Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam Books for a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review? This is a rather creepy and bizarre storyline in which the reader needs to work hard at suspending disbelief. It was "just okay" for me.

3.5 Stars. It started out strong but faded quickly. I understand why it took us back to the beginning, and there was strong character development (at least on the part of Alice), but the ending fell a bit flat.

i found the concept very intriguing originally and i enjoyed the writing, but somewhere along the way this just fell a bit flat for me. it was just overall meh. it's not you, it's me, all that jazz.

I enjoy reading Michelle Richmond’s and I was really looking forward to reading her latest book only to be disappointed-not just in her but in the main characters as well. Two professionals starting their life together receive a rather strange wedding gift-a box containing an invitation to join a group called The Pact whose main goal is to insure marital bliss. How do they accomplish this? By reward and punishment. Two intelligent people sign up without even investigating why they were selected. If you think this seems logical or sensible to you then you’ll probably enjoy this book. I may be a bit old fashioned but I believe that marriage is between two people and if they have to start out with a group behind them making them follow their rules/consequences-punishment depending on the infraction something is very wrong. I found this book unbelievable and even creepy in places.

This a good suspense. I could hardly put it down! I didn't give it 5 stars because the ending was a little lackluster. I would recommend this to friends.

The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond is a 2017 Bantam publication.

Nice Concept- by Wobbly


Alice, high from winning a big case, invites her client to her upcoming nuptials, in one of those moments when you say something flippant, not expecting to be taken up on the offer. But, not only does the client accept the spur of the moment invite, but he and his wife do indeed attend Alice and Jake’s wedding. They also send along a most curious gift… and invitation to join an elite group dedicated to keeping a marriage working.

Fresh from their honeymoon, Alice and Jake readily accept the terms and conditions of ‘The Marriage Pact’ – a decision they will soon come to regret.


The couple jumps in with both feet, adhering to the rules of the pact, until Alice somehow says something offensive and must pay a penalty, and Jake meets an old friend who warns him the pact and its members can be dangerous.

The couple soon finds themselves living a literal nightmare trying to find a way out of the trap they have set for themselves.

The suspense builds as the invasiveness of the pact increases as do punishments for missing appointments, or not leaving the correct number of gifts for your spouse, per month, or if work occasionally takes precedence, to name a few.

As the pact continues to micro-manage their lives, Alice and Jake do indeed find their relationship strengthen as they have only each other to hold on to and must depend and trust the other completely to find an unlikely escape.

This story has a ‘cult’ like quality to it, which shows how easily and innocently one can get sucked into a scenario like this one. It also had a quirky ‘Stepford Wives’ vibe as well, which should send a few chills down your spine.

But, the story, which started off very strong, lost momentum and became more and more outlandish the further along it went, veering off course to the point I began to wonder just how far out of hand it was going to get.

But, the point finally comes where the couple finds themselves facing the ultimate conundrum- a decision about their future must be reached. The reaction you have to the book’s conclusion will depend on how you feel about the couple’s final choice. You will either love it or hate it….


Overall, the story had much potential, but failed to maintain that initial strength. Instead of going out with a bang, is closed with a whimper, leaving me feeling underwhelmed.

I enjoyed this book. It is fast paced and sucks you in pretty quickly. It does get dark at times and a little over the top. I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen and how it was all going to end. I wish there was a bit more to the ending because I felt like we hit a stop sign and it was just over.

This is the first book I’ve read by Michelle Richmond, and I found it interesting and a subject I’ve not encountered before… A marriage pact; a group of individuals to help your marriage succeed does sound like a unique and good idea… but a contract with a large group of RULES to follow? I’m personally thinking that could be a nightmare. So I had to read this book.
It started off with a bang in the first opening pages and I had great expectations for this book. I did like this book, but I wasn't crazy about it. It was an interesting concept, but started to get a little too unbelievable in the “conspiracy” thing for me, but I enjoyed it.
*A very special thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballatine for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review*

Jake and Alice are newlyweds who are invited to join The Pact. At first, it seems like an exciting, elite club. Some of the rules: 1. When your spouse calls answer 2. Exchange thoughtful gifts monthly 3. Plan a trip together once a quarter 4. NEVER mention the PACT to anyone. They quickly learn that once you join, there is no escape.

You guys!!! This book was so good!!! I found myself staying up late several nights because I couldn’t put it down. We all want our marriages to last, but The Pact takes it to a whole other level!

Bottom Line: I highly recommend this one!!! Just read it!

**I received a copy of The Marriage Pact from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

Rating: 2/5

Genre: Thriller

Recommended Age: 18+ (adult content, torture, violence, trigger warnings for torture)

I received a free copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Newlyweds Alice and Jake are a picture-perfect couple. Alice, once a singer in a well-known rock band, is now a successful lawyer. Jake is a partner in an up-and-coming psychology practice. Their life together holds endless possibilities. After receiving an enticing wedding gift from one of Alice’s prominent clients, they decide to join an exclusive and mysterious group known only as The Pact.

The goal of The Pact seems simple: to keep marriages happy and intact. And most of its rules make sense. Always answer the phone when your spouse calls. Exchange thoughtful gifts monthly. Plan a trip together once per quarter. . . .

Never mention The Pact to anyone.

Alice and Jake are initially seduced by the glamorous parties, the sense of community, their widening social circle of like-minded couples.

And then one of them breaks the rules.

The young lovers are about to discover that for adherents to The Pact, membership, like marriage, is for life. And The Pact will go to any lengths to enforce that rule.

For Jake and Alice, the marriage of their dreams is about to become their worst nightmare. - Amazon.com

Let's start off with my need for thrillers is completely gone now. I had to DNF this book because it got way to weird and uncomfortable for me. While I thought that the characters were well developed and the writing was pretty good, I got a Stepford Wives and The Gift vibe from this book and it really creeped me out to a point where I had a few nightmares about it. When that happens that's when I call it quits on a book. Aside from the nightmares and the overall creepy vibe of this book, I felt that the books plot and pacing were off. It was probably my being uncomfortable that made this book too weird for me.

Verdict: I can't really give a detailed review like I normally do because of how quickly I DNFed the book, but if you enjoy thrillers and if you loved reading The Stepford Wives or loved watching The Gift you might like this book!

Thank you for allowing me to read and review this book. I am just not interested in this book anymore. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Another slow paced book for me that I didn't get very far before I just gave up and moved on. I had high hopes because psycho-thrillers are just the types of books that really get me thinking...I hope to come back to it when the rest of the titles on my TBR have dwindled and I have more time to take to get into the meat of this story.

I have had this book forever. At least it seems that way. I have read fantasy and sci-fi that was more believable. Two well-educated people falling for this cult crap? I don’t think so. The author was pretty smart for locating the story in Northern California, the only possible place, if you look hard enough, to find people this naive…and that would be a stretch. In Texas, other southern states and most of the Midwest, the first attempt to kidnap a spouse for “retraining” would end in a bad way involving bodily harm, probably a good bit of gunfire and ambulances.

I tried really hard to find a way to like this book. The author has a great reputation, so I thought I would give her a try. I won’t make that mistake again. I tried to see a “dark comedy”, but that didn’t work because there was zero humor. I tried to find some elements of an “alternate reality”, but that didn’t work either. I finally gave up, deciding that the author was writing what she thought was a serious psychological thriller.

I haven’t said much about the story, the blurb does a good job of describing the book, a blurb that lured me right in. The writing is superb. It’s the only reason I actually, painfully, finished this nonsense. After all the effort I took with this book, then the ending…”non-ending”…made me want to throw my iPad through a wall.

If, by chance, you find other reviewers who actually have some praise for this book and you take their word over mine? Beware! You are entering The Twilight Zone! My advise?

Skip it!

2Shay

Do you believe marriage should last for a lifetime.? So do most of us, Jake and his new bride Alice want their marriage to last forever. When they are invited to join the “Pact” they do so in a seemingly flip manner. I just finished this book a few hours ago, but I know it will be following me for a long time.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an Arc of this heart stopping thriller
I was not required to provide a review and the thoughts are my own.
Don’t miss this one

I am no longer interested in this book, however, I have recommended it to several friends who love it!

3 stars. I couldn't get into it and it was just a little too creepy and weird for my taste.

I couldn't get past the fact that he met her when he co-led a therapy group. Nope.

There was something about the description of The Marriage Pact that was so intriguing. The idea that a young couple, still newlyweds, are tempted and intrigued by a very appealing, all-encompassing opportunity, one that combines the personal and the professional … but with a darker side. It actually reminded me of the movie The Firm, based on John Grisham’s 1991 legal thriller. It’s quite a cinematic premise.

The goal of The Pact seems simple: to keep marriages happy and intact. And most of its rules make sense. Always answer the phone when your spouse calls. Exchange thoughtful gifts monthly. Plan a trip together once per quarter. . . . Never mention The Pact to anyone.

Alice and Jake are initially seduced by the glamorous parties, the sense of community, their widening social circle of like-minded couples. And then one of them breaks the rules. The young lovers are about to discover that for adherents to The Pact, membership, like marriage, is for life. And The Pact will go to any lengths to enforce that rule. For Jake and Alice, the marriage of their dreams is about to become their worst nightmare.

And it seems that I was not the only one intrigued—on July 24th, 2017, Variety broke the story that The Marriage Pact has been acquired by Fox Chernin. Coming to a theater near you!

The story opens with an injured, confused Jake. He’s in a private plane, there’s blood on his shirt, and he doesn’t know how he got there. The taciturn pilot drops him off at the small Half Moon Bay Airport. Jake desperately wants to see his wife Alice, who’s still at work. After she gets his text, she tells him she’ll leave in five.

“At least you’re in one piece.” She reaches up and touches my jaw gently. “What happened?”

“Not sure.”

I wrap my arms around her.

“So why were you summoned?”

There’s so much I want to tell her, but I’m scared. The more she knows, the more dangerous it will be for her. Also, let’s face it, the truth is going to piss her off.

What I’d give to go back to the beginning—before the wedding, before Finnegan, before The Pact turned our lives upside down.

Alice is a former member of a rock band who's now an up-and-coming lawyer. Jack is a psychologist in practice with two others, and things are going well for their fledgling partnership. A few weeks before their wedding, a mysterious gift arrives. It’s a present from Liam Finnegan, one of Alice’s firm’s most important clients. Two beautifully carved boxes. The first containing a fabulous pen. The second, well, Jake’s not sure:

It had the same reclaimed wood, the same fancy hardware, and the same logo branded across the front: THE PACT. It was surprisingly heavy.

I tried to open it, only to discover that it was locked. I placed the box back on the table and searched through the packaging, looking for a key. At the bottom, I found no key, just a handwritten note:

Alice and Jake, Congratulations on your wedding! The Pact will never leave you. Cheers, Liam.

I stared at the note. What could it mean?

After they receive the unexpected gift, Jack and Alice decide to invite Finnegan and his wife Fiona to their wedding in the northern California countryside. Surprisingly, the older couple accepts and has a marvelous time. Liam texts Alice afterward, telling her they “were honored to be part of your special day.”

“Fiona says that you and Jake remind her of us from twenty years ago,” she read. “She insists you come stay with us next summer at our place in the North.”

“Wow,” I said. “It sounds like they actually want to be friends.”

“Lastly, the gift,” Alice continued reading. “The Pact is something that Fiona and I received for our own wedding. It was left on our doorstep on a rainy Monday morning.”

After their honeymoon, Alice and Jake are told a woman named Vivian is going to visit them to explain The Pact. They are more than intrigued. Finnegan had asked them questions about their marriage goals, and it seems that they passed some sort of test. They felt like they were waiting to interview for a job they hadn’t even applied for:

Between the box and the pens and the cryptic emails, Finnegan had made it sound so appealing—and, I’ll admit, so exclusive. At her heart, Alice is a true overachiever; anything she starts, she wants to complete. Anything she completes, she wants to win—whether it’s good for her or not.

Exclusive, appealing, an overachieving wife who wants to win at any cost—what could go wrong? The truism, “If it’s too good to be true, it probably is,” shimmers from the beginning. The Marriage Pact is a quintessential page turner; there’s an incipient sense of dread from word one. Readers will surely succumb to temptation and plunge in.

Stranger than fiction as they say....to think that this type of control could exist isn't far from the realm of possibility. A definite must that keeps you hooked until the very end....

As you walk into your married life, someone gifts you something that ensures a perfect marriage. A pact that ensures that your marriage is perfect...and it will go to any length to ensure that...would you become a member ?
This book is fictional account of Jake, a psychologist who is married to Alice, who is a musician turned lawyer. They are gifted membership to this secret community of like minded people with one goal - a happy and balanced Marriage. How twisted can this be...?
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I was drawn to this book as soon as I got it for review ! Being recently married I had a lot of curiosity about this pact...just like the characters 😂.. Thankfully, I wasn't into the book and still could contemplate a lot of questions that the characters had to deal with.. It is one of those beautiful fictional takes on some real issues. It showed how a person's professional choices impact his relationships and how one consciously or subconsciously uses the teaches from it to their lives. It shows how vulnerable people can be, and how the fear can me manipulated to get desired results.
It was a very thought provoking book...how far does one go to ensure a perfect marriage ? Would one opt for a structured system just to play safe, or let your relationship take it's course... go the organic way, with all it's ups and downs?
A thrilling and thought provoking read, this book was every bit an entertainer and left me with a lesson! Win- win?
The characters were lovable, flawed and realistic , the story was unique and the end was rewarding!
The Pact shows the prowess of the writer , and even towards the very end there were elements of uncertainty of how it would end... Just about a page was predictable, but otherwise- one of my bests this year !! A really enjoyable read 😀