Gorgeous feel-good romantic comedy, centred around a lovely group of friends and their families in a small picturesque village in the Cotswolds. I was excited to read The Mistletoe Pact after really enjoying The House Swap and it did not disappoint ❤️

Evie secretly has a crush on Dan, who is the brother of her best friend Sasha. They see each other occasionally as friends when they return to the village for Christmas, but neither of them think the other is interested romantically.

The story begins as they wake up in Vegas on Evie's 30th birthday with huge hangovers and the realisation that they drunkenly got married the night before. We then follow dual timelines from both Evie and Dan's perspectives as we learn more about their light-hearted agreement to get married if they are both single when Evie turns 30, what has happened in the intervening years, and how they cope with the fallout.

Interwoven with stories about other friends and family members and how events have interacted to bring them to this point, at times heartbreaking but overall a gorgeous and uplifting read which has left me a little bit in love with the characters.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? Maybe not...

The Mistletoe Pact is a friends-to-lovers romance between Evie and Dan. Evie is best friends with Dan's little sister. The story starts out with the two waking up to being married to each other. The two end up getting an annulment after recognizing that it was a "mistake". Throughout the rest of the story, you have moments throughout time of Evie and Dan pining over each other.

I love friends-to-lovers romance stories (I am partial to all romance, to be honest) and was excited when I saw this. I was a little disappointed as I thought Evie and Dan would end up married, but try and to work it out. Typically they'd show the two figuring out their relationship as they worked on getting an annulment or divorce. I was expecting that but was surprised to see that it was short memories of the two throughout their years of growing up. I feel like there were a lot of memories over them pining over each other instead of the two sneaking off or engaging. There also was no conversation between Evie and her best friend aka Dan's little sister. This is something I feel is a typical thing when you're going to date your friend's brother. The characters, both main and supporting characters seemed very flat/one-sided.

I did enjoy the book but found myself reading it slower than I typically would. It didn't keep me wanting to constantly read it. I did enjoy that they finally got together. It just took a long time to get there.

ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.

I was really excited about this one, the description really sold it to me, along with such a fabulous cover. I was getting strong Christmas movie vibes and I love a Christmas movie. However I found this didn't hold my attention for long, or give me that super Christmassy feeling. I ended up dnf'ing about 25% in. Maybe it gets better, I don't know but I just found it to be awkward. I cringed a bit actually.

It just wasn't what I expected, it had potential but it just wasn't for me

Ok it’s been a few years since I had read any Christmas romance and I missed it, so I jumped at the opportunity when I saw this book pass and I don’t regret it at all! The author takes us into a magnificent romantic story over several years, with the double point of view, allowing us to see the events of the past that brought the current situation of the two protagonists. I loved that the first chapter takes us straight into history and that we learn after the story of Eve and Dan.
We follow here the story of Eve who has for years a crush on the brother of her best friend, Dan, and following a Christmas party a little boozy, they make a pact to get married together if at the birthdays of her 30 years they are still single. So we meet them at her birthday, again after a party in Las Vegas where they got married. But rather than confess their feelings following this event they decide to cancel the marriage, but they then turn around for several years despite other relationships.
I appreciate that they each have feelings for each other but that we understand why they do not throw themselves on each other and see them become more mature and wait for the stars to line up to finally be together. I would have liked a little more time with them as a couple at the end but otherwise, it’s a perfect Christmas romance, to listen with a special Christmas song playlist quietly under a blanket.

Read and reviewed in exchange for a free copy from NetGalley. I really enjoyed this, it was easy escapism and I was invested in the characters and their story.

I went into this book expecting a fun, rom-com level Christmas romance…this book wasn’t any of those things. I didn’t even think the storyline matched the synopsis to be honest with you.

I really enjoyed that this story was told from both Evie and Dan’s point of view. The dual perspective added to the storyline. This book also jumped back and forth between the past and the present. Normally, I enjoy this in a book, but this time I felt it was lacking. The back and forth in the time line left me having questions about certain events.

I also feel like the lead up to anything of importance took WAY to long. Evie and Dan really didn’t get together in a significant way until there was 15%-20% left in the book. By that point, I didn’t even want them to get together.

I was expecting something completely different from this book and was pretty disappointed in what I was getting.

A friends-to-lovers romantic comedy that will make readers roar with laughter, Jo Lovett’s The Mistletoe Pact is hard to resist.

On Christmas Eve eight years ago, Evie and Dan made a pact: if they weren’t married by the age of thirty, they would marry each other. Neither one of them took their Yuletide promise seriously as they were both sure that they would find ‘The One’ before they hit the big 3-0. Even though the two of them have always been drawn to one another, Evie and Dan never had the courage to confess the truth about how they really felt. Still, the likelihood that the two of them would become Mr and Mrs by the time they turned thirty was so far-fetched…or was it?

Eight years have passed and Evie and Dan find themselves in Vegas…married! The two of them must have taken leave of their senses and they vow to put things right and go back to how things were and forget they were ever this stupid and reckless. But when a quickie divorce proves out of the question, they have no other option but to start their lives together as a married couple!

Can they at long last find the courage to admit how they really feel about one another? Will Evie and Dan be together for the rest of their lives? Or will their fears and insecurities end up costing them everything?

Jo Lovett’s The Mistletoe Pact is a heartfelt and hilarious Christmas romantic comedy perfect for fans of Love Actually and The Holiday. Funny, fast-paced and feel-good, The Mistletoe Pact will melt your heart with its blend of humour, hilarity, emotion and mischief.

A lovely read that is a joy to curl up with, romantic comedy fans are going to enjoy Jo Lovett’s fantastic The Mistletoe Pact.

I have this book a 3/5 rating. It was a light and easy read that followed two characters that made a fallback pack to get married on Evies 30th birthday. I like how it went back and forth in time. I wasn’t invested enough to give it a 4/5 and my kindle kept messing up the page numbers by saying there were 4000 pages which annoyed me but it was a cute romance.

A light and easy read with an interesting premise set mainly in the Cotswolds and London with a trip to Las Vegas thrown in.

Evie (who has a Christmas Eve birthday) had always had a crush on her best friend's older brother, Dan. At a Christmas party in their village in the Cotswolds on Evie's 22nd birthday, the two of them kissed under the mistletoe and made a pact to marry each other if they are both still single when Evie turns 30. After a drunken celebration with friends in Las Vegas, Evie wakes on her 30th birthday to the realization that she and Dan had married the night before in a Vegas wedding chapel. They quickly take steps to annul the marriage and the plot then moves in alternating timelines between "Then" the time period between the Mistletoe Pact and Vegas and "Now" the time period after the quickie Vegas wedding and annullment.

The Mistletoe Pact is an entertaining friends to lovers romance but since the plot jumps around over several years, it wasn't set as much during the holiday season as I was expecting. Still a nice start to my holiday reading!

Thank you to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

Thank you netgalley for this eARC in exchange for my completely honest review!
To be honest I didn’t really enjoyed this book. There wasn’t so much Christmas vibes. I thought it was a super duper Christmas read but unfortunately it wasn’t. It just didn’t feel that magical. What I really enjoyed was the slow burn in this book. That’s the reason this book is getting a 2/5 stars.

At the age of 22, Evie and her best friend's brother make a Christmas Eve pact to get married if they are both single at 30. Neither of them thought it would happen but cue a drunken night in Las Vegas on the eve on Evie's 30th birthday, they wake up and find themselves married!!
Will they do a Ross and Rachel, and get a quickie divorce or will it end up being a 'happy ever after'?

I loved this book and high praise to Jo Lovett :)

This is an adorable rom com. I loved how easy it was to read and how quickly I was able to get into the story. I thought that Dan and Evie had great chemistry and I could tell from the beginning that they were soulmates even though they could not believe it themselves. Every time they would say that the other did not like them, I wanted to bring them together, sit them down, and tell them that their feelings for each other are there. I hated that they did not take their feelings seriously because they had been friends for so long and that Dan is Evie's best friend's brother. People in friend groups get into relationships all the time, so I did not understand why it was so awkward for them when they had so much chemistry. All in all, it was adorable and I loved how the chapters went throughout the timeline of their friendship and realization that they were meant to be.

I had seen The Mistletoe Pact mentioned a few times on Twitter but had put of requesting it until this morning, was approved and then noticed it was published today and also due to be archived on NetGalley today too (1st October 2021)

Knowing it was going to be archived tonight, I thought I would just read a few pages and started reading it at 4:00 in the afternoon, couldn’t put it down and 7 hours later I had finished it.

I did skip read some of the back stories so as to finish it before it was archived but it was still a nice, simple easy to read and get in to book with characters you can really warm to.

I would describe it as more of a lovely little heart-warming story than a book, very pleasant, easy reading and enjoyable.

Evie and Dan make a pact that if they aren’t married by the time they are thirty, then they would marry each other. Dan had always been attracted to Evie and Evie always liked Dan, and he just happens to be her best friend’s brother. But then they wake up married on Christmas Eve, the night before Evie’s thirtieth birthday. They are in the honeymoon suite in Vegas. So they think a quick divorce will fix everything. Their friendship can easily go back to the way it was before the wedding, right? But is that what they really want to do…I don’t think so. This laugh-out-loud festive read will surly get you into the Christmas spirit. I enjoyed the storyline of this book, it was fun, festive and hilarious. This charming read is one that will stay with you after you read the last page.

Thank you Jo Lovett for such a wonderful story. I really enjoyed the flow of the story and the characters were an absolutely delightful bunch. They were a lively group of friends that definitely stick by each through thick and thin. I loved it, and I highly recommend this book.

This was my first Christmas read of the season! I really enjoyed the Christmas atmosphere and revisiting it with Evie and Dan through the years as they explore their relationship. The Mistletoe Pact is a lighthearted holiday read but does touch on some more deeper themes especially family issues which definitely adds a unique depth to the book. There are many interesting side characters, mostly their family and their involvement helps the plot and adds to the readers investment in the overall story, however my main focus stayed on if Dan and Evie end up together as lovers or friends, or nothing at all?


If you're in the mood for a holiday romance you should definitely check out The Mistletoe Pact.

Thank you Bookcoutre for sharing the ARC of The Mistletoe Pact by Jo Lovett in exchange for my honest review.
Dan and Evie make a pact under a mistletoe to get married if Evie isn't married by her 30th birthday. Dan is Evie's best friend's brother and they have known each other for years and are good friends too. The story moves over a span of 10 years in a non linear timeline. It switches between Evie & Dan's perspective. The mistletoe pact has some interesting characters and the plot has potential but unfortunately poorly executed. The book feels like little nuggets of events in Dan & Evie's life and at each event there are different partners who come and go. You just don't feel like the story flows or feel connected or see the relationship developing. The writing felt like it was all over the place and tiresome.

Happy #pubday ✨ to The Mistletoe Pact!

REVIEW:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars

Thank you to @netgalley @bookouture for the #ARC!

When I first requested this book, I was immediately drawn to the cover. The vibrant color of it and the cute character drawings instantly resonated with me. After reading, I can definitely say this book was a witty little love story about friends who’s lives we’re tied together for years. It is very much a “best friend falls in love with best friends brother” book - Evie is attracted to her best friend Sasha’s brother Dan, and one night 9 years before they made a pact to get married if they haven’t found significant others by Evie’s 30th birthday. Fast forward to December 2021 (Evie’s birthday is 2 days before Christmas) and they find themselves married in Vegas. The book then goes back and forth from present to past to illustrate how connected Evie and Dan are, and how much they need each other in their lives.

This was a book where I really enjoyed almost all the characters. There were only 2 that I didn’t care for, but none were main characters and both were established to help with other character’s arcs. I thought the dynamic between all of them was cute and fun, and I actually loved that the author wrote this in the future- kind of gives me a little hope for some normalcy lol.

Perfect book as we approach the holiday season! I also really liked the authors style and look forward to reading her other books! If you’re looking for a fun, easy and uplifting holiday read, definitely add to your TBR list!

This was an adorable slow burn. After Evie and Danny made a pact to marry each other if they weren't married by 30, neither of them thought it would really happen. But when they woke up married after a crazy night in Vegas, they both think that an annulment later, they can just go back to being just friends.

Through parallel flashbacks, Lovett reveals that Evie and Dan actually have been in love with each other for years, which despite a few close calls, neither of them acts on. Many of the flashback scenes were extranious - they didn't seem necessary to the story except to show that they've had a few close calls. It dragged out the slow burn, but was very frustrating filler.

This was cute, but if you're looking for something Christmas-y, fair warning, there's...not that much Christmas in this.

I really liked this book. It is a slow burn. Might even say a slow, slow burn. It's about two friends who make a marriage pact when they are teenagers to marry each other if they aren't married by the time Evie turns 30. Dan is Evie's best friend's brother. Through the book, which is a dual time line and also dual perspective, Evie and Dan have instances when they run into each other in their friend group and share a moment. However, neither is willing to tell the other what they are feeling. Neither has had a good example growing up of what a good relationship should be and really aren't willing to risk their friendship when they think the chance of it working is slim to none.

There are weddings in the book, intentional and not so intentional. There's lots of family and friendship, hurts and healings (and some continued hurts). If you can't hang on through the really slow development of their relationship, you might want to skip this one. I thought it was worth the wait.

Thanks to Bookcuture and NetGalley for the gifted copy. All thoughts are my own.

Evie and Dan are lifelong friends who have occasionally entertained a romantic moment together. Hence the kiss under the mistletoe and the “promise” to marry in the future if need be. They both have reasons to be wary of entanglements, so neither has very functional relationships.

I really enjoyed this book, but found it confusing at times. Evie and Dan have real feelings for each other for years and never genuinely act on them. When they wind up accidentally married to each other in Vegas both immediately decide to divorce. There isn’t even the internal dialogue about “Should we try to make this work?”

There are a lot of time jumps, past and future, and each chapter is a different time period, and/or POV so sometimes it’s difficult to know where you are in the story. But I like having both POVs because it does help to really flesh the story out. And, you very much end up caring about Evie and Dan in this story.

I received an advance copy of this book from Net Galley and the author and these are my honest opinions.