With grateful thanks to netgalley for an early copy in return for an honest opinion.
An easy read problems with time line, it did not feel very consistent,and lacked atmosphere and depth.
But was an nice easy read

The Mistletoe Pact by Jo Lovett, is a cute holiday read! The book jumped between timelines, telling the story of Evie and Dan - lifelong friends who make a pact on Evie’s Christmas Eve birthday that if they were both still single on Evie’s 30th birthday, they would get married. This book includes Christmas celebrations, a 30th birthday trip to Vegas, difficult and interesting family dynamics, and two individuals, with a great need to work on their communication skills.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A wonderful feel good story. Evie and Dan are lifelong friends - Dan is Evie’s best friend, Sasha’s brother - and then one Christmas Eve they wake up in a hotel, with a hangover in Las Vegas, having got married! They had made a pact eight years previously that they would marry each other of they were both still single on Evie’s 30th birthday……. But did they mean it….. and what happens now??
Fun, sweet and romantic fiction, perfect for Christmas. I loved it!

This was a ~meh~ read for me. The jump between timelines got a little bit too much at one point, trying to keep up with what was happening and who was in a relationship with whom. I felt that the interactions between the main characters were not enough? They barely spent any time together. I skimmed through some parts. It was a good story, but the feelings did not come across as they should have I guess.

Arc provided by Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange of a honest review.

Wow, this was such a cute and refreshing read! I love nothing more than a holiday read and this one definitely left me craving more holiday reads!

This book definitely gave off major Normal People vibes. Evie and Dan could’ve solved a lot of their issues by just communicating better, but being able to see inside their heads this way was what made it an interesting read.

I would recommend this book to anyone in the mood to start their holiday reads early!

Three and a half stars.

Dan and his sister Sasha's friend Evie make a pact one Christmas Eve that if she is still single when she is thirty, they will get married. Fast-forward to Evie's thirtieth birthday celebrations in Las Vegas and she and Dan wake up together in the honeymoon suite after one too many green cocktails. Laughing the marriage off as a drunken escapade they get a quickie annulment.

Told partially in flashback over the years and looking to a near future without COVID, we see Evie and Dan dancing around each other at family parties, weddings and Christmas celebrations in the past and in the future, can they ever stop being just good friends?

I enjoyed this book, when have I never loved a Jo Lovett book? But I have to say I didn't really engage with either Evie or Dan, the chapters alternated between their POVs but their 'voices' weren't different as I was reading the book.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Evie and Dan have been friends for years and there has always been a bit of a spark there if they are honest. They made a pact under the mistletoe (a mistletoe pact) that if they are both single when Evie turns 30 that they will get married. But neither of them had actually been serious and so when they wake up next to each other after getting married on a drunken night in Vegas they are both mortified.
Evie and Dan both want to remain friends, but it isn’t going to be as simple as they hope as they are forced to confront the feelings they have kept hidden all these years.
There are so many things I want to say about this book!
Firstly, I knew I would love this book based on the author. I adore Jo Lovett’s writing style and her ability to make you feel like you are there in the story living it with the characters.
It was also utterly hilarious, the dancing, banter and general silliness between the two characters is wonderful.
I loved it-it had everything and gave me all the feels!! And Christmas thrown in for good measure-stunning!
I could not put it down and I cannot wait for the next book by Jo Lovett, but I will be re-reading this one for sure!

What a gorgeous book, got to be a favourite read of this month.
Two single thirty-year-olds. One marriage pact. And a night in Vegas that’s about to change everything…

On Christmas Eve eight years ago Evie and Dan made a pact: if they weren’t married by thirty, they were going to marry each other. Of course, neither of them took it seriously, even if Dan has always been mesmerised by Evie’s beautiful smile, and Evie has always fancied Dan, her best-friend’s brother.

But then “it” happens. They wake up on Christmas Eve, the night before Evie’s thirtieth birthday in Vegas… married. In a honeymoon suite filled with hundreds of heart-shaped pillows, they realise too late what they’ve done – just like Ross and Rachel.

Surely if they just get a quickie divorce, they can go back to the way things used to be, right? If it wasn’t for the alcohol and Susan-with-the-huge-beehive-hairdo who just wouldn’t take no for an answer, none of this would have happened. They can just go back to being friends.

Except moving on is easier said than done when you've secretly loved each other forever… but if one of them doesn’t admit that, what happens to their friendship? If they don’t get together this time, what happens to the pact? Are they really ready to let it go for good?

WoW! WoW! WoW! What an absolute mind spinning, beautiful story this was! Top marks ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️