Great read, kept me hooked and a few tears of relief at the end although was a bit disappointed at their choice as I feel they both fitted the role offered very well indeed. Bit repetitive at times but stuck with it. Highly recommended.

You invite a charismatic stranger to your wedding: what on earth can go wrong? You are presented with an odd wedding present, part of which you cannot open: should you be concerned? After your honeymoon you are visited by a stranger who explains the wedding gift: are the alarm bells ringing yet? No? Well if they were there would be no story to tell, would there?

This is quite a daft book but it is entertaining in a macabre sort of way. What would you do to maintain your happy marriage? How prepared would you be to let others interfere to make it right. This is the story of Alice and Jake and the pact they make. You will need to take a healthy dose of reality suspension to enjoy this novel. It is well written and I was keen to see how it ended. I can’t say I warmed to either of the main characters but what the heck, it was a good story.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you.

Interesting idea about a sect that is found on making the perfect marriage through a set of rules that are enforced with severe punishments. A bit too neat in the end, but right up to that point a really good and fast paced read. I was never sure why our heroes actually signed the pact in the first place though....

Now, this was a strange one, interesting but a bit wacky in its concept.
The marriage pact by Michelle Richmond was surprisingly good, The author has found a unique idea and evolved it from there.
With some surprising twists and turns that I didn't see coming this was a refreshing contribution to the psychological genre and I only had minor issues and niggles that pulled this down slightly for me.
So the marriage Pact involves newlywed's Jake and Alice who receive an enticing gift from one of Alice's Clients at the law firm she works at.
"The Pact"
designed to keep couples happy and fulfilled in their marriages, the rules seem to make sense and The Pact seems harmless in its intentions.
Initially impressed Alice and Jake start to realise there is more at stake than they realise as their dreams start to evolve into nightmares.
And no one leaves "THE PACT" ever.
So let me break this down for you first three-quarters of The Marriage Pact I loved, the story flowed, it was well written and my only minor criticism would be sometimes Jake could waffle on a tad too much with his inner monologue and I found this a touch irritating and longwinded.
Then came the last quarter, not sure what happened here but I really was not feeling it, the whole visit Orla at her home seemed unnecessary and a bit boring to me.
I would have really preferred another direction to be taken and a bit more of a pro-active stance applied here rather than talking.
Then came the ending, this is where my main issue lies, it was just so anti-climatic and blah and after all Jake's moralistic stances he just walks away, leaving the corruption behind for someone else to deal with.
I'm not saying he's wrong to do this, I just find it mildly surprising after listening to Jakes Inner moral compass throughout The Marriage Pact that he just abandons all his principles and jumps ship.
I would also have liked to see inside Alice's head as well, she was such a diverse character with so much to offer and I felt we didn't get to know her properly in her entirety.
So this was such a page-turner and even with the issues I've described, I have to give this a Four star as It was such compelling reading.
This was such an interestingly unique story that I would definitely recommend Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the Author Michelle Richmond for providing me with an Arc of The Marriage Pact, this is my own honest unbiased opinion.

I loved this book! I was in a mood for a fast-paced, thrilling read and OMG, it more than delivered. Looking forward to reading more from Michelle Richmond!

I don't know what I was expecting when I started this, probably a mild thriller but it ended up almost like a horror story. It was completely unbelievable but God I could not put the book down. Really enjoyed it, would recommend it as it was very readable.

Thank you for the opportunity to read 'The Marriage Pact'. it was an interesting, if not disturbing read. While I could imagine the initial scenario, I felt that the 'prison' was too far fetched and not an enjoyable part of the book. It is a good portrayal though of how principles can be lost sight of when power becomes involved.

Really interesting fast paced novel about the sanctity of marriage.

Alice and Jake are invited into a 'club' but two people who come to their wedding as an afterthought. The gift, an invitation into an exclusive marriage pact. Only the 'club' isn't always what it seems...

'Friend' - i read this in two sittings.

It made me think about the purpose of marriage and relationships, and how they are valued in today's society.

Very interesting read. with lots of twists and turns. 4.5 *

This is probably the best book I have read all year. The Marriage Pact had me reading at all hours of the day and night until I had finished. There were several points where I physically held my breath mainly when the punishments took place in Fernely. The idea of a marriage pact is so believable in todays society within cults etc. The atrocities within The Pact were horrific. I would so recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a psycological thriller.

Really enjoyed reading this, was really rooting for the couple to get out of the situation they seem to have found themselves in and kept me gripped until the end...

A very tense and chilling thriller where the suspense and sense of dread builds the further you get into it. A bit far=fetched in places but II still carried on reading it.

Clever book, a complete mix of suspension, disbelief, incredulity, and maybe a tiny bit of intrigue. The story of a couple who are selected to join a Pact, although they have no idea just how pre-selected they are. The pact will help you stay married. But at what cost? Do as they say, behave yourself and you'll be happy ever after. Or will you? I really enjoyed this book, it made a change from a thriller with a twisty plot. It was full of suspense, some very dark moments, but left you wondering what was going to happen next and how it would end. I liked it a lot.

A totally bizarre book which had me completely enthralled and appalled at the same time!

The thought of having your relationship monitored to this extent and it actually being successful, made my stomach churn as I was reading it BUT I was compelled to continue - as if it was a dirty secret!

How I live my life should have made me hate the book but it was SO well written and cleverly dotted with facts and figures that I just devoured it!

I am sure this will be the Marmite read of the year but I LOVED it!!

A rather disturbing tale of a secret society apparently dedicated to the noble intention of helping married couples achieve a long and happy marriage. A young couple are ambivalent about their membership and the increasing impact upon their lives and privacy. It’s a bold and novel premise which is explored in some depth.

The author sustains the suspense and feeling of foreboding well but I did have to deliberately suspend my disbelief to accept their willingness to give up their personal and civil rights. I found some of the situations tending towards masochism which made me uncomfortable but I’m fairly sure more experienced readers will regard these scenes as mild and not unsuitably graphic.

This is a very different read that I thought it was going to be. The storyline is different and great but it gets 3.5 stars from me as at times I thought this was very far fetched and also I think the last third of the book felt like it had lost its plot but the ending was good.
Alice and Jake are getting married, Alice is an up and coming lawyer and weirdly invites one of her clients she's helped along with others win a big case. This starts the path to "the pact" a weird secret society that has been brought together to strengthen a marriage as well as making it happier. There are strict rules that the couples must follow and any deviation from the rules leads to brutal correctiveness which at times was quite a hard read especially with Jake I found.
Jake is a therapist and I liked that his thoughts were thought provoking as he deals with helping other couples finding themselves in difficult places within their own marriages but never mentioning the pact to anyone at anytime. Jake and Alice are repeatedly told to find peace within the pact but do they?? I felt by the end that I did know Jake more than Alice but that didn't deter my enjoyment I just wanted to dig deeper with Alice.
I would like to thank netgalley and penguin uk - Michael Joseph for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book mainly for its quirkiness! It is an enthralling read trying to work out what will happen next to this couple who have got themselves so entrenched in a cult. The concept of a perfect marriage is wonderful but it cannot be forced. Some of the ideas for a perfect marriage are superb and would help but The Pact cannot ever be broken which causes so many complications and fears. A great psychological thriller with an unusual ending. An author to read more of.

At first,I wasn't really feeling this.Nothing to do with the book.I just wasn't sure I was in the mood for this genre.However,I quickly got gripped by this.Ok,the premise is completely ridiculous.I don't want to give too much away,so briefly it's a married couple that enter 'The Pact'.A cult of sorts that ends up being more sinister than they had thought.I mean,who would actually do this!?But craziness aside,the couple are interesting and it's a page-turner for sure.Minor points I didn't quite like were the liberal facts and statistics about marriage.Just took me out of the story a bit.Would have preferred it to be a bit shorter towards the end,but a very enjoyable read.3.5 stars rounded down

Interesting and thought provoking read! i would highly recommend this book.
I enjoyed the writing style and the characters involved, so much so that i was actually discussing the concept of marriage pact with my friends whilst i was out.
Great read and look forward to reading more from Michelle Richmond

Alice and Jake are newlyweds and one of their wedding presents was an invitation to join "The Pact". The Pact is a group of people who want to ensure their marriages are successful. Couples have to read a manual and follow all the rules. But the Pact isn't all that it seems and Alice and Jake soon find out what happens if they don't follow all the rules. An interesting read but a bit disappointed with the ending.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and Michelle Richmond for the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Brilliant read. Intrigued from the beginning and kept my interest through whole book. Would recommend