I’m back with another blog tour and this time it’s for The Plus One Pact by Portia Macintosh. Thanks to Rachel @ Rachel’s Random Resources for organising this blog tour and to Boldwood Books and the author for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.

Be sure to click on the banner below to check out the rest of the bloggers on tour!

Goodreads: The Plus One Pact
Publisher: Boldwood Books
Release Date: 21 May 2020
Genre: Women’s Fiction, Romance
Panda Rating:

What if your plus one could be the one…?
Cara has officially run out of men. Her most recent dates have gone from bad to worse, and when her dating app informs her there is no one left in her area to choose from, she is at a dead end. But with a summer of events ahead of her, she needs to find a solution, fast; someone to keep her company at the never-ending weddings, family gatherings and gender reveal parties that she can’t face going to alone.  So when she meets handsome, confident, Millsy on a night out she may be in luck. They could not be more different in personality, but he too has a summer of events ahead and is desperate to get his family off his back about finding a ‘nice girl’. What if they made a pact to help each other out and be a plus one for the summer? Just as friends of course…? 

A brand new romantic comedy from bestseller Portia MacIntosh, perfect for fans of Zara Stoneley, Sophie Ranald and Mhairi McFarlane.

Buy a copy: Amazon (US)

This is the kind of book you bring to the beach because it’s light, funny and exactly what you’d want to read when you don’t want to think too hard while still enjoying a story. If you’ve read a few romances or women’s fiction books it’s not hard to see where the story goes and what will happen next, but sometimes there’s really nothing wrong with that. That said, I’m on the fence with how I feel about this book because I did enjoy it and I liked the characters, especially Cara and Millsy. However, we’re “told” plenty and not shown much, and there was an unfortunate lack of character development that I feel would’ve greatly benefitted the story.

The humour from page one already had me thinking that yes, this is a book I’ll definitely like and overall, I wasn’t wrong. In terms of the plot, there isn’t much going on. Cara and Millsy form a pact to go to events together after meeting on a night out and immediately hitting it off as friends, and things move quickly from one event to the next after that. I did have to suspend my disbelief slightly at how the two met, but I’ve certainly done my fair share of uncharacteristic things that have resulted in very positive outcomes so, I guess it does happen… It just moved very quickly, is all. What also threw me off initially was that it’s narrated in first person and it’s like Cara is talking to you, the reader, directly and while it’s not my preferred POV, it was still okay.

Cara is a pretty funny character and I really related to her thoughts and experiences, especially about being a 30-something year old and being the only one in a group of friends who is single, unmarried and doesn’t have kids. I get the pressure that she talks about and I was very much one with her thoughts on this aspect. She’s sassy and smart and I enjoyed following the story through her perspective. For the most part I also liked Millsy’s character. He was charming, funny and sweet but honestly there wasn’t a lot of depth to work with and his character ended up coming across as a bit aloof? I liked that he would go to great lengths to make the people in his life happy though, even if he would moan about having to attend functions etc.

But as I said before, my biggest disappointment is the lack of character development and we’re told about their connection (even as friends) rather than shown it. I wanted to see them interact more instead of having Cara tell us that they’re getting on like a house on fire and it would’ve helped me feel their chemistry more and root for them as a friends-to-lovers couple. I obviously thought they should end up together but I wanted to feel more invested.

Despite all of that though I did enjoy it. It was a fast read that I finished in a few hours and I didn’t have to think all that much to enjoy it. The humour throughout the book was really spot on and it had me constantly laughing or giggling and that was a big reason why I liked it as much. I’m glad that I got the chance to read this and I would be keen to see what else this author has published!

Portia MacIntosh is a bestselling romantic comedy author of 12 novels, including It’s Not You, It’s Them and Honeymoon For One. Previously a music journalist, Portia writes hilarious stories, drawing on her real life experiences.

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Have you read The Plus One Pact or is it on your TBR?