Cruel Desire (Seasons, #2) (Cruel, #5)

by K.A. Linde

[Nadz@Totally Addicted to Reading]

I received this book from Author, Wildfire Marketing Solutions in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Hating Season, is the second book in the Seasons series and it follows the lives of Court Kensington and Anna English.

I was first introduced to both characters in The Lying Season and I found them fascinating and I jumped at the opportunity to read their story. Based on what was revealed in the first book, I expected this installment to be an angsty read and it definitely delivered that and more.

Anna is a top-notch publicist hired by the mayoral candidate to effect damage control after her son, Court was caught up in a scandal involving his ex-girlfriend.  She is a no-nonsense person and takes crap from no one. She appeared to have the perfect life, but then it all came crashing down when she discovered her husband cheated on her.

Court always seem to find himself in some interesting situations. He appeared rich and entitled, and he didn’t care what anyone thought of him. To say he was not pleased, when he learnt that Anna was hired to clean up his image, would be an understatement.

I enjoyed getting to know both characters. I admired Anna’s strength. It couldn’t have been easy learning of her husband’s infidelity, but she handled it well. She held her ground and did not accept his sorry excuses.

There is more to Court than meets the eye, as Anna would learn while spending time in his company. If only she could stick to her rule of not getting involved with a client which proved difficult the more, she learned about Court.

Both Anna and Court were no strangers to having their hearts broken, but they dealt with their pain differently. Anna threw herself into her work, while Court partied, hence his need for a publicist. Watching these two push and pull was interesting. Strangely enough their actions did not perturb me, but I was quite intrigued to learn if Anna would cease finding reasons for why she should not get involve with Court.

Some readers may have an issue with Anna falling so quickly for Court despite loving her husband for the past five years.  I believe her love for her husband was not borne out of passion, but more from the fact that he presented a haven from the betrayals she had suffered in the past.  His betrayal made her realised she was in love with what she thought he represented rather than the man himself. Court provided her with what her husband never could.

I loved the pacing, which I thought was well balanced. I enjoyed spending time with the secondary characters. There was a particular couple who intrigued me, and whose story we will be getting next.

Conclusion/Recommendation

Overall, The Hating Season proved to be a sizzling enemies to lovers romance that kept me up late into the night.

This review was originally posted on Totally Addicted to Reading