A USA TODAY bestseller! One of O, The Oprah Magazine’s “22 Romance Novels That Are Set to Be the Best of 2020” and one of Goodreads’s “28 of the Hottest Romances of 2020” From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne, the “queen of witty dialogue” (Rachel Van Dyken, New York Times bestselling author), comes the final installment of the Central Park Pact series, a heartfelt and … 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?
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Despite the persistent urge to want to shake Audrey & Clarke, forcing them both to see what was right in front of them, this friends-to-lovers romance is a fun, flirty, and all-around entertaining finale to a uniquely charming series. Add to that the cross-over element, and it became even more so!
As with each book in this Central Park Pact series, “Marriage on Madison Avenue” can be read as a stand-alone. Still, I would highly recommend starting at the very beginning, where Naomi, Claire and Audrey first met and formed their odd, yet endearing friendship.
It is said that all good things must come to an end. And while “Marriage on Madison Avenue” marks the end of this particular series, I look forward to all of the new romantic adventures that author Lauren Layne has lurking out on the horizon.
Without a doubt, the best in the series!!! Lauren Layne’s writing is always great, but friends to lovers romance is where she really shines. I loved the easy connection these two share, the banter and chemistry that steals the show from the beginning. While I’ve sometimes found the characters in this series to be difficult to connect to – their lives are just so incredibly different from the world I know – but it was easy to sit back and enjoy this romance as it unfolded. I binged this in one sitting, and it wrapped up the series on such a high note.
The story follows Audrey, a Manhattanite who earns a living (not that she needs to) as a social media influencer. We met her in the previous books in the series – which are not required reading but enhance the story. After discovering that the man she thought she’d marry was already married to someone else, her foundation was rocked. Audrey’s no longer sure that she’s deserving of a real relationship, and when her best guy friend, Clarke, uses her to get his overbearing mother off his back by claiming they are engaged, she decides to just embrace it for awhile. Though Audrey and Clarke have the kind of friendship that only comes from years of knowing and loving each other, they’ve never considered crossing the line into more. But somehow talking about their fake wedding and sharing not-so-fake touches feels much more natural than either one expected – and that’s scary in its own right.
I love Layne’s books because they’re consistently solid reads, but this is truly the best in the series. I appreciated how much of the story is told from Clarke’s perspective, because it gave insight into this complex relationship and made it easier to follow along with how they were each feeling as things progressed. Since these two are already lifelong friends, the intimacy they share is palpable and continues to grow as they get closer. It’s a relationship with depth that far exceeds that of many you’ll find in other romance novels. I loved it from start to finish. I received an ARC via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review of this friends to lovers romance.
I’m telling you all, Lauren Layne has a gift. I’m not a big fan of friends-to-lovers stories; the easiness and familiarity between the main characters usually bore me to tears because I always need that extra spice for me to feel excited but Lauren Layne… how does she make the banter, even between long-time friends, so much fun?
I was also positively surprised to see that both Audrey and Clarke were “genuine” friends who’ve never EVER thought about hooking up before. In childhood friends-to-lovers stories there tends to be one who already harbors feelings for the other (from what I’ve read so far) so it was refreshing to witness both their feelings develop naturally.
Okay so full disclosure, this easily could have been a 3 star as well. The problem with being a mood reader is, you either hate a book because absolutely EVERYTHING rubs you the wrong way (even though it shouldn’t) or you’re completely aware of its weaknesses but love the book anyway.
What I didn’t like
I didn’t feel the main couple’s chemistry (as lovers) as much as I would have liked.
Everyone who has been reading Lauren Layne’s last few releases knows that they are pretty low in heat, i.e. they are clean romances. Personally, I don’t have a problem with it, sometimes it’s nice to get more “quality time” with the couple and not get interrupted by a sex scene every few pages BUT, I do think that this particular trope here would have benefitted from a descriptive sex scene or at least a little bit MORE than what was shown. As I said before, the change from friends to lovers happened quite naturally but that specific SPARK was missing to make me really love them as a couple.
A bit more discretion would have been desirable. The characters (be it Audrey and Clarke or Audrey with her friends) always had what was supposed to be a “private” conversation in very public places. It was very convenient that no outsider ever overheard their conversation, or else the secret would have been spilled long before they even got that far with their fake engagement.
I wasn’t a big fan of the conflict. It was pretty predictable.
Friends to Lovers tropes are one of my favorite romances but its also one of the most difficult to write I would think. Especially the long standing friendships that has continued on from childhood. Such is the one in Lauren Layne’s latest, Marriage in Madison Avenue, the third book in her Central Park Pact series. Those who have read the first two books know the protagonists here, Audrey and Clarke. Childhood BFFs who’ve always had each others back from pretend engagements and back. So why is this latest pretense starting to feel a lot like the real thing? And when the charade ends were will these two stand in the way of before and after falling in love…. with each other.
As I said, friends to lovers are I think one of the most difficult to make a believable transition especially with long standing friendships but rejoice and behold Ms. Layne has managed it beautifully. Audrey and Clarke will delight, amaze and make you sigh with how the romance part of the friendship gradually unfolds between two people who love each other deeply but now has the courage to express how much they’re in love with one another. Marriage in Madison Avenue is fantastic ending to I think is one of Ms. Layne’s best series.
I have been anxiously awaiting Audrey and Clarke’s story and I just couldn’t get enough. Entertaining, sexy, witty banter, friendship, love, and oh so sweet, this story brought all the feels. This had my heart bursting, with happiness, warmth, and love as well as bringing me to tears. Lauren Layne definitely saved the best for last in this series and I just didn’t want this one to end.
As Audrey and Clarke get caught up between an ex- girlfriend, a meddling mother, and a cyber bully, their reality and their best friend status starts to blur, and change. A touch here, a kiss there, soon brings unfamiliar flutters and feelings, that they have never felt before. Their feeling are shifting with every kiss, with every smile, with every glance. Do they want more? Will their friendship survive? Are they playing with fire? You don’t want to miss this story. And you don’t want to miss this series. Five stars fall short with this one.
I have absolutely, adored the connection between these dynamic women, Audrey, Claire and Naomi in this series. I enjoyed their banter and their strength and their Happily Ever Afters.
Received a complimentary copy for a honest review.
The PERFECT end of the most wonderful series!
I have been so excited to read Audrey and Clarke’s story since we first met them in Passion on Park Avenue. They are such a cute pair and their coming together is just as cute as they are.
What starts out as fake engagement to ward off some bad press, turns into a scheme to rebel against parents, hide from exes and more, but quickly turns into the couple realizing that their friendship knows no limits and is maybe more than just a friendship.
The world the LL has created for this series is MAGICAL! It’s the perfect mix of fantasy and reality and is the perfect little escape. It’s fun, whimsical and full of joy – exactly the way you want your RomCom. The only problem with this book, is it came to an end.
Audrey and Clarke helped me find my smile. Layne charms with chaos. Marriage on Madison Avenue proves that love doesn’t need to be perfect. When it comes to the heart it just needs to feel right. Although I’m sad to see the Central Park Pact series come to an end, I can honestly say the characters I’ve met and fell for, as well as the dreamer that brought them to life, has lit up my soul with this heartwarming, laugh out loud, irresistible series.
Saving the Best for Last!
The third and final book in a trilogy of stand-alone/character-crossover novels with girl power vibes and laugh out loud dialogue and situations; Lauren Layne has saved the best for last! 4.5 bright and shiny stars!
Here in Clarke & Audrey’s story, Layne has held nothing back, giving us a solid, well-developed best / childood friends-to-lovers tale, heavy on the romance with a side of fake engagement tossed in for good measure. So much fun to read this spin on the FTL trope, particularly with the rich, shared history between all of characters. We are riding along on this tangled web with Clarke & Audrey all the way through to the HEA! This book is everything you’ve been waiting for and then some – funny & snarky where it should be, romantic, sweet & swoony throughout, and emotional enough to get you with ALL the feels.
Marriage on Madison Avenue ties a neat bow on the Central Park Pact world, and rounds out the trilogy incredibly well. I love that we see how strong the bonds of of friendship are for our three heroines (throughout), which is so refreshing! Having that solidarity and sisterhood woven into the sass and romance elevates the story to a whole new level.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, I received an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time and am excited to go back for a full series re-read now that it’s complete!
I love this series so much. I think I cried in all three books, but none more so than this one. Lauren Layne gives Audrey and Clarke the love story they–and we–need.
Throughout the previous two books in this series, we’ve gotten to know Naomi, Claire, and Audrey, three women brought together through their relationship with the same man. As Naomi and Claire found love, we’ve held our breath for Audrey. Naomi and Claire knew, as did we, that Audrey was meant to be with her best friend Clarke, even if neither of them realized it.
Clarke has hovered in the background, always sort of hanging around, showing his loyalty to Audrey, but we never really knew him until now. Lauren Layne puts us in his heart and mind, letting us understand him. We understand why he adores Audrey, and we understand why he values their friendship. He takes hold here, becoming the man we want him to be for Audrey.
When you are convinced that you won’t be more than best friends, though, romance might come slowly. The beauty of this book is that Lauren Layne makes the wait worth it. She also keeps you connected to Naomi and Claire, letting you see how they’re doing.
I will miss these characters.
3.5stars–MARRIAGE ON MADISON AVENUE is the third and final instalment in Lauren Layne’s contemporary, adult CENTRAL PARK PACT sweet romance series focusing on three friends: Naomi Powell, Audrey Tate and Claire Hayes-three woman who would discover there were all in a relationship with the same man. This is thirty-one year old, businessman Clarke West, and twenty-nine year old, social media influencer Audrey Tate’s story line. MARRIAGE ON MADISON AVENUE can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading book one, PASSION ON PARK AVENUE, for back story and history.
SOME BACKGROUND: Approximately 18 months earlier, Claire Hayes, newly widowed discovered that her husband of seven years had been having numerous affairs including affairs with the two women who would become her best friends. The Central Park Pact was an agreement to never let one another fall for a womanizer like the man with whom they had all fallen in love.
Told from dual third person perspectives (Clarke and Audrey) MARRIAGE ON MADISON AVENUE follows the childhood, best friends to lovers, fake fiancé relationship between thirty-one year old, businessman Clarke West, and twenty-nine year old, social media influencer Audrey Tate. Audrey Tate considers herself a loser at love, and social media appears to agree calling her cursed when it comes to men and love. As her best friends begin to fall in love, Audrey becomes the odd woman out until Clarke West offers a deal that would likely stop his mother from trying to set him up with a woman from his past-a fake engagement to quiet the haters but an engagement that quickly spirals out of control. What ensues is the fall-out of a relationship that is threatened by jealousy and the inability to see the forest for the trees.
Audrey Tate and Clarke West both consider themselves non-marriage material, and continue to reiterate the belief at every opportunity but as the ‘fake’ engagement begins to take on a life of its own, our couple struggle between head and heart preferring to ignore the obvious when it is obvious to everyone else.
The relationship between Audrey and Clarke is a best friends to lovers/fake engagement that finds our couple doing what couples have done from the beginning of time but Audrey refuses to acknowledge the elephant in the room believing herself cursed to never marry or fall in love. Clarke struggles with a failed relationship from the past, a relationship that is hoping for something more. The $ex scenes are all implied and fade to black.
All of the previous story line couples play secondary and supporting roles: Naomi and Oliver (Passion on Park Avenue), Claire and Scott (Love on Lexington Avenue), as well as the introduction of Clarke’s mother and father Linda and Alton West; and his ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Milsap.
MARRIAGE ON MADISON AVENUE is a story of jealousy, controlling parents, past mistakes, and moving forward in life. The premise is entertaining; the characters are energetic; the romance struggles in the face of secrets and lies, and in this I did not feel the connection between our story line couple, and I struggled to like our story line heroine.
From the outset Audrey is quick to dismiss any action that resembles a loving relationship but it is her friendship with Clarke that is battling to survive. From my perspective, Audrey is immature and self-centred, and all she cares about is her social media image, but again, it is her image that forced our couple to take drastic steps in an effort to fend off trolls and commenters. Clarke’s mother Linda is desperate to reunite Clarke with the woman from his past but Clarke only sees Audrey, a woman who is unable to see beyond the immediate gratification of social media. MARRIAGE ON MADISON AVENUE is a frustrating read but the author has done her work if she can get an emotional response, one way or another.
The Central Park Pact series is one of the most unique premises in contemporary romance, and Lauren Layne delivers against this in spades. Three women become friends born out of the death of one man, one man in three relationships with said women. The most recent fling Naomi, the dutiful wife Claire Hayes, and the women who truly thought she was on the to becoming his second wife, one Audrey Tate.
Audrey might also be the one most broken by her role in Brayden Hayes’s life and in this friendship. She wants to believe in a HEA for herself, but she doubts she deserves it. After all, she was “borrowing someone else’s” Prince Charming. But Marriage on Madison Avenue is Audrey’s story of atonement. With a nasty social demon besmirching her name, she finds her very oldest and best friend, Clarke, defending her honor and the two in an unorthodox arrangement, a fake engagement.
This is one of the best types of “friends to something more” stories. These two know each other well, but they haven’t shared all their secrets, and this little betrothment uncovering each others’ vulnerabilities. And how can they move past what they believe they have always been, what they think they mean to each other, and make it something else without killing their friendship. Their journey of heartbreaking and joyous, and perhaps my favorite in this series.
I haven’t read a Lauren Layne book that I didn’t love, she’s by far one of my top go-to authors for contemporary romance. There’s always just enough angst and the best thing is the part of getting to something good. Seeing her characters grow and evolve. The Central Park Pact is a favorite for good reason and I highly recommend readers of Contemporary Romance looking for well earned HEA’s. 5 Stars!!
I’ve enjoyed every single book written by this author because every single book has given me the “feels” that I adore when reading contemporary romance and this was no exception. Unfortunately for me, I missed out on reading the first two books in this series but I easily caught onto the premise of these three woman and their friendship and their connection to each other. In fact, one of my favorite things about this read was the friendship between Claire, Naomi and Audrey — how refreshing and uplifting! I thoroughly enjoyed the childhood friends-to-lovers journey between Audrey and Clarke and found myself cheering for them and hoping they would find their HEA. Everything I’ve come to expect from this author – a very easy, enjoyable, feel-good read. I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC for NetGalley.
My plan was to read two chapters at a time. You see it is a paperback and I usually use an e-reader to magnify and to darken the background. An e-reader is easier to hold as well. Just two chapters today, two chapters tomorrow and then two days the next until I finished.
I failed at my plan. I read two chapters, then I read two more and I kept reading until I finished it. I devoured Marriage on Madison Avenue. There was so much to love. There was so much to enjoy. There was so much to laugh about. There were even a few characters to disgust me. Marriage on Madison Avenue was a well balance, well rounded romance novel.
Marriage on Madison Avenue checked off so many of my genre loves. Best friends to lovers, fake marriage, Millionaire romance, and girl next door are the just a few of those loves. I swooned over Clarke the “I didn’t know he was my love” guy that happens to Aubrey’s best friend.
My life has gotten even better. Marriage on Madison Avenue is a series. I can’t wait to go back and start at book one and read all the way through.
Best friends to fake engaged to lovers to HEA? Yes, please!
I absolutely adored Marriage on Madison Avenue! Audrey and Clarke were the epitome of best friends who have always loved one another but were too afraid to admit it. Watching the two of them best his family, convince Naomi and Claire, and eventually realize the truth was so much fun and the perfect ending to this delightful series.
Audrey’s feelings of being underserving were so heart wrenching but Clarke and her girls soothed her wounded heart masterfully. And while the Lauren Layne heat and steam were missing the heart and emotion were not, as evidenced by the homage to the Central Park bench where it all began.
I’ll miss these ladies and their princes, though I’m sure many rereads are in my future.
I received a complimentary review copy of this book but all opinions are my own.
Marriage on Madison Avenue was a sweet, friends-to-lovers story completing the Central Park Pact series by Lauren Layne. Although this features Audrey’s happily-ever-after, the third woman in the pact, this book can also be read as a standalone.
If you’re new to the Central Park Pact – here’s a quick update to fill you in. Imagine being with a guy and then upon his death come to find out that not only was he married, but he also had a steady girlfriend and a mistress on the side. YIKES! What’s even crazier is that these three woman all end up ditching said wanker’s funeral and meeting each other on a Central Park bench whereby they end up forming a friendship (just go with it) and a pact to always look out for one another from that day forward and make sure that they don’t fall for the likes of another man like the one who duped them all. The pact has worked out well for Naomi and Claire in the previous two books, and now it’s Audrey’s turn to need the help of the pact to find her happily-ever-after.
The problem however is that poor Audrey, who was the girlfriend of the wanker, has sworn off finding her Prince Charming as she doesn’t believe she deserves him given her past nor does she want to risk her heart again. And who can blame this woman? I’m not sure I’d trust my taste in men either.
But even if Audrey doesn’t see marriage in her future any more, she’s thrust into the idea when her “engagement” is announced in some high society rumor rag. Ironically, her fake engagement is to her best friend since childhood, Clarke West, and it’s not their first fake engagement. Deciding to go with the fake engagement for her own reasons, this sets things in motion where both Audrey and Clarke begin to see their best friend in a whole new light.
I’m always a fan of friends-to-lovers romance books because I love that there is already an established history between the two main characters. Even from the previous two books in the series you could see what a close bond and easy friendship Audrey and Clarke had which I think can actually be pretty rare.
They lucked out in this story because although it was Clarke to “out” their fake relationship, they had others along the way who helped them to keep up the rouse which eventually got them to open their eyes and actually see their best friend beyond friendship. Nothing like a meddling mother who plans an engagement party and sets up a wedding planner, or an already planned ski trip, or a gossiping internet site to force proximity and intimacy. So even though I found some of that a bit far fetched as for reasons why to continue the rouse, I went with it because fake relationships are kindof my catnip in romances too. Plus, the moment when he tries to perfect her morning cup of coffee- priceless!
I was disappointed, however, in that when things finally turned the corner in their relationship from friends to lovers, we were just told that they had sex. It’s like, “OK we did the deed last night and now we’ve done the deed like 9 times in 3 days,” but moving on…. Umm….so I don’t need sex scenes explicitly spelled out for me in every romance book that I read but I felt like we needed more in this one. If I’m to believe that Audrey and Clarke have been thick as thieves, best friends for years and ONLY friends then I need to really understand their chemistry to be sold on their change of feelings. I mean, they’ve been so blind to each other for so long that even her new friends could see their connection and love for one another before they could.
It wasn’t enough for me to just be told that they started sleeping together and now there are feelings when introducing sex into a friendship has the potential to really change things for the good and bad. I just felt like I needed to understand more of their physical connection or at least have them talk about it more to each other to really believe and trust in their newly developed feelings. But I gather that this and Lauren Layne’s recent books are now gearing toward a more moderate, main stream audience so sex scenes are maybe a no-no. Whether or not that’s true, it seems like a trend lately in her books. I also think we could have gotten more in the epilogue since this was the final book to the series.
That aside, I would definitely recommend this read as it was a great completion to a fun series.
Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this advanced reader copy. All opinions are my own.
Read my full review on my romance book blog, She Reads Romance Books, here: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/book-reviews/marriage-on-madison-avenue. You can join my list to get all my reviews and my list of top 10 Romance Book Boyfriends here: https://www.shereadsromancebooks.com/boyfriend-list-sign-up
I can’t decide if this was my favorite story or not. They’ve all been great so it is hard to choose just one. This work is a spin on the classic fake fiancé and best friends turn lovers trope and it proved to be a winner too!
Layne created a delightful matchup with Clarke and Audrey and their friendship that has been so tight for so many years. I can understand the problem they are up against; when you cross that line you can ruin a great friendship. Or maybe because you know each other so well you wouldn’t even consider a romantic relationship.
But Clarke needs help and the only person that he knows that can help pull it off is Audrey. Audrey needs Clarke help and makes a deal. But oh, what a tangled web we weave and all that.…
This book is humorous in all the right places, intense in many places, and a perfect blending of friendship, awareness, and deep seated love. And while the ending may have you gasping a few times, thankfully, it ends beautifully.
Marriage on Madison Avenue offers a witty look finding “the one” even if you know you’ve lost your mind, best friends forever, snarky social media followers, and crafty family members who love to interfere. A sexy and sweet romance you will fall for!
This was another wonderful book by this author. I enjoy her books and how these characters find love.
I definitely recommend this book, this series, and this author.
When I first started reading the Central Park Pact Series, I knew that Clarke and Audrey would have to have their story and I couldn’t wait for it! Well, Lauren Layne did not disappoint in bringing us the perfect book to end this series. What started off as three women meeting under the most unusual circumstance – at a funeral for the man that they were all very intimate with (wife, mistress and girlfriend) – turned in to three friends who eventually found the right man for them.
Throughout Passion on Park Avenue and Love on Lexingon Avenue, you saw snippets of Clarke and Audrey and how close they were. I loved their friendship so much and was just waiting until these two realized they had feelings for one another.
Audrey is such a great character, she has so much heart and can not stop thinking about how she ruined a marriage by falling in love with a married man. Although Claire, Naomi and Audrey were all in some way or another linked with Brayden before he died, it seems that Audrey is taking the longest to move on. She’s heartbroken for what she could have had and also doubts herself in choosing the right person. Marriage is completely off the table…that is until Clarke tells his mom Audrey and him are engaged!
I love a fake relationship trope so much and LL did such a good job with not only a fake relationship but friends to lovers as well. Clarke and Audrey are under the assumption that they’ll stay friends while being fake engaged, but as lines start to blur it is becoming harder to maintain a distance and not truly act as an engaged couple.
I loved this book so much and I think that Marriage on Madison Avenue was the perfect book to end this wonderful series!
**ARC provided by TastyBookPR and publisher in exchange for my honest review**
If you are looking for a quick, easy, fun, light-hearted read – look no further than Marriage on Madison Avenue, Lauren Layne’s third installment in the Central Park Pact series. And, for those of you who have not read books one and two – this can be read as a stand-alone (which I did) with no issues following along.
I found this novel very enjoyable and devoured it in a little over a day. The characters are well written and you will find yourself laughing, and maybe even shedding a tear, right along with them.
Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for an advanced copy, in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
I will be suggesting this to all my chick-lit, women’s fiction, romance reading friends!
I was really looking forward to Audrey and Clarke’s story. While I did enjoy it, I was a tiny bit disappointed. These two seemed to remain clueless until almost the end. I would have loved more time with them as a real couple. Also, I have no issue with the “closed door” love scenes, but I think the reader would have benefitted from seeing a more romantic situation with Audrey and Clarke. Then it would have felt like a more natural progression of their relationship.