THE RELATIONSHIP PACT (Kings of Football #3) by ADRIANA LOCKE

‘She’s a chance encounter. Temporary. The perfect solution to an imperfect situation.’

Adriana Locke finished this series of standalones -about three best mates, River, Crew and Hollis- off with a bang. The Relationship Pact was such a fabulous read. It had great humour, we still crack up over the three blokes group texts. It had such depth of emotion and introspection. It was incredibly sweet at times and had genuine moments where tears rolled down our faces. What a wonderful series this has been. A special mention goes out to Pops from The Romantic Pact and Grandma Judy in The Relationship Pact, they made us cry and our hearts fit to burst! Between Ilsa Madden-Mills, Meghan Quinn and Adriana Locke, we were kept riveted, entertained and ultimately we fell in book love. The best feeling in the world.

‘Anyone that has ever known anything about my life’s history has done one thing of two things – pitied me or judged me. It just depends on how much they know.’

Hollis is such a wonderfully written character. Hiding behind a ‘life of the party’ façade, a player status, he shields his past of where he came from, who he is and his feelings of insecurity. A man who believes himself incapable of being loved with heavy abandonment issues will never feel safe in a relationship. The chemistry between Hollis and Larissa was palpable from the first page till the last. Hollis has a vulnerability and sweet romantic side to him underneath all the bravado, a side brought to the surface by the wonderful Larissa. From a cheeky friendship and fake relationship pact grew healing and a fierce and passionate love.

“I’m not the guy that people keep around. And that’s cool. I’ve accepted it by myself. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt like a motherfucker…You wonder if everyone is looking at you – like can they see the stain on your soul?”

This is a series where the women are fierce, strong and emotionally powerful.  They know what they want, they’re compassionate, with big hearts and so much love to offer. The men are all fighting their own demons and circumstances which come to a head in their last football season leaving them standing at a crossroads in their lives. Important messages of family, friendship, loyalty and never judging a book by its cover are prevalent in this series. The chemistry was scorching, the banter on point and the depth of their characters’ stories passionate and emotional.

“I wanted someone to look at me like I was the most important thing in the world to him. That would tell the whole universe that I was his girl. That’s all. I didn’t want money or cars or fame. I just wanted to find my best friend and to create a beautiful corner of the world just for us.”