Review: “The Friendship Contract” by Mia Heintzelman

Series: Terms & Conditions #1

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Steam: 🔥🔥🔥

Release Date: February 8th, 2022

Add to Goodreads | Amazon.in (Available in KU)

This contract is entered into by and between Allegra Malone and Damon Dawson. The term of this agreement shall begin immediately and continue through its termination date of never.

The terms are as follows:

1. Find the bright side when your best friend (the woman you’ve secretly been in love with for 10+ years) finds an engagement ring in her live-in boyfriend’s gym bag.

2. When she discovers the ring isn’t for her, and you volunteer to mop up her tears, don’t freak out if you accidentally share a world-shattering kiss.

3. Remember she’s your best friend and law firm partner…and a hopeless romantic. Being her rebound isn’t worth risking the only family you have.

4. Immediately—rationally—draw up a no-strings agreement, stipulating equal opportunity orgasms. Under no circumstances is PDA or catching (further) feelings allowed.

5. If while adding a wedding plus-one clause, the doorbell rings and it’s a moving company with all her belongings, and now you’re going to be roommates, shower. The colder, the better.

In consideration of the mutual promises set forth herein, both parties agree that if at anytime while forced to live and work together they find themselves falling in love, they will re-read the fine print.

Fine Print: Do not fall in love.

This contract shall be binding and may not be modified in any manner unless in writing and signed by both parties.

If you’re looking for a quick, fun and sexy read featuring two best friends who fall in love and have to go through the motions of figuring out what that means, then The Friendship Contract is for you. Mia Heintzelman’s quick paced storytelling will have you breezing through this story pretty easily and you’ll fall in love with all the characters. Especially Lea Cook, who I hope is getting her own book, because my Spidey senses are tingling!

Allegra Malone and Damon Dawson are best friends and together with a third best friend opened their own law firm the first chance they got. The Trio, as they refer to themselves, have always had each other’s backs. They work together, they stay friends forever and everything is great. When Allegra’s boyfriend of two years not only dumps her, but proposes to another woman hours later, she’s falling apart at the seams and the only person who can seem to help her back up is Damon. Like a knight in shining armor, he swoops in, takes her back to his place and offers her somewhere to stay the night. But when one rogue kiss leads to hidden feelings coming to the surface, things start to get interesting. Throw in a trip to Hawaii for Allegra’s brother’s wedding and an only one bed situation, everything Allegra and Damon have been holding back is no longer under the surface.

I love me a good best friends to lovers romance, especially when the love has been there for close to 12 years and nobody has acted on it. I really enjoyed the friendship between Allegra, Damon and Lea and how all three of them bring something different to the relationship. Of course, the most important part of this friendship is Allegra and Damon and their unsaid feelings exploding into something so magical.

“You’re a beautiful surprise in the middle of all this chaos.”

Their relationship didn’t happen gradually, no. Because Damon’s been in love with Allegra for so long, when they finally take that leap, they go all in. And it’s hot. They’re meant to be celebrating someone else’s wedding, but the two of them can’t seem to stop celebrating themselves, if you know what I mean. Allegra and Damon have crazy chemistry and it’s no doubt that they can’t seem to find it in them to celebrate weddings when their bodies are well tuned to each other. I liked the banter and the constant references to the years they’ve known each other, all of the cute little moments made for something special in their love story.

I also really enjoyed seeing the work side of things. It’s not often you get an extensive look into the jobs the characters have, but in this one there’s a pretty big case that brings in some emotions for all parties involved. And I enjoyed that. It also definitely made me curious about Lea’s future and how Fallon Yu might play into the grand scheme of things..

The only thing I had an issue with was how fast their relationship came together. I would have liked a little more build up and complications. Don’t get me wrong, every now and then we all like a little insta lust/love, but it would have been good to have a lot of their concerns handled at the beginning. There’s some tension, there’s a little angst and a lot of great scenes between friends that rounds out this book. And I’m really looking forward to what else Mia has in store for us!

Thanks to Mia Heintzelman for generously providing me with an advance copy. I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.