The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis
Published by HarperCollins on June 14, 2022
Genres: Romance
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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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.

Happy Publication Day!!

Today I’m on the blog tour for The Friendship Pact by Jill Shalvis, thank you so much to HarperCollins for inviting me to take part!

For the better part of her childhood, all Tae Holmes had wanted was to be an adult, only as it turned out, adulting was overrated.

I do like it when as soon as you open a book you start highlighting passages that you appreciate!

This was my first Jill Shalvis book having only recently started to read romance again after a long break. One of my friends recommended Shalvis to me and she’s definitely an author I’ll be reading more of. I was a little concerned that I hadn’t read the first book in this series but from what I understand, the location is the only link and not the actual characters so I’ve not missed out by starting on Book 2.

Tae has been raised by her mother, April, who is only 15 years her senior. She’s been told that her father died overseas before she was born but within the first few pages we’re given a hint that things might not quite be as Tae has been led to believe. I do like the relationship between Tae and April, often seeming more like best friends rather than mother and daughter. I don’t completely agree with all the decisions that April has made but she’s made them with the best of intentions.

Tae has recently set up her own events company and has acquired a new client, an adventure company for athletes with disabilities. This gave me major Invictus Games vibes. Having only dealt with Jake so far, Tae has the rug pulled from under her when his silent partner turns up at their first event. His brother Riggs (what tv show do I know that name from, every time I read it I can hear it being said on the tv and can’t for the life of me remember what show it was on), anyway, his brother Riggs has invested 50/50 in the business. The same Riggs who was friends with Tae at school but then ruined it with taking their friendship to the next level.

I’ve decided I really like second chance romance. Finding out what went wrong the first time round and whether they’ll get together again. I mean, it’s a romance, we know it’s going to happen but the push and pull, will they – won’t they that takes us on the journey is great fun. I loved the relationship and banter between Tae and Riggs, even though there were times when they really frustrated me (just how stubborn can one man be!)