This was a quick, fun read. It offered nothing new to the thriller/suspense genre, but it flowed nicely.

Although the ending was satisfying, it was also pretty implausible...and I could see every twist coming a hundred miles away. I did think the main characters were well fleshed out, but I didn't have much sympathy for Maddie. It's one thing to be kind and forgiving...it's another to be a doormat. Maddie was, unfortunately, portrayed as the latter.

Bottom line: I'd recommend this novel if you're looking for a quick, easy domestic drama, which is enjoyable, but not particularly twisty.

Available October 8, 2020.

**Many thanks to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for my review copy.

Great story idea, however there were definitely parts that I skimmed.  The start had me hooked from the beginning but it wasn't until closer to the end that I got excited again.

Overall a good read and one I would recommend.

The Pact by Dawn Goodwin was a fun read. It was suspenseful, moved quickly, and the reader doesn’t quite know what’s going to happen next. If you’ve ever made an off handed, jokey comment and someone took it seriously…  then you will sympathize with Maddie. When her husband leaves her and moves in with someone new, of course Maddie’s broken-hearted. She commiserates with her neighbor Jade, and the two lament over the men who have done them wrong.

When Jade makes a comment, Maddie agrees, assuming it’s a hypothetical comment. But it’s not, Jade is completely serious.

Here’s the scoop:

I’ll kill yours, if you kill mine.

Maddie’s life has come crashing down around her. Her husband has left her and moved on with a new woman and baby. No longer can she run from the past that’s been haunting her. The past has destroyed her future.

In a new flat, trying to start a new life, Maddie meets Jade and her young son, Ben. All too swiftly Maddie finds the dark thoughts whirring through her brain. But Jade’s different, she loves Ben, doesn’t she?

As the two women begin to open up about their exes over a few glasses of wine, Jade conjures a plan, a pact. She’ll kill Maddie’s if Maddie kills hers. Laughing it off, Maddie returns to her normal life. But what if it wasn’t a joke at all…

This was a great suspenseful ride of a book. It kept me engaged from beginning to end.

I think a lot of you will enjoy this story! It comes out on October 8!

This was a quick and easy read. 
Maddies husband has shacked up with his PA and had a baby. Something maddie has been desperately trying to achieve for years. We follow maddie as she moves into a new home and begins her new life.
Firstly maddie was an infuriating character 🙈 how nice can a person be!? Whilst the story kept me captivated and wanting to know what happened next I found a lot of the plot centred around maddie being a massive doormat and just taking whatever was thrown her way! I found myself wanting to shake her most of the book 😬 and lets not even start on jade, Greg and Gemma! 
Overall I enjoyed the story and while I didn’t particularly like any of the characters (and let’s be honest I rolled my eyes more than a few times! I mean really! ) I really wanted to see where the story was going to go. I didn’t hate the ending 🤪😂

Two unhappy women meet.
Maddie’s husband has the house, a new girlfriend and a new baby. Maddie moves into  a small flat nearby and meets Jade, her upstairs neighbour and mother to Ben. Jade is concerned Ben’s father may try to get custody of him.
During a drunken chat they discuss how they could swap murders Of their ex partners which would benefit both of them as Maddie is still a partner in her husband’s successful business and they are still legally married.
Strangers on a Train or my preferred movie- ‘Throw Momma from the train.’ immediately come to mind on reading this. It is a similar storyline but with some plot differences.
Whilst not a unique storyline it is well written although I found it difficult to warm to any of the characters and frequently wanted to shake Maddie to wake her up.
Some nice twists in the story and overall enjoyable.
3.5 Stars.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.

A newly separated woman moves into her new apartment and meet the frazzled single mother who lives in the rental above hers. A drunken evening spent together watching Netflix turns into something very dark. I’ll kill yours if you kill mine…The Pact.

Depressed and grief stricken after multiple miscarriages, Maddie is separated from her husband and best friend of 20 years. He’s left her for the glamorous Gemma who has given both to Jemima, the baby he always wanted. Maddie meets her neighbor Jade and her young son Ben. She immediately longs to be in Ben’s life and accepts Jade’s friendship. Maddie’s emotions are close to the surface and she is still fighting off bouts of depression. When Jade proposes the Pact, Maddie laughingly accepts, thinking it is all a joke. It isn’t. Soon Maddie is mired in a dangerous situation without any means of escape.

I loved Maddie. She has gone through so much but she tries to make the right decisions. Jade is not so likable. Manipulative and greedy, she uses her friendship with Maddie for her own gain. The story began slowly and seemed a bit unorganized but soon settled into a quick, suspenseful pace. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Aria and Aries and Dawn Goodwin for this ARC.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in response for an honest review. 

This book started off great. I was intrigued and I could feel the tenseness and awkwardness between the main character and the rest. Maddie was a fairly unlikeable character in my opinion. I couldn't connect with her in any way, shape, or form, but I believe she was intended to be somewhat seen in a negative light. She was too obsessed with children and she was way too much of a pushover. She showed strength very few times throughout the book and regularly gave in to what others wanted.

In fact, every character but the neighbors were unlikeable. I usually don't like reading about so many characters I don't care about because the impacts don't seem to phase me, but in this case I was left wondering what was going to happen because I didn't like any one character. 

Now for the "thriller" aspect of this book. I think this book went in the wrong direction for me somewhere in the middle. For such a strong start with the initial meeting of Jade and Maddie, it took surprisingly long to get to any form of action. Jade's choices were obvious and I was left waiting for Maddie to figure things out. For such a short book, it felt longer simply because a huge portion of it was taking place in her thoughts and previous life. 

Overall, it was a middle of the road "thriller" which wasn't actually that suspenseful at all. Strong start, interesting premise, but it fell flat for me.

This story had a slow beginning, but about half way through I couldn't put it down. What an unpredictable twist.

I enjoyed reading this book. The characters were well fleshed out, and the pace and plot was good. I did get a bit impatient with the main character at times, but I felt I was on her side. I really wasn't sure how this book was going to pan out, and I enjoyed not knowing. No spoilers but I did think it was a very entertaining book, and I thought it was great, and well worth a read.

The Pact is a fun, thrilling read. When I first read the description it sounded like several other books I’ve read, but I was wrong. The characters, plot line, & twists along the way made it a memorable read. I can’t say enough good things about this book and have already recommended it to many friends!

The Pact by Dawn Goodwin 
Pub Date 10/06/2020
Thriller 

I really liked this book alot. It was like strangers on a train. I'll kill yours if you kill mine. The main character Maddie wasn't a very reliable character, she was way to nice but I liked her. Was able to feel her pain to what she was going through in life. Well she ends up separated from her cheating husband and in her new flat. She meets the neighbor upstairs from her. Jade, was nothing like Maddie but they became friends and the story goes from there. The twists in this book were a bit shocking but that's why I love thrillers so much.
This book comes out next week. And I definitely recommend it. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ thank to the publisher and to #netgalley for the free copy of this book.

First off I just knew from the cover that I was going to love this book. I definitely did love it! Such a good storyline with some twists I didn’t see coming.

What a fun read! No matter how many times this same trope can be rewritten and remixed, it will always be a fun read. Because it always provides some especially devilish characters and an ending that doesn't disappoint.

The Pact sounds like something you've read before but is something that you should also consider to hear a new version of. It's like Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None; there's the outline that you love (two strangers meet somewhere and agree to kill each other's target) and also adding new aspects to never make it boring. 

As I said, I had a lot of fun with this one. Even though the summer is coming to a close, it's one of the books I would probably call a poolside read. What is it now? By the fireplace read? I'm not sure. It's easy to read, intriguing,  and pretty light. 

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Thank you NetGalley and Aria for my ARC in exchange for an honest review. Wow! What a page turner! This was a fast paced thriller that never slowed down. Maddie is a woman with a heartbreaking past. Her life has not ended up the way she had hoped. Her desire for a child overshadows any chance of happiness. When Maddie meets Jade, her upstairs neighbor, things look as if they might take a turn for the better. Jade isn’t much, but her son Ben brightens Maddie’s otherwise bleak world. As the women get to know each other, questions  begin to accumulate about the truth both women are hiding. A blossoming friendship, or a nightmare where you can’t wake up. Warning.....”Be careful what you wish for.” 
5 edge of your seat stars!  ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This novel has all the hallmarks of that master of suspense - Hitchcock. A few words spoken in alcohol fuelled jest - at least from the perspective of our hapless unwilling partner in criime - lead us on a journey of twists and turns galore, with quite a few unexpected reveals enroute. The final denouement is satisfactory,albeit not entirely unexpected. I really enjoyed this book and would like to thank both Netgalley and the Publishers for this ARC.

I would say that this story is a complicated domestic drama that was a slow burner it was missing a spark like the other books that I have read by this author.

The Pact is a slightly scary but very addictive read that has you on the edge of the seat. Really brings life to the saying drunken words are sober thoughts. In this case, they are the death of someone. An absolutely fantastic read.

A tale of heartache, and loss and sadness, family, and spite.
What if someone offered you a way to get something you believe you deserved? What if you were given a chance to execute revenge?...
A quick and easy read

This is a new author for me, however I have definitely been captivated and found this an addictive read from the very beginning. 
This is a completely unique plot to anything I've read previously. The author has a writing style which transports you and makes you feel as though you are central to the events unfolding. I am definitely keen to read more. 
I have loved the characters in this book. I have found myself second guessing what they were going to do and where the author was going to take this one. 
I have found the middle of this slower than I'd usually prefer, but the author had gripped my attention by then so I was desperate to see what happened next.

I read this book in less than 24 hours. I couldn’t put it down. It completely sucked me in and thrust me in to a whirlwind of feelings. 
The pact is the story of Maddie. At the start of the book we discover her moving in to an apartment. It’s clear from the beginning she is a complex character and I don’t want to say too much about her as I don’t want to give anything away. Needless to say I went from rolling my eyes at the relationship Maddie has with her ex husband to feeling great empathy to her story ultimately making me cry. 
Her new friend Jade on the other hand I didn’t like from the beginning. I was cross at Maddie for allowing herself to be taken advantage of by Jade. When it became clear Jade wasn’t allowing this “pact” to brushed off as a drunken laugh I was hooked. 
The story is told by Maddie through “then” and “now” chapters and I really enjoyed it! I will be keeping my eyes open for more books by Dawn Goodwin. 
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review