Review: “The Relationship Pact” by Adriana Locke

Author: Adriana Locke

Series: Kings of Football, #3

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐  | Steam: 🔥🔥🔥

Tropes: Fake Relationship, Sports Romance

Release Date: December 17th, 2020

Goodreads | Amazon.in (Available on KU)

Synopsis: How hard can it be?

That was the question rolling around Larissa Mason’s mind just before she asked Hollis Hudson to be her fake boyfriend.

It was only supposed to be for five minutes, after all.

Granted, that was also before she felt his hand on the small of her back as he charmed the heck out of her family.

And it was definitely before she saw the football god shirtless. Otherwise, she would’ve had an idea of just how hard some things could be.

It turns out that pretending to be in love with a crazily handsome, somewhat enigmatic, and absolutely unforgettable tight end (that has an amazing tight end) is easy.

Reminding herself that just because opposites attract doesn’t mean they’re forever is much harder.

What they have isn’t love—it’s a relationship pact. Right?

Review: I would like to start by saying that Hollis Hudson is officially my favourite of the three kings. River and Crew are great, no doubt about it, but Hollis? The man has layers and secrets and confidence and just everything. He’s also just a brilliant character, on the whole, and he made me feel all kinds of things. Even things I didn’t want to feel.

“Things feel different when I’m with you.”

For those who’ve read Adriana Locke books before, you’re going to recognise a lot of familiar faces. Starting with Larissa, who is a Mason and cousins with the Mason brothers (their series if ongoing). Larissa and Hollis meet in a bar in Savannah, totally by accident and she enlists him to be her fake boyfriend to shake off her asshole ex-boyfriend. And the chemistry is unreal. And after exchanging numbers and going their own way later, they have a proposition.

The Relationship Pact. They will pretend to be each other’s better halves for two events and that’s it.

Mostly because Larissa wants to focus on herself and get out of this habit of dating athletes and Hollis is not a relationship kind of guy. So it works. Right? Hollis is in town for a fundraiser, so Larissa accompanies him to an informal dinner with none other than Lincoln Landry. And then Hollis accompanies Larissa to a formal affair hosted by her stepfather. Which is when everything unravels. Oh and how delicious that unravelling is.

“He kisses me like I’ve never been kissed. It’s controlled and wild and sweet and a promise of something more lascivious.”

The chemistry between these two is off the charts. They just seem to fit together like long lost puzzle pieces and it’s so great to watch them interact. Pretending to be a couple for everyone else isn’t as hard as they think it’s going to be because of how much chemistry they have. They convince literally everyone that they’re together and Hollis and Larissa enjoy it.

I love how private Hollis is about his life, he’s okay revealing certain things, but he likes to keep most of it close to his chest. Larissa, on the other hand, is completely different. She’s an open book, as she likes to remind Hollis. She wants to get to know the real guy wooing her, but the problem is, Hollis doesn’t want to share. He’s not proud of his past and he’s still battling his demons. But that doesn’t take away from how strong a character he is. And Larissa can see that. Their relationship hits differently, which is why I just fell in love with them together and apart. Hollis might have his secrets and he might be holding Larissa at a distance, but this guy is perfection. He pays attention and he remembers the little details. And even when he doesn’t want to fall in love, he ends up doing just that without even trying. Ugh, it’s truly the little things that make you love him.

“We kiss more than we fuck. We touch more than we come. We laugh and tickle and take our time. I’m not sure what to call this, but it isn’t fucking. It isn’t sex. But it is the best. Because it’s with her.”

As always, we’ve got the three best friends communicating and creating absolute havoc. River, Crew and Hollis are so damn good together, it was hilarious reading all of their text exchanges. And I also love how in each of their books, they give the other relationship advice. While I don’t know if guys really do this kind of stuff, it feels real and it feels good. To have friends like that…it’s a life changing experience. And Hollis knows that, for sure.

Forever a fan of Adriana Locke and this book reminded me of all the reasons why I love her stories. While similar to her other books, this one is a stand out for me. There’s just something so raw and different about Larissa and Hollis that I can’t put my finger on, but I love nonetheless. This is also the end of the Kings of Football series and it was certainly a good way to end it.

Thanks to Adriana Locke & Candi Kane PR for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.