Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne

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?

Book 3
Buy Links

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B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Jordan – ☆☆☆☆☆
I feel like I have been waiting for this book since Audrey Tate and Clarke West first graced the pages in Passion on Park Avenue and it was completely worth the wait! I have absolutely loved every book in Lauren Layne’s Central Park Pact and most of her other series as well, but I think Marriage on Madison Avenue has just become my new favorite book by Layne. I was immediately swept away on this friends-to-lovers story from the first page to the last. Audrey is a great character that I can easily imagine being best friends with and Clarke can easily make me swoon. It’s almost bittersweet knowing this is the final installment in the Central Park Pact because I’ve grown so attached to all these fantastic characters! Each book is capable of being a standalone, but personally I think these books are best enjoyed in order and as a series. Plus, by reading the entire series I feel like I was able to further appreciate how all three women have become such fast friends!

All in all, five stars for Marriage on Madison Avenue by Lauren Layne. This was the perfect conclusion to another fantastic series by Layne that I couldn’t put down and I look forward to being impressed by her next series!


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the third book in the series and I was really looking forward to getting Audrey's story – she was, I felt, the most damaged by "he who should not be named's" betrayal. She not only felt anger at his deceit, but also a huge amount of guilt towards Claire, his unknown wife. As both Claire and Naomi have found their happily ever afters, it is most definitely Audrey's turn, but she really does not feel she deserves happiness at all.

So, when Clarke (her best friend since they were toddlers) once again needs her to be his significant other, she fills the role with the aplomb that she always has, in the certain knowledge that her friendship is just that. Of course, everyone else in their world knows that they are the only two who do not understand how much they love each other – and all they need to do is take the chance and finally work it all out. But of course the journey will not be a smooth one, and the risks are high, but Lauren Layne gives us the very best type of romance and happily ever after.

I would highly recommend that you read this in order, as the story does most definitely develop through the trilogy. That said, it is a lovely story in its own right, just even richer as part of the whole.

Also Available in the Central Park Pact Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Passion on Park Avenue post.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Love on Lexington Avenue post.

Lauren Layne is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen romantic comedies. Her books have sold over a million copies in nine languages. Lauren's work has been featured in Publishers Weekly, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Inside Edition. She is based in New York City.

Connect with Lauren

Facebook  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Official Lauren Layne Reader Group on Facebook

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Marriage on Madison Avenue (Central Park Pact #3) by Lauren Layne to read and review.

Love on Lexington Avenue by Lauren Layne

From New York Times bestselling author Lauren Layne comes the second delightfully charming installment in the Central Park Pact series, following a young widow whose newfound cynicism about love is challenged by a sexy, rough-around-the-edges contractor.

There’s never a bad time to fall in love in the city, right? Wrong. According to the recently-widowed Claire Hayes, it’s very, very wrong. In fact, after finding out her late husband was a liar and a cheat, Claire’s convinced there’s never a good time for romantic notions. Determined to rid her home of anything that reminds her of her philandering husband, Claire sets out to redesign her entire Upper East Side brownstone and make it her own. But when she meets gruff and often-cantankerous contractor Scott Turner and realizes not all men are scumbags, Claire must decide if she’s ready to risk her heart again.

Scott needs a change of pace from the corporate offices and swanky hotels he’s been building lately, and bluntly makes it clear to Claire that he only took on her house for that reason, adding that he has no patience for a pampered, damaged princess on his job site. But when long work days soon turn into even longer nights, their mutual wariness morphs into something more complicated—a grudging respect, and maybe even attraction…? Scott knows he’s not one to settle down, but then why can’t he bring himself to put the finishing touches on Claire’s house and move on to the next job?

Filled with laugh-out-loud scenes that blend perfectly with the touching friendships Layne brings to life on the page, this “hugely entertaining” (USA TODAY) novel is perfect for fans of Lauren Weisberger.

Book 2
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the second book in the series, and I would highly recommend that you read them in order – partly because it will give you a richer experience, but also because Naomi's story is well worth reading!

Here we have Claire, Brayden's widow, getting her chance to put the past to rest and start a new life. She has spent the last year planning her house renovations – done to her taste and style – but there is still a room in her house full of all of cheating Brayden's possessions. Along with her new but dearest friends, Naomi and Audrey, we get to watch the subdued Claire blossom again.

Suggested by his good friend Oliver, the man who is going to do those renovations is going to restore more than just her building. Scott is enjoying a very successful life, travelling around the world designing interiors for huge corporations. However, he misses his dog, his friends, and knowing where is waking up in the morning – so, he has taken on a job that is not going to make him any money but gives him a break. Even after meeting Claire, he has no clue that his whole life is about to turn upside down!

Once again, Lauren Layne has given us some wonderful insight into the lives of those who live in New York and how thinking changes along with the street that you inhabit. It is refreshing, fun, and the women provide a fabulous place to escape to from the everyday.


Jordan – ☆☆☆☆☆
I am a huge Lauren Layne fan and I have read several of her series, which I’ve enjoyed immensely! I always find myself completely drawn into her books and so easily invested in all her characters. Honestly, I am absolutely loving Layne’s The Central Park Pact series! I loved Naomi’s story in Passion on Park Avenue and I was so excited to get to read book two, Love on Lexington Avenue, which I also adored. The stories are set up so that they don’t necessarily have to be read as a series, but I think part of the charm of The Central Park Pact series is reading them all in order and I would recommend reading the first book, Passion on Park Avenue, before diving into the next.

I am always so pleasantly surprised with how easily Layne seems to grab my attention and hold it page after page. Also, I have to admit of the three women in this series, I was kind of the least excited about Claire’s story, but then I read Love on Lexington Avenue and I found myself totally rooting for Claire’s happily ever after! Plus, Layne’s main characters are always so easily relatable and exactly the kind of ladies I would love to spend the afternoon sipping mimosas with on the UES. Now, by the end of Claire Hayes’ story I was completely smitten with Scott, the love interest, but more importantly his dog, Bob. I loved everything about Scott and his dog, Bob!

I am more than ready to finally know Audrey’s story. Seriously, I am so beyond ready for Audrey’s book, Marriage on Madison Avenue, and I am certain it will surpass all my expectations! The Central Park Pact has definitely risen towards the top of my favorite series by Layne.

Also Available in the Central Park Pact Series

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

For reviews & more info, check out our Passion on Park Avenue post.

Lauren Layne is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen romantic comedies. Her books have sold over a million copies in nine languages. Lauren's work has been featured in Publishers Weekly, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Inside Edition. She is based in New York City.

Connect with Lauren

Facebook  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Official Lauren Layne Reader Group on Facebook

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Love on Lexington Avenue (Central Park Pact #2) by Lauren Layne to read and review.

Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Stiletto and Oxford series, the first in a sizzling new series following the unlikely friendship of three Upper East Side women as they struggle to achieve their dreams and find true love and happiness in the city that never sleeps.

For as long as she can remember, Bronx-born Naomi Powell has had one goal: to prove her worth among the Upper East Side elite—the same people for which her mom worked as a housekeeper. Now, as the strongminded, sassy CEO of one of the biggest jewelry empires in the country, Naomi finally has exactly what she wants—but it’s going to take more than just the right address to make Manhattan’s upper class stop treating her like an outsider.

The worst offender is her new neighbor, Oliver Cunningham—the grown son of the very family Naomi’s mother used to work for. Oliver used to torment Naomi when they were children, and as a ridiculously attractive adult, he’s tormenting her in entirely different ways. Now they find themselves engaged in a battle-of-wills that will either consume or destroy them…

Filled with charm and heart and plenty of sex and snark, this entertaining series will hook you from the very first page.

Book 1
Buy Links

Amazon US  ~  Amazon UK  ~  Amazon Au  ~  Amazon Ca
B&N  ~  Google Play  ~  iTunes  ~  Kobo

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Mary Jo – ☆☆☆☆
I enjoyed this book. The characters were refreshing and entertaining.

Naomi's mother filled out an application for her to move into “THE” building in New York City behind her back. Trying to figure out her mother's reason was simple: she wanted Naomi to believe that she was just as good as the "old-moneyed" people who resided there and treated those who didn't like they were of a lesser social class – even in 20th century America.

Taking the leap, Naomi went to the interview and came face-to-face to her old foe, Oliver Cunningham. Ollie has done a lot of growing up over the years and doesn't remember Naomi. He doesn't know what his family did to hers and when he finds out that Naomi lied to him, all bets are off.

The social aspect of having to deal with Alzheimer's disease is something that more and more families are facing and I'm glad to see that authors are not ignoring this disease.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the start of a new series – and I absolutely love the premise of the pact. The three women who meet and find out their relationship to each other is less than usual, decide to take the positive and run with it – I loved their attitude and their fast friendship. It was believable and endearing, and made the story flow so well.

Naomi is still reeling from the death of her boyfriend and what she found out upon his death, then she gets told that she has a chance at an apartment on Park Avenue. The application was filled out by her recently deceased mother, and so she goes to the interview. She knows why her Mum applied, and after years of conditioning, she feels that she is meant to finally right the wrong done to her and her mother by one of the residents of the block.

This revenge is something that has fueled her life for a long time, so as we get to see the situation play out, it is difficult to watch this naturally positive and generous soul fight her instincts with her memories. It makes for a clever, entertaining, and hopeful story, with some clever twists and the definite tinge of romance.

Her new friends do a great job of bringing her back to the now, and to consider her past in a different light. That she has been wildly successful in spite of her past is also a reminder that the past should not define her future. It will be interesting in future installments to see how the other two women reconcile their past with their futures, although it will be a different slant for sure.

Oliver is a delicious male lead with a very wealthy life, but as is often the case, the sheen on the outside covers up a difficult life, and a selfless attitude to his parents. He is so confused at Naomi's hot and cold approach to him, and without a doubt the course of true love does not run smoothly for them, but somehow there is enough interest to make him take the time and effort to try and reach a happy ending for them both.

I am very much looking forward to the next book in this fun series.


Jordan – ☆☆☆☆
Passion on Park Avenue by Lauren Layne is the first book in the Central Park Pact series. I personally have grown quite fond of most of Layne’s previous series and I am looking forward to reading this new series. I normally have zero trouble finding myself fully invested into one of Layne’s books after the first few pages, but this one took me a little bit longer to settle into than usual. Plus, some parts seemed a little dragged out; however, all in all I ended up really enjoying the whole childhood enemies-to-lovers story.

Naomi Powell has found her way back to the same Upper East Side building where her mother once worked as a housekeeper and she’s determined to finally show the Cunningham family the successful woman she has become. Now she’s finally neighbors to the son, Oliver Cunningham, her childhood tormentor. But grown-up Oliver is so handsome and charming, and Naomi is having trouble remembering how much she’s supposed to dislike him.

I loved that Naomi, the main character, was this strong sassy female that built her own success from nothing. Plus, Oliver and Naomi had such great chemistry on the pages! Now, I am totally looking forward to seeing what Layne has in store for Claire in book two, Love on Lexington Avenue, and Audrey!

4 stars for Lauren Layne’s Passion of Park Avenue.

Lauren Layne is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen romantic comedies. Her books have sold over a million copies in nine languages. Lauren's work has been featured in Publishers Weekly, Glamour, The Wall Street Journal, and Inside Edition. She is based in New York City.

Connect with Lauren

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Passion on Park Avenue (Central Park Pact #1) by Lauren Layne to read and review.