In "The Mistletoe Pact", by Jo Lovett, Evie and Dan grew up as friends who both (unknown to the other) had crushes on each other but never acted on those impulses. While bemoaning their dating lives, they both laughingly agree to marry the other if they hit 30 years old without a spouse. While on her 30th birthday party trip to Vegas, they run off to a wedding chapel and drunkenly get married. The next morning leads to extreme awkwardness and apologies, and they spent the next several years orbiting around each other before finally getting together.

I appreciated the ending of the book, but felt that it dragged at times. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Something about jo lovett they will always create good characters that I’m interesting to learn more about. This was such a cute book and gave me all the Christmas feelings can’t wait to reread this book when we’re getting closer to December!!!

A beautifully written Christmas romance. This is one of my favourites of the season so far and I’m so glad I had early access thanks to netgalley. It was wonderful to have the perspectives of both of the main characters cleverly woven together, jumping from past to present. It kept me wanting more and more and I became so invested in the characters. I’ve already downloaded the book recommended at the end by the same author I enjoyed The Mistletoe Pact so much.

Dnf at 60%
Okay, so here's what i think, this book had potenitial, it was written in a good way, the begining was okay, but then i think that the miscomunication trope just took over and i felt like i was just reading the same story over and over again.
The main tropes were brother's best friend, friends to lovers and a drunk wedding in vegas were some tropes that i usually liked but it sadly didn't work for me.
It's just that i felt like it took way too long for Evie and Dan to admit their feelings to each others which was very annoying.


Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and the author for an advance eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Crikey, what to say about this book??!! I really had mixed feelings about it.

It was a nice premise - good friends who secretly had crushes on each other and who made a pact to get married to each other if they weren't with anyone by Evie's 30th birthday. The pact was made on Evie's 22nd birthday so 8 long YEARS of pining, crushing, will they/won't they between Evie and Dan.

Inbetween the two of them sharing kisses, longing looks and a drunken and hastily severed marriage, they dated lots of other people, LOTS of other people. At one point, I just couldn't keep track of Evie's latest love interest, not sure what happened with a couple of them, and didn't particularly care either though, as the book went on. Evie's mother was also fond of one-night-stands so between them all, I didn't think all that much of their characters. I have the feeling that I am probably the wrong demographic for this book as there really was a lot of sleeping around, which detracted from what could have been a sweet, romantic, Christmassy book. And I am not particularly old-fashioned but I do think that sleeping with someone just because you had dinner with them or whatever is a bit messed up. People give this most intimate of things away far too easily these days.

By the time the two main characters got it together (both of them being scarred by their pasts with their parents), I really wasn't that emotionally invested. I liked Evie more than Dan, as I thought he was a bit weak. I thought there would have been a few more surprise twists, somehow.

All in all, a nice idea but not quite there. Too many jumping timelines and just too long to get to the happily ever after.

3 stars from me, sorry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas - unless you wake up married, in bed with your best friend’s brother!

The Mistletoe Pact is a fun romance between Evie and Dan. The story takes place with alternating POVs and timelines. Evie and Dan have grown up across the green from eachother their whole lives. Evie has always had a crush on Dan, but one Christmas Eve (her birthday) they share a drunken kiss and make a pact to get married if they’re both still single once Evie turns 30.

I really enjoyed meeting all of the characters in this book. In addition to being a romance the characters also dealt with a quite a few serious issues regarding their families and relationships. Dan working through his issues with both his brother Max and his father offered some great character dimension and helped him while he sorted out what he wanted from his relationship with Evie. The friendships and families were all great here.

I loved the romance between Dan and Evie, but at times it seemed just a little too slow burn and it dragged a bit through the middle. Evie gives great advice and communicates well throughout the book, but the lack of communication between her and Dan was what slowed things down. I’m happy that we did get some romantic moments at the end.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.

🎄Mistletoe Pact started off super interesting- Dan & Evie waking up in the honeymoon suite of a Vegas hotel with vague memories of drunkenly getting married …. BUT then they quickly decide to get an annulment without any consideration of giving it a try or really even discussing what happened 🤷🏻‍♀️

The book alternates between the past & present brilliantly allowing the history and relationship evolution between Dan & Evie really build up. I loved reading their interactions with one another and how unassumingly sweet they are with each other. They are definitely a perfect match except for one issue- they are both entirely too polite and timid to admit their feelings for one another (ugh so frustrating).

Just a warning ⚠️ this book is a slooooow burn. It was driving me nuts, I could not wait to see them get together and took a while to get there.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
Takeaway: Mistletoe Pact is a quick, light read that’ll get you ready for the holidays.

The Mistletoe Pact's title and cover were quite misleading -- this story wasn't very Christmas-y as they both suggest it to be. I'm a sucker for a friends-to-lovers and I'm a sucker for slow-burn romances, but this story just didn't do these tropes justice, unfortunately. Normally when there's miscommunication or pining over the other character, we at least get to see the passion and the BURN when it's SLOW, but this was just frustrating to read especially since they barely spent much time together over the years it takes for them to get together. If we didn't get to peek inside their heads would there be any other indication that these two had feelings for each other? I'm not so sure. The idea was sweet, but I wish there was more of an emphasis on them as a pair versus them pining separately.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The story follows Evie and Dan and a marriage pact that they made for when they turn 30. Fast forward to Evie’s 30th birthday celebration in Vegas. They wake up in bed. Together. Hungover. Married. Uh oh.
So I really, really wanted to like this book. I felt like it just kept going on and on when it could have stopped and finished the story about halfway through. It was really drawn out for me. I also didn’t feel like Christmas was front and center in the story either. It just sort of hung out in the background a bit.

What a “Meet Cute” this book was! In the Spirit of Christmas and the age old “Meet Me Under the Mistletoe,” my heart was warmed.

After reading the blurb, I thought that this book would be right up my street. But sadly this was a let down for me.
If you like a really slow burn romance, this book might be to your liking. But normally when I read slow burn and a whole lot of longing, there is some steaminess or payoff when they do eventually get together.
And that didn't happen here.
I wanted more from it.
It also missed the Christmas mark for me - really apart from a few scenes, this could have been set in any month of the year and didn't get me in the Christmas/festive mood, like I had expected it would.
The timeline was a bit all over the place too.
Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! It's a slow burn friends-to-lovers romance that starts right off with the the friends getting drunk married in Vegas. The book then alternates between the present (post marriage) and the past (leading up to the wedding). Evie is best friends with Dan's younger sister but they clearly have chemistry from the get go and both have secret crushes on each other but never verbalize them. At some points it was so frustrating because you knew they both liked each other and you just wanted them to get together already! It did take place over 8ish years so it was a real slow burn, but I still loved it. I loved both characters and the side characters (except some of Evie's boyfriends, but that was the point) and I loved that it took place mostly in the winter and near Christmas (but it's not really a Christmas romance in my opinion). I'm looking forward to reading more books from this author.

If you are a fan of a slow burn - this book is for you! It was a little too slow of a burn for me personally, but I enjoyed it! I wish there had been a little more tension and I feel as though it could have been shorter, lots of filler in the middle. Gave incredible hallmark like feels! I think for me personally this just was a little too slow!

The book was just an easy and pleasant read for a lazy Sunday afternoon! Exactly what I needed to make myself feel better!

This book was a sweet friends to lovers romance that started with a Vegas wedding and followed the H and h over the next year. If you don’t enjoy books that run mostly on miscommunications or lack of communication, then you won’t enjoy this book. I don’t love reading two people who are clearly meant for each other, constantly ignore their feelings and/or not expressing them to each other but the author wrote this in a way that didn’t make me ragey. There are other aspects of the book that would normally turn me off but, again, the author was able to tell the story in a way that didn’t feel like drama just for the sake of drama.

I will totally be picking up other books by this author in the future.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley for voluntary review

This is the second Jo Lovett book I read and I enjoyed it just as much as the first one. I loved the contemporary romance, developing from friends to romantic partners. I also enjoyed the two timelines as going back in time helped me understand the underlying feelings that had been building up for years.. The Vegas story added originality. Read it within 48 hours. It made me buy her first book. Her stories are cute and keep me entertained throughout.

However, I don’t feel this dho7ld be promoted as a Christmas book as you won’t ge5 that Christmas feeling. I sure did not mind reading it in October though.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me an e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley and it was an easy, fun weekend read.

The Mistletoe Pact is the story of Evie and Dan - two friends who make a pact to get married on Evie’s 30th birthday if they are both still single. Unsurprisingly, they are secretly in love with each other and what follows is the standard “will they, won’t they” romance scenario. Just to tick an additional romance theme, Dan is the brother of Evie’s best friend.

It is a cute book with some funny moments, but it was not really to my taste - it was predictable and included way too many overused romance themes. But, it is a light, relaxing read if you’re looking for a few hours of escapism.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an advance copy of this book.

Evie and Dan are friends who have a pact if they’re not married by thirty to marry each other.

I love Christmas, I love a frothy romance, and friends to lovers is a great trope, so this book sounded just my thing. Unfortunately it was a DNF after 32%.

"From friends to lovers" is a tricky combination for an author as she has to find a good reason for the heroes not to be together.

Evie and Dan are so cute. They both come from (differently) dysfunctional families and grew up into really kind people.

Even if I don't get why they couldn't be together before, it didn't bother me. What was more annoying for me was that the whole "Mistletoe" thing which should remind us that the plot revolves around Christmas was just bluff.

I didn't feel any Christmas spirit, or any celebration (apart from Evie's birthday). It was just an excuse to make people meet... but it could as well have been in July.

I really liked this story, the characters were cute and I laughed several times. It just missed the mark on the Christmas side.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing an eARC in exchange of an honest review.

The Mistletoe Pact is such a wonderful friends to lovers romance! Evie and Dan make a Friends-like mistake on Evie’s 30tj birthday and accidentally get drunkenly married in Vegas years after making a pact they’d get married if they were both still single on Evie’s 30th birthday. It’s told in a dual POV, giving insight on both characters as the story also explores a dual timeline starting from the morning after their big night in Vegas and flashing back from the time they make their pact to the present time. I loved the pacing and flow of this. The characters were all so fun, I would just love to be in this friend group. They just care so much about each other and it’s just such a heartwarming read. Evie and Dan are both really great leads too. I love their slow burn of a romance, even though this isn’t a steamy read. Their romance is just sweet and I loved their growth together. Evie too is such so kind and genuine! And Dan works so hard at coming to terms with his issues and is just such a great guy! There are bits where some of the language felt a little repetitive, and I wish there was a little more depth to these characters—they go through a lot and really grow but I wish there had been a little more introspection behind those moments too. This is just such a lovely read though, I was smiling through so much of it! These characters have so much fun in their lives and are just such a wonderful group, it’s so fun to read. It’s a romance but it’s also about family and good friends and I just really enjoyed it!