I found this book quite intriguing, with lots of twists and turns, always unsure of where it was going to go.

What an amazing book!!! The Marraige Pact reminds me of the book THe Firm..... a couple get married and get sucked into a bizarre world involving a Pact which has scary consequences....this book I could not put down!!!! I walked along the street reading and could not put it down! It was everything I wanted it to be from the description....please read it if you want a book to be devoured!!!!

An absolutely gripping psychological thriller, lulls you into a false sense of security with a slightly slow start before grabbing you a little way in. You'll be unable to put this down! Will be included in the Sarah Hurley Book Club after publication.

This was a very intriguing read. The newlyweds join the pact and see it as a way of strengthening their marriage although they don't really understand what they are getting themselves into. They manage to break some of the rules of the pact although not meaning to. It can get a bit violent in places so it's not really for the faint hearted but all in all a good read.

This book is about a young couple called Alice and Jake. Alice is a former rock star turned lawyer and Jake is a counsellor. A big client of Alice's firm more or less invites himself to Alice and Jake's wedding. After they return from honeymoon they receive a mysterious gift from the client. It turns out they are invited to join an exclusive group called the Marriage Pact. On the surface the group seem harmless enough, just a group of people who are willing to follow a set of rules to ensure a successful marriage. The reality of the group is a bit more sinister.

This book felt a lot different to my usual psychological thrillers. It is the first book in a long time that I thought about constantly, it even invaded my dreams. It really made me think a lot more about marriage and also whether there may be groups/cults like this that really exist. I thought that the characters made a few mistakes but I really don't know what I would do in that situation. I am very unsure about the ending and it was not the ending I hoped for.

It took a while to get into this book but after the first couple of chapters I couldn't put it down! It was a little odd in places but very intriguing, I didn't expect the ending and wasn't convinced I liked it but after stepping back for a couple days I think it ended in just the right way. A way written and compelling read, definitely worth a read!

An extremely clever book, I thoroughly enjoyed this twisted tale. Thought provoking and terrifying all at once, the story took me in so many directions. Definitely a page turner!

OMG !!!! a well and truly chilling thriller ,i couldn't put it down , would recommend

I found this book both compelling and fascinating. I rather enjoyed the concept and the many twists and turns. When reading I enjoy trying to guess what happens next but the author took it in a slightly different way each time. Just when I thought I had a handle on the plot and could predict where it would go, I was led down a different path and I found that fascinating. I would recommend this book to others, although it really isn't suitable for under 18s so I wouldn't recommend it to my students.
Thank you for allowing me to read it.

This gripping tale of a newlywed couple drawn into an innocent-seeming marriage support network was tense and fascinating with some thought-provoking commentary on the idea of marriage and how couples navigate the inevitable pitfalls. As a single person, I found myself dying for married friends to read the novel and tell me their views. How far is it ok to interfere with a relationship in order to protect it and is it an institution worth preserving at any cost? I didn't realise until I read this that the cultural norm of monogamous marriage only really began in medieval times and there was lots of other interesting stuff in a well-paced and sinister thriller. I intend to seek out this author's other books now.

"The Pact has no divorces, but it also has more widows and widowers than you would expect."

I really wasn't sure what to expect from The Marriage Pact. The title sounded a bit Mills and Boon, and I'd never heard of the author. In fact I was engrossed from the start, and - while a love story is at the novel's core - there's nothing remotely Mills and Boon about it.

Newlyweds Jake - a psychotherapist- and Alice - a former rock musician turned lawyer - are both intrigued and flattered when invited to join The Pact, a somewhat shadowy organisation devoted to ensuring its members stay married. As it turns out, they have some rather unusual methods of ensuring that. Things quickly become rather weird and unpleasant. Then they become even weirder and yet more unpleasant. Still, they can just leave.... can't they?

Tightly plotted and skilfully characterised (the story is told by Jake, but I particularly liked Alice, who had a certain unpredictability about her), this is a thoroughly absorbing read, even if a few questions remained unanswered by the end.

The premise of this book was intriguing and I enjoyed reading from the male character's perspective. There was suspense and a creepiness from the all-knowing Pact members that kept me hooked in to the story. It definitely gives food for thought that some of the punishments for infractions did indeed strengthen the marriage of the central characters. I also liked some of the 'rules' like having to give monthly gifts and regular trips away, and then feeling the anxiety when such simple things were forgotten.

I find it hard to share the things I enjoyed less about the book without spoilers, but I'll try! Some parts just didn't add up for me, like such a dedicated lawyer signing a contract without reading it, how Jake and Alice never got into trouble from work for all the time they were missing due to punishments, and why all the Pact people were prepared to go to such lengths to 'protect' the marriage of others. The biggest was the offer they received at the end, maybe it's just me but I don't really understand where that came from given their previous position as fugitives.

Overall I enjoyed the book, I devoured it in a day by the pool. It just requires suspending belief, which at times I felt was conflicting with the real life themes.

I did enjoy this book but at some points I struggled with it as, well I'm not sure. It was slow in places but had a totally unique storyline and when it got going god it defo got going which made it worthwhile!!!

So your married and join a group called the pact, a group which at all costs is there to make sure you stay happily married! More like a cult and once you're in there's no escape!

A great storyline very unique and the main couple joining the pact were likeable, I enjoyed the ending tho in a way I wanted them to choose the other door (don't ask me why haha)....good story though wasn't sure who to believe at some points and the twists were good.

I'd read more from the author.

I loved this book! It is a well written, fast paced, edge of your seat roller coaster ride and I highly recommend it!

The Marriage Pact
I would like to thank the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of publication. I have not been paid for providing this review and is my own honest opinion of the book.
Not certain that this is the type of book as a male I would normally read, however I have to say it was extremely enjoyable if a little far fetched at times for my liking.
Story revolves around the married life of Alice and Jake and their induction into a sect preaching and seeking perfect marriages. Any misdemeanors are punished on an ever increasing scale and it isn’t soon before Alice and Jake’s relationship is tested to breaking point.
If I’m being critical, the control the sect have over couples is a little hard to believe at times, but a few twists along the way kept me interested in finding out how it was all going to end.
In summary, a decent read and three out of five stars from me.

#cults
A story that gets darker as it develops.
So here is the fairly typical West Coast USA couple. Well educated, good careers with some previous experimentation, living together in a bijou house in a nice neighbourhood. Marriage seems the next and logical step.
And a friend introduces them to this ‘organisation’ that started in Ireland, which aims to help people have better marriages and fewer divorces.
Strangely, to join the organisation you have sign a contract, and then are given a very large book of rules of behaviour. The rules are very precise and specify minutiae - as an example, if your spouse rings you, you must answer within 2 rings. Now you may ask, what happens if you answer in 3 rings? And how would the organisation know? Which is where the story starts getting creepy. Apparently they do know. And you will be ‘reported’ and ‘dealt’ with.
The story is told by Jake, who is a counsellor and therapist, and it is his marriage to Alice that is examined in the book.
If you are married, or about to be married, there are definitely some elements of this story that you might want to think about. How often do you talk to your partner properly? Not just about day to day chores and work. How often do you surprise them with a gift? For no reason other than that you want to?
The statistics about divorce are horrendous and also those about how often marriage counselling fails. So the idea of (self) help and how to make a successful marriage appeals. But, I suspect, that what works for some couples, works for them alone, just because they are who they are, and not someone else. So don’t copy their behaviour!
Which is why I don’t think that the concept of the Pact was useful.
I really like the story and got more and more horrified as the story went on. And the final chapter was completely unexpected.

This is a totally absorbing, sinister and thought provoking book. Jake, the narrator, an upcoming psychotherapist is about to marry Alice, who used to be a rock singer and songwriter but gave it up when she started to become well known, and trained to be a lawyer. Just before the wedding she is part of a legal team that wins a case for Liam Finnegan, a retired folk rock singer and now a very successful businessman. At the celebration gathering afterwards she impulsively invites Finnegan and his wife to the wedding, and they accept. As a gift they receive a locked box with a note saying that all will be explained when they return from their honeymoon.

On their return they meet with Vivian, who opens the box, which contains the marriage pact, which they must both sign, and a book containing all the rules and regulations of the Pact. Despite their misgivings they sign the document. They are supposed to read the book, but for the most part they both just skim through it. All is well for a while, but then they are invited to a party with other members, and from then on their life slides downwards. Alice receives notice that she is to be punished for a 'crime' against marriage that neither of them think she has committed. For her first crime she has to wear a locked bracelet that monitors her in some way. A short time later she is accused of something else, and is taken away from home in chains and a straightjacket, to a former prison in Nevada, where she undergoes a trial, and receives various punishments. Both Alice and Jake want to leave the Pact, but it seems there is no way out. Then the punishments begin for Jake, and they are far more viscious and cruel. They are trying to make him confess to a crime he has not committed, and he refuses, and the further coercion to persuade him is awful. He still refuses.

Shortly after he returns home Alice is once more to be punished, for adultery, again something that has not happened, but there is circumstantial evidence for, and they decide to run away. Sadly they are caught, and Alice is taken away for punishment. Jake has had enough, and takes a long and tedious journey through several plane trips to ensure he is not being followed, to Ireland to meet the founder of the Pact, Orla, to demand that they are allowed to leave. He learns a great deal in his meetings with her, finding out that all is not as it seems.

Jake returns home, and they are invited to another gathering, where they are given two choices, to lead the group into a new more enlightened age, or leave. I will not give away the ending, but the reader is left to wonder whether they have made the right choice, or whether it will destroy them.

This is an excellent read, very thought-provoking, wth extreme views of how marriages should be. The first person narrative by Jake adds to the edginess of the story. If I was to find a criticism it would be that Jake sounds older than his forty years, maybe that is what becoming a psychotherapist does for you! I found the book almost impossible to put down, it is an excellent read. There are elements of the Stepford Wives, and the motto of Animal Farm also springs to mind - "All men are equal, but some are more equal than others".

One of the best psychological fiction books of this year. Wish I could give more than just 5 stars!
Kept me gripped right from the very first page and didn't let go until the last. Fantastic!

An original plot based around the idea of a secret society whose purported aim is to help your marriage prosper and succeed. What could possibly be wrong with that?

Jake and Alex find themselves invited to join "The Pact' via a wedding gift. At first they find the cloak and dagger a little quirky but funny and despite warnings to read the "manual' they assume they will get by.

Buy each other gifts every month, go on trips every quarter, always answer your phone when your spouse calls. Simple tip that any marriage might do well to follow. But these tips, alongside many others, are compulsory and an entire system exists to ensure that member follow these rules.

After some slip ups reveal the darker side to the group they are now contracted to Jake and Alex swing between trying to get out of 'The Pact' and living with it but something seems to be determined to make them fail and they fear what the price of that failure might be.

The story is often tense and the allure of the ideals of 'The Pact' are often difficult to argue against until Jake and Alex experience what at first seemed to be a wonderful gift becoming something of a curse.

The ending is unpredictable and is likely to keep you thinking about what exactly it means.

Highly recommended

This book was pretty creepy at first but fizzled out fairly quickly. The ending was very weak and a let down. By the end of the book I greatly disliked every character.