This was an intense thriller. The pace was slow but it was written with much detail. I was satisfied with the ending although the premise is a little too unreal for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Let me start off saying, I could NOT put this book down. I wanted to devour it in just one sitting. The concept is so fresh and new, nothing like anything I have read before. I was immediately captivated by the characters and felt like I was right there with them from the signing to the ultimate decision. This book begs the question, what would you not do for a happy marriage? What couple, when just starting out and is so in love and starry-eyed wouldn't want to sign the marriage pact to ensure eternal happiness with their spouse? It's a concept that grabs you hook, line and sinker. The ultimate tests of love, happiness and of course- Loyalty.

A delightful suspense with a unique premise. The marriage pact is enticing and a bit scary all at the same time. Well worth a read...

Rules for marriage? Sure, we all get it. Don't cheat, don't lie, don't do anything to deliberately hurt your partner. But the rules that Jake and Alice decide to accept by signing The Marriage Pact go way beyond that. I started reading this book thinking that it would be a sweet little time waster for an evening. I couldn't have been more wrong. Deep into the night I realized that I wouldn't sleep until I finished it. Jake and Alice are fairly typical, the events that surround them are...not. Simply stated, I loved this book. Do. Not. Miss. It.

I felt like this book had such potential. Newly married couple (him a therapist, her a lawyer) gets invited to a secret "club" of sorts. From the beginning, I didn't care about the main character and wasn't drawn in. I kept at it, because again, I felt like there was potential. About 1/3 of the way through, I realized it reminded me of what scientology would be like. I would have liked to dig deeper into that. Instead, the author spent a lot of time detailing the main characters clients in his therapy practice. I think it was supposed ironic that he worked with marriages while entering into this bizarre situation within his own. But the other spend too much time on it with details that were boring. Seemed like he was trying to make his main character sound smart, but instead seemed like filler for what could be an interesting story. Ultimately the author just didn't dig deep enough into the meat of the story and the characters were boring.

this book started off really really well for me. i was hooked by the unique plot and liked jake and alice a lot. it slowed down a little bit for me around 40%, but by 75% i was back on the edge of my seat. i think it would have been a unique ending if they had chosen to become the leaders of The Pact. would have made for an interesting sequel.

This book was a slow burn to start, somewhat dense and filled with background story and information on our protagonist Jake and his wife, Alice. I found myself enjoying the details and wanting to drag the book out a bit, but the middle and end made me flip the pages at a rapid pace. While parts of the action were somewhat unbelievable, the tension never let up. For those who are interested in the Ilumaniati, cults and just how far the rich and powerful - and connected - will go, this is a must-read.

My review of this book is posted below. Please let me know if there's anything you need. Thank you for letting me review your book!
https://thislittlechinacup.wordpress.com/2017/04/15/the-marriage-pact-michelle-richmond/

Wow! I loved the pace and suspense of this book. I fell in love with Jake and Alice. Some parts shocked me and the premise of the book is intriguing. I found myself questioning both Jake and Alice throughout their predicaments. The author really delivers a thrilling mysterious ride that I enjoyed until the end. I definitely will be reading more of Michelle Richmond's books.

I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I had previously read two other books by this author but didn't realize it until the end of reading this book.

This book, this book. Not sure what to say. The marriage pact is a cult (even though the members refuse to call it that) that utilizes unusual methods to insure total commitment to the sanctity of marriage. It was a page-turner, but it was kind of preposterous. Two seemingly intelligent, successful newlyweds, Alice and Jake, decide to sign on the dotted line and what follows is a sickening, chilling account of The Pact controlling every single aspect of their lives. There are some scenes that are not for the weak of stomach and very uncomfortable to read. It was a page-turner but strange.

The Marriage Pact keeps you engaged from the very first page. Fast paced and suspenseful . It is a love story between a husband a wife that make an unknown pact with virtually a stranger. The pact is made because they both want a long successful marriage. The book has quite a few twist and turns with a sense of dread. A good read.

Wholey Cannoli!! What would you do to make your marriage a success. How far should you go? Would you kill for your spouse? Would you steal, lie, cheat? How about go to prison? All for the benefit of staying together forever. Having a successful marriage. In this awesome read, you get to share short vacations, focus entirely on each other, but small gifts. Charming, loving, sweet things to do for your spouse. What happens if you come home late from work, or forget a gift? Hmmm. In this cleverly constructed novel, you will find out all those answers. All you have to do is sign the pact and memorize the manual. Simple. Or is it?
Spectacular, 5 Stars!

First of all, I'd like NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this noel in exchange for my honest review.

And it will be a brutally honest review, I'm afraid... And it'll have spoilers.

This book was torture. It made me cringe all the way through and it was physically painful to finish it. I finished it only bc I could not believe this was the story. I had to keep reading thinking that at some point we'd learn that it was all some kind of nightmare or that the protagonist was in a mental institution imagining it all. But no; unfortunately, this is the thing we are asked to believe. It was at the same time boring and infuriating, so far-fetched, so badly constructed, so incredibly convoluted. So we really supposed to believe this? As conspiracies go this is one hell of one. So everyone is in the Pact, they know everything but at the same time no one knows about them? Fantastic. It's never explained how they know all they do, how they know even private conversations and how they insert their "blinking P" app in every phone. Ugh!

It's awful. I'm sorry but I am mad I wasted a whole day reading this. And the end? Really? So you have this absurdly powerful cult with members even in 911 (seriously? So he calls emergency and happens to be answered by someone from the cult too???? WTH?) but you just have a change of heart and let them go? Or be the new leaders? Oh, come on!!!

And the characters? Are we supposed to like Jake? Are we supposed to like anyone? To believe their love? How about showing me it before the "ordeal" started? How about showing things instead of having the most boring and never-stop-rambling protagonist of all and just expecting me to believe. Specially, how about showing me your couple is the most naive, inexperienced, ridiculously easy to con couple in history so I could actually believe they'd just sign in on the pact (and she being a lawyer!!) without even reading it properly?

Seriously, I'd better stop, my head is hurting this novel infuriated me so much!

A mysterious wedding gift from a wealthy, influential client. Gotta be a good thing, right?
Well…not necessarily.

Jake and Alice are honored when a key client of the law firm Alice works for accepts Her offhand invitation to their wedding. They’re intrigued by the unusual gift from that same guest—a membership to an exclusive, secret club called the Pact. But the couple soon discover a frightening dark side to what seems at first to be a delightful group of elite members, all focused on furthering the institution of marriage... making it all that it should be.

But the Pact’s idea of perfect unity could cost Alice and Jake everything…including their lives.

This novel was a little side trip into a different genre for me, and I thoroughly enjoyed the journey. A little iffy in the beginning, as I adjusted to the first-person presentation, but within a few pages, I was completely intrigued, and had to know more about whatever situation the hero appeared to be in. The author did a great job of making me care about the characters, their relationship, and what the Pact would mean to that relationship…good or bad. Other than the occasional use of language I would've preferred not to see, I love Michelle Richmond’s writing style, and look forward to more from this new-to-me author.

Oh, this was a fun book!

Yes there are times it really tests your logic sensors. And there are times (many) when it goes way over the top. But as I read, I just didn't care. I was just happily along for a very strange ride.

In fact, the book made me late for work and made me go to sleep way too late at night - just because I had to see what happened next.

There's a choice that our main characters must make late in the book - and I have to be honest here, I sort of hoped they would make the other choice. But also think the author stayed true to her characters, so I can't really complain.

Seriously, this is a beach read, but a terrifically entertaining one!

This is a great book. It starts out with a what seems like an unusual but wonderful wedding gift given to a young couple that includes a contract- a pact they must sign to guarantee continued marital bliss, but what price must they pay to insure this state of happiness? This is a book with high suspense, and edge of the seat thrills. I highly recommend it as a great read.

The book wasn't my normal type of story but I was looking for something different and I got it. It was a story about a couple, Alice & Jake that decided to get married. Alice mentioned her wedding at work one day and got the attention of someone she had just won a court case for. Liam Finnegan says he loves weddings and gets an invitation from Alice before he leaves the office. Surprisingly he attends the wedding with his Wife and gives them a bit of an odd gift. A box that says The Pact on it. Once they are married they get a visit from Vivian who explains The Pact to them and gets them to sign on. They are given The Manual to read so they know what is expected but they don't read it like they should so they miss some things and that is when the story starts to get interesting. They find out if there are things that they should be doing but aren't there are repercussions. You can get a bracelet to wear on your wrist, something to wear around your neck which makes your life a little difficult, or a place your sent to be reprimanded basically. There are a lot of twists and turns, characters seem like someone different than you expect, and it gets a bit scary and surreal on what they do to Jake when he needs to be reprimanded. Once you're in The Pact, you're in it for life. You can't get out is what they are told. If you like thrillers this would be the book for you.

The Marriage Pact focuses on the relationship of Jake and Alice. Days before their wedding, they receive a gift from a wealthy client of Alice's. It's a mysterious box that says simply "The Pact." After their nuptials, the two decide they want to commit everything to their marriage and accept entrance into The Pact, a network of couples who follow the same rules to ensure that marriage is their primary focus. But the innocuous spirit is quickly lost when the couple see what happens when they violate the rules.
The novel is a page turner as the reader becomes engrossed in the idea of the clandestine group and it's rules. Alive and Jake become real people and the reader cringes as the face the reality of the situation the couple have gotten themselves into. I flew through the pages greedily taking in the horrors and anxious to see how Jake and Alice fair in the end.
The Marriage Pact is one of those novel that should come with a companion book. I so engrossed with the ideals and philosophy of The Pact, I would surely read a published version of The Manual (the rules and regulations of the group). I want to understand more of what this group wants and intrigued with the psychology they use to support their claims.
I really only had one issue with the novel. Though the novel is in Jake's perspective, the author still writes with the eyes of a woman. There are many things Jake notices about clothing and his surrounding that someone like Jake would never notice or think about. That is not to say that men don't know about designer shoes, but Jake is not that man.
Riveting and fast paced, The Marriage Pact is an enticing read and not to be missed.