The Pact
by Max Monroe
My review:
“There will be a night, though. One wild, unexpected night in a seemingly predictable life where you, my sweet boy, will make a pact with a stranger from which there will be great consequence.”
“The Pact” is the second book in the ‘Winslow Brothers Collection’ by Max Monroe. Although it’s connected to several other stories by this writing team, you can absolutely enjoy it as a complete standalone. It’s a marriage of convenience, opposites attract romantic comedy.
Flynn is the strong but silent type. He’s very successful in business and he quietly loves his family, but they all consider him an enigma because he just doesn’t talk much. Flynn is a man who lets his actions speak louder than his words. Daisy is about as different from him as she could be. A bright and sunny bundle of energy, she chatters on and on when she’s excited or nervous or worried or happy. He first sees her on the floor of a Vegas casino and then just hours later he’s rescuing her from her mad dash out the front door of that same casino. She’s hysterically upset because she let her work visa expire and she’s going to have to leave the job and life she loves and return to her home country. That’s the circumstance that sets the stage for a marriage of convenience. Yes, it’s a trope that’s been done countless times before; rarely has it been done this well.
Flynn and Daisy are relatable and likable characters. Although we can describe them in words and phrases that are easily understood, they are not caricatures – they feel like real people. The dual POV through which the story is told lets us viscerally experience the emotional self-doubt and growth each of them experiences. Dialogue, banter, and cultural references in this story are smartly written and spot-on. We learn lots of great, unexpected things about both of them, especially Flynn. There are some fantastically funny and seriously steamy moments in this book, but I think it deserves mentioning that there are heart-wrenching and heartbreaking moments as well. Flynn’s big family and the couple of people who form Daisy’s tiny but loyal support system together provide a wonderful array of secondary characters. I thought the ending was excellent and already looking forward to the next book in this series.