I'm having complicated feelings about this but overall I enjoyed it. It's a cute Christmasy story about a drunk Vegas marriage, how the two ended up there and what happens afterward. I was skeptical about the friends-to-lovers trope but I ended up enjoying it nonetheless.

Sometimes it was hard to follow since you jump between timeliness. If every chapter had the timeline mark, it would be so much better. I found myself trying to remember who was dating and what was happening in the chapters I was reading.

Evie was a cutie. She was nice and had a motherly feeling. Probably because of her mommy issues. Dan, on the other hand, had daddy issues and he wasn't that good with coping with them.

Many times in the book we see Evie pull away without an explanation, she just does. Dan steps back too but it's usually because they're friends or he is scared to get hurt.

What I didn't like is how it took them literally years to act on their feelings. They never stopped having feelings towards each other through the book even when they were dating other people but for whatever reason, they never took a step towards each other. It was pages and pages of them playing cat and mouse. Through the years, they spent very little time with each other so sometimes it was hard to believe their genuine feelings.

The book was not much of a Christmas book either. Sure there were a lot of chapters that took place during the Christmas season throughout the years but I don't think it was enough. The Christmas magic and that warm feeling were missing.

Overall, it was a sweet and quick read. I'd recommend reading this when the season comes for extra effect.

When I saw Christmas marriage pact and accidentally drunken marriage in Vegas I was so excited to read this book! Although it was a very sweet Christmas romance, it ended up being not exactly what I was expecting. I enjoyed Evie and Dan as the MCs, but I felt like they were constantly jealous of others, especially when they were each dating other people. They had so much pent up feelings for each other, but it took them sooo long to act on it in a genuine way. I also feel like they spent so much time apart in the book that it was like it wasn’t really focused on their romance and was more focused on their past leading up to present day. I enjoyed the story, but I felt it was missing the Christmas magic that pairs so well with romance. If you enjoy a very slow-burn and cute romance with Christmas aspects then I recommend this for sure.

2.5 stars

What happens if one day you wake up hungover only to discover you're married to someone you've crushed on for over a decade?

The Mistletoe Pact by Jo Lovett follows the journey (with time jumps into the past), charting Evie and Dan's mutal crush, then back to present day as they try and fight their feelings post-nuptials.

Eight years previously Evie and her best friend's older brother Dan made a Christmas pact under the mistletoe tree to get married if they were both single when Evie was 30. Its not until they party in Las Vegas that they realise what they've done and vow to annul the marriage and go back to normal.

Told in a dual POV, the story jumps between the intervening eight years and present day, charting the course of Evie and Dan's growing, but unsaid crush on each other. I liked the use of going between Evie and Dan as something different.

However, while I really liked the premise of the book there are a few things that didn't work for me hence my rating.

At times I felt this story dragged. I think there were sometimes too many extra story lines in the way of what we know will be the inevitable conclusion.

But the bit that made me take off half a star (and round to 2 stars as the official rating vs my normal 3 stars but write 2.5 stars) - is the addition of an extra complication from Dan's recent past into the plotline. I absolutely detest this trope, and this was something used similarly in Zara Stoneley's The Hot Desk (please UK writers, strop using this trope thats more akin to the more poorly written American romance novels which love that sort of trope). It did nothing to serve the story and I always find it a lazy way to keep the would be lovers apart just a bit more.

Overall this is a lovely slow-burn Christmas rom com, but it could've been better if it removed the above extra plot point and tightened up just a bit better.

The Mistletoe Pact is a sweet romcom that reminded me of My Best Friends Wedding and the Friends Las Vegas episodes where Ross and Rachel get married. The story opens with the main characters, Evie and Dan, in bed together in a decidedly pink hotel room. They remember immediately that they have gotten married fulfilling a pact they made eight years prior.

The story switches back and forth between the present and memories from the last eight years. The narrators also switch back and forth between Dan and Evie. I found the memory portions of the book showed such chemistry and friendship turning to love. During the present day portions, Evie and Dan spent a lot of time avoiding each other. It felt a little lacking in showing that they still had that chemistry shown in the flashbacks.

All in all, it was a sweet romcom that I would curl up and read on a snowy day. The friends to lovers/best friends brother tropes are my jam. I give it a 3.5 rounded to 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loath leaving negative feedback but I honestly don’t know what to say about this novel that would be nice. I did a lot of eye-rolling, and really suffered to finish it—to be fair, because it’s NetGalley, otherwise I would’ve given up after maybe 3 chapters. But the more I read the more all of it irked me. So, rather than enumerate all the things I didn’t like, the only nice thing I can do is to just leave it at that and say nothing at all.

This was such a good story and I read it in one go, it was so funny I laughed out loud as well as being heart breaking at times also. it was such a cozy read and i loved it

This was such a cute story! I felt all the emotions you can think of! Eve & Dan are absolutely ADORABLE. I just love the storyline concept. It made me want to read page after page because I just got so invested in this relationship. I think this would be a perfect read for the winter time. So beautiful, made me shed a few tears, but overall so cute. I loved this book!

I really wanted to love this book because it had great potential. I love accidentally married in Vegas books because they are always fun and spontaneous. You really get to see the characters work together to make their marriage. Sadly, that was not the case with this book.

The Mistletoe Pact follows Evie and Dan when they are in their 20s and make a pact together that if they are still single at 30 Evie's 30th birthday then they will get married. Well surprise! It happened but it was instant regret the next morning even though they have both been pining for each other since they made the pact.

I think it just felt too real? That seems weird to say but I read for something to happen to people that wouldn't happen normally. I did not feel a connection between the main characters. The back and forth became too much near the end. The slow burn was too slow. I did enjoy the ending though but it just felt too late.

This book could have been something special and I am sad it fell flat for me. Also, considering it is a Christmas book, it had no Christmas spirit. I think I am going to give this book a 1.5/5 stars.

This is one where the premise sounded promising, but the actuality and execution fell short. I had a hard time connecting with Evie and Dan. I felt like they had the potential to be a likeable and lovable couple that the reader would root for, but something was missing. I didn’t feel a spark between them or the years of longing between them. To me, it felt like I was reading a story between two friends with no sexual tension between them.

The writing style, for me, lacked as well. It felt a bit dry and rushed where an emotional connection to the story itself got lost within the words. I found myself not consumed or getting lost within the story and the magic of two friends finally falling for one another wasn’t there. Overall I feel like this was just a mismatch with book and reader style. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

This is my second read of a book by Lovett and I have really become a fan. The characters and story were believable and the various time lines well crafted. I really enjoyed this sweet story.

From the blurb, I’d initially assumed that ‘The Mistletoe Pact’ was a story about an accidental marriage between 2 drunk (but very compatible) friends who finally realised the error of their ways…and moved forward from that point together.

To my dawning horror, this turned out the opposite as the book went on.

Instead, Evie and Dan moved on from each other after trying to brush off their accidental one-night Vegas marriage with Dan even having a baby with his ex-girlfriend and Evie moving on with a new bloke in the months after. How was that supposed to bode well?

Clearly this has something to do with my clear set of expectations that the book fell totally short of. But in a romance, I do at least expect a lot more interactions between the protagonists rather than fleeting looks or touches in the intervening years, catalogued as very distracting chapter flashbacks between the years when they were in each other’s orbits but never really did anything about each other after the pact that they made.

In fact, Evie and Dan (along with the rest of the characters) came off as wooden, flighty and somehow shallow as events that they met, their dialogues and scenes together not even sounding remotely interesting or hinting at any deeper development other than what’s really printed on the page. When it felt like they pulled apart more than together at the halfway point (where Jo Lovett threw a spanner in the works by introducing the ex- and the baby), I simply gave up.

If you’re looking for a love story with a difference, then this is it!
One Christmas Eve, Evie makes a birthday pact with her best friend Sasha’s big brother Dan, when they kiss under the mistletoe. The pact is that if they are both still single on Evie’s 30th birthday that they will get married. Fast forward to Evie’s 30th, being celebrated in Vegas with Sasha and their friends….and Dan. What will a drunken night bring? And does what happens in Vegas, stay in Vegas?
A story told via both main character narrators over the years, but is it a love story with a happy ending?

Thank you NetGalley for my review copy.

I received an eARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Before I start to talk about this book, I just want you all to take a moment and look at this gorgeous cover.😩
Anyways, the book overall was a 3.5 star read. I really enjoyed the slow burn and the tension between the MC and the LI but the flashbacks were just not it. It was so confusing and I had to look back and see where the flashbacks ended and started. It felt like they took more than half of the 800 pages and I would’ve loved if there was less of them and more of the current time chapters. The current date should’ve been written under the chapter in my opinion.

I would have loved to be able to see how it ended for the the MC and LI but I just couldn’t bring myself to it. I stopped reading it when I was around 70%, but if I’m gonna be honest, I think the only reason I kept going was because of the lovely cover which shouldn’t be a reason to keep going.

This was an extremely creative premise and the book was cute.

I enjoyed Evie and Dan and trailing their romance. I didn't love the time jumping, and at some points I felt the dialogue could have been done better.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2.5/5 stars

I really really wanted to love this book. I'm a huge fan of holiday romances. Unfortunately I found myself disappointed by this book.

Evie and Dan have been friends for years. On her 22nd birthday they make a pact to get married on her 30th if they are both still single. On her 30th birthday they wake up in Vegas married. They quickly get a divorce and agree to go the separate ways. Part of my disappointment came from this as I felt it would have been a lot more interesting if they stayed married, especially considering they posted it all over social media. Which brings me to the first issue which was the fact they posted it everywhere and it was never really brought up by anyone. Even if it written off as a joke this is still a major plot hole.

Another issue was the timeline, it often was quite jumbled and unclear. While then and now can be well done, the jumps and back and forth were quite confusing in this book. Her sister's age was one part of this. I also felt the book just went in circles for the majority of it with no real plot or character development. Overall it was just a meh holiday book. Although for a book with mistletoe in the title there was a disappointing lack of Christmas spirit.

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Ironically I was watching reruns of Friends when I started this book, and was not disappointed in the Vegas marriage parallels. Evie and Dan have been friends since basically forever. As Evie is Dan's sisters best friend, they have been thrown together for holidays, parties, etc many times throughout the years. While Evie has never known her father and has watched her mother fail at love many times over, Dan grew up with a philandering father of his own. Needless to say, both had hangups in regards to long term relationships. While we do start right at the morning after the drunken Vegas wedding, the rest of the story gives us the full picture on how their relationship grew over time.

Friends story connection aside, this was truly a lovely read! My first Christmas book of the Year, and yet it was so much more than that. I tend to shy away from most holiday reads as they're all very Hallmarky and have a set beginning, middle, and end. This story however actually has true depth and makes it clear that while Dan and Evie may eventually get their happy ending, love and relationships are thoroughly complicated and not always easy to maneuver. Secondary characters are also fun and add much to the story. Sasha, Evie's mother, Max, etc all have equally smart stories and hold their own. This is my second Jo Lovett read and most definitely won't be my last! Though you do have to wait until October 1 to read this one, it's most certainly worth the wait!

🎄🎄🎄🎄🎄/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Jo Lovett, and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This book is so cute and follows two friends who make a pact to get married, if neither of them are married in 8 years. Flash forward to a drunken night in Vegas 8 years later. I liked the dual perspectives of the two main characters, Evie and Dan, and I thought their chemistry was great! The rest of the characters were really great too, and you either love them or hate them, in the best possible way! While I enjoyed the dual timelines, they did get confusing at times. This started out with What Happens in Vegas and My Best Friend's Wedding vibes, but really shaped into a story of it's own!

Before I begin with the review, let me ask two questions real quick. Who the hell gets married to someone on a whim just because they got drunk in Vegas and a Chapel is offering its service? And how come their parents never even talk about it to them when they decide to annul said marriage? Like, what in the spoiled White kid's world?

I'm trying really hard to find something positive to say about this book, but I can't find anything at all.
There is no plot whatsoever, no story except for the main characters meeting/bumping into each other in almost every chapter and being obsessed over each other in a very weird way too. There's a lot of telling and no showing at all. The characters explain every single line they speak (and they're not very interesting lines either, mind you).

So in pretty much every chapter, one of the two MCs remember their "pact" (by which they promised to marry each other if they were still single when Evie turns thirty) and fantasise about kissing the other person but they don't talk about it to anyone, or act upon it until we get to the last 5% of the book. Seriously? This cycle goes on for ever and it tired me out. Apart from that, there was a lot of unnecessary jealousy.

Besides, there was no depth or "character" to the characters. *sigh* I really am disappointed. There are so many other problems, including how feminism was made a joke out of more than once and how toxic the feelings Evie and Dan (the main characters) have for each other are. I feel absolutely nothing at how they behave though, which shows how bland they are. I can't even talk about the side characters because I don't even know them.

This was a great romance featuring Evie and Dan who made a pact to marry on her 30th birthday if she was still single however a spontaneous drunken ceremony in Vegas was not quite what they envisioned. and panic at their actions quickly sets in. Told from the moment they woke up the following day in alarm to snippets of their time together starting back eight years when they made the marriage pact you can see how they both have strong feelings for the other but are both damaged by their own parents relationships which has always held they back from losing the friendship they have. They’re both lovely characters and they have been well shaped by their backgrounds which makes their hesitancy towards the other credible, there’s some great interactions and a lot of warmth which makes this a great seasonal read. 7/10

I adored this book!!
So basically Evie and Dan made a pact years ago that said if they weren’t married by thirty, she and Dan would marry each other. But what neither of them expected is that they actually got married on Evie’s thirtieth birthday, on one drunken night in Vegas.
This was so warm and cozy and adorable!
I really liked the characters and their interactions, always so flirtatious and cute, even though they annoyed me at times because Evie could be so oblivious.
The friends to lovers trope is not usually my favorite trope but the way their relationship and chemistry was written was, in my opinion, really well done because I actually felt it was authentic.
Loved the dual point of view chapter, it always makes the romance feel more genuine because we can understand and see both character's actions and feelings, instead of through the other eyes.
So if you want a fluffy and warm romance for this winter, THIS IS THE ONE!!!
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC and the opportunity to review it.