The Friendsgiving Pact: A Thanksgiving Romance – A Cozy College Friends-to-Lovers Story of Fake Dating and Real Love

by Elizabeth Davis

The last place college freshmen Avery and Theo want to be is home for the holiday. Both freshly single and dreading being in the same town as their exes for a week, they devise a plan to fake date to make it through Thanksgiving Break. Fans of cozy romances and friends-to-lovers will adore this fall love story.

Best friends Avery and Theo are home for the holiday during their freshmen year of college, and they have one goal this survive the week without romantic disasters. Avery’s determined to stay out of her ex-boyfriend’s orbit, while Theo’s dodging his ex-girlfriend who is thinking of switching schools to be with him. Their solution? Fake date through turkey dinners and awkward family moments, then “break up” the second they’re back on campus.

But pretending to be in love has a way of blurring lines. Between surprisingly hot kisses and the softer moments in between, Avery and Theo find themselves grappling with feelings that are anything but fake. Memories of high school spark, old wounds resurface, and the chemistry they’ve ignored for years becomes impossible to deny.

Caught between the holiday break chaos and their own tangled emotions, Avery and Theo must decide if this charade is really just a convenient escape… or the beginning of something far more real.



Fake dating

Friends to lovers

Bad boy x golden girl

Family drama

Small town

Genres: Romance, Friends To Lovers, Thanksgiving, Holiday

288 pages, Paperback

Expected publication October 20, 2026

About the author

Elizabeth Davis wrote her first book as an elementary school assignment when she was eight years old. It was called Silly Excuses—a book about fantastic excuses young children can tell their parents when misbehaving. Not only did she pass the project with flying colors, but her teacher was so taken with the book that she had it published in the school library. Elizabeth has been writing ever since and is currently the author of the Sanctorum Order series, which consists of thrilling contemporary romances.

She lives in The Netherlands with her husband, their son, and family cat. http://www.elizabeth-davis.com.

Reviews

[Soph · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️3.25 Stars⭐️
Sweet, cozy and a quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Avery and Theo are both likeable characters, but Theo stood out more to me. Avery felt a bit messy, to be honest. They are both strong-minded people and like to bicker, but you can feel that they deeply care for each other.
Their behavior really shows how young they are. I wasn’t a fan of the back and forth involving Avery’s ex, which felt more frustrating than engaging.

The story overall just didn’t hit for me. The feelings didn’t really come through, and there was a lot of miscommunication toward the end of the book.

I did like the cozy fall and winter vibes though.

That said, it’s an easy and okay read—just not really memorable or groundbreaking.

Perfect for fans of:
• Best friends to lovers
• He falls first
• Fake dating
• Small town vibes

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 ⭐️ thank you netgalley and Elizabeth Davis for the e-arc!

I honestly hate leaving bad reviews so I am so sad to say that I did not enjoy reading this story. I loved the description and cover of the book, so I jumped right in and unfortunately almost every single part of the story fell flat for me. Avery and Theo were both insufferable to me, and I really, REALLY hate emotional cheating. It is something that absolutely takes me out of a romance book and since Theo has been in love with Avery the whole year he was with his ex, Izzy, it made it really hard for me to even root for Avery and Theo’s eventual relationship.

The fake dating plot didn’t have a substantial enough reason for them to jump head first into it… can people not have normal conversations anymore? Every single time there needed to be a discussion or a conversation the main characters would just kiss and pretend they don’t need to talk, and then, shocker!, it blows up in their face.

I also did not love Avery’s resentment towards her mom. It was very hard to read at times, very reflective of issues too close to my life that seeing how Avery reacted in this situation and coped with everything was very disheartening.

I know they are freshman in college, I know they are 18, but the immaturity in this book was just hard to get by. However… that has to be one of the most realistic parts. I think this book would be more successful as a young adult novel if we remove the two (for random, no reason?) super short but randomly descriptive, super short and fast, steamy fingering sessions?

I would love to give this author another shot on her next book, but this just didn’t do it for me.

[T · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley & Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!!

+ pros:
- high school friends to lovers
- small town vibes
- easy to follow dual timeline

~ cons:
- clunky paragraph structure
- too much info while also getting not enough information where it matters
- miscommunication trope that envelops every aspect of decision making by every single character (including side characters)

the storyline idea itself is what pulled me in, but the writing feels almost stale, with detailed descriptions of scenes that didn’t feel important to story development. Also feels like too much emphasis on side characters and not enough on the MC’s personalities outside of the plot line of fake dating/secret keeping from other characters.

Because of this, everyone in this book seems to care so much about what people think about them but as the reader I don't even know who these characters feel like they are outside of them being perceived by others.


fun blackout drunk challenge while reading: take a shot every time they kiss instead of communicating!

[Josephine Salgado · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed diving into The Friendsgiving Pact! The chapters are very short and felt like a fast quick read.

This story follows avery and theo, best friends who decide to enter a "fake relationship" pact to avoid back tracking with their recent exes before heading off to college. They think it will be an easy task because they don’t have feelings for each other, and they are bestfriends so how hard could it really be? If things got uncomfortable they can always tell each other and stop immediately, but the spark everyone else already saw starts to become impossible for them to ignore.

Dual pov: I loved being able to see inside both avery and theo’s heads. Getting both perspectives made the chemistry feel so much more intense and passionate.

The writing was perfect. I felt like I was right there in the story. I found myself smiling so much at their interactions. the way they describe their moments together is incredibly heartfelt.

Watching them slowly realize that their act was becoming a reality was definitely the highlight. You can really feel the emotional toll.

What frustrated me was avery has a deep hatred for lying because of her parents' history, which I understood, but it felt hypocritical at the time since she was actively lying about the pact to her family and friends. So Her over reaction to theo and her friends over a relatively small thing, made it hard to side with her at times. When she found out theo had feelings for her since way before the pact and yet he still went with her idea, she used it as a reason to stop talking to him. Then seeing her run back to the familiarity of her ex. The same guy who dumped her over FaceTime! It was a frustrating turn after all the progress they made.

My final thoughts, The characters are great and the emotional stakes are high, but the ending felt a little bleh for me. It left me wanting more. I felt like something was missing. I really hope there is a sequel in the works because I’m not ready to say goodbye to these two yet! Overall, a very solid romantasy read that kept me hooked until the last page.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced read.

[Aly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tropes:
Fake Dating
Best Friends to Lovers
Drama
Small Town Vibes

This was an okay book. The premise is that the two main characters, Avery and Theo end up fake dating. They do this for..well honestly for reasons that don't make sense. This very much was more like a YA than an adult book, and it was obvious by how the characters acted. Overall, I liked Theo's character, but I had issues with the FMC, Avery. She was an absolute mess, and I just couldn't really like her at all. She seemed too hypocritical and acted often like a mean girl. What Avery wanted, Avery got, even at the expense of others.

There were some things that were hard to get past in this book. It was an attempt at a cozy, but 75% of the book was the two being at either family gatherings or at drunk fest parties. The other issue was that names and people were just thrown at us. We were expected to know sooooo many names (SO MANY), who they were, how they were related to the MC's, etc. I think we had about 20-30 random people thrown at us that had no huge part in the plot. It was a lot.

One of the things that was hard to get through was that the author inserted a lot of....random paragraph stuff (it was a LOT, I mean a good portion of the book was nonsense). It was an attempt to create more backstory, but I found myself literally skipping these paragraphs because it had genuinely no involvement with the story at all. It felt like the author wasn't exactly sure where to go with the story, and so these paragraphs were added.

[Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avery and Theo - long time best friends - agree to fake date when they return to their hometown for Thanksgiving break, mainly to avoid their exes.

Best friends to lovers? check
Fake dating? check
Small town romance? check

Unfortunately, this book falls into the weird category between YA and Adult. I would say it reads best as new adult and those aged ~17-20. Perfect for late teenagers and college students struggling with those transitions.

I read in other reviews that readers did not like how immature and young Avery and Theo's management of their feelings/actions was. However, considering their ages (18 and at the end of their freshman semesters in college), their emotional maturity is exactly where I would expect it to be at. What 18 year old has it all together in terms of love and how they react to being wronged? In fact, while I do feel like some of Avery's behavior was overreacting, she reacted the same way many of us would have at 18 in that scenario, but she actually found the cause of the reaction and was able to address it maturely.

The only problem I had with this book is how much it is stressed in the beginning that Avery tends to think with her - you know what - when it comes to men, and I thought this was handled in such a weird way and that it completely warred with her character.

Overall, this was a very quick and cute read. It gave me exactly what I expected when I picked the book up. If you want a cute, fall-vibes, reliable romance? This is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Sutton Briar · Rating 4 out of 5]

-small town
-friends to lovers
-fake dating
-third act break-up

I am very grateful to have received this as an Advanced Reader Copy. This book was precisely what I needed. It follows Avery and Theo, who are college students and best friends. They decide to pretend to date to avoid their respective ex-partners over Thanksgiving. I appreciate Avery and Theo's dynamic as friends, and the way the awkwardness was portrayed when they decided to date was truly refreshing. The author did not simply make their relationship work; there was a genuine push and pull. Additionally, their friend group includes representation for the LGBTQ+ community.  This book does have some personal cons, but some love this troupe miscommunication.  Which I dont like personally, if you like it you will love this.  Also the secret Avery is hold back is sad, but once its out you feel relieved.

To elaborate on Avery, she is a loyal friend who endeavors to see the best in various situations. She also has an undisclosed issue that occasionally makes her a bit jaded, but overall, she is a sweet individual.

Theo is depicted as an antisocial, intelligent individual, reminiscent of Jess from Gilmore Girls. He is also the newest member of the friend group and has not always felt fully integrated, a feeling he also experiences at home.

This sweet, fun book is perfect for getting you in the mood for fall! I love fall romance books, especially with a cup of coffee and a blanket. 🍂☕️📚

[inmyreadingera321 · Rating 1 out of 5]

I fear… I did not enjoy this book 🫣 I was super excited because it was a best friends to lovers fake dating story set in the fall, so it checked all the boxes for me, on paper. But honestly, I didn’t vibe with any of the characters which really made it difficult to like the book.

Theo and Avery were both not super developed individually, in my opinion. Theo was supposed to be a smart bad boy (à la Jess Mariano), but he really just seemed simultaneously introverted and confident in his “outsider-ness.” And Avery… she’s supposed to be this all-American perfect student good girl (again, à la Rory Gilmore), but the only two traits about her that really came through was her hatred of lying and her “high libido.”

And yes, the irony of a girl who hates lying so much suggesting a fake dating scheme is not lost on me.

And that’s where things really just fell apart for me — Avery gets mad at Theo for lying by not telling her how felt, when his feelings are totally his own. Like, in what world is she owed knowledge of his feelings, even if they are best friends?

Which brings me to another point — they didn’t feel much like best friends. We’re told that they are, and they talk often about being friends despite being wildly different, but their friendship was underdeveloped and, frankly, unbelievable to me.

Just, not the most enjoyable reading experience, unfortunately.

————————————

Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for the ARC!

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

This was honestly a little basic… but in the same way pumpkin spice lattes are basic. Like yes, technically. Do we still love them? ABSOLUTELY.

The Friendsgiving Pact hit at exactly the right time for me. Sometimes you don’t need a romance that completely reinvents the genre. Sometimes you just want a cozy, holiday-flavored friends-to-lovers story with fake dating, unresolved feelings, awkward family moments, and enough chemistry to keep you smiling the entire time. And this delivered that perfectly.

The Thanksgiving setting honestly made the whole thing work for me even more. There’s just something about holiday chaos, seeing hometown exes, cold weather flirting, and catching feelings while pretending you’re not catching feelings that scratches a very specific romance-reader itch.

Avery and Theo were sweet together, and while I do wish the story had a little more depth emotionally, I still had a genuinely fun time reading it. It’s very bingeable, very comforting, and gives major “curl up under a blanket and ignore your responsibilities for a few hours” energy.

Was it groundbreaking? No.
Did it make me happy? Yes.
And honestly sometimes that’s exactly what I want from a romance novel.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the premise of this book and thought the idea was really cute: think the 1999 movie “Drive Me Crazy” with Melissa Joan Hart and Adrian Grenier. I even pictured the FMC and MMC looking like these two. I also really loved that it was set during Thanksgiving/Christmastime…it’s always nice to have some cozy small town romance reads for that time of year!

My biggest gripe with this story was that the characters were so immature. They were in college but acting like high school freshman or even middle schoolers at times. I really had a hard time connecting with any of them. Avery was, well, kind of a self centered brat. I was probably most intrigued by Theo’s character but wish we could have had more than just the one homecoming flashback to show how their friendship developed into bigger feelings.

That being said this was a quick and cozy read with winter holiday vibes. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoyed late 90’s early 2000’s high school romcoms like “She’s All That” and “10 Things I Hate About You.”

Thank you to Avon and Harper Voyager and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Avery and Theo have been best friends for years. Avery’s boyfriend, Cameron, recently dumped her but still texts Avery. Theo’s girlfriend, Izzy,broke up with Theo because the long distance thing wasn’t working but is thinking of transferring to his college. Avery tells Theo tell Izzy you have a new girlfriend, me. They decide to fake date during Thanksgiving break and then have things go back to just being friends. When they kiss though for the first time they both realize they have feelings for each other. Cam tries talking to Avery to get her back. Come to find out Theo has been in love with Avery for a year but never told her. Izzy shows up and asks Theo how long have you liked Avery. Avery is wondering does Theo regret everything and finds out that he lied about having feelings for her for a while. They break up because Avery isn’t sure she can trust Theo. Will they get back together?
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

[Charlotte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read if you: want hot-chocolate glow in book form, need a temporary replacement for an emotional-support rewatch, or deeply relate to Olaf and his love of warm hugs.

Avery and Theo (freshly single best friends desperate to avoid their exes) make a fake dating pact to survive their first college Thanksgiving break. He’s keeping a secret, she hates secrets, and somewhere in all the shenanigans, the line between “pretend” and “real” starts to blur.

This is the kind of book you breeze through in one or two sittings: low stakes, cozy vibes, and a plot that unfolds exactly how you expect. That predictability is part of the charm, though at times it leans a little too heavily on emotional reveals that feel more like the moment you’re supposed to react to, rather than something fully earned.

Solid cozy fall read.

Rating: 3

[☆Laura☆]

Avery y Theo siempre han sido el tipo de amigos que discuten por todo, se molestan sin parar y aun así no pueden pasar demasiado tiempo lejos del otro. Para todos en su pequeño pueblo es cuestion de tiempo para que terminen juntos.

Cuando ambos regresan a casa para el día de gracias, deciden fingir una relación para escapar de sus respectivos ex y evitar preguntas incómodas. Suena sencillo: seguir unas cuantas reglas, actuar enamorados por unos días y después volver a la normalidad.

El problema es que los besos empiezan a sentirse demasiado reales, los celos aparecen donde no deberían y la línea entre amistad y algo más se vuelve cada vez más borrosa.


___


Demasiado juvenil para mi gusto.



Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

[Lra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avery llega a la universidad intentando adaptarse a una vida nueva, pero no logra dejar atrás del todo lo que siente por su ex. Cuando regresa a su ciudad para pasar unos días con sus amigos, se reencuentra con Theo, su mejor amigo de siempre, con quien tiene una conexión tan fuerte que a veces resulta difícil de explicar. Una conversación inesperada los lleva a tomar una decisión impulsiva que parece sencilla al inicio, pero que pronto empieza a complicarlo todo.

Mientras fingen algo que no estaban planeando sentir, aparecen viejos sentimientos, celos y dudas que ninguno quiere enfrentar. Con Izzy aún presente y Cameron intentando volver, Avery tendrá que descubrir qué es lo que realmente quiere, aunque eso signifique arriesgar una de las relaciones más importantes de su vida.

[Kerry Glynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for the eARC of this book.

This was more of young adult romance and I did like it, but it was very predictable. Avery and Theo were very comfortable with each other from the first scene and it definitely helped to drive the appearance of them being together during the week of events. I liked all of their friend group and I think that tied in really nicely to the background of the story on how they all got there. Not giving any spoilers, but I felt like the situation with Avery‘s parents was like a throw in. Solid cozy and quick read.

[Addie Zadai · Rating 3 out of 5]

Avery and Theo's story is a light, easy read. The Friendsgiving Pact is a cozy vibe that is somewhat predictable, but still enjoyable. A few moments felt like I was being told what emotion to feel rather than how I would react to it. I love when a book includes a friend group with a history so that really added to the book. While I don't think I would read it again, I would recommended to read it late in the year when you really want a sweet, autumnal read.
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for this ARC opportunity. All opinions expressed are my own.

[Kristin Loves Plants · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute. Theo is the broody best friend to Avery’s sunshine and they’ve both had a thing for each other since meeting in high school in one way or another. They’ve also never acted on it but now it’s Thanksgiving break and they both want to avoid getting back together with their exes. Insert fake dating to the rescue. Fake dating with some benefits and a wee bit of angst. I thought this was an adorable quick read and will hit hard for the holiday season capturing all the winter vibes!

[Elle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of those books where I was rooting for the mcs to get together not because I wanted them together, but because they were both so awful I wanted to save other people from having to date them. Tbf to them though, EVERYONE in this book was awful, so it’s not like they stand out in this world.

The writing was juvenile and not for me.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed The Friendsgiving Pact by Elizabeth Davis- even if I did read a Thanksgiving romance in the middle of spring! It was a cute, quick break from reality that I will have to read again when it comes out in the fall! Thank you NetGalley as well as Avon and Harper Voyager for the ARC!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was ok and had some cute moments. You knew from the start how it was going to end. My problem was how Avery got mad at Theo for lying and how mad she got about lying. She was a hypocrite about lying because she was too.

I received this arc from Netgalley.

[Mackenzie Parker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this before release.

Really appreciate being accepted to read this book. This was such a cute little filler read to take a break from fantasy books. I do love a friends-to-lovers story, but I felt like this one was a bit rushed. Still a very good book to finish in a few days after having major FOMO from a different series.

[Sheleah · Rating 3 out of 5]

ARC review

This book was… fine. I found Avery insufferable but that’s expected for a new college student. I can recognize the growth she had but something just fell flat. I didn’t really feel the chemistry between her and Theo. Something was missing, I’m just not sure what.

[Stephanie Walton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute friends to lovers, small town, home for the holidays romance! Easy and fun read for anyone looking for a cozy fall book!

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought was a really cute book. Its a great read for fall season and Thanksgiving time.