Cruel Marriage

4.25 stars--THE BREAKING SEASON is the third instalment in KA Linde’s contemporary, adult SEASONS erotic, romances series focusing on a group of connected, powerful and well-to-do friends in the Upper East Side of New York City.. This is businessman Camden Percy, and socialite Katherine Van Pelt’s story line. THE BREAKING SEASON can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty but I recommend reading the series in order as their story has been building for several instalments. SEASONS is a spin off from the author’s CRUEL Trilogy where we are first introduced to the players and manipulators of the rich and powerful on the Upper East Side. Told from dual first person perspectives (Camden and Katherine) THE BREAKING SEASON follows the acrimonious relationship between businessman Camden Percy, and socialite Katherine Van Pelt. Camden Percy and Katherine Van Pelt are a married couple. Katherine’s father destroyed his family, and in the ensuing aftermath Camden offered Katherine a contract to save face, and prevent the family from falling from disgrace but Katherine’s struggling relationship with Camden is fraught with anger, miscommunication, jealousy, and perceived betrayal including the possibility of infidelity in body and heart. With their one year anniversary on the horizon, Camden demands Katherine honor the terms of their contract but not all is well in Katherine’s life. As Camden continues to do battle with his father at work, Katherine’s emotional and physical health slowly spirals out of control. What ensues is the tempestuous and heart breaking relationship between Camden and Katherine, and the potential fall-out as the sins of the father begin to pull Camden under, and Katherine struggles with issues of control. Katherine and Camden’s marriage of convenience is a bone of contention between one another and their friends. Katherine has been miserable since her father’s destruction of the family’s finances, and Camden’s love for Katherine is masked by the anger and frustrations of a man who refuses to give in or give up. The bitter altercations and accusations are heart breaking and painful. The $ex scenes are intimate and intense, without the use of over the top, sexually graphic language and text. There is a large ensemble cast of colorful and familiar secondary and supporting characters including all of the previous story line couples: Sam and Larkin (The Lying Season), Anna English and Court Kensington (The Hating Season) , Penn Kensington and his wife Natalie ; Whitley Bowen, Gavin King, Robert Dawson, : Camden’s sisters Candice and Harmony, and their father Carlyle, as well as Katherine’s mother, and Camden’s ex Fiona. THE BREAKING SEASON is an intense story of family, friendships, betrayal and trust. The emotional premise is edgy ; the characters are wounded, sassy, spirited and lost; the romance is provocative seductive yet tender.

Finally, Camden and Katherine. I have been waiting for their story from the first book of this series. Let me just say it was worth the wait. I always knew Camden loved Katherine but he really didn’t know what love was in order to recognize it. His father would not be the winner of Father of The Year awards and his mother left when he was little. His father did everything he could to bring Camden down. Even in business Camden never measured up in his father’s eyes. Katherine too lost the ability for love from when they took her dad away in handcuffs and destroyed her family. Her brother took off and her mother just existed. She suffered with anorexia as a result because she felt she had to be the perfect one of the family. Marrying Camden was an arranged, contracted marriage. She never thought it would turn into love. Even though they didn’t admit to the feelings they felt for each other K A Linde made her readers know. Camden couldn’t get over his jealousy toward Penn and Katherine couldn’t get over her jealousy of Fiona. Their relationships with these two people were so parallel to each other. Penn was her person and Fiona had been friends with Camden for years. This story was written in such a way you felt like you were there with them every step of the way. I was glued to every page wondering when they were going to realize they loved each other and their marriage was real. Once that happened what a joy to see their love grow and the commitment they now made to each other. Their marriage was no longer just a contract but a love union.

The Breaking Season by K.A. Linde is the third full-length book in her Seasons series. This is the story of Katherine and Camden and their arranged marriage and all the layers of their personalities, background, relationship and more. My first venture into books by this author was with this series so I was unfamiliar with the fact that some of these characters are introduced in previous series and are shown under a different light. That being said, I was desperate for this story from everything I read in the previous Seasons stories. The arranged marriage has already happened and these two have already had their falling out. They are both so stubborn that neither will give an inch nor will they let the other one know what they expect from them. It is a tragic recipe for disaster that just keeps repeating until itself until they finally call a truce on vacation with their friends. But even then, their past gets in the way of everything they were feeling. As Camden and Katherine work through their own issues separately and eventually together they have a lot of suppressed emotion and trauma to deal with. Allowing the other to be there for them is the key component in making things better but it's a hard journey for them. Loved it! Enjoy!