The Pact (The McGregor Boys, #1)

by Karina Halle

[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! (They're about to go to NY after Lynden's helicopter accident)











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.