One Cruel Night and Cruel Money by KA Linde Book & Audiobook Review
Narrated by Virginia Rose and Stephen Dexter
A prequel and the first in a trilogy.
I began listening to Cruel Money by KA Linde and just felt like I was missing something, so I did a little research and saw that there was a prequel, so I stopped right there and went back and read the free prequel, One Cruel Night.
āThatās right. We had one night in Paris. You wooed me, you fucked me, and then you ghosted.ā
In the One Cruel Night, Natalie and Penn have a perfect night with the best connection. She lost her virginity to him. Then her broke her heart. Six years later, Natalie is house sitting in the Hamptons for the rich and powerful when she runs into Penn again.
āNo matter that Iād felt that love-at-first sight feeling with Penn, it had all been a lie. He was a lie wrapped in a pretty package. Like tearing into gorgeous Christmas wrapping paper on the morning of the twenty-fifth, only to find coal on the inside.ā
Penn and his ācrewā (yes, thatās what they call themselves) are obnoxious, spoiled, mean and catty. They play with peopleās lives. I guess I should have seen it coming with Cruel in the title; itās similar to Cruel Intentions in some ways. Penn has gone against his family wishes and became a Philosophy professor. But his humble job didnāt take away the rich-boy syndrome he has.
āI wanted Natalie. She confused me. She intrigued me. And despite all my training in ethics, I wanted to throw my morals out the window and go after her. Fuck that smart mouth. And have her crying my name out.ā
There was a TON of angst in this. Penn is torn between the cruel upper crust world of his family and friends, and the girl he wants and the job he loves. Penn has a really cruel streak in him, and Iām not sure how he will be redeemed for me, but Iāve said that before and have been surprised.
āItāsā¦a bad idea,ā I whispered.
āItās not.ā
āWe end in flame.ā
āBurn with me.ā
My favorite part of Cruel Money was Totle. Pets totally make books better. The only thing was, the male and female narrator said itās name different. Totle is short for Aristotle, but he pronounced it Total.
āForget Penn Kensington. Totle was the real chick magnet.ā
Likes:
- It was engaging and addictive. I needed to know what happened.
- There was absolutely nothing predictable about the plot and I have no clue what will happen.
- I really loved Nat.
- An adorable puppy!
- The prequel has me invested in the couple.
Dislikes:
- This is not the authorās fault, but I didnāt realize it did not stand alone, and you need to read the prequel and the trilogy. There was a cliffhanger.
- Iām not really a fan of mean girl shit, and there was TONS.
- They pronounced Totle the dog differently.
- āThe Crewā seemed like an immature group of spoiled private high school kids instead of adults.
- Winning was more important than anything else to Penn.
The Narration:
I liked the way Stephen Dexter and Virginia Rose spoke, but there didnāt seem to be enough audio proofing. Along with the dogās name being pronounced differently, there were a few other things mispronounced or pronounced inconsistently.
The Down & Dirty:
Rating: 3.5 Stars, 4 Heat, 4 Narration


Download One Cruel Night by KA Linde


Purchase Cruel Money by KA Linde




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