2.5/5 stars

The book had a great start and set-up for a great premise. Evie and Dan wake up, married in Vegas. We come to find they made a pact eight years ago and in one drunken night they follow through with it. This story is told though flashbacks in time, and the current year to see how Evie and Dan's relationship develops and builds, including relationships with other people, and development of their selves.

I felt that this book had a lot of flashbacks and move forwards that were meant to move the story along, but it just seemed to carry on for so long. This book had so many things going on in it, in both Evie and Dan's lives that just one incident could have built the story, with more added romance, rather than throwing every obstacle possible in their place. This book seemed to have the ultimate miscommunication trope and really, if either Dan or Evie even talked to each other for a minute and were honest with each other, so much heartache and heartbreak could have been avoided.

I just didn't find this a book that I connected with. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.

I really enjoyed the progression of both Evie's and Dan's characters. I did feel like I would've liked to see their actual romantic relationship develop more than what we saw. However, I love the story told through the years, and how the timeline jumps back and forth. It was such an easy read and is a feel-good book for sure!

Festive Romcom…
Evie and Dan made a pact. Eight years ago. If neither were married at thirty then they would marry each other. Neither expected that to happen. Did they? A festive romcom for the Christmas season with some nicely drawn characters and some amusing moments, albeit with much to-ing and fro-ing and perhaps a little long winded, although generally a feel good, warm hearted slice of festive escapism.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture, for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
Dan and Evie are lifelong friends who make a pact to get married if Evie is single at 30. At Evie's 30th birthday in Vegas years later they get drunk and do get married. They panic in the morning and annul the marriage. After that point the timeline went back and forth for 8 years and it got very confusing. After years of miscommunication the story reaches it's happy conclusion but it was a long trip to get there. It was told in alternating points of view and there were some funny moments. I will continue to look for books by this author but this one was a bit of a miss for me.

The story
When Evie is in her early 20’s she makes a pact with her best friend Sasha’s older brother Dan that if she is single when she turns 30, they will marry. It’s a bit of a joke, but the book starts off with the two having gotten married in a drunken Las Vegas moment. They annul the marriage but underneath the “joke”, both have feelings for each other. The book has flashbacks/ flash-forwards examining every aspect of Evie and Dan’s relationship… the good times, the bad times and the times where things just didn’t go to plan.

My thoughts
I thought the storyline of this book was so promising but the flashbacks and flash-forwards carried on for longer than was maybe necessary. I enjoyed the start and the ending when finally things come together. Overall, a cute read.

Reading this book was like a huge hug complete with all the warm fuzzy feelings, it also kept you wanting more with the 'will they or won't they' excellent and thoroughly enjoyable

The Mistletoe Pact I do believe was misleading in the description. My expectations were not lived up to in what I thought was going to happen in the book. There was so much unnecessary additions that just does not make sense.

Energetic and Exciting!!!! The timeline of the book was slightly difficult to follow but the slow-burn friends-to-lovers was BRILLIANT

I really wanted to love this book as I am a huge fan of the Hallmark love story. The writing was really flat and I just felt like the chapters repeated themselves over and over. The conversation was stilted and I just didn't buy the interactions between Dan and Evie.

I was a little disppointed with this romance. Whilst the synopsis had me excited to read a christmas based romance and the whole forbidden siblings best friend trope this book left me feeling a little deflated. I enjoyed the characters albeit a little more depth to them would have been interesting, they felt a little 2D.
The idea that two people who definitely like each other accidentally get married, have sex and yet still don't discuss their feelings etc seems a little far fetched. There also never seemed to be any reasoning for them not to investigate their feelings for each other, Dan's family all seemed keen and whilst he may have had some emotional issues these weren't discussed until the very end. I can't believe that all these people from the same village had moved to London but never seemed to meet up unless going back home or a specially arranged event ..... I think this book had great potential to have a secret romance that was spoilt in some way rather than it just never really happening, until it did

Honestly for me, miscommunication trope is a hit or miss. If you have fun characters I can connect to and a very interesting plot, I would enjoy it. Sadly, this one didn't. Evie and Dan just felt so....meh. Personally, tgis kinda felt like a hot mess. There was a random baby thrown into the mix and idk maybe it was just for cuteness factor that totally failed because the drama around it just made me feel 😐. The book was just Dan and Evie silently dealing with their secret feelings with each other while one or the other was hooked up with someone and it got a little tiring after a while. The writing was okay. Sometimes it felt more like telling than showing. Won't lie but I skimmed a few parts because I wasn't invested at all.

Sad, because the plot to this sounded really amazing and overall it was just a disappointment. If you're interested to try more Jo Lovett books though, The House Swap is a lot more fun with some more entertaining characters.

2.5/5

They are a few things I'd like to say. Honestly starting the book after reading the blurb, I was full-on excited for a Christmas Rom-Com. There were some amazing things, I loved how the author wrote the past and present dual POVs and each chapter idea blended seamlessly into the next. But that's probably where the good stops. It got too boring after only a few dozen pages. I'm all for a slow burn but this one was really draggy. I managed to power through and finish it though. It had a good basis, but the execution didn't live up to my expectations.

So two people who have been friends for a long time make a pact that if Evie is unmarried at thirty they will get married. Evie has always had feelings for Dan and Dan has always had feelings for Evie unfortunately they are both afraid of commitment because of their parents.

In Vegas, with friends, celebrating Evie’s thirtieth birthday Dan and Evie get drunk and end up married. For me the story then becomes boring and very confusing when the chapters flash backwards and forewords over eight years. The ending was obvious, it just took a long time to get there

this concept could’ve gone really well but this book just didn't quite deliver :( there wasn't much chemistry between mcs and i felt like there was no building up of it either. the story was kinda directionless to me and most of the time i was just reading for the sake of it

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Spoilers ahead and as always check trigger warnings.
Age rating: Adult.

One of my biggest book hates: miscommunication/lack of communication!

I wanted to love this book, but by 25% in, the characters had had little interaction with each other. It seemed like we just kept repeating the same chapter over and over again where the characters talk about how much they like each other, remember they’re married and then remember why ‘they can’t be together’. It was tedious, it was boring.

I will never ever understand the lack of communication that takes place in these types of plots.

I debated continuing to the end and hoping we’d have some progression but from reading the other reviews, it seems that all the things I dislike about this book continue until the end. So, not for me, I guess.

This is heart-warming romance. Although the first several pages reminded me something already watched or read but later I was enjoying the plot, the main and secondary characters, the growing love, nice feelings being near each other, the long-lasting friendship so much. I felt good and smiled a lot whole way through reading it and I love happy ending.💘
---
Buvo gera skaityti šią knygą.
Nors prasidėjo kaip jau kažkur matyta, girdėta romantinė komedija, kai prabundi ir prisimeni vakar dienos įvykius po stiprių išgertuvių Vegase, bet po to skaitant praeities įvykius persipinančius su dabartimi žavėjausi tais gražiais Dan ir Eve stiprėjančios meilės jausmais būnant šalia vienas kito,, trauka: prisiminimais apie pirmąjį bučinį per Kalėdas, susitarimą, kai prieš 8 metus per Kalėdas nutarė, jog jei vis dar bus vieniši, per jos 30-ąjį gimtadienį susituoks, apie laiką praleistą kartu per įvairias šventes, ilgametę draugystę...
Įdomūs ne tik pagrindiniai veikėjai, bet ir kiti: Dan'o sesuo-Eve's geriausia draugė Sasha, Eve's mama, Dan'o ir Sashos brolis Max.
Puiki knyga, kai norisi kažko lengvo ir pozityviai nuteikiančio su laiminga pabaiga💘

"The Mistletoe Pacto": 2.5⭐

(Unpaid Review: thank you to @netgalley, @jolovett and the publishers for allowing me to read this eArc copy in exchange for a review.)

Soo, everyone loves a christmassy story. We all know how exciting it can be and amazingly written. Well, this book kinda disappointed me 😬 don't get me wrong, it's really cute and the idea for the concept is really interesting but it lacked feeling, I guess.

The characters were likeable and there was the whole christmas spirit present in the novel, but it just missed something. Not the book for me, but surely, for someone else!

I have mixed feelings about this romance...
In fact, the concept is pretty cool: a wedding in Las Vegas between two long-time friends. But in the end, the story is spread out over 1 year where the characters are going to do a cross chase, with each advancing on their own to finally have a real something towards the end of the novel.
The only thing that makes the romance more believable is the fact that they have loved each other almost forever, but in reality, it's not that exploited except for the jealousy.
But otherwise, the mood of the novel was at the very beginning and end Christmas themed, so for me those were the best parts.
The characters are also endearing, plus we alternate points of view depending on the chapters and we also have flashbacks to better understand the protagonists.

I skimmed through this one, the characters felt really flat for me. This book might be a perfect christmas book for those who like christmas and best friends to lovers! i would describe this as what happens in vegas meets bestfriends to lovers. the writing didnt really do it for me, and the story as well! the 2 timelines were super weird, and so many plotholes :(
tried hard to love it but couldnt. 3 stars.

This book wasn't exactly my cup of tea. It wasn't BAD by any means-- it's got a good story line with some funny parts-- there was just a little too much talk of sex for my preference. (Personal preference, I know.)
The opening scene did make me chuckle and sparks intrigue as to how EXACTLY the characters got into the situation they were in.
If you're into romances and don't mind some talk about sex then you might just really enjoy this Christmas book!