Carrigan O'Malley has always known her arranged marriage would be more about power and prestigethan passion. But after one taste of the hard-bodied, whiskey-voiced James Halloran, she's ruined for
anyone else. Too bad James and his family are enemy number 1.
Hallorans vs. O'Malleys—that's how it's always been. James should be thinking more about how to expand his family's empire instead of how silky Carrigan's skin is against his and how he can next get her into his bed. Those are dangerous thoughts. But not nearly as dangerous as he'll be if he can't get what he wants: Carrigan by his side for the rest of their lives.
ARC received via Netgalley for an honest review
The Wedding Pact follows on where The Wedding Contract (Teague and Callie's story) finished, but you could read this second book as a stand alone if you wanted to.
James and Carrigan are like Romeo and Juliet. Their lives are ruled by family loyalties, they must do what is best for their families no matter what it costs them.
And in The Wedding Pact, it costs them their hearts.
I loved Carrigan in The Marriage Contract. She is strong, feisty, bucking against the system, Even surrounded by mob bosses, infighting, death and destruction, the is determined to break free - if she can.
James is also trying to break free from the shackles of family and circumstance. He does not want the sins of the father to become the sins of the son.
The spark between our Lovely and her guy is irrefutable. They know that the most they can expect are fleeting moments, secret rendezvous, glimpses across the room.
And as I was reading this hurt my heart. Blind Freddy could see that they are meant for each other - if only their families could see past their hatred and see it too.
But can they ever get their HEA? For that you will have to read.
From the minute I picked up The Wedding Pact, I was hooked. It was full of suspense, drama, intensity. As each page turned I held my breath, anticipating what was going to happen next.
I am anxiously waiting for the next book in this series - so please don't keep me waiting too long Ms Robert!
EXCERPT
She headed for her favorite booth, but drew up short when she saw that it was occupied. Her brain took precious seconds to catch up to her eyes. There he was, the asshole, sitting in her booth with his legs stretched out in front of him, wearing those jeans that hugged his ass and thighs and a smug smirk, with his arms stretched out across the back of the booth. Challenging her.
In case she missed all that written all over his face, there were two drinks in front of him—a beer and, if she didn’t miss her guess, a dirty martini. Her preferred drink. How the hell did he even know that?
Oh yes, this was a challenge all right.
Every intelligent cell in her brain demanded she turn around and walk away. Run away. But then the bastard raised an eyebrow, as if daring her to sit down and drink with him, and she threw common sense right out the window. Carrigan strode across the distance separating them, putting a little more swing into her step and smiling to herself when his gaze tracked the movement. Album or not, tangled history or no, he wanted her.
And she wasn’t above using that against him.
“Two nights in a row. I must have pissed off Lady Luck somehow.” She sank onto the cushioned seat across the small table from him. The bartender appeared half a second later, and Carrigan smiled sweetly at her. “A dirty martini, please.”
The woman looked at the table, looked back at her, and shrugged. “Sure thing.”
If anything James just seemed more amused. “Too good for my drinks?”
“I’m not stupid enough to take a drink I’ve left unattended…and I’ve never laid eyes on this one until I got here. Party Girl 101.”
“Now, lovely, why would I need to drug you? You came here of your own free will, just like I knew you would.” He leaned forward and propped his elbows on his knees, drawing her gaze to the way his black T-shirt clung to his shoulders and how his dangling hands seemed designed to frame the bulge between his legs.
Her body zinged to life in a way it hadn’t in months. It was all too easy to take a walk down memory lane and feel him lifting her against that wall and shoving his cock home, growling filthy words in her ear in that same tone of voice he was using now.
Shit.
She held his gaze even though all she wanted to do was look away. James wasn’t pretty. He was far too masculine for that. The first time she’d seen him, she thought he’d look perfectly at home on the back of a Harley, and that perception hadn’t changed with time. Everything about him screamed danger in a way she wasn’t used to. The men in her family were dangerous—there was no doubt of that—but it was a polished danger. James’s wasn’t. He was gritty and primal and…She really needed to stop. Right now. “I wouldn’t put anything past you at this point.”
“You wound me.”
“You kidnapped me. I’d say we’re nowhere near even.” Something she had to keep reminding herself, though the fact she kept forgetting annoyed the hell out of her. Only a weak woman would get all aflutter over a man who obviously meant her harm. A weak woman or one with a death wish.
Carrigan wasn’t either.
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Katee Robert learned to tell her stories at her grandpa’s knee. She found romance novels at age twelve and it changed her life. When not writing sexy contemporary and speculative fiction romance novels, she spends her time playing imaginary games with her wee ones, driving her husband batty with what-if questions, and planning for the inevitable zombie apocalypse.
ALSO AVAILABLE IN THIS SERIES
