The Friendship Pact
Author: Jill Shalvis
Reviewer: Jennifer
Rating: A-
What I’m Talking About:
Again, Jill Shalvis brings a funny and heart warming story with her new release, The Friendship Pact, the second book in the Sunrise Cove series. The only connection between books is the sitting so feel free to start here and know you won’t be lost.
The Friendship Pact deals with past regrets, and how to deal with emotions and realationships as adults when you had a difficult time growin up. There’s drama with family and love interests but everyone gets a HEA.
First the romance part, Tae and Riggs were unlikely friends in high school turned one time lovers. Both had difficult childhoods, she and her mom moved around not knowing sometimes where they would live or if there would be food on the table, and Riggs lived with an abusive father and older brother who did his best to protect him from said dad until he left for the military.
Tae and Riggs were each other’s person back in high school but it took years apart and adulthood to make them realize it. Showing that sometimes timing is everything in making a relationship work. They both had to over come their pasts in order to learn how to love each other and see that they were both worthy of a relationship. They both had their own trust issues. Seeing them realize they were in love was an emotional ride and it was entertaining to following them on the journey to their HEA.
Second the family part, Tae and her mom are BFFs. April was fifteen when she got pregnant with Tae. Her had no support from her family and didn’t want Tae’s father around for reasons you’ll learn as you read. Tae grew up thinking her father died a war hero. They go through a rocky part to get to the truth and it’s touching to see this small family come through still loving each other.
Riggs in back in town for just the summer, or he thinks. He comes home to help his brother out with is business. There’s animosity between the two brothers. Jake thinks he is a burden to Riggs since Riggs keeps trying to get him to sell the business. Riggs thinks Jake works too hard. Seeing these two hardheaded alpha males work through their issues and come to an understanding they are family and love each other is very touching.
The Friendship Pact is funny and touching, with a touch of sexy. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a feel good book to past the time with. There’s an excerpt at the for the next installment, The Inn at Sunrise Cove, and I can’t wait to read more about these new characters.
My Rating: A- Enjoyed A Lot
Jennifer
About the Book:
Alone in the world, Tae Holmes and her mother April pretty much raised each other, but as Tae starts asking questions about the father she’s never met, April, for the first time in her life, goes silent. To make matters worse, Tae is dangerously close to broke and just manages to avoid financial meltdown when she lands a shiny new contract with an adventure company for athletes with disabilities and wounded warriors.
Her first big fundraiser event falls flat, but what starts out as a terrible, horrible, no-good night turns into something else entirely when Tae finds herself face-to-face with Riggs Copeland. She hasn’t seen the former Marine since their brief fling in high school, and while still intensely drawn to him, she likes her past burned and buried, thank you very much. Hence their friendship pact.
But when April oddly refuses to help Tae track down her father, it’s Riggs who unexpectedly comes to her aid. On a hunt to unlock the past, the two of them find themselves on a wild ride and learn a shocking truth, while also reluctantly bonding in a way neither had seen coming. Now Tae must decide whether she’s going to choose love … or walk away from her own happiness.
Release Date: June 14, 2022
Publisher: William Morrow & Company
Series: Sunrise Cove #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Format(s): paperback (384 pages), e-book, audiobook
Book Source: Edelweiss
Purchase Info:
Amazon (affiliate link)
Reviews in the Series:
The Family You Make by Jill Shalvis (Sunrise Cove #1)