THE MARRIAGE PACT by K. LARSEN & MARA WHITE

Complete Standalone in The Viral Series following Missed Connection, based on a heartbreaking viral Reddit posts.

Reviewed by Gitte & Jenny

4 ‘sobbing’ Stars – Spoiler-Free Review

‘He wanted to unzip her wounded heart, trace the open and vulnerable line with his tongue.’

We absolutely love the writing duo of K Larsen and Mara White; they’re pretty fabulous. Their writing is flawless, seamless and one completely complements the other. This story was superbly written, it was evocative with moments of stunning beauty. We could not put this story down and read with trepidation and worry, out of fear for where these two Authors were taking us.

“Since the day you joined the world, you marched to the beat of your own drum.”

This was a story of soul mates, the cruelty as well as the joys of life and the inspiration one person can be to another. This is a romance unlike others or the typical. Rather, this is a journey of life, Ryan Walters’ life –to be specific- with enough drama and obstacles to leave you exhausted as you turn the last page. We say Ryan’s story, as for us, this was his story. One that left us emotionally wrung out by the end.

‘Ryan suddenly had the sinking feeling that Jackie was even more unattainable than he had originally imagined her to be. Like a masterpiece in a museum, look but don’t touch. Admire it, love it. It can even be your favorite, but it will never belong to you.’

Like we said, The Marriage Pact was all about Ryan for us. He was one of those amazing and wonderful heroes you meet that is so all encompassing you literally become addicted, unable to look away. He had the biggest heart; he loved with an honest and unyielding ferocity that is unrivalled. His personality was so big it overshadowed those around him. His voice was magnificent and powerful to the point that we felt like we were made to care to such a degree that we felt utterly protective of him, wanting him to have the life he so deserved with the people who could measure up and be deserving of his light and his compassionate humanity. Because of this we resented how his life stood still as a result of the control wielded by another. His happiness dependant on the actions of the woman who held his heart in her cold detached hands. One knock after another creating a domino effect ultimately impacting Ryan and the possibility of love with his soulmate. Because of this we read with a melancholy in our hearts and a sad frustration ever present.

‘Jackie was vulnerable, she was sweet and sensitive. But she was hell-bent on not showing it and Ryan had learned to – no he’d been trained to accept whatever little he could get.’

The Marriage Pact is a recounting, a memoir if you will, of a young man who gave his heart to his best friend, Jackie. This girl remained a bit of an enigma to us throughout the years we spent with them together as well as apart. Despite getting her POV we felt that those chapters served more as an almost informative segment placed in a very personal story told by a young man. Whilst her story broke our hearts, we felt like we were looking in, rather than feeling as if we were there.

‘He would always reach out to her. She held that exalted place in his heart as the first person to whom you would tell both the good and bad. And for all he knew, maybe she always would. Maybe they were meant to be best friends, nothing less, nothing more.’

The dramatic effects tended to overshadow that romantic connection of friends to lovers; who were ‘meant to be’ in the forever kind of way. Almost as if romance took a back seat as we were told of a story that in many respects broke our hearts to the point of emotional exhaustion. Those moments of romance we felt and got to experience, well…. that vulnerable romance was a beauty to behold.

‘The years of letters felt romantic, even if they never saw each other again. Maybe it was the old fashioned quality or the waiting game between sending and receiving that made it feel more special.’

You can’t force tears out of a reader, the connection and emotional bond has to be there in order to feel the force of those powerful moments. We got all the emotion from Ryan and his family, his chapters were laden with his inner turmoil and his passionate feelings and beliefs. In some respect they were the profound and had the depth that inspired that important connection for us as opposed to those of Jackie, in our opinion.  However, we never once doubted the strength and power of Ryan’s love for Jackie, hence why we wanted to climb inside our kindle and bear hug this wonderful man. The Authors made us care so much, we perhaps cared too much, an admirable feat.

‘What an extraordinary effort it was to come into this world and leaving it seemed unfairly easy. Life was tenuous, mortality scary. Death was so cruel and yet life was stronger, he’d just witnessed it in all of its raw and almighty glory.’

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