Cruel King by K.A. Linde Release Blitz

A new stand-alone, fake relationship romance set in the glitz and glamour of the Cruel world from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde...

The most eligible bachelor in New York City just asked me to be his fake fiancé.

Gavin King is six and a half feet of delectable billionaire with a devil’s smile that says he knows exactly what he’s going to do to me later. Because he has.

Three years ago, I caught him in the shower and promptly fell into his bed. But neither of us were relationship material. Not to mention I’d just broken up with his best friend.

Now, I’m back in the city and he has a plan:
Go to his cousin’s wedding.
Convince his family that he’s not an eternal bachelor.
Post a huge elaborate break up later.

With those big puppy dog eyes begging me to agree, claiming I’m the only one who can pull it off, I say yes. What could go wrong? Other than pulling it off so successfully that the line between real and fake blurs.

When my family flips the whole script, I can’t see a way out. And I’m starting to wonder if I even want one.

Don’t miss our reviews of other books in the Cruel series!
For book four, Cruel Truth, (previously The Lying Season) click HERE.
For book five, Cruel Desire, (previously The Hating Season) click HERE.
For book six, Cruel Marriage, (previously The Breaking Season) click HERE.

 

 

Book 7
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the seventh book in the series, and I would definitely recommend that you read them in order, because there is so much goodness in this series. I really enjoy the crazy wealth and the machinations of 'royal' families, arranged marriages, politics, and friendship. We met Gavin and Whitley in earlier books, and their badly-timed hookup three years ago – which resulted in her moving across the country to work in LA. She is now back, attracted by a huge pay raise and potential of a partnership in a successful cosmetic surgery practice.

Inevitably, the two will meet again as they share friends. Gavin, the one time biggest player of the group has, in fact, got bored of not having someone special in his life, and Whitley is the woman on his mind. He is therefore delighted to find she is back and, even better, is buying property in his building. He isn't sure how he is going to make her believe he wants a relationship with her, and his plans are pretty crazy, but fun to watch! Whitley is also renowned for not wanting to settle down, so is also at a loss as to how to communicate clearly to Gavin... cue some fun for those watching on and sure that they are perfect for each other.

I loved catching up with the previous couples and seeing how their lives have changed, thanks to love, children, and good communications. It gives us hope, as well as providing the reassurance and motivation that they both need. Amused me greatly that the Mayor still manages a cameo in this story. Delicious read from start to finish.

 

 

K.A. LINDE is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

Connect with K.A. Linde

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
Facebook Group: K.A. Linde Books

 

 

 

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Cruel King (Cruel #7) by K.A. Linde to read and review.

The Breaking Season by K.A. Linde Release Blitz

A sexy arranged marriage romance from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde...

I signed on the dotted line. A marriage contract to seal my union with the devil.

I thought I knew what I was doing. His money and name were mine for the taking. But Camden Percy always gets exactly what he wants. And what he wants is me—my body, my obedience, my surrender.

He wants to break me.

But I’m Katherine Van Pelt. I’ll never break. I’ll never beg. I’ll never give in.

Except I promised him one more thing—a baby. A Percy heir.

There’s no way out of this one. Either I comply or lose everything. Do I risk the husband I’m just learning to love or is this my breaking season?

Book 3
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
4.5 stars of fractured perfection

This is the third book in the series – and SUCH an anticipated one! The wildly confusing and upsetting dynamics between Katherine and Camden have been a significant feature of the previous books (and to an extent, in the Cruel series too), so it was definitely time to straighten out the messes and give them a better future. Whilst I guess it is not essential to read the earlier books, I would say that you would miss out on a significant part of the underlying issues if you didn't. I also say that you will get two other excellent stories along the way.

The arrangement between Camden and Katherine makes little sense to their friends – and possibly even to us the readers – but the gang is strong and tries its best to keep the peace and provide the buffers that are needed along the way. It is fun now having two strong couples who find their relationship unnecessarily complicated, as they are convinced that there is love between the two of them in spite of all the drama.

Sadly, both Camden and Katherine are so busy being angry and to a great extent insecure, that they don't give themselves time to be anything but – thus making the situation all the worse. Linde builds up our frustration at them both brilliantly, as we get to see both their points of view and the chasm between them. But wow, once it all breaks down, it is difficult not to love these two very damaged souls and have some sympathy for the reasons why they behave the way that they do, and lack so much trust in anyone delivering what they need.

The ending is so much richer than I expected and be warned, once it starts to get really good, you need to be free of all obligations, as you will not want to put it down... one very happy reader here. :-D

And there is more goodness to come, which makes me even happier!


Erica – ☆☆☆
The Breaking Season is the third installment in the Seasons series, and it cannot be read as a standalone due to a continuation of the storyline. Even after reading all three novels in this series, I still experienced confusion when events are info-dumped, as if I am missing novels. Was this series a direct tie to another of K.A. Linde's series?

The buildup to this novel was epic, and I felt as if it would be hard to live up to all that anticipation. To be honest, it didn't quite hit the notes I needed.

I am a fanatic for angst. I crave angst. I will purposefully read a novel just to emotionally torture myself. Unless you're new to K.A. Linde, you know she spends a great deal delivering angst. Which is why I said what I said above about The Breaking Season missing the mark for me.

Katherine and Camden dance around their feelings, have been throughout the previous novels. There is true angst featuring Camden's family and a medical condition. But then there is manufactured angst featuring the relationship inside their arranged marriage, which was basically everything I read on the pages.

As I said, I crave angst. It's delicious and I could glut myself on it. I eat up flawed characters and will beg for another helping. But then there was Katherine and Camden. Their issues were self-created, the focus not on their true issues. The family and medical drama kept me glued to the pages, while the miscommunication had me rolling my eyes and getting frustrated.

The issues they had with each other were surrounded on miscommunication, purposefully misunderstanding, and game playing, all of which one single conversation three books ago would have resolved the entire plot and we wouldn't have read their novel. So, I just felt that they needed a true reason to dance around one another. Something other than just purposefully leading the reader to think there is something deeper when there isn't.

The one who said there were to be no lies or game-playing, did nothing but lie and game-play. Petty. Jealousy. Envious of someone that was no threat, while making sure there was a miscommunication/misunderstanding to torture their spouse.

As I said, I love flawed characters, especially those who evolve over the pages of the novel and redeem themselves. Katherine tried to find her way outside of being a vapid socialite, and I enjoyed that evolution. Camden changed the most due to family, but just wiped away all of the pain he caused Katherine. After all this buildup, a short conversation fixed everything, and it didn't feel as if they earned or deserved it after the built-up, drawn-out dance.

I have to admit, the weakest part of the novel was the romance. Katherine finding her true worth for the charity, the relationship and loyalty toward friends, the evolution and maturity of Camden's growth with his family were where the novel shined. A half a page where the couple didn't act like toddlers – albeit, toddlers have no filter and would have told the truth and cleared up any misconceptions in one shout – I needed more to buy the happily ever after.

Not all books are a hit for every reader, and I still place Linde at the top of my recommend list in angsty reads. I can't wait to read what is in store for this series next, as well as read the series I haven't read yet, as that might be the tie that caused so much confusion for me.

Also Available in the Seasons 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 stop on The Lying Season Release Blitz.

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 stop on The Hating Season Release Blitz.

K. A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

Connect with K.A.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
K.A. Linde Books Facebook Group

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Breaking Season (Seasons #3) by K.A. Linde to read and review for this tour.

The Hating Season by K.A. Linde Release Blitz

A new standalone enemies-to-lovers romance from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde...

Court Kensington is a thorn in my side.

I’m hired to clean up his badboy image, which would’ve been easy if my life wasn’t falling apart.

First, I catch my movie star husband having an affair with his co-star. Then when I return to work, my job is at stake, because Court has gotten himself into trouble...again.

Instead of getting him back in line, I find myself falling for his charm. And into his bed. And against the wall. And, and, and…

Except Kensington charm shouldn’t work on me. Not when I’ve sworn to never ever sleep with a client.

I had good intentions.
I really did.
But we all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Book 2
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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is the second book in the series (there is also a prequel). If you have read Linde's Cruel series, then you will recognise the side characters in this book – and be swept back into the Upper East Side. This does follow on directly from The Lying Season, and whilst it can definitely be read as a standalone, I bet you will want to go and find out more about Lark and Sam in that book and Katherine, Natalie et al. in the Cruel series. We continue to get interesting glimpses into just what is going on in these people's lives.

In the previous installment, Lark persuaded her boss to employ her good friend and publicist Anna English to babysit her son, Court Kensington, in the run up to the New York Mayoral election. Anna English is married to a very successful actor, and considered to be immune to any other man – so in theory, safe when faced with the charms of Court.

This book gives us a much better idea of exactly who English (as she prefers to be called) is, and how hard she worked to achieve her success. She is not Upper Eastside by birth, nor is she Hollywood, as they call her. Her upbringing was much less settled or entitled. It also shows that all that is meant to be perfect in her marriage, is sadly not that way at all. And English always made one thing clear... cheating is out, so her marriage is over following the revelations she finds when she visits her husband in London. I really liked her strength of character, even when she was very badly hurt, she was strong in her resolve.

We get to learn quite a lot more about Court here too – the fallout from his relationship with Jane is still causing problems, both in his nascent feelings for Anna, and in the context of his mother's campaign. As it becomes clearer that he is wasting a lot of energy fighting invisible enemies and preconceptions, he has to decide how he is going to start to move his life forward. The most important realisation is that English has a permanent place in it – if only he can persuade her.

There are lots of side plots going on, so be ready for a very full story, with perhaps more questions asked than answered. Camden and Katherine need their heads banging together – on this, I think we would probably all agree! Looking forward to reading on in the next book.


Erica – ☆☆☆
3.5 Stars

The Hating Season is the second installment in the Seasons series. As listed in the synopsis, it can be read as a standalone. As someone who didn't read The Lying Season, I can attest that the novel can be read independently of the series, however there was still this vibe that I missed a lot more than a single novel. Not only did I miss what happened in the previous novel, it felt as if the majority of characters weren't newly introduced but well-established characters that had their own novels at some point, major rundowns of past events that happened, leading me to believe the series is tied to a previous series written by Linde. Maybe it was just the way it was written, but it felt like I was missing something.

Anna English is a publicist from Los Angeles, her current client the son of a political candidate in New York City. English was a logical character, realistically written to feel like someone I could befriend in a nanosecond. Resonating deeply within me, I wouldn't so much as say she had trust issues, but instantly saw deception as a deep betrayal. She was resolute, leaving no room to be bitten twice. English didn't give in, and I respected her for it. Let's be honest, if someone gets away with hurting you, they'll do it again and again, because they don't respect you, because you taught them not to, because you don't respect yourself. Emotions didn't matter to English – they chose to hurt her, they chose to lose her. If her feelings are hurt, it's their fault.

Every time English's ex told her she was at fault because she wouldn't give him another chance, wouldn't work on their relationship, flashbacks of the same words said to me fired in my brain, along with the frustration, injustice, and the anger at being gaslit. Then English would deliver a one-liner about how none of this had to do with her, because that all ended with his choices, then she would cut off the communication. Boundaries.

English brought this philosophy into her work, which is why she wrangled her clients so well, especially spoiled playboys like Court Kensington. Court is obviously the immature bad boy who is misunderstood, deep down an amazing guy with untapped potential.

I adored English, had a hard time connecting with Court because I felt him all over the place and not developed enough, yet wasn't the biggest fan of their relationship. I wanted them both to have happily ever afters, but felt they weren't a good fit, not a balance of personalities. The enemies-to-lovers vibe felt forced, as well did their attraction to one another. I cared about what happened to English, which is why I continued to read, but I didn't find the romance to ring true.

On the friendship front, a few of the characters came off as extremely immature and petty, and with English's personality, I found it hard to believe she would call them friends, let along suffer their presence as she watched them act like spoiled-rotten children who are wealthy adult professionals. While I love me some messy angst, and I can't wait to see what happens next with the arranged marriage, I just found it impossible to believe someone who is done the instant someone lies to her would stand by and watch everyone around her lie to each other – that doesn't compute.

I look forward to what comes next in the series.

Also Available in the Seasons 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 stop on The Lying Season Release Blitz.

K. A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

Connect with K.A.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads
K.A. Linde Books Facebook Group

Hosted by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Hating Season (Seasons #2) by K.A. Linde to read and review for this tour.

The Lying Season by K.A. Linde Release Blitz

A new second-chance, standalone office romance from USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde...

Walking away from Sam Rutherford was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.

It’s been five years since that day, and I’ve given up on looking for love. My focus is on my career. And it’s paid off—I’m successfully managing the reelection for the mayor of New York City.

Then Sam walks into my office as the new legal counsel. Which means I have to see him every single day from now until November. We vow to remain professional, but it’s a small office. The sly glances and his blistering charm are unavoidable.

It all feels so familiar. Too comfortable. After what happened the first time… I should know better.

If I’m not careful, he’ll break my heart all over again.

And I don’t know if I can survive Sam a second time.

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

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
If you have read Linde's Cruel series, then you will recognise the side characters in this book – and be swept back into the Upper East Side. This can definitely be read as a standalone, but I bet you will want to go and find out more about Katherine, Natalie, et al.

Lark is living her life, finally – well, as much as her oppressive mother will allow her to – having removed herself from her family's business and back working for the New York mayor in her re-election campaign. I enjoyed the office dynamics, and intensity with which she had to operate in order to be successful. That her one and only long-ago love, Sam, is employed as a lawyer on the team throws her for six. As she finds out why he moved to New York, and deals with having to see him every day at work, she has to try and convert those feelings to friendship. Easier said than done – for both of them, as it turns out. Whilst we are set up to want them to work it all out, there is a pretty big obstacle, or three, so Linde has to convince us that there can be a solution.

Along the way we meet up with Lark's friends and get to understand a little (very little) of the way that the Upper East Side operates. There are a completely different set of rules and expectations, which add an extra dimension to the way that Sam sees Larkin.

This is a very enjoyable read with a good mix of a second-chance romance, political machinations, and the way that old money really affects your life.


Shelby – ☆☆☆☆
The Lying Season by K.A. Linde was an interesting office romance, set in the Upper East Side.

Lark St. Vincent is the only daughter of a super wealthy, famous family. Her parents have their own idea of the life she should be living, where she has other ideas and is blazing her own trail. As a deputy campaign manager for the re-election of New York City's first female mayor, Lark is very busy. She doesn't have time to think, let alone nurture a relationship. When Sam, a ghost from Lark's past, shows up in the campaign office, the story really heats up.

Now, I will say I did enjoy parts of the story. I liked the dynamic between Lark and Sam, although I did find many parts tedious and drawn out. The back and forth, the push and pull, almost became too much. In the end, it was ALL WORTH IT!

What I really didn't like was the constant mention of the Upper East Side – this apparently has a connotation that I didn't understand. I felt it was very condescending, but from other reviews have realized it's in reference to another series by the same author.

I loved the rest of the cast – they really added to this story.

Overall, I would rate this story a strong 3.5 stars.

K. A. Linde is the USA Today bestselling author of the Avoiding series, Wrights, and more than thirty other novels. She has a master’s degree in political science from the University of Georgia, was the head campaign worker for the 2012 presidential campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and served as the head coach of the Duke University dance team. She loves reading fantasy novels, binge-watching Supernatural, traveling, and dancing in her spare time.

She currently lives in Lubbock, Texas, with her husband and two super-adorable puppies.

Connect with K.A.

Facebook  ~  Twitter  ~  Instagram  ~  Website  ~  Goodreads

Hosted by

Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of The Lying Season (Seasons #1) by K.A. Linde to read and review for this tour.