Title: Marriage on Madison Avenue
Series: Central Park Pact, #3
Author: Lauren Layne
Publication Date: January 28, 2020
Genres: Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Add to: Goodreads / Amazon
Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5 stars)

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne, comes the final installment of the Central Park Pact series, a heartfelt and laugh-out-loud romantic comedy that’s perfect for fans of Sally Thorne and Christina Lauren.

Can guys and girls ever be just friends? According to Audrey Tate and Clarke West, absolutely. After all, they’ve been best friends since childhood without a single romantic entanglement. Clarke is the charming playboy Audrey can always count on, and he knows that the ever-loyal Audrey will never not play along with his strategy for dodging his matchmaking mother—announcing he’s already engaged…to Audrey.

But what starts out as a playful game between two best friends turns into something infinitely more complicated, as just-for-show kisses begin to stir up forbidden feelings. As the faux wedding date looms closer, Audrey and Clarke realize that they can never go back to the way things were, but deep down, do they really want to?

This was kind of worth the wait and somehow a didn't-meet-my-expectation (yes, singular) one at the same time. I've reread this and changed my rating from 4 stars down to 3.5 stars. Just a half star actually.

Marriage on Madison Avenue was cute and adorable. I love both Clarke and Audrey as individuals and as a couple. I've always loved best-friends-to-lovers stories and it's one of my favorite tropes (definitely my most favorite). It was nice to get a glimpse of their chemistry and how they're so familiar with each other. They just click which makes them my favorite couple from the series even though I rated Love on Lexington Avenue higher. It's just because the romance felt so lacking here. And I shouldn't be surprised because Central Park Pact hardly has romance in it. It has 90% build-up between the characters' growth and their relationship with each other then the 10% is the romance. I wouldn't have mind it if this was targeted as Chick-Lit/Women's Fiction but it's not.

Anyway, Audrey and Clarke got a ton of sweet moments that made me smile and it would've been PERFECT if I wasn't reminded from time to time that they're just doing this for show. I don't mind the fake-relationship trope (I actually enjoy it) but for this part, I wish I read more of them as an actual couple than the part where they had to keep up fake appearances even though they're already aware of each other's feelings.

This is the last installment for this series and I'm actually gonna miss them. I love love love how these three women came together and became best of friends despite the circumstances that brought them together in Central Park. This series also has one of the PRETTIEST covers in romance ever and I wish Lauren Layne's books got illustrated covers because they're so pretty and really captures the characters. And with that, I say goodbye to this world. Will likely reread some bits and pieces from time to time, as what I do with this author's books.