Rachel knew exactly what turning thirty would be like. She had a plan, after all. First college, then a climb up the professional ladder. Love, marriage, children. All of it was on the schedule.
The cheap Hollywood apartment wasn’t on the list. Neither was the string of heartbreaks. Or the effect her mother’s cancer had on her career.
It’s hard to stay practical and on point when everything takes a left turn.
Enter Sebastian, the nerd across the street. The boy she defended when he couldn’t defend himself. The best friend she promised she’d marry if life didn’t go according to plan.
Not only is he successful, confident, and gorgeous, but he also still has their handwritten marriage contract.
No one goes through with childhood wedding pacts.
That’s crazy.
But their families might just be crazy enough to rent a hall and set a date. All Rachel and Sebastian have to do is fall in love.
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Release Date: Jul 9, 2019
Heat Level: Sensual
Publisher: Amazon
Imprint: Montlake
Price: $3.99
Rachel and Sebastian have been best friends from childhood. Sebastian has always idolized Rachel as she stood up to his bullies and defended him. She befriended him when her family moved into the neighborhood and he just lost his father. She was there to hold him as he cried and never judge him for being the weird, scrawny kid who drew a female superhero saving him.
Sebastian always had a crush on Rachel and when she stupidly describes her life as a thirty year old to him, he creates a pact with her. If they are both single when they grow up (thirty) they will get marry. Rachel agrees and draws up a contract.
Years later, Rachel life is not as she had planned and she hasn’t seen Sebastian in over 10 years. Surprisingly, he is closer to home visiting for the holidays and they see each other for the first time. Their families are aware of their childhood contract and encourage them to start dating…well jump straight into marriage.
Rachel thinks the idea is ridiculous but she wants to play along as she thinks something is suspicious is going on with her mother. I don’t want to reveal too much but I got her logic at first. After a while, the lies she and Sebastian told went too far. They spent money on a ring, the hall, dress, flowers and they actually believed it was all pretend to satisfy their families? Uh…yeah.
Not sure what really went wrong or if there is anything wrong with this story. Maybe it is the fact that Ms. Reiss can write some really steamy stuff and I expected the story to fall in line of that vein than a very traditional style romance.
I would have liked a stronger chemistry between Rachel and Sebastian. He is sweet but he didn’t push to get her in his arms. He remained in the best friend zone far too long. She is all over the place mentally. The quirky family dynamics of lifelong families living next to each is cute but it took up too much space when I needed the main characters to have a stronger vibe with each other.
Overall, this is a sweet contemporary to devour on a lazy afternoon.
~ Samantha