxed himself in the friend zone on James’ behalf. Steph thinks Linden is joking about the pact and plays along for shits and giggles. I mean, they’ve been best friends since day one, he has to be joking, right?

Like I said, the book starts off great. We get a chapter that follows these two every birthday to see what they are up to and every year they just miss the mark. Either one of them is dating someone else, or they both are. As the years tick away, Linden gets a little anxious and Steph starts to develop feelings for Linden. However, their timing sucks and it never works out. Fast forward to when they are finally thirty and you start to think maybe it’s never going to happen. I mean, Linden’s in a serious relationship and Steph is dating someone. The tension between the two was off the charts and I loved it… but then the story went into bad territory fast.

One thing that really bothers me about romances is when the characters are so blind and stupid. You think your best friend may still have feelings for the girl you’re in love with and have are currently having a relationship with but instead of talking to him about it, you decide to keep your relationship a secret. You are 30 years old and you’re hiding your relationship because you don’t want to have a potentially uncomfortable conversation with your best friend. Then, when said best friend admits he’s still in love with the women you are in a relationship with, you lie to their face that there’s nothing going on, break up with the love of your life, and give him permission to “have her.” And that right there was when I lost all respect for these characters and the story. I mean, the author couldn’t find any other conflict to give the characters? Who, in their 30’s, hides a relationship, and then hands the girl over to their friend when they find out the guy is still in love with her AFTER he just insulted the crap out of you. Clearly your homeboy is not all there in the head and maybe you shouldn’t be handing off your girlfriend like your some pauper trading your daughter for some chickens. If you can’t tell, the stupid conflict the author gave these characters really rubbed me the wrong way. Maybe if we were talking about teenagers I could let it slide, but we are talking about three grown ass adults. I just couldn’t take it.

The Pact started off so strong. I was really enjoying it and I loved that the author flashed ahead to the characters birthday every year as the pact timeline drew closer. However, the conflict she gave the characters was so stupid that after finishing the book I took my dog for a really long walk and was still pissed about the absurdity of it all two hours later.

 

Favorite quote…

“Everything is changing. 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. ”

 

 

16 Thoughts on “Review: The Pact by Karina Halle

  1. lol I read a similar review for this one and I know I would feel the same.

    A girl can’t be passed around like that and you’re already with her anyway – say something or pick your bf and move along but she’s not something that can be traded.

    For What It’s Worth

  2. Wow, its too bad this didn’t work for you. The whole hiding relationship thing would really irritate me though, so I understand that completely.

  3. I did not miss much then when I could not get my freebie to work

  4. I can understand why this one wasn’t a great read for you. That would bother me too.

  5. Gosh sounds like there’s a lot of passive aggressiveness in this one. Eep!

  6. So sorry it didn’t work out for you. I have a review planned for this, and I agree with you on some of your reasoning. I also could’ve done without the epilogue, to be honest.

  7. Yikes, sorry this didn’t work out for you. It does sound good in the beginning. It would totally bother me too!

  8. I can understand teenagers acting so stupidly, but not adults. That would seriously piss me off too, so can totally understand why it upset you. Too bad the author couldn’t have taken this in a different direction, as the synopsis sounded so promising!

  9. I love friends turned lovers too, and I have to say that the idea sounds cliche. It’s too bad you didn’t enjoyed it that much Kristin 🙁

  10. My goodness, I think I have to agree with you on this one. When you’re 30 or so, this scenario does seem a bit strange. Sorry it didn’t quite work for you, but it did seem like a keeper in initially. Hugs…

  11. Sorry to hear this one didn’t work for you. The whole conflict/drama definitely sounds super immature. And what girl is going to be okay with their boyfriend going “hey, we can’t date…my friend still likes you, so yeah, go date him.” I mean…what? haha

    -Lauren

  12. Oh man. Bummer when they fizzle out like that for ya. I enjoy hers but haven’t read in these yet.

  13. Ugh, stupid conflicts suck!!!

  14. Well darn. Sorry to hear this one was only 2 stars for you. I’ve liked the books by this author I’ve read so far, Smut being one of my all time favorite reads really. I’ll put this one on the backburner list of my TBR for if I get time. Good review!

  15. Oh darn… to bad I didn’t read this BEFORE I purchased it 2 weeks ago! Argh, I might just read it anyway!

  16. My thoughts exactly, I got this one when it was free on Amazon and nope, not even that could justify what the heck I was reading.

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