A firm 3 stars. The plot had massive potential, accidental marriage with secret feelings?! I was expecting ANGST CITY. In reality, what we got was some well developed characters with good chemistry, but a storyline that drew out the lead up a little too much. We all like a slow burn, but there comes a point where if nothing is happening it becomes a bit tiresome. That said, there was enough going on elsewhere with other characters to keep my interest and I did enjoy the book as a whole.

This was my first christmassy book of the year, and it was a good light into the season as it isn't a full on Christmas novel, the book jumps between different years, and these usually tend to be focused around the Christmas period. Can be a little confusing if you struggle with keeping track of timelines so keep that in mind!

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas is an old adage that certainly did not come into place in this book! Evie and Dan made a pact to get married when she turned 30 and clearly in a state of total inebriation, made good on that promise. Even in having it annulled and going through numerous relationships and family shifts, they still remained enmeshed and a significant part of each others lives. With the support of their family and friends, their love and hopes for.each other came true.

I LOVE a marriage pact book, so when I saw this one available for request, I couldn't help myself! Add in a "best friends to lovers" scenario, and I was all in. Unfortunately, this one missed the mark a little bit for me, taking too long to really ramp up to the action and hold my interest. This will be nice for a pre-Christmas read on a snowy (if we are lucky) day, as it is light and easy to read, but it just didn't quite warm my heart in the way I had wanted it to.

Festive read which was not as interesting as I hoped it would be. . Bit slow in parts and the communications/ miscommunication between the leads was frustrating. (2.75 ⭐️)

Such a cute, and genuinely feel good read. I do feel it was too drawn out but I did really like it.

There were moments where you wanted Dan and Evie to JUST kiss or date already, which I think was an effective tool the author used, and kept you wanting to read.

3/5⭐️

If you enjoy friends to lovers romance and dual POV/time jumps, then this will probably be right up your street.

We begin with Evie & Dan having just woke up in Vegas, after a totally drunken and unplanned wedding the night before. Oh and a one night stand to go with it.
But Evie & Dan have always had something there between them. Dan is Evie's best friend's brother, but luckily the best friend/sister (Sasha) would love for them to get together so that isn't an issue.
So what's the problem? Both of them overthinking everything really.

This is a really cute story at parts but I also felt frustrated at times because Evie & Dan have real issues communicating, sometimes I struggle to even find the attraction because they don't always converse very well and I feel like I'm missing their connection?
They barely even talk about their quickie wedding - they try to avoid each other and then when they meet up, they both agree, without any real discussion, to try and get it annulled, even though both mention that actually it could be kind of great to be married to each other.
Then we never really hear again until near the end of the book, that the divorce was finalised. (This one was a biggie for me because there's other things going on in their personal and love lives and the whole time, I was wondering if they were still married and why nobody was mentioning it...)

Dan - sorry - was also unfortunately a bit of a coward. He had a few issues and did not want to talk about anything, instead bottling everything up until he got proper pushed to deal with them.

For me, the epilogue was a little bit too much (maybe it's best to let the reader imagine some things and not try to tie everything up). But I did really like the first date and some of the supporting characters - Josh, Max, Greggy & Sasha.

I think this was a great idea, but it maybe could have played out differently. However I think I'd describe it as Ross and Rachel from Friends meets the film 'What happens in Vegas' and say give it a go because it's a quick and lighthearted read.

This was a bit of a strange one, it looked as though it was going to be a Christmassy one but some of it wasn't. It must have been just me but it took some getting into it. I will try to read it again later and I hope to enjoy it more than this time round. 3.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this e ARC

It’s never too early to read a Christmas story! Just the perfect book to make you feel warm and fuzzy inside and for the most part that’s what The Mistletoe Pact did for me.

Fans of One Day in December will enjoy this story as it alternates from 8 years in the past, to present day. Dan and Evie make a pact that if they’re not married by 30, they’ll marry each other. Until Evies 30th birthday when she wakes up, in Vegas, married to Dan. They’ve been best friends for years, and have secretly loved each other all these years, but rushing into it like this can only be a mistake.

Reading through Dan and Evie’s history throughout the years, with their awful partners and missed chances, you can’t help but feel frustrated! There were certain parts of the story that felt unnecessary and the ending felt quite rushed and not as dramatic as I hoped, but all in all the book made me feel happy, what Christmas romcom wouldn’t?! Overall I rate this book a 3.5

Welp!
I wanted to like and enjoy reading it.. but not even half way through - I feel blah!!
So no into it!
Meaning it's very difficult to go on reading it.

What didn't intrest me:
The time lines .. since it has two different times like present & past.. personally not a fan of it & this books confirms it .
I didn't like the way they both handled their marriage or the situations with each other

⭐⭐⭐💫/5

This book had a very very slow start for me.

The mistletoe pact was so much fun. The sizzle Evie and Dan felt each time they were together was unbearable. Only because you just wanted them to be together!

The dual POV was great but what really had me was the flip-flop between past and present. I don't think I've ever seen a writing style like that. And I honestly loved it. I was nervous at first that I would have a hard time following, but it was great.

One of my favorite things would have to be that they both remained faithful in other relationships, even though they felt a strong pull towards each other for so many years. Considering Dan's past, they wouldn't have stood a chance if there was any infidelity.

All the good Rom-Coms have a crazy old lady, I swear. Mrs.Bird lived up those expectations 🤣

Overall, this was a really fun story and I would definitely recommend my friends to read it.

Thank you so much NetGalley and Jo Lovett for my gifted eARC. All the opinions above are my own.

The Mistletoe Pact is a charming read. I love a best friend's older brother/friends-to-lovers romance with a dash of drama thrown in, add in some humor and Christmas, and I'm in. Evie and Dan's relationship was so frustrating at times with a huge will they won't they tug-of-war. Despite the first couple of chapters, it's definitely a slower burn. I really enjoyed the secondary characters and their stories as well, it really added a second layer without being overwhelming. My only struggle was the time jumps, the book is not linear and a few times I was confused and had to look back at previous chapters to keep the timeline straight. Overall this is a sweet read that I really enjoyed.

I was really excited to read this book when I received it. It gave off perfect Christmas-Hallmark romcom type of vibes and that's honestly my favorite type of book.

Unfortunately, I just could not get into this book. To start off, it was a bit difficult to get into, even by the fifth chapter chapter I was hoping I would really become interested in the storyline. The constant switching between future and past along with the POV change was very confusing. Generally, I wouldn't mind it but it honestly felt like I was jumping all over the place. Random plot points would just pop up out of nowhere and then disappear for a while, which was very odd to me.

The couple itself were so cute, their pining after one another and the subtle jealousy was such a serve but the scenes felt so rushed and unfinished that it left me completely unsatisfied.

Overall, Evie and Dan had such cute moments together but the book definitely could have been executed better. This isn't a book I would personally recommend as a Christmas type of romance.

(2.5 stars)

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A heart-warming, festive read!!

Dan and Evie made a pact to marry each other if they were both still single by the time Evie turned 30... The book opens with them marrying one another in Vegas on the eve of her 30th birthday, which is also Christmas Eve. We travel back and forth between the night they made the pact, and the year after the Vegas wedding in a will they/wont they novel of missed opportunities romance.

I really invested in the characters; I loved Dan and Evie, and of course the Christmas time theme and setting made this a particularly lovely, cosy winter read. However, there were plenty chapters not set during Christmas-time so a book that could be read at any time of year!

This is the first book I have read where the novel moved back and forth between different years ending in 2022, and so acknowledged the pandemic. For me the author did this beautifully; she acknowledged 'lockdown' and the pandemic but didn't dive into any depth which was perfect as this could be quite triggering for some readers and would have perhaps taken away from the book's overall vibes!

Hey-o we have a best friends brother trope here (which I love). Evie and Dan have obviously known each other for a long time, and one Christmas Eve (Evie's birthday), she and Dan decide to make a pact that if they are both single by the time Evie turns 30 they will get married. Well lo and behold, when Evie turns 30 in Vegas, she and Dan get absolutely plastered and married Elvis style. What are they gonna do???

I enjoyed this story, I think that the first quarter of the book was really good, and I liked seeing Dan and Evie's origin story so to speak. It's obvious that they had chemistry together but were not at a point in their lives where they were willing to make a commitment to each other. However, as the book progresses you see less of Evie and Dan and more of Evie separately/Dan separately with them meeting once or twice per year. This book spans the total of 8 years between when the pact began and the current time.

While I love the times that we get to see Evie and Dan together, I feel like I wanted a bit more tension between the two rather than them both going off and living life with basically no contact between the two. Any time they are together, it's obvious that we see they like each other, but both characters seem to think the other doesn't really want to be with them. It's a bit annoying that this is the main reason why they aren't together the whole time, simply because they don't communicate with each other.

I did end up finding myself skimming bits of the book because it is a little repetitive (they kiss or *almost* kiss, then decide not to pursue their feelings because one of them is in a relationship, or they think the other doesn't want to). I did like the ending though, probably not re-read worthy.

It was a light and easy read. I was in the mood for something christmassy and this kind of was, because it was set on that time of the year, but didn't have the holidays feeling.

Friends to lovers is not my favorite trope because I never understand how people can be oblivious or pining for someone for such a long time without doing something about it or moving on. Unfortunately, this not being exactly the case with the MCs, after they get married in Vegas, they break up the marriage but you find yourself reading about them being in love, misunderstanding situations, and of course creating very frustrating situations.

Overall it was an okay read, the characters were cute but not major things happened and I was expecting more of a Christmas feel.

I saw this and instantly knew I had to request it, I didn’t regret it. The whole marriage pact is a trope I will never tire of and this was great, This book gives hallmark movie vibes and I was here for it, Evie and Dan were frustrating at times but I loved them and rooted for them the whole way through.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Mistletoe Pact caught my attention because of its adorably festive premise. I love reading books that have anything to do with Christmastime which is my favorite time of year. I expected the entire book to take place during Christmas but the majority of it did not, which was a little disappointing. I did appreciate how essentially every other chapter was a flashback to a moment between Dan and Evie where you could see how they started to fall for each other. However, since there were so many jumps in time it got slightly confusing but for the most part, it seemed beneficial to the story.

Dan and Evie's relationship was definitely written as a slow-burn which is one of my favorite romance tropes. If you're someone that loves slow-burn romances as much as I do, I think this book could be perfect for you. I'm very picky with the types of slow-burn romances I enjoy because I need to see a lot of scenes throughout the build-up that have undeniable tension and chemistry. For this reason, the romance didn't hit as hard as it could have because a large portion of the story focused on Dan or Evie individually instead of focusing on them together.

The Mistletoe Pact consists of dual perspectives and flashbacks to help convey the romantic and familial relationships we see throughout the story. Overall, this was an enjoyable romantic comedy with an essence of Christmas perfect for those looking for a slow burn romance.

Another @netgalley review in the books!

The Mistletoe Pact is a star-crossed lovers romance about two people that miss each other for almost ten years. If you liked the movie Dear Rosie, you’d enjoy this!

It started out both dual perspective and dual timelines and I think that piece of it was done really well. There was a lot of inner monologue with the characters which I’m not especially fond of. I didn’t totally buy the final conflict once they started seeing each other, made the ending a little lackluster for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a great story! I was riveted at the beginning, and I absolutely loved the flashbacks throughout. With the change of narrators as. well as the flashbacks, I thought I would be tripped up, but I was caught up. Evie and Dan and their friends were so lovable, and I was just cheering for them the whole way through! Such a fun holiday read.

I had a hard time getting into this book. The author's writing style is engaging and I would like to try reading something by them in the future.