The Pact by Karina Halle

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 may have already said this before but I will say it again: I am a sucker for friends-to-lovers stories. Give me bestfriends-to-lovers stories and I will be a total goner. Gone, gone, gone. So you can imagine my excitement for this book when I first heard about it. The thought still makes me grin silly until now, even after I have read it.

Linden and Steph became bestfriends ever since they met but it was his other bestfriend James that she went out with. Long after she and James broke up, the three of them kept their friendship. Eventually, after living the fast life, Linden made a pact with Steph that they should get married when they are still unattached when they reach thirty...all the time thinking the other party was just taking in the pact as a joke. Five years later, when they hit thirty, they would have to make the choice of whether to make their pact into a reality.

So this is the case: this is the kind of book that readers will either love or hate...in extremes. I couldn't help but do the first one. Yes, there were some points that I thought I was beginning to dislike the book but then it eventually pulled through for me in the end. 

Friends-to-lovers stories can be extremely easy or complicated. This book took the latter in spades. There were some points in the book and I felt like shouting "Noooooo!" but it just made the story more realistic. Friends-to-lovers situations in reality are not all flowers and rainbows. It's complicated as hell...says someone who has been through it. (That's a story for another day. *smirks*) The constant fear of wondering if venturing to the next step in the relationship could make or break you. And if it did break you, can you handle the fallout? 

I won't say any more to avoid giving out spoilers. But I found this read to be full of highs and lows, of the reality that adult life can be hard even in the company of friends. No matter what, I am still recommending this to friends. 

And even if this was tagged as a standalone, one of the secondary characters, Penny, was something else. I wish I could read more about her. Maybe? *crossing fingers*


Final verdict: 8/10. Great read.