Cruel Marriage

By: K A Linde

Narrated by: Erin Mallon, Sebastian York

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

A sexy stand-alone arranged-marriage romance from USA Today best-selling 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?

©2020 K.A. Linde (P)2020 K.A. Linde

Miscommunications fraught with juvenile behaviors

This is my first book by K. A. Linde. Katherine and Camden’s relationship was fraught with miscommunication, misconceptions and juvenile behaviors, especially for a couple who were both in their mid to late thirties! So, I was shocked that they were actually able to go the distance and cement a mutually beneficial relationship. Because they had to contend with meddlesome outside influences, eating disorders and deceit, it it was surprising that they were able to overcome those obstacles and support one another in a successful relationship. Erin Mallon and Sebastian York were phenomenal narrators as always! Their performances were what enhanced my listening experience!

Romance with someone who had a mental illness

this is a book where i didn't want the main characters to get together. it tried some s:&m but failed. i was horrified on the day coming home from the hospital they had sex. when she was still having problems. and her body was under weight. the guys voice was good the girls voice often sounded like a commercial for car insurance and her version of a mans voice sounded strained and un attractive.

Maryanne

Erin Mallon the female voice ends all of her sentences in a downward tone like she is tired of reading. Sebastian York did a very good job of the male voice

What an incredible story.

Loved this book from beginning to end. The character development was exceptional. Narration was perfection.

Amazing

Love this series. You worked think that is you’ve read the other two books, that these characters would anger you... but I loved them so much. So worth it. Must read and great narration.

Great story

I want to give the book a 3.5. I enjoyed this book and have read the previous books in the series however, I still struggled remembering all the characters from the previous books. Please don't misunderstand me, I still liked the book very much. Camden and Kathryn have a love/hate relationship. Their bantering is truly magical and these two really have something special together despite how their relationship started. They both have things in their paths that is dictating how they are in their current life and relationship. But they learn to support each other and not keep fighting to move forward in their lives, together.

I loved it ♥

the characters are all amazing, and every minute you are pulled into kamden and Katherine's story.
there are times where you want to scream at he characters and times when you want to cry for them.

Finally!!!

I wanted a happy ending for their story. I'm so glad it turned out the way it did. Through both series I waited to hear about this couple and all I could say is finally. I loved it.

Only 1 redeeming quality...well - 2, I guess.

If you enjoy "romance" about two narcissistic, overindulged, volitile, and vapid characters, you might enjoy this book. Even the brilliance of narrators Erin Mallon and Sebastian York couldn't save this novel. Granted, I did not read the previous books in the series, so maybe that would have helped, but the Real Housewives - ANY of the Real Housewives - have more redeeming qualities than these characters. They cheat, they lie, they manipulate...doesn't sound like a good basis for a romance to me.
The ONLY redeeming quality (other than the narrators) is that the author does a decent job of speaking to mental illness and how it can destroy lives.

Meh. All over the place. Really love???

No spoilers: In this review I talk about stuff in the book, but try to keep it vague so as to avoid spoilers. Any details are either in the first 2-3 chapters or not plot important.

First, the description is misleading. NOT an arranged marriage - they dated before, just had a contract instead of love when they got married.

Second, besides the brief wedding scene preface, the listener is dropped in at their 1 year anniversary. Everything is confusing because we’ve learned nothing about the past several years of their lives and only know they are miserable, don’t live together, and he has a mistress. (What an ——! Hard to get behind the character/hero with that fact.)

Third, the pacing of the story is all over the place. This story could have been a three book series, had a steadier pace, filled in the blanks that are never explained, addressed an important women’s issue in greater depth and care, and the love would have been more believable. There are multiple issues going on in the characters’ lives and pasts, besides their relationship, that it feels like the writer is jumping all over with no real focus on any one issue: parental abandonment, abuse, childhood leukemia, anorexia, and infertility, etc.

Fourth, instead of dealing with the primary women’s issue in depth and with care, the heroin suddenly recognizes the problem (Anorexia relapse), and all the information women should be aware of, is just dumped out in a single conversation with her BFF. That whole healing process could have been a book all on its own! The husband helping his wife through it would have been a greater reason for them falling in love and have been a better story. That problem is when the character finally starts to be interesting and I started to care about her, but it’s at the end of the book.

Fifth, they suddenly love each other with no explanation why - it’s totally out of the blue. Many things are never answered or explained. Why did he want to marry HER specifically??? There really should have been a book before this to explain everything from before their first anniversary that is never revealed but clearly of major significance.



The narrators are great as they always are. Not even a factor in my complaints about this book.

Nah!

This didn't rock my boat as expected.
The female narrator ( Erin Mallon ) lacked emotion, sounded robotic. The male narrator ( Sebastian York ) did as always a fantastic job. The plot however was overdrawn and yep the chick in my opinion is an overindulged brat.
Not adding on my favourite list

Enjoyed it in the end

Almost gave up on this after a couple of chapters.

First the heroine comes across as a bit shallow at the start and I really didn't warm to her at first.
Second they're 1 year into their marriage already and you kind of feel you've missed out on loads in their relationship.
I was also put off by the fact he has a mistress, I don't like cheating, but actually go with it. You'll find all is not what it seems with that.
Get past the first few chapters, give it a chance and it's a good book. Plus read by 2 of my favourite narrators.

Absolutely brilliant.

I lived reading this book so much and the audio has just been the sweet icing and cherry on top. I didn't think Katherine and Camden's story would have me falling in love with them, but it did. As always, Erin Mallon and Sebastian York are first class. Straight on to my favourites list 💖💖💖💖💖