Series Recommendation #16: Record by KA Linde

I cannot believe I haven't featured this trilogy yet in my series recommendation blog special. Because seriously I only have nothing but pure love, love, love for these books, its characters, and its author (of course!).

I came across the first book purely by chance and it was probably the best stumble-by-chance book I found last year. Well, there is no probably to that statement...because it really was. The wait for the next two books was excruciating. It was times like those when I really try to swear off recently started books that aren't standalones but I'm not a very patient person. But all the wait was worth it.

I fell in love with Brady and Liz in the first book and was hooked by the time I read the second book, I was pretty resigned to the fact that I will have a hard time letting go of these characters. Suffice it to say that I delayed reading the third book because I was becoming a mess at the thought of the trilogy ending.

Let me just say that this was a beautifully crafted story that was generously spread for a period of two years. That's a luxury that we don't get to have these days wherein stories almost always have hurried timelines. I really felt that I was able to see the characters grow over time and took that as a privilege.

So I guess I should stop now. I apologize but I get all fangirl-ly when talking about these books. It couldn't be helped!

(Click on the title links for my reviews.)

Off The Record

On The Record

For The Record

For The Record by KA Linde

With Congressman Brady Maxwell up for reelection and journalist Liz Dougherty about to graduate into a promising career, the ambitious couple’s future is brighter than ever. They share a passion for their work...and for each other. But when Brady holds a press conference to officially introduce Liz as his girlfriend, reporters hungry for a scandal bombard her. Now, her every move is under a vicious magnifying glass, and her life feels like it’s falling apart.

On the road to reelection, the passionate bond between the congressman and the journalist gets tested at every stop. Threatened by shameless media sensationalism and jealous exes, Brady and Liz now have to learn to trust each other despite what they read in the papers.

In the finale to USA Today bestselling author K.A. Linde’s sexy Record trilogy, Liz and Brady may be setting off fireworks along the campaign trail, but can their love transcend politics as usual?


So we have finally come to the last book in Brady and Liz's story. And what a way to end a series!

Brady and Liz may finally be together and telling the world that they were but that didn't mean that everything was smooth-sailing from there. They still had to deal with the people's reactions to their relationship and their judgments, and people that were set on destroying them. Brady had to stand by what his relationship with Liz meant to his political career and how it could also be affected. Liz had to strive to make a name for herself despite being with someone that was a public personality and a very succesful one at that.

This trilogy deserved this wonderful ending. The characters were so well-written with enough depth and dimension that I had began to think they were real. The unhurried plot that spanned two years--a novelty that is hard to find in today's many romances--that showed how two people can grow with each other and into a relationship that can weather storms that other couples can only think of. And that epilogue? Wow, wow, wow! 

Ahhh, I cannot gush enough about this book!!! (Obviously!) THANK YOU, KAL, for coming up with this series and for deciding to share it to the world. I'm a lucky, lucky lady to have read each everything. I will forever recommend this to anyone.


Final verdict: 12/10. Great, awesome must-read.


Record series reviews: 
Off The Record
On The Record

On The Record by KA Linde

For political reporter Liz Dougherty, election day—a day of looking toward the future and saying goodbye to the past—seems like a fitting time to start a new relationship. But feelings for her former flame still linger...

The sexy second book in bestselling author K.A. Linde’s Record series decides whether it’s better to pick up the pieces and move on...or to pick up right where you left off.


Saying it was close to agony waiting for this book to become available pretty much describes what the past months since I read the first book in this series late last year was like. KA Linde spoiled me with that first installment--it was too good for my miserable existence.

This was another fantastic read. It actually delivered more than I had expected for the second part of this series. I did not expect to read a Liz trying her very best to move on after leaving Brady Maxwell and their summer affair. I was happy for her and I was actually glad she had someone else. And then...boom!

As much as I was a fan of the Brady-and-Liz love story, this book actually gives the rare point of view when the lead characters in the story move on. And I had to go through all these pages wondering if Brady and Liz will ever get back together. But at the same time, I was extremely happy with how I got a peek at Liz being unselfish and growing up from when this story all started. And that goes the same with our Senator.

But love is a beautiful thing and it will find its way back to where it belongs no matter how you try to get rid of it or hide it away or forget about it. There might be just a few scenes here between Liz and Brady but those scenes pack a punch. Every time. And that ending? It's that throw-your-ebook-reader-in-frustration cliffhanger kind of thing. Wowzer.

This is one one of those books that set the bar higher for the rest. Another topnotch work from Ms Linde and dare I say, I am ready for book three. Bring it on por favor.


Final verdict: 9/10. Great must read.


Record series reviews:
Off The Record

Off The Record by KA Linde

Liz Dougherty has no idea a single question is about to change her life.

Her first big reporting assignment for her North Carolina college newspaper has her covering a state senator’s impromptu press conference. Brady Maxwell may have everything it takes to be a politician—a winning pedigree, devastating good looks, a body made to wear suits—but his politics rub Liz the wrong way. When Liz’s hard-hitting question catches the upstart senator off-guard, it impresses Hayden Lane, Liz’s editor who feels she’s headed for a promising career as a reporter.

But Liz is also headed into a secret romance with Brady that could destroy both their ambitions. Though he’s a bachelor, potential voters might frown on Brady cozying up to a reporter. And Liz isn’t sure sneaking around is enough for her—especially when things between her and Hayden might be less platonic than she thought.

Sleek, sexy, and smart, Off the Record ventures into a high-stakes campaign and an even higher-stakes affair to answer the question: When politics and love collide, can there ever be a winner?


So I have been waiting to read this book for what felt like the longest time. March didn't come soon enough while I did. And I was right to get sooo excited just from reading the blurb of this book.

Who doesn't like a story wherein everything is stacked up against our lead characters? Where the odds and timing just doesn't seem to be on their sides? And yet they continue to forge and try to make a go for it?

I loved how this story seemed so honest despite the need for secrecy for Brady and Liz. Liz went into their relationship with her eyes open and Brady had been honest from the very beginning of how things were going to be--because he was running for public office and she being a hotshot college reporter (who put him on the spot on their first meeting). She didn't go into their affair blind. But I also understood how she wanted to change the status quo. I guess it is only human nature to be proud of what you have, relationships included. Or especially. Anyone would hate to be someone's secret, I guess.

KAL did an amazing job with the storytelling. I didn't just go through this in one sitting, I went through it in a few hours. Because the characters were so likeable and the tone far from stiff. The only thing that I hated? It ended. 

Yep, I cried right at the end. I couldn't hate Brady despite all that he asked Liz to go through in the short while that they were together. But most of all, Liz made me proud with what she did in the end. Atta girl!

GIVE ME BOOK 2 NOW!!!


Final verdict: 9/10. Great read.