• Home
    • Contact Me
  • Reading Challenges
    • 2022 Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo
    • Completed Challenges
      • Pondathon II
      • CannonballRead 13 Bingo
      • SpringIntoLove Bingo
      • SnowInLove Bingo
      • JingleBooks Bingo
      • FallIntoRomBingo 2020
      • 2020 Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
      • 2018 Romance Roundabout Challenge
      • Read Harder 2018
      • January – March 2018 Quarterly Challenge
      • Title Hunt Quarterly Challenge: January – March 2018
      • Cover Hunt Quarterly Challenge: October – December 2017
      • October – December 2017 Quarterly Challenge
      • Ripped Bodice Summer Read Along Bingo
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Series
    • Reviews by Year
      • 2017 Reviews
      • 2018 Reviews
    • Reviews by Rating
  • Rating System

Llama Reads Books

This llama reads - mostly romance, fantasy and science fiction

Reviews

Review: The Friend Contract – Dria Andersen

April 19, 2021 Comment : 1

Review: The Friend Contract – Dria AndersenThe Friend Contract
by Dria Andersen
Series: Hamilton Brothers #1
Also in this series: The Alpha's Affair
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: June 16, 2020
Genres: Romance
Pages: 209
Source: Kindle Unlimited
My rating: One StarOne StarOne StarOne Star

A fake, fake marriage? Desperate times call for desperate measures. Gabe is at the point where he’ll do anything to convince Naomi to give him a chance, even going so far as to hatch up a fake marriage plot. Though the plan is fiction, his love for her is very real.

Naomi would do anything for her best friend, including going along with a fake marriage to help him out of a bind. The heat between them was unexpected, the feelings she started to develop, surprising…scary. They needed boundaries…a contract to keep careful control of the lust flaring between them. But, plans get complicated, and the bond between them is tested in a ways neither of them ever imagined. Would this contract ruin their friendship?

Amazon

Goodreads

4 stars icon m/f paranormal romance icon


Content warnings: View Spoiler »miscarriage (before book stars), unplanned pregnancy « Hide Spoiler

I am always up for a best-friends-to-lovers fake relationship book. Add it that it’s between two Black shifters, one a panther and one a bear, and I was all in. Though this is the first in the Hamilton Brothers series, twin bear shifters, there’s another book that takes place before it that talks about how the panthers ended up in Florida. There was enough explanation that I was able to get the gist of what had happened, but I would probably recommend reading Chasing Savannah, about Naomi’s cousin, first if you’re worried about missing anything.

“I don’t want to marry her,” He barely kept himself from rolling his eyes at his ridiculous story.
“But you want to marry any other stranger.” She frowned.
“I am not asking a stranger, I’m asking my best friend.”

Gabe has known that best friend Naomi is his mate for forever, but Naomi is latent, so she’s always brushed it off as a joke. And after a disastrous relationship with another shifter, she’s sworn off shifters forever. After all, because of her latent status – meaning she’s not able to shift into a panther – she’s not sure she’d even be able to form a mating bond, and that’s the gold standard for shifters. But with the new Felix of the panther pack in charge, Naomi’s taken her place as the Zeta, responsible for being the emotional balance of the prowl, and her powers have increased. And she’s surprised by her reaction to Gabe the first time she sees him after that… Gabe’s accepted being in the friend zone because he’ll take time with her whatever way he can get it. But when she hints that she’s thinking of dating again, he panics and makes up a fake betrothal and begs for her help. The obvious solution to getting out of it? Getting Naomi to agree to a fake marriage, giving him more time to convince her that they can be good together. But when is lying to your mate ever a good idea?

I loved Naomi and Gabe. It’s obvious they’re great friends and they’re similar in a lot of other ways. They’re both workaholics who have a tendency to get lost in their work. For Gabe, it’s tedious contract details for the family law firm, and for Naomi, her painting. After a lifetime of keeping herself separate from her panther pack due to her latency, she’s reveling in her newfound powers as Zeta and her place in the pack. The Zeta is the emotional balance of a pack, a passive ability that for her basically just means she keeps an open door so that pack members can drop in and hang out with her whenever. The increased attraction to Gabe is surely just a distraction, but when he asks for help, how can she say no?

“He’s a bear.”
Naomi sat next to her older sister. “I’m aware.”
Charlotte wrapped her arm around Naomi’s shoulder. “Bears are slow, and assholes, sister, Gabe more than most.”
Naomi sighed. “I want to say he’s different, but I’d be lying.”

There’s a lot of impediments to their relationship. The last time Gabe told Naomi that she was his mate was right after she had the miscarriage that ended her past relationship – absolutely cringeworthy bad timing, but he couldn’t help himself. Gabe also knows that he shouldn’t be lying to her about the nonexistent betrothal, something his family, especially his mom, give him no end of grief over. There’s also the fact that Gabe’s a bear shifter while Naomi’s a panther, and Naomi worries that a relationship between them will jeopardize her new place in her pack. Not to mention, her friendship with Gabe is one of the most important relationships in her life, and when this fake relationship goes sour – which she’s sure it will – she worries it will ruin their friendship. But as time passes and Naomi settles into her latent powers, she starts to suspect that maybe Gabe really is her mate. She’s still terrified that she won’t be able to bond with him, though – and there’s another reason to fear the bond that she hasn’t told him.

Besides the couple, I loved the side characters. Gabe’s bear family – who seems to communicate mostly through grumpy grunts – was hilarious, especially his mother and triplet sisters. I also loved Naomi’s close relationship with her sister Charlotte and her cousin Savannah. The entire plot revolves around their relationship over the course of several months, so if you’re looking for something more high stakes, this isn’t it. I liked it, though, and found it very cozy. I do wish Naomi had give Gabe more grief over the initial lie, but her actions were entirely what I’d expect from her character.

Overall, this was a quick, enjoyable, and easy read, and I’m even more eager to read my ARC of Gabe’s brother Brent’s story.

Related Posts

  • Hamilton Brothers Series
  • By Dria Andersen
  • Same Genre
The Alpha's Affair
Review: The Alpha’s Affair – Dria Andersen
The Alpha's Affair
Review: The Alpha’s Affair – Dria Andersen
Surrender to the Moonlight
Review: Surrender to the Moonlight – Dria Andersen
Review: Cherish Hard – Nalini Singh
Cup of Joe
Review: Cup of Joe – Annabeth Albert
Review: Alaskan Christmas Escape – Juno Rushdan
Date in a Pinch
Review: Date in a Pinch – Brigham Vaughn

You might also enjoy

Apocalypse FiveReview: Apocalypse Five – Stacey Rourke
Meet Me in MadridReview: Meet Me in Madrid – Verity Lowell
Journey Back to Christmas coverReview: Journey Back to Christmas – Leigh Duncan
Previous:
Review: Method Acting – Adele Buck
Next:
Review: When the Smoke Clears – C. Chilove

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Me


READING LLAMA

Hi, my name is Lauren, and I’m the Reading Llama! I love reading books. My favorites usually include a female protagonist with at least a little bit of romance.

Twitter    Goodreads    RSS    email

Follow

Currently Reading

June Reviews

Oaths of Legacy  by Emily SkrutskieThe Dawnhounds by Sascha StronachSweet Berries by C.M. NascostaDead Draw by Layla ReynePartners in Crime by Rachel BowdlerThe Merciless Ones by Namina FornaAll Signs Point to Yes by Cam Montgomery, Adrianne White, g. haron davis, Tehlor Kay Mejia, Mark Oshiro, Eric Smith, Emery Lee, Byron Graves, Karuna Riazi, Roselle Lim, Alexandra Villasante, Lily Anderson, Kiana Nguyen

Recently Read

Goodreads Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge

2022 Reading Challenge
Lauren has
read 7 books toward
her goal of
250 books.
hide

7 of 250 (2%)
view books

Reading Challenges

Ripped Bodice Summer Romance Bingo 2022

RB Summer Romance Bingo 2022
June 1 - August 31

hide
3 of 25 (12%)

Badges

25 Book Reviews Reviews Published Professional Reader Frequently Auto-Approved Romanceopoly 2019 Participant

Latest Tweets

Tweets by llamareadsbooks

Currently Reading

  • Ghosts, a secret library and magic collide in a dystopian Edinburgh. Highly recommended!
  • This month’s sticker from the #RomStickerClub is super cute and SHINY!
  • Finished up my ARC of Jackie Lau’s His Grumpy Childhood Friend (out this Tuesday) and I loved this quote! “Practice”
  • Starting off with a quote from one of my favorite books, Charlie Adhara’s The Wolf at Bay, second in Big

Categories

  • Book Tour
  • Challenge
  • Cover Reveal
  • Excerpt
  • lol
  • Most Anticipated
  • PondathonII
  • Reviews
  • Sunday Update
  • TBR
  • Uncategorized
  • Wrap-Up

Copyright © 2022 · Dreams Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in