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.

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.

"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!

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