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The Pact: A Small-Town Romance
A small-town baker mixes business with pleasure when she falls for her off-limits realtor.
Ava Lancaster wants one to convince her best friends to move back to their hometown of Cedar Springs.
Luckily for Ava, the five girls made a pact their senior year of high school–if they all turned thirty without getting married, they would return to Cedar Springs, buy the abandoned Victorian manor on Main Street, and open a bed and breakfast together. And, because sometimes good things do happen to good people, the manor goes up for sale the same weekend Ava turns thirty. Everything is falling into place.
Until it isn’t.
Between running her bakery without help, convincing two of the girls that friendship is worth the effort of a big move, and dealing with Benjamin McKinley the Traitor (who of course is the real estate agent selling the property), Ava starts to worry that her lifelong dream is crumbling around her.
Ben McKinley believes in putting the past behind him, a mentality that’s served him well so far. Unfortunately for Ben, past mistakes that he’d hoped were long gone rear their ugly heads in the form of Ava Lancaster and her friends.
Did he break up with her best friend on prom night? Yes. Did he think it was a decision that would haunt him into adulthood? Absolutely not. Yet here he is, somehow struggling with the same problem he had fifteen years ago.
Normally, he’d just put as much distance between himself and the women as possible. Normally, he’d continue stuffing his inconvenient crush on Ava back out of reach where it belonged.
But Ben is a realtor and the manor belonged to his grandmother.
Which means that Ben is about to spend a lot of time pretending he hasn’t always been in love with Ava.
The Pact is the first book in a cozy, spicy, small-town contemporary romance series set in Cedar Springs.
Ava Lancaster wants one to convince her best friends to move back to their hometown of Cedar Springs.
Luckily for Ava, the five girls made a pact their senior year of high school–if they all turned thirty without getting married, they would return to Cedar Springs, buy the abandoned Victorian manor on Main Street, and open a bed and breakfast together. And, because sometimes good things do happen to good people, the manor goes up for sale the same weekend Ava turns thirty. Everything is falling into place.
Until it isn’t.
Between running her bakery without help, convincing two of the girls that friendship is worth the effort of a big move, and dealing with Benjamin McKinley the Traitor (who of course is the real estate agent selling the property), Ava starts to worry that her lifelong dream is crumbling around her.
Ben McKinley believes in putting the past behind him, a mentality that’s served him well so far. Unfortunately for Ben, past mistakes that he’d hoped were long gone rear their ugly heads in the form of Ava Lancaster and her friends.
Did he break up with her best friend on prom night? Yes. Did he think it was a decision that would haunt him into adulthood? Absolutely not. Yet here he is, somehow struggling with the same problem he had fifteen years ago.
Normally, he’d just put as much distance between himself and the women as possible. Normally, he’d continue stuffing his inconvenient crush on Ava back out of reach where it belonged.
But Ben is a realtor and the manor belonged to his grandmother.
Which means that Ben is about to spend a lot of time pretending he hasn’t always been in love with Ava.
The Pact is the first book in a cozy, spicy, small-town contemporary romance series set in Cedar Springs.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 30, 2024
55 people are currently reading
78 people want to read
About the author
Sophia Nye
16 books64 followersSophia has been writing down stories since she learned how to use a pencil. She loves learning almost as much as she loves writing, pursuing both her undergraduate and master’s degrees. Most of her studies involved Ireland and England, and she is excited to expand her research into Scotland. She’s been thoroughly enjoying the background reading!
After marrying her high school sweetheart, attending grad school, and moving nearly ten times in as many years, Sophia and her husband settled into a lake house in northern Indiana. They live happily in the middle of nowhere with two little boys, two atrociously rude doggos, and one ornery cat.
After marrying her high school sweetheart, attending grad school, and moving nearly ten times in as many years, Sophia and her husband settled into a lake house in northern Indiana. They live happily in the middle of nowhere with two little boys, two atrociously rude doggos, and one ornery cat.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 24, 2024
A pact between 5 teenage girls, enemies to lovers/forbidden love story. This book will bring you to tears. Loved every moment and hope there's going to be follow up books. I definitely recommend this book to contemporary romance lovers.
December 17, 2025
Ava
A small town chef and baker makes a pack with her high school best friends. When they become 30 they would come back purchase the big house downtown and turn it into a B&B.
Loved it !!!!
A small town chef and baker makes a pack with her high school best friends. When they become 30 they would come back purchase the big house downtown and turn it into a B&B.
Loved it !!!!
September 24, 2024
The Pact: A Small-Town Romance
by Sophia Nye
I received a complimentary copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Pact by Sophia Nye starts with a group of girls discussing their hopes and dreams for the future. From the very beginning, it's clear that they are close and similar yet have their own individuality that sets them apart from one another. Ava wishes that they could stay like this forever, living and making plans together, desperately hoping that nothing would change. So, they made a deal: if they were still single by the age of 30, they would all move back home and be together again.
The story moves forward to Ava as an adult, almost 30 years old. Will the girls turn up? Will they keep their pact?
And then there is Ben. Ben the handsome and confident man who knows what he is doing and where his life is heading. Ben, who used to date Jules, one of the girls. The same Ben who also dumped Jules before Prom which made him the Enemy. When his grandmother's home is put on the market, what he thought would be a straightforward sale proves to be a life changer. Little did he think the girls he knew from high school would disrupt his life and turn it on its head. He couldn't resist Ava then and he can't resist her now. If only things weren't so complicated. If only she didn't seem to hate him! What will he do? Is he prepared to ignore any chance he may have with Ava?
Find answers to these intriguing questions by reading The Pact.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was so well-written and engaging. I loved everything about it - the characters, the plot, the pacing, the writing style, the mood, and the organization. Sophia Nye paid great attention to small details, which made the story very believable and relatable to me. It reminded me of my high school years with a group of girls. We always thought things would stay the same, but eventually, life took us in different directions. Even though we promised to stay in touch and get together whenever possible, it never seemed to work out that way, and eventually, we drifted apart. Ava clings desperately to her memories of how things used to be, not wanting to accept that people change, but the story shows that change doesn't have to be a bad thing.
I was completely absorbed in the journey of the characters as they tried to find their way. The story had enough depth to keep me interested until the very end, especially with the palpable tension between Ava and Ben. The chapters alternate between Ava and Ben's perspectives, which kept me engaged as I enjoyed getting insight into both characters at the same time.
Both the narration and dialogue worked well to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. The author vividly painted the scenes while ensuring that the pace of the book steadily increased as the pages turned. The dialogue also brought the characters to life by giving them a voice and personality.
"Three pots of tea later, the scones were gone, we'd collapsed onto the living room furniturelike fainting ladies from a Victorian painting," - I really liked this phrase and laughed out loud because I could picture the scene. It reminded me of the movie "Pride and Prejudice" when Mr. Bingley visits Jane at home, accompanied by Mr. Darcy, and the family is sprawled over the chairs, totally unprepared.
This is a romance novel with one adult scene. It is fairly short, so readers who prefer a sweet romance may wish to skip over those few paragraphs. I give The Pact a five out of five stars and recommend it to people who love romances. The conclusion wrapped up the book so well and left a smile on my face.
by Sophia Nye
I received a complimentary copy and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Pact by Sophia Nye starts with a group of girls discussing their hopes and dreams for the future. From the very beginning, it's clear that they are close and similar yet have their own individuality that sets them apart from one another. Ava wishes that they could stay like this forever, living and making plans together, desperately hoping that nothing would change. So, they made a deal: if they were still single by the age of 30, they would all move back home and be together again.
The story moves forward to Ava as an adult, almost 30 years old. Will the girls turn up? Will they keep their pact?
And then there is Ben. Ben the handsome and confident man who knows what he is doing and where his life is heading. Ben, who used to date Jules, one of the girls. The same Ben who also dumped Jules before Prom which made him the Enemy. When his grandmother's home is put on the market, what he thought would be a straightforward sale proves to be a life changer. Little did he think the girls he knew from high school would disrupt his life and turn it on its head. He couldn't resist Ava then and he can't resist her now. If only things weren't so complicated. If only she didn't seem to hate him! What will he do? Is he prepared to ignore any chance he may have with Ava?
Find answers to these intriguing questions by reading The Pact.
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was so well-written and engaging. I loved everything about it - the characters, the plot, the pacing, the writing style, the mood, and the organization. Sophia Nye paid great attention to small details, which made the story very believable and relatable to me. It reminded me of my high school years with a group of girls. We always thought things would stay the same, but eventually, life took us in different directions. Even though we promised to stay in touch and get together whenever possible, it never seemed to work out that way, and eventually, we drifted apart. Ava clings desperately to her memories of how things used to be, not wanting to accept that people change, but the story shows that change doesn't have to be a bad thing.
I was completely absorbed in the journey of the characters as they tried to find their way. The story had enough depth to keep me interested until the very end, especially with the palpable tension between Ava and Ben. The chapters alternate between Ava and Ben's perspectives, which kept me engaged as I enjoyed getting insight into both characters at the same time.
Both the narration and dialogue worked well to bring the story to a satisfying conclusion. The author vividly painted the scenes while ensuring that the pace of the book steadily increased as the pages turned. The dialogue also brought the characters to life by giving them a voice and personality.
"Three pots of tea later, the scones were gone, we'd collapsed onto the living room furniturelike fainting ladies from a Victorian painting," - I really liked this phrase and laughed out loud because I could picture the scene. It reminded me of the movie "Pride and Prejudice" when Mr. Bingley visits Jane at home, accompanied by Mr. Darcy, and the family is sprawled over the chairs, totally unprepared.
This is a romance novel with one adult scene. It is fairly short, so readers who prefer a sweet romance may wish to skip over those few paragraphs. I give The Pact a five out of five stars and recommend it to people who love romances. The conclusion wrapped up the book so well and left a smile on my face.
February 23, 2025
Small-Town Romance
This is a story about love, friendship, and mistakes that haunt us long after they should. Ava and her friends had a dream of owning a bed and breakfast for many years. A manor they wanted went up for sale. However, it was not just any old manor. It was a house owned by the family of a man who dumped one of the friends back in high school. It has been over a decade, but the friends still resent him. To complicate things further, Ben had feelings for Ava. As she got to know him, her heart would get involved, too. However, there was a code about falling in love with the man who was once the boyfriend of one of your best friends. How would it all turn out? There were quite a few challenges to overcome. Love and friendship would collide in a heartbreaking way. Did Ava and Ben stand a chance? Would the women have the bed and breakfast they had long dreamed about? For the answers, you would want to read this entertaining small-town romance. There might be moments that you could reach for that box of tissues.
This is a story about love, friendship, and mistakes that haunt us long after they should. Ava and her friends had a dream of owning a bed and breakfast for many years. A manor they wanted went up for sale. However, it was not just any old manor. It was a house owned by the family of a man who dumped one of the friends back in high school. It has been over a decade, but the friends still resent him. To complicate things further, Ben had feelings for Ava. As she got to know him, her heart would get involved, too. However, there was a code about falling in love with the man who was once the boyfriend of one of your best friends. How would it all turn out? There were quite a few challenges to overcome. Love and friendship would collide in a heartbreaking way. Did Ava and Ben stand a chance? Would the women have the bed and breakfast they had long dreamed about? For the answers, you would want to read this entertaining small-town romance. There might be moments that you could reach for that box of tissues.
September 28, 2024
This is the first book in the new series of Cedar Springs and I am HERE FOR THEM ALL!
Ava is the female lead in this book and I just loved her from the start. Fiercely loyal and a lover at heart, she has had a lot of personal experiences to overcome. While she is strong enough to overcome these obstacles, she does it all alone. When her 30th birthday comes up, she and her high school besties are reminded about a pact that they made. Will they hold true to their pact?
I loved Ava, I enjoyed how Ben evolved in the readers eyes. The town was painted so beautifully that I want to visit there. I loved all of the monitor characters who made the town feel realistic. Everyone needs someone to tell them to "get new friends" more often.
I will definitely recommend this book and series to all who like a good, low spice romance.
Thank you for the copy, this is my honest opinion.
Ava is the female lead in this book and I just loved her from the start. Fiercely loyal and a lover at heart, she has had a lot of personal experiences to overcome. While she is strong enough to overcome these obstacles, she does it all alone. When her 30th birthday comes up, she and her high school besties are reminded about a pact that they made. Will they hold true to their pact?
I loved Ava, I enjoyed how Ben evolved in the readers eyes. The town was painted so beautifully that I want to visit there. I loved all of the monitor characters who made the town feel realistic. Everyone needs someone to tell them to "get new friends" more often.
I will definitely recommend this book and series to all who like a good, low spice romance.
Thank you for the copy, this is my honest opinion.
June 24, 2025
This was a rather depressing read. A failure to communicate in high school, left the two main characters locked in a feud ten years later. It does end in an HEA after quite the fuss.
September 9, 2025
Her friends are the absolute worst.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews