Drunken Promise Leads to Lifetime of Happiness? Review of M.J. Pullen’s “The Marriage Pact”

Marci is suffering from unrealistic expectations.  Her thirtieth birthday is approaching and she has neither the job, the husband, the house, or the life she planned to have by the time she reached the big 3-0.  What she does have is a temp job she doesn’t mind, an apartment all her own, and a married (and boss) lover who may or may not be living his wife in the near future but until then they have to sneak around. This start to be shaken up when long time college friend sends her an email to remind her of a promise they made to each other that, if neither one of them is married by 30, they’ll marry each other.

This email gets Marci thinking about her life and a few trips home remind her of everything she wishes she could have for herself.  And that old college friend has started to look pretty appealing…

Surprising Marci’s relationship with boy she made the pact with is not nearly as superficial as I thought it would be, and their relationship actually blossoms throughout the book in a way that will make you keep turning pages.  Doug’s character (the married lover) is much less appealing, and not just in a “he’s a slime bag” kind of way.  He goes from being villain to victim, from sincere to a liar and back again but I guess in the world of affairs that’s pretty accurate.

The book is well written, it could have used another round with an editor, but the mistakes aren’t nearly as bad as I’ve seen in some other indie books.  All minor typos or punctuation errors that don’t take much away from the reading experience (although it would have been nicer if they were fixed).  Pullen has a decent voice that comes through and makes you care about main character Marci even if you don’t condone some of her behaviors.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book, although the ending is predictable and there aren’t many surprises, pretty much your standard chic-flick plot, Pullen makes it a worthwhile read.  If you’re looking for a simple but sweet story about finally growing up and coming into adulthood while discovering exactly what kind of love you need to get you through the day, then this is the book to pick up.  And with the cheap price of the digital copy you won’t be losing out with the purchase.