Betrayed: Slow-Burn Romance and Betrayal in a Fractured America; Book Three in the The Divided Series

By CC Robinson

The Underground is shattered. A sono-nuclear weapon threatens every nation. The free world's last ally is a lie.

Harriet is a medic-turned-rebel courier from Obsidian, carrying ten years of grief and a dead cousin's name. She wants two things: backup for the Underground, and a world worth surviving. What she finds in the Independent Republic of Texas is neither.

In the aftermath of Supreme Commander Martin's aerial assault on Queenstown, two Underground teams split off in opposite directions to do the only thing left - convince the free world to go to war before Martin's sono-nuclear device destroys them all. Harriet's team crosses into Texas and walks straight into a trap: a coded message in a secret drawer, a suspiciously smooth border crossing, and a presidential secretary with no business being in a safe house.

One by one, the pieces fall into a picture so chilling that Harriet and her team may not live to warn anyone about it.

Publishers Weekly BookLife Reviews calls Betrayed "an emotional, action-packed adventure intertwining a compelling near-future America with a desperate fight for freedom."

Inside this YA dystopian:

Slow-burn romance blooming in the wreckageA devastating family secret hidden for eighteen yearsA grief arc that breaks your heart before it rebuilds itA conspiracy that reaches from Martin's inner circle to the nation that was supposed to save themFour protagonists from four racial backgrounds, one fight

Heat: Closed door, kisses only.

Series: Divided Series, Book 3 of 4 (read in order). Complete series available.

POV: Four POVs, third person; Marcos, Rose, Harriet, Jason

Themes: Betrayal, grief, loyalty, found family, hope in dark times

Comps: The Hunger Games, Divergent, Legend, The Darkest Minds

Content notes: wartime violence, grief, loss of a family member, no sexual content beyond kissing, no profanity beyond invented expletives. Ages 12+. Ends on a secondary-character cliffhanger.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1962912213
• ISBN13: 9781962912211
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Manifold Publishing LLC
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 13 to 18 years
• Grade Range: Grade 8 to Postsecondary