Quick Synopsis

On Christmas Eve eight years ago, friends Evie & Dan made a pact to get married if they were still single when Evie turns 30. Then they wake up on Christmas Eve after a night of drunk debauchery in Las Vegas and realize they actually did it. Surely, if they just get a quickie divorce, they can go back to the way things used to be, right? Except moving on is easier said than done when you’ve secretly loved each other forever…

Publisher’s Synopsis

Two single thirty-year-olds. One marriage pact. And a night in Vegas that’s about to change everything…

On Christmas Eve eight years ago Evie and Dan made a pact: if they weren’t married by thirty, they were going to marry each other. Of course, neither of them took it seriously, even if Dan has always been mesmerized by Evie’s beautiful smile, and Evie has always fancied Dan, her best-friend’s brother.

But then “it” happens. They wake up on Christmas Eve, the night before Evie’s thirtieth birthday in Vegas… married. In a honeymoon suite filled with hundreds of heart-shaped pillows, they realize too late what they’ve done – just like Ross and Rachel.

Surely if they just get a quickie divorce, they can go back to the way things used to be, right? If it wasn’t for the alcohol and Susan-with-the-huge-beehive-hairdo who just wouldn’t take no for an answer, none of this would have happened. They can just go back to being friends.

Except moving on is easier said than done when you’ve secretly loved each other forever… but if one of them doesn’t admit that, what happens to their friendship? If they don’t get together this time, what happens to the pact? Are they really ready to let it go for good?

Book Review

The Mistletoe Pact is a friends-to-lovers romance that spans 10 years and includes a marriage pact (aka the mistletoe pact). While points in the timeline do occur during the holiday season, I would not strictly say this is a Christmas or holiday romance.

Is there a name for the trope where two people secretly like each other and dance around it for years and years AND YEARS because neither of them will just take the leap to state their feelings to the other? If so, The Mistletoe Pact is that trope. I do not mind this kind of plot overall; however, it can be dragged out far too long to where it becomes annoying. In the case of The Mistletoe Pact, this happened. After a while, I grew frustrated that everyone knew the two main characters loved each other but them. There gets to a point where I find it ridiculous that two people can be so terrible at communicating. This is a me thing and not the book or author’s fault. I just dislike plots that are primarily based upon non- or miscommunication. It did not ruin The Mistletoe Pact for me; it was just prolonged for far too long.

I found The Mistletoe Pact to be an easy read that held my attention for its entirety. The narrative does jump between timelines every chapter, which I did not find difficult to follow. But I also think this book could have been told chronologically, and it would have been just as enjoyable.

There were also some things that happened in the plot that I did not think really added to the story. I will not specify what for fear of spoilers. After I finished the book, I was just wondering why those events were necessary and what they brought to the table. I could not come up with anything. For me, these additional and unnecessary plot points did not take away from my enjoyment, but I do think that The Mistletoe Plot would have been stronger without them.

Overall, Evie and Dan were two likeable characters and made The Mistletoe Pact enjoyable. While I did not love every aspect of the story, I still enjoyed the book. I would recommend it to anyone who does not become super frustrated at non- or miscommunication within a book.

Rating

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