Short, Sweet, and Speedy

The Christmas Pact

Title: The Christmas Pact

Author: Vi Keeland, Penelope Ward

Publisher: Audible

Run Time: 2h 54m

Genre: Romance

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Riley Kennedy’s emails keep getting crossed with her male colleague, Kennedy Riley. The infuriating man forwards them along with his annoying commentary and unsolicited advice. At least she never has to see him in person, since they work in different locations … until they come face to face at the office holiday party.

As luck would have it, Kennedy turns out to be outrageously handsome … though still a jerk. Yet somehow he’s able to charm her out on the dance floor--and convince her to participate in his crazy scheme: pretend to be her boyfriend, if Riley agrees to be his date to a wedding. It sounds easy enough. Little by little, however, the act they’re putting on starts to feel like so much more than a Christmas pact--and Riley’s about to learn there’s more to Kennedy than she ever imagined.

I listened to this book all in one sitting, obviously because it is only about three hours long and I have been flying what feels like almost weekly for the past month. It is what it says on the box; a cute office romance that would make a great hour and thirty minute long Hallmark Christmas movie. That being said, for how short this story is, Vi Keeland and Penelope Ward were able to pack a lot of character depth into both Riley and Kennedy. Both main characters have backstories that we get to explore and that directly impact the storyline. Kennedy especially has a lot going on in the background that we get to see as Riley begins to know him better. The best part of the book is how Keeland and Ward include this information. There is never a moment when listening to this story that I thought ‘well this is all just for exposition’ or ‘why the hell are we talking about this now’. All of the information that we found out had a direct tie to the storyline whether it moves the story forward to sheds light on a motivation for one of the characters. We all know that background builds a story, but the fact that we get to see so much of it in such a natural way and in such a short period of time really showcases both the talent and mastery of craft that these authors have.

My One Gripe

Now, this has less to do with this book in particular (although it is guilty of this too) and is more a complaint toward this kind of writing overall, but I genuinely hate when a book is written between two different points of view in unequal measure. This book is one example of many that I could list, but when a novel is advertised to be from the POVs of both characters, I want to hear from BOTH CHARACTERS. In this book in particular, we have at least twice as many chapters from Riley’s POV than we did from Kennedy’s. I understand that some plot points make more sense to put in one character’s POV over the others, and that those plot points don’t always fit a chapter-by-chapter switch, but if you put two chapters in a row in Riley’s POV then I want the next two to be from Kennedy’s. It is always a bigger bother when I am more interested in one character’s thoughts more than another’s. This book was not an example of that, but when it does happen, it can make finishing the story a bit of a chore. I want to get to know both characters equally. I want to be able to form my own opinion of them separately from what they think of each other. Most of all, I want to see all of the emotions on both sides play out. I know that this kind of story writing is difficult compared to single POV stories because you have to balance giving both sides of the story with not giving too much away. What I want you to take from this short rant is either A) if you’re a reader, these stories exist and can be a bit frustrating, but most of the time the story pulls through, or B) if you’re a writer, don’t do this! If you plan on giving both of your characters a direct voice, give them equal page time. It’s only fair.

Final Thoughts

In the end, this book is just adorable. It is a simple read and provides a warm and fluffy feeling along side some good laughs. If you are looking for a holiday themed short story to read, I suggest listening to it. It pulls all of the punches without too much cheese or over the top drama.

Now I want to hear your opinions! Have you read The Christmas Pact? What did you think of Riley and Kennedy’s backgrounds? Did you also get Hallmark movie vibes?

Thanks for stopping by and keep it Peachy!