Clarke and Audrey have been best friends forever. When Clarke's mother makes a move by bringing his ex to dinner, Clarke asked Audrey to be his fake fiancee. But as the fake engagement progress down the road to matrimony Audrey and Clarke find that maybe the one you were looking for was right there all along.

I liked this wrap up to the Central Park Pact series. It was cute and it was nice to see Clarke and Audrey finally get together. Audrey reminds of Cher from Clueless and I liked her more as she began to figure things out. Clarke was great from the get go he just needed a little push and to be a bit more clear when he talks. Overall it was a cute story.

IT IS HERE! I just read the 2nd book in this series in November and the third installment is here! This is a friends to lovers romance, which (to be 100% honest) is NOT my usual catnip. BUT Ms. Layne surrounds the couple with enough external conflict (and has made us wait for this story for SO LONG) that it worked for me!!

Audrey Tate and Clarke West have been best friends since they were kids, and they would do anything for each other... including fake being engaged. But when their fake engagement starts to get more and more complicated, will these two best friends call it all off... or realize what has been right in front of them for their entire lives...

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Marriage on Madison Avenue was a sweet and entertaining friends-to-lovers story with a not so typical twist. Audrey and Clarke love each other endlessly... but as far as BEING in love, neither of them want to admit that the prospect of finding their one true love might just be a little too elusive for people like them. So with one fake engagement already giving them all the security they need... what would be the point of calling it off so soon...

Audrey was once unknowingly the "other woman" in a relationship, where she thought she finally had found her forever love. But when he turned out to be a lying creep, Audrey gained something even better than a husband... she found the most unconventional of friendships instead. But at the same time, she lost her confidence in finding the committed relationship and future happiness she thought she always wanted.

Clarke has never really thought about settling down, except for with one ex-girlfriend who basically threw his devotion right back in his face. So when his mother starts scheming to get them back together, Clarke falls back on the one woman who has always been there for him... and he tells the world that they're getting married. 

I loved Audrey and Clarke's friendship and their eventual realization of just how much they really love each other was adorable and so much fun. I did feel like there was a lot missing from the transition of best friends to when they finally become lovers. I definitely needed more sexual tension and heat between these two. As the sex scenes were of the "fade to black" variety, I felt that this very important change in their relationship was very under represented.

As this book brings The Central Park Pact series to an end, I am so happy with all the HEA's and the rock solid friendships formed from all of the couples in these stories. From their unconventional first meeting the three woman of the Central Park Pact not only find their very own HEA's, but also a friendship that will stand the test of time. 

I received a complimentary copy of this book for my honest and unbiased review.

If anyone has ever read any of my reviews, yeah how could you not, just kidding, anywho back to the review I always, always enjoy when their is a group of friends thru thick and thin, and that started my enjoyment. Unfortunately, I started with this book, not realizing when I requested that this was the third book and last in the series, I so hate that and now I have to go back and start from the beginning because um how can I not? I also like friend to lovers books, why these two could not have figured it out sooner, I don't know but then again we wouldn't have a story.. So grab a books and enjoy!

Thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for my e-arc of Marriage on Madison Avenue. All reviews are my own.

I absolutely love this series. I adored this book. It was so sweet. Two best friends decide to become engaged. For Aubrey it’s to make her cyber bullies go away. For Clarke it is to get his parents off his back.

As the book continues and they partake in an engagement party, bridal consultants, and wedding venues these two best friends begin to realize there is something more between them.

But, as any other romantic encounter, there are tons of problems in the way such as ex-girlfriends, controlling parents, and a cyber bully/stalker who is out to get Audrey.

It is so cute and romantic to see them realize how much they love each other and overcome all the obstacles. Books like these make me so happy. We need more books like these in the world.

Best friends to fake engaged to lovers to HEA? Yes, please!

I absolutely adored Marriage on Madison Avenue! Audrey and Clarke were the epitome of best friends who have always loved one another but were too afraid to admit it. Watching the two of them best his family, convince Naomi and Claire, and eventually realize the truth was so much fun and the perfect ending to this delightful series.

Audrey’s feelings of being underserving were so heart wrenching but Clarke and her girls soothed her wounded heart masterfully. And while the Lauren Layne heat and steam were missing the heart and emotion were not, as evidenced by the homage to the Central Park bench where it all began.

I’ll miss these ladies and their princes, though I’m sure many rereads are in my future.

I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.

I loved this book. Audrey and Clarke are my favorite couple. This is my favorite book in the series.

Things I loved-

The Troupes - This Book includes some of my favorite troupes in romance books. It’s friends to lovers and includes a fake engagement / relationship. It’s also a slow burn romance.


The Characters- Audrey is by far my favorite character and I did not realize it until this book. She is the most relatable. She’s an IG influencer. I think a lot of readers (including myself) will be able to identify with her.

I also enjoyed Clarke as a character and a love interest. I found myself frustrated with him at times but that’s ok - nobody is perfect.

The Writing- This Book was very easy to read. It flowed smoothly for me. It was very short and sweet. I’ll definitely be picking up more by this author.

Why this book lost a star in the rating-

The Conflict- How to explain without spoiling the book.
Ok this part has spoilers so if you haven’t read the book stop reading - shoo shoo.


It wasn’t the conflict itself. I quite enjoyed it. It was the placement of the conflict. Audrey finds out something pretty big that Clarke is hiding but she finds out like 90 percent way through the book. Which means the resolution was rushed. I did not like the resolution. Clarke makes this big speech and finally truly professes his love. Everything is just tied up in a little bow and taken care of . Happily ever after and blah blah blah. Don’t get me wrong- I wanted the happily ever after just not as rushed as it was.

Overall this was an enjoyable read from start to finish. I went into this book wanting to be entertained and this book delivered. I definitely recommend this book to friends and fellow readers. I recommend this whole series of books.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Gallery Books and Lauren Layne for my advanced copy of this book.

This is such a bittersweet review!! Goodbye to our amazing Central Park Characters!! SOBS!!!

From the very start in Passion on Park avenue (book 1) I loved Audrey and Clarke! They are best friends since FOREVER! They are hilarious, witty and so supportive of each other! I loved the banter between these two in book number 2 Love on Lexington Avenue! Book number 3 did NOT disappoint!

Audrey is an influencer, so when troll 'Scandalboynyc' attacks her online as a home wrecker, at the same time Clarkes mother tries to set him up with his ex girlfriend Elizabeth. The only solution is to turn to each other and pretend to be engaged to get both parties off their back.

This book didn't lose the characters fire, humour and individuality.

I was amazing to see Jarod Lanham from the Wall street series and also Alexis Morgan from The wedding Belles series.

The last in a trilogy of stand-alones, this friends-to-lovers romance featured Audrey and her best friend since childhood, Clarke. While not my favorite trope, I did enjoy Layne’s spin on two best friends slowly figuring out they were in love. There were both funny and sweet moments and I thought this book ended the trilogy well. My favorite moments out of all three books were the positive female friendship it showed between Audrey, Claire, and Naomi.

I received an advanced copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.

This was my my favorite book in the series. I love a good friends to love trope. I love the slow burn. I love a good fake romance.

But the end sealed it for me. When he finds her in the park, I was swooning. Clarke’s parents were incredibly frustrating at the beginning but I am glad that they came around. The part about Clarke not being the marrying kind for Elizabeth made me sad for him and also root hard for him. I wanted him to find his happily ever after. Of course, I love the relationship between Claire, Naomi, and Audrey.

Ugh, I’m kind of sad that this series is over. But I cannot wait for more from Lauren Layne.

I missed the first two books in the Central Park Pact and I am going to have to go back and read them because this final book in the series was awesome! I loved the premise of these three women meeting at the funeral of a man to whom they were all connected. Their decision that day made a bigger impact on their lives than the man himself.

Marriage on Madison Avenue is Audrey and Clarke’s romance, it is one of friends who had a deeper connection than they realized. I loved it! Ms. Layne’s gift is to take a reader into a world making you feel like one of the friends just hanging out. You connect with the feelings the hero and heroine go through to get to their happily ever after. You can see that no matter their social status, they still have hurts and loves, and manipulative parents.

I was disappointed to not find out who Scandal Boys was. I definitely want to read Claire and Naomi’s romances. Ms. Layne is one of my favorite writers. I first found her books about four years ago and have found her books/writing to improve with each book. Each and every one grabs your attention making you want to find out what happens in the lives of her characters next. T

This was a wonderful end to the series. This is a childhood friends to lovers story and is done with humor and heart!

Without a doubt, the best in the series!!! Lauren Layne’s writing is always great, but friends to lovers romance is where she really shines. I loved the easy connection these two share, the banter and chemistry that steals the show from the beginning. While I’ve sometimes found the characters in this series to be difficult to connect to - their lives are just so incredibly different from the world I know - but it was easy to sit back and enjoy this romance as it unfolded. I binged this in one sitting, and it wrapped up the series on such a high note.

The story follows Audrey, a Manhattanite who earns a living (not that she needs to) as a social media influencer. We met her in the previous books in the series - which are not required reading but enhance the story. After discovering that the man she thought she’d marry was already married to someone else, her foundation was rocked. Audrey’s no longer sure that she’s deserving of a real relationship, and when her best guy friend, Clarke, uses her to get his overbearing mother off his back by claiming they are engaged, she decides to just embrace it for awhile. Though Audrey and Clarke have the kind of friendship that only comes from years of knowing and loving each other, they’ve never considered crossing the line into more. But somehow talking about their fake wedding and sharing not-so-fake touches feels much more natural than either one expected - and that’s scary in its own right.

I love Layne’s books because they’re consistently solid reads, but this is truly the best in the series. I appreciated how much of the story is told from Clarke’s perspective, because it gave insight into this complex relationship and made it easier to follow along with how they were each feeling as things progressed. Since these two are already lifelong friends, the intimacy they share is palpable and continues to grow as they get closer. It’s a relationship with depth that far exceeds that of many you’ll find in other romance novels. I loved it from start to finish. I received an ARC via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review of this friends to lovers romance.

An awesome end to an awesome series. I have love all these characters and Audrey and Clarke are no exception. Friends to lovers and a marriage of convenience later, and true love is found. Such a fun easy read, I'm sad that its over!
*arc provided by netgalley for honest review

Marriage on Madison Avenue is the third and final installment of Lauren Layne's Central Park Pact series. I picked up the first book - Passion on Park Avenue - from the library few months ago and fell in love with the characters. I haven't had the chance to read the second book yet but still fell right back into the story with this one.

Audrey Tate and Clarke West have been best friends when they were kids and they've never thought about being anything other than that. Even when Clarke uses a fake engagement to Audrey to get his meddling mother off his back. What starts as a silly game to annoy his mother soon becomes a bit more involved as Audrey and Clarke get further into actually planning a fake wedding, especially when they have to start acting like a couple in love to convince people this isn't just for show - and maybe deep down it isn't actually all fake for them anymore?

I loved being introduced to Audrey and Clarke's friendship in the first book of this series so I was thrilled to see they were the subject of the final book. I'd be lying if I said I didn't find Audrey to be a bit annoying at the beginning of the book with some of her motivations for the fake engagement but she soon wormed her way into my heart as well. I always enjoy when romances are told between alternating perspectives of both love interests, although I did think it took a bit long into the book to finally get to Clarke's POV (about 25%). I'm glad that we continued to see the friendship between Audrey, Naomi and Claire as part of this book and I think this was a fitting end to a great series!

4/5 stars

What a great way to start of this new year and end a series! I sincerely love these three women and each came away from a horrible realization with a friendships and a new outlook on love and relationships. The aftermath effected Audrey the most of the trio and took away her fairytale dreams for awhile. Along the way she not only had Naomi and Claire, but always Clarke. I am a HUGE fan of friends to lovers romance because of the foundation and deeper knowledge of each other that is already established, it's just waiting for that shift and acknowledgment to occur. Romance lovers need to read the Central Park Pact and discover these awesome women.

Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne is the 3rd book in her Central Park Pact series. This is the final book in this wonderful trilogy focusing on three heroines of this series, who became friends after the death of the cheating husband/boyfriend; the concept of these fabulous friends helping and supporting each other was great.

Audrey Tate is the third heroine, and we knew whom her “perfect love” would be. We got to know Audrey and her best friend, Clarke West from the start of this series; as they have been friends since they were kids. Clarke has always been a playboy, and loves hanging around with Audrey. When Audrey starts getting bad publicity from her popular Instagram account, she and Clarke devise a plan to pretend they are engaged. When Clarke’s mom becomes involved, and brings in Clarke’s ex-girlfriend, things begins to change. At first, they have fun playing the fake engagement, and in a short time, they begin to feel things and see each other in a different light. As the wedding date looms closer, with their feelings escalated, will they cancel or go through the wedding?

What follows is a fun, delightful, flirty romance between two people that have been together for many years, and could never see what was right in front of them. It was a lot of fun to see Audrey go through all the steps of a wedding; party, tastings, wedding planner, bridesmaid gowns, and having her two best friends help her (Naomi and Claire); knowing that the wedding plans will eventually be cancelled. But best laid plans do not always work out. I really did like Audrey and Clarke together and rooted hard for them to open their eyes.
I adored the fantastic friendship between Naomi, Claire and Audrey, with each of them going out of their way to be supportive and help them find the right man and just being there for each other.

The story was very well written by Lauren Layne, with the fantastic concept of these women who did not know each other in the beginning but became the best of friends; and Layne also has created some wonderful secondary characters. Marriage on Madison Avenue was a fun, sweet, passionate finale with another fabulous couple, and the enjoyment of spending time with the previous books couples. This was a fantastic and delightful series, which you should not miss.

Here goes another everyone-loved-it-but-me review. I had such high hopes for Audrey and Clarke from their first adorable appearance together in the trilogy. Friends-to-lovers, a fake engagement, and a crossover appearance from the Wedding Belles series - what wasn't to love? Unfortunately, what I didn't love was Audrey and Clarke together. Their chemistry that charmed me in Naomi and Claire's books was missing here, and I was left with doubts whether the immature playboy and Instagram star could really make it last.

Don't get me wrong; Lauren Layne has a knack for fluffy characters and plots that move so smoothly you're in love before you realize it. The beginning of Audrey and Clarke's fake engagement adventure was so fun:
"It’s also not like guys have been banging down the door trying to woo me.”

“Maybe it’s because you use words like woo?”

“You’re the worst fake husband ever.”

The problem, for me, was that I was looking for the unrequited pining and simmering that makes a great friends-to-lovers story sing. Audrey and Clarke make for great friends; I loved seeing Clarke act as Audrey's Instagram husband. But they spent most of their book denying any kind of attraction, only to engage in immature jealousy over imagined slights, and then somehow tipped over into love without even knowing each other that well (despite years of friendship).

Audrey's musing that true lovers should know how each other take their coffee was not exactly the harbinger of a great relationship. A woman can always get her own custom coffee order from Starbucks, but what can she do about a guy who has been passively-aggressively fighting with his domineering mother for years, hiding how his previous relationship ended, and neglects to tell the woman he purportedly loves that his dad offered him the family business if he would just marry the woman? Asking for a confused friend here.

2.5 stars

Well I have been waiting for this story for so long… so lets just get my critique out of the way – it was too short!!! LOL, I don’t stay that about many books, but I just loved Clarke and Audrey!

This was the culmination of a very wonderful series, I just love Lauren Layne’s writing – her stories are well thought out and keep my attention from start to finish!

Audrey and Clarke have been best friends forever, and are always there to help with whatever the other needs, no questions asked! So when Audrey needs a fake fiancé, Clarke is more than happy to help out again!

But FINALLY, and I really mean FINALLY, they start to realise that maybe there is more than just a platonic friendship here, and just maybe they could be more than that! I loved every moment of this, and like I said could have used more! It felt like there falling in love was so natural and the chemistry was so good!

One of the best things about this book was Audrey and Clarkes parents – I loved how Audrey’s parents were so happy to play along and how Clarke’s parents just wanted to play the game too, unbeknownst to him or Audrey!

Truly a delightful finish that will have you wishing it was a little longer and that there was an epic epilogue… I cannot wait to read what Lauren Layne does next!

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Pocket Books for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is exactly what I was looking for in a book and I didnt know it. I know this is the final book in a series. I havent read any of the others, but I dont feel that mattered. This novel is able to be read as a standalone.

The writing was fast-paced and fun. I enjoyed the characters and the build up. There wasnt too much in the way of detail, but enough that I thoroughly enjoyed it.

This was my first Lauren Layne book but probably not my last. Thanks @netgalley and Gallery Books for the advanced readers copy. This review in solely my opinion and has not been influenced by outside sources.