The Pact (The McGregor Boys, #1)

by Karina Halle

The Pact is a FULL-LENGTH STANDALONE (not part of a series, no cliffhanger, fully wrapped-up novel) "FRIENDS-TO-LOVERS" CONTEMPORARY ADULT ROMANCE

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.

• ISBN10: 150572452X
• ISBN13: 9781505724523
• Publish Date: 28 December 2014 (first published 27 December 2014)
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Metal Blonde Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 287
• Language: English

Reviews

[Linda]

This review was originally posted on (un)Conventional Bookviews
The Pact is the first in Halle's McGregor series - which works completely as stand-alone novels! - but my second. And oh my, how I loved Linden and Stephanie!



I buddy-listened to The Pact with my dear blogger-wife Brandee @ Bookworm Brandee. So I'm sharing some stuff we chatted about after we were both finished. There might be some slight spoilers, so beware!

Me: Both Kayla and James really, really piss me off!!! I'm almost at the end of The Pact...

Brandee: Me too! I almost couldn't stand James.











How can Steph be happy for James?? I would kick him in the nuts if I were her! (show spoiler)[(They're about to go to NY after Lynden's helicopter accident)









] (hide spoiler)

I completely agree. He was a total schmuck. So self-centered. I'd kick him in the nuts twice! :)











hehe




I've finished listening now :) And I did enjoy the story, even if I found it a bit frustrating that Linden and Steph had to meet so many roadblocks




And I found the Scottish accent to sound a bit fake in this one...

Yeah, i got to that point as well. I wasn't happy that Linden have her up for James. I didn't feel like that was a best friend move - at least on James's part. In a way i thought the roadblocks were contrived to keep the story going. But i still loved it. :)




I was wondering what you thought about the accent.




There were times when i thought it was real because his American accent sounded funny but i liked the female narrators Scottish accent better. So you don't think he's a Scot?











No definitely not a Scot! In the beginning, it really peeved me, and almost made me stop listening. Thank goodness Linden had much less chapters than Steph! And I thought the female narrater was better, too.




James acted like a total douche! Especially if he had understood from the beginning that Linden and Steph were seeing each other! He should have realised how happy thy both were.

Okay, well I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't necessarily like the male narrator. I got used to it though.




Yeah, i dint know that I'd have remained friends with James but we weren't privy to his conversation with linen Linden when he apologized.




So we don't know what went down there but Steph - i guess she was okay since things worked out in the end.











Oh, me, too! By the end I was OK with him... but just wait until you listen to The Offer!!

I'm looking forward to it ;)











Yeah, but no matter what James said, he was really only thinking of himself - accusing Linden of not understanding him (James) and all the hardships of his life... Whereas he was not at all trying to see anything at all from Linden's POV.

I agree. A narcissist.




Totally.











Totally. Heh. we are just SO good at this!




I found Kayla to be a hypocrite, too! Even if James later said that Kayla had told him about Linden and Steph when she was drunk...

Did you feel like all their baggage was appropriately resolved.?











Linden and Steph? Or everybody?

Linden and Steph

I think Linden and Steph came to just accept that being best friends AND lovers was possibly the greatest thing ever for them.




And I'm not sure if anyone can really resolve all their baggage... but if most has been dealt with and they are trying to move forward in a positive way, things can definitely work out









.

Yeah, im interested to read Kayla's story to see if she's redeemed at all because yeah, she was a hypocrite. I almost felt like she was jealous.











Kayla's story will be the next one I listen to, and I can't wait either. And I liked Kayla better in The Offer, too.




She may have been jealous, especially because Linden and Steph were always close - friends, but always with the kind of possibility for something more - especially for those looking in from the outside of their relationship.

I agree and i was thrilled that they realized best friends make the best lovers. Because they do and their couplehood was a long time coming.











Yes! And I think that being both best friends and lovers make for the best relationships - especially long term :)

That's how i felt about Kayla. She didn't want to give Linden the benefit of the doubt with Steph since *she* didn't get him to stick around. I'm glad I'll like her better in The Offer.











One of the things I really enjoyed about Linden and Steph was how they were always cheering each other on. Linden helped Steph have te courage to start her own clothing store, and she made him feel balanced and loved - even before he could admit that love was possibly the most important ingredient in their friendship.

Exactly. And by that time Steph and Linden had had plenty of time to marinate in all the goodness that taking their relationship to a higher level would be. Even if it was scary. Although Linden seemed quite certain of them having staying power. :)











Yeah, if it hadn't been for James screwing everything up for them with his jealousy and his pettiness...

Well I'll like her better if you did ;)











Good thing Linden survived his accident!

Absolutely. They're friendship was much deeper than what they had with James in my opinion. And i adored that Steph gave Linden validation - well they have validation to each other. Something they both needed and didn't get elsewhere

True! Their friendship was always stronger than what either of them had with James. They spent more time with each other than all three of them, and even felt somewhat bad about that at times.

Lol Yes, definitely a good thing! I'm looking forward to continuing this series. And i get to see Karina this weekend ;)











WooHoo!

Exactly

I'll get to see her in a couple of weeks in the south of France :D
As you may have guessed, this convo happened several weeks ago, just before the Denver Mile High Author event Brandee went to, and a few weeks before my trip to Bandol this past weekend. I really enjoyed this story, and it didn't bother me in the least that I had read the second book first. The character development especially appealed to me - and this was helped by the fact that the story spanned over several years. The solid friendship between Linden and Steph was the highlight of the story for me, even if I also loved the romance.


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.

The pain was somewhere they could never reach.

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.

[Kait ✨]

Ehhh not sure this was for me. There were things I really liked about it and others... not so much.
Need to let this percolate a bit.

[Sam@WLABB]

They were friends, best friends, but for Linden, they were always more. He jokingly makes a pact with Steph, if they are not in serious relationships by the time they are 30, they will marry each other. She thought it was a joke, but it wasn't for him. This book follows the characters through five years of their lives, from the night the pact was made to their 30th year. Both Steph and Linden experience ups and downs, hits and misses, gains and losses, but they always come back to one another. That was the tough part for me. All the missed opportunities or moments of poor timing that kept them apart. AND THEN, when it all comes to a head, and Linden does what he does, I wanted to just punch him in the throat. It was a roller coaster, but I really did enjoy this book. The characters had many layers to their personas which were slowly revealed to us throughout the story. There was a lot of humor and a lot of lusty dirty talk, and in the end love and friendship were two of the most prominent themes to emerge. At times, I could see a little "When Harry Met Sally" stuff going on and that's not a bad thing. Great story!

[leelu92]

3.5ish
Enjoyable read. I really liked Linden, he was definitely the highlight of the book for me. :) I do wish we had more time with them together and I have to say that I wasn't very crazy about some of Linden's reasoning where his decisions regarding Steph were concerned.

[littleread1]

4.5 - The perfect easy read! While still emotional at times, Steph and Linden were easy to love, and I started rooting for them from page one. Written while Halle was on vacation, THE PACT tells the story of two friends and their journey to the realization that there is no better partner in life than your best friend.

Of course there would be no story to tell if Linden and Stephanie realized it right away, now would there? At 25 they make a pact that, at 30, if neither of them are in a serious relationship they were going to get married. While it is pretty easy to determine if this story has an HEA (happily ever after) or not, it takes a few unexpected roads before you get to the end.

There are many other reviews that wax poetic about Linden ... mmmm, Linden ... so while as yummy as he is, I want to focus on Stephanie. Our female lead is a wonderfully strong yet surprisingly vulnerable character. I think many of us could find something to relate with in her. She can hang with the guys like the best of them, yet her femininity is never in question. Her hair changes colors almost as often as some of us change diet programs, but that makes her unique and fun.

There are some parts that made me angry, but rather than put the book down I kept reading late into the night, because I needed to see how things resolved. And oh boy, let me tell you ... or not. I am not going to ruin that! What kind of person do you take me for?! ;-)

If you like sweet friends to lovers stories, growing up with characters, learning with characters how to overcome obstacles big and small to make relationships work, and sexy Scottish immigrants (ok, I went there) then THE PACT is certainly for you!