The Wedding Pact
Series: The O’Malleys #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Katee Robert
Release Date: April 26, 2016
New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Katee Robert continues her smoking-hot series about the O’Malleys—wealthy, powerful, and full of scandalous family secrets.
Carrigan O’Malley has always known her arranged marriage would be more about power and prestige than 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.
His options were sink or swim- and if he sunk, he’d take a hell of a lot of people with him. So he got up every day, and he swam, even though some of the shit he was required to do turn his stomach and made him lose sleep.
The Wedding Pact picks up right where The Marriage Contract left off. For those that are thinking of reading these books as standalones, while you technically could, I’d recommend reading the series in order as the story arc continues through the books and the O’Malley siblings get introduced early. Carrigan and James’s story began in book 1 with the hot little interlude they shared in the supply closet of a club four months ago before each knew who the other was. Things didn’t end well when James thew her in the trunk of his car and kidnapped her in order to use her against her family since the O’Malleys and Hallorans are mortal enemies.
Now both sides are left to deal with he aftermath. The eldest Holloran heir is dead, the father is in jail, and James is left to run his father’s empire and deal with his wayward younger brother who seems to constantly get himself into trouble. But there’s one thing that James never forgot; the taste and feel of Carrigan, the woman that he can’t stop thinking about and can never have.
With the death of her brother Devlin during the Holloran vs O’Malley power struggle, things have been a lot more on edge than usual in her family. Try as she might to avoid the subject, with her pushing thirty, her father is pushing her to fulfill her responsibility as an O’Malley and pick a suitor in order to form a power alliance. But as much as Carrigan wants to deny it, she can’t stop thinking about James. When she fled from his house (and he let her escape), she took a prized possesion of his with her and now James is using that as an excuse to track her down. Can she resist the temptation or will giving in to him have everything crashing and burning?
I enjoyed this book much more than the first one. While I loved the premise and set up in The Marriage Contract, the insta-love element didn’t quite work for me. There’s an edge of angst with a dose of forbidden in this book that really worked for me. James is rough around the edges and deliciously sexy. Carrigan is one tough cookie herself. She doesn’t need anyone to save her and takes care of herself just fine; which I really appreciated.
There’s also a bit more grit to this story than the previous one. I was hoping with the series focusing around a mob family that we’d finally get to the nitty gritty and it begins to dig into the dark underbelly a bit here. But at it’s heart, it’s still mostly a contemporary romance, so if you’re worried that it’s dark, don’t be.
I enjoyed the forbidden romance and progressing story line here. We get Cillian’s POV as well which is building up to be a doozy that I can’t wait to read. And while I enjoyed the story for the most part, there were also some things that grated on me a bit. For one, it was James’s overuse of the endearment ‘lovely’. It got so repetitive at times, he’d be using it numerous times in a conversation. I’m a bit surprised it wasn’t cut down, to be honest, because it was simply too much. Or at least it was for me. I also found the resolution for James and Carrigan to be a little flat. There was all this build up, and it all wrapped up almost too perfectly at the end, particularly for James and his family.
Also (and this is the picky Russian in me poking her head out), I have to say that I was pretty disappointed that the one and only Russian word that was used by a secondary character here was used wrong. Google translate strikes again. But I tend to be super picky about translations in books, so this is definitely an “it’s only me” thing. Most won’t even notice, let alone bat an eye lash at this.
But those minor quibbles aside, it was still a great, sexy and action-packed read. If you’re looking to dip your toes into a mafia story but don’t like them too gritty or dark, you really can’t go wrong with this one.
This series is certainly picking up steam as it goes along and just gets better. Over The Line was an action-packed, sizzling hot ride from begging to end. Add in a splash of forbidden romance between two dueling mafia families, revenge, and a love in spite of it, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for an unputdownable read!
I’ve been on a rom kick lately so when the author offered me a chance to read Game Player, I jumped on it. This was my first book by BJ Harvey and all I can say after finishing is, where has she been all my life? Game Player is full of wickedly hilarious banter, sizzling hot romance, and a cast of characters that I completely fell in love with. I had a goofy smile on my face for most of the book (some parts I wanted to throttle the heroine), but that may have been because I wanted Matt for myself. Nothing wrong with a little heroinecide. I’m totally making that a word, by the way. But I digress…
You know that moment when you pick exactly the right book at exactly the right time? You know what I’m talking about here; when all the planets aline and you pick the book that’s guaranteed to be the perfect one for your mood and taste. Well this book was that for me! And what perfect timing too because I’ll be going into my weekend with a perma-grin on my face. Dirty was laugh out loud funny, with a cast of secondary characters that you’re guaranteed to fall for right away. It’s filled with amazing banter, swoony moments, and make-your-ovaries-happy-sort-of-sexy times.
As for Vaughan? Well, let’s just say the man lives up to his promise. I fell for him when I first met him in the Stage Dive series, and I loved him even more here. He’s just the right amount of alpha and yet he’s funny at all the right times and even sweet at others, without ever losing any of his edge.
Now it’s been a hot minute since I last read a book by Kendall Ryan that I forgot just how well they can hit the spot.
I have one question right now: Where has this series been all my life?! No really, what a perfect treat this was to get a fantastic balance of super hot sex AND a wonderful story. Sometimes a girl just needs some great smut in her life, and this book hit the spot so well. But it’s so much more than erotic romance, the story is great, the characters well developed, and the writing just flows. Suffice it to say I loved it!
I simply adored Mason. He was such an endearing character. The way he calls Katrina ‘Kitty-Kat’? *swoon* I loved everything about these two; the way they protect each other; their shared history, their friendship, and their clear affection for one another. And between the sheets they’re absolutely combustible! Katrina was a wonderful heroine as well but I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that Mason really stole the show here. This was a man that really went after what he wanted once he realizes what he’s missed all these years. He knew what he needed and he didn’t hide it.
I’ve been waiting for River and Vaughn’s book since first meeting them in 
Then there were terms like …manhood stood
Or this…
and this one…
Do you like broody, protective uber alphas who prefer monosyllabic conversations unless they’re in bed and letting their inner caveman do the talking? Do you like sassy as hell heroines that give as good as they get and have more zingers than an episode of SNL? Do you like a sizzling hot sexual chemistry that brews even hotter with a slow burn sort of pace the author sets? Do you like your erotica written perfectly balanced with an addicting sort of story and a dash of suspense thrown in? Well lucky day! Because do I have the book for you!
If you’ve read the previous books in this series, then you’ll remember Elle Cooper, Tate Cooper’s sister and now James Bowen’s sister-in-law? If you haven’t, no worries, because you can easily read this book as a standalone and not be even slightly lost. Jack Copeland is James’s shadowy and grumpy friend that now has a tie to Elle that he’s not too happy about. The woman infuriates him almost as much as she turns him on. And Elle absolutely loves to tease Jack to within an inch of his sanity.
Jack does an upstanding job avoiding all things Elle, until the day where Elle lands in life threatening trouble and Jack is determined to protect her at all costs. He’ll do his job and walk away afterwards, but Elle is determined to make him lose all reason and patience in the process.
I gobbled up this book with a pervy sort of glee I haven’t felt in a long while. I loved these two together. Nothing beats a good hate/love scenario for me, and boy do these two serve that up on a silver platter. You can’t help but love Elle even if she lands herself in scenarios where you’ll want to throttle her. Jack is everything I love in an alpha; broody, slightly crass, protective, and a dirty, dirty man in bed.
Truth be told, I struggled with my rating for this book for days now. I’ve been marinating and marinating over what to rate it. Do I rate it as a part of the Tall, Dark, and Dangerous series which it didn’t seem to fit at all? Or do I rate it as a standalone I felt it should have been? After much deliberation, I’ve decided to go with something in the middle of the two. Because here’s the thing, while I did truly enjoy Brave Enough, I didn’t find it fit the series. Aside from Tag being a hero that was first introduced early in the series, there is really no other connection. The story felt different, the romance felt different, and the entire feel of it was just different.
I’m going to be real for a hot second here; the last few releases in this series left me underwhelmed. So much, in fact, that I was about to give up on it entirely. There’s been a plethora of secondary characters introduced since 
The Beast doesn’t mess with a happy couple’s HEA; it expands on their emotional journey. It’s an emotionally gripping, lovely, and at times sweet and at times sexy continuation to a beloved couple.
