- Rival (The Fall Away Series)

5 "I'm free" "Valknut" "I don't try to kill your demons. I run with them." Kisses OMG...loved...loved... LOVED this book. This...the way I feel right now...is one of the many reasons I love this series! So...seriously, I really didn't know if I was going to love Madoc and Fallon as much as I loved Jared and Tate, because I love Jared and Tate A LOT ...but I tell you what, Penelope Douglas did an AMAZING job of making that happen. I was completely sucked in...felt every emotion...I really enjoyed where she took the story line and of course, the characters absolutely rocked my face off. So Rival is part of a Series, Fall Away, the first two books Bully and Until You really should be read first in my opinion, but each book is about a different couple, so it's not like it won't make sense...you just don't know some of the other characters as well. It makes things better...but it's not a deal breaker. Fallon Pierce...OMG I loved this chick...so much. For one reason, because she's a lot like Tate and absolutely adore that girl, but she's Tate with an edge. She's a skater girl to Tate's rocker chick, but the fact that they have so much in common made them fast friends which was another thing I absolutely loved. She's dry and sarcastic, a little rough around the edges...and honestly, a little jaded, but in a likeable way. I really connected with Fallon, possibly on a deeper level that I did with Tate...Fallon has a different kind of pain and not like I want to compare whose pain is worse, but Fallon's really hit me hard. She's not just this girl with a grudge and an agenda to make the people that wronged her pay...there is more to her story than that. God, she's a feisty, fierce little thing...all of this pent up emotion that has been buried for two years that's just bursting to come out and I couldn't wait for it to happen because once it did, I was in awe of her...Fallon was like amazing times a zillion. I loved her before...but after everything happened...I couldn't get enough of her. `What he said didn't matter. I liked who I was. No one told me how to dress, how to behave, what clubs to join...I made my own decisions. Madoc was a puppet. A drone. I'm free. ` Madoc Caruthers...this boy...*sigh* He is Mr. Happy-Go-Lucky...the life of the party...the jokester...charming, charismatic...everyone loves him and it's really easy to fall in love with him. He's just one of those guys. He's got it all...looks, personality, money...he doesn't have to work too hard to get what he wants but at the same time, a lot of what he wants is just handed to him. With that kind of lifestyle, it's easy to grow up being cocky and arrogant...and annoying - but Madoc manages to balance it brilliantly with his fabulous personality. Don't get me wrong, he's still got the cocky and arrogant thing down, but he's also got the balls to back it up and sadly enough, for me, it just made him hotter. And good lord is that boy drool-worthy. From the top of his head to the tip of his toes...he's just too beautiful for words...and that mouth! Oh-em-gee...I love 99% of the things that come out of Madoc's mouth period...but then when he gets a little dominant and demanding. Sweet baby Jesus...it did things to me. But it gets better...then he turned on the swoon. Madoc is the complete and total package...and I loved every ounce of him! "This is my father's house." I spoke low and straightened my back. "And someday all this s#!% will be mine, Fallon. That bed you sleep in, along with everything under this roof." "Not me, Madoc. You don't own me." "Yeah." I brushed her off. "Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt. Thanks." Oh Fallon and Madoc...I really didn't stand a chance against them because, technically, they have my kryptonite. History. Granted...they weren't besties or anything like Jared and Tate, but there is some deep history between them and it struck a chord for me. (on a side note, I feel like I am comparing Fallon and Madoc to Jared and Tate a lot...and I don't mean to but it's hard not to - the books complement each other very well but they're distinctive in their own rights. I loved the similarities that I found between the books as much as I loved the differences.) Their story might not be perfect...but it was unique and special to them and I think that's one of the many reasons why I enjoyed it so much. They had such a combative relationship...they didn't want to like each other but they couldn't help it. They were polar opposites in every respect but still couldn't deny their feelings. I am an angst whore...I want to feel that tension and build, give me as much angst as possible, I will love it every time and Rival is a perfect example of why. Fallon and Madoc have so much between them...so much it almost killed me, but I still loved it, because in the end, it made everything they went through so worth it. `"Madoc." "I love it when you say my name." His head fell back, and his chest rose more quickly. He looked like he was enjoying this although I wasn't touching him. He just liked touching me that much? My hips rocked into his hand, and for the first time in two years, I wanted things. I wanted this. I wanted him. I wanted it all again. But I knew I couldn't have it. I knew this was it for us. This was the last time he'd make love to me. The last time I'd kiss him. The last time he'd want me.' Good gravy I just want to take all the feelings I experienced in this book, bottle them up and experience them over and over again - I feel like an addict, I will never get enough of those emotions. Speaking of emotions, there is a scene...towards the end, where I felt like I got total insight into Fallon's character. The entire book we're fed little facts here and there about what happened to her and about her past but this scene was completely eye opening for me. Fallon is a very strong character IMO...but she's very emotionally contained and I feel like while I might be seen glimpses at her true feelings in her head, this was actually witnessing her raw emotions and it broke me. It was so incredibly painful...she was hurting, I was hurting for her and the next thing I knew, I was actually crying. I'm not a huge cry baby by any means but if I feel it, I can't help and I totally felt it. It's a pretty crucial scene for me because it was the beginning of the change in Fallon and what she needed to do to guard and protect herself in order to get through an incredibly painful time in her life. `When he stared down at me, everything was still except for our feet that moved to the music. It was like he was searching my eyes for something. Everything about him, the shade of his eyes, the muscles I felt under his shirt, the way I already knew how his body moved when it loved, everything about him drew me in. I sucked in a breath, wishing he'd stop touching me and wishing I could pull away. In another minute I would. In another minute I'd be satisfied with the warmth I hadn't felt in months or the heartbeat I could feel again. In one more minute I would let him go. I closed my eyes. Just. One. More. Minute.' Penelope does an absolutely fantastic job of writing these characters and stories that completely own my heart. I truly felt everything that Fallon and Madoc were going through and it made the experience reading them effortless. I didn't even have to try, they captured my soul and sucked me in, how can I not love something like that? I've loved Penelope's writing from the very beginning, she has a very easy style to fall into...not too fluffy on the details, it's crisp and clean, incredible emotion and feeling, enough sarcasm and wit to keep me laughing at all the right times and good-freaking-lord-have-mercy does she know how to write some hot sex. Really hot...like, I was expecting that to a certain degree, especially with Bully and Until You...but Madoc definitely had some delicious surprises up his sleeve. Above all what I love the most about this series...are the characters...I will always have a soft spot for the original couple that started it off and seeing Jared and Tate from another perspective was AH-MAZE-ING...obviously it made me miss them, but they're still just perfection on paper and even though it's just a taste of them, it was enough to satisfy me while I continued to fall in love with Fallon and Madoc. `I crumbled. The tears spilled over my lids, and I gasped as my body shook. I couldn't open my eyes. The pain was too great. I doubled over, clutching the sea otter, and put my head down, sobbing. Up came the sadness and despair, and I wanted to take back everything I'd said to him. Every time I doubted him. Everything I didn't tell him. Madoc, who saw me. Madoc, who remembered me.' Oh and speaking of other characters...we get to know a little bit more about the illusive Jax and there are some very interesting little hints and teases that were dropped, which now means I am dying for Falling Away. Like I was already giddy to read them, now I'm about at the point where I need to start stalking Penelope because holy banana's...am I excited! This series has yet to disappoint me and if Falling Away is packed with half the fabulocity that was in the other books, I'm pretty sure it's going to blow me away. Bring it on Jax!

I really wanted to love this book and while I enjoyed it a lot, I sadly didn’t find it up to par with Bully as its backbone. I mean, there was enemies to lovers, drama, hate, anger and an intense romance just as in Bully. It’s just ... that beautiful connection, originality and natural flow to the story that made Bully such a success weren’t there and that’s what really hurt the story in my opinion. I really liked Madoc in the first book. He was more or less the comedic relief and his randomness and outgoing nature was very charming to say the least. He was still all that in Rival, however it was toned down which took away some personality from both him and the book. This in turn made me less excited about the romance, especially with Fallon as the romantic interest. She rubbed me the wrong way in the beginning with her sort of entitled and almost bitchy attitude and while she let go of that attitude a bit further into the story I never grew to like her much. Still, the romance between her and Madoc had its intense enjoyable moments, especially when their past and secrets began to unravel. The drama and anger, the plot twists and them clashing and working through their anger towards one another was very intriguing and addictive. However as soon as they learned about the other person’s feelings it was smooth sailing between them and the relationship developing between them seemed to be more about sex than any kind of emotional connection. Mainly because that’s was what the story focused on with putting sex scenes everywhere. Sure, they talked about feelings and how much they meant to each other ... for like a few seconds right before or after having sex. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind a few sex scenes here and there. As a matter of fact it can help strengthen the emotional bond in a romance, but when it’s more about that than the actual connection that’s when I have a problem. It felt almost like Rival was trying too hard since it went overboard with it, and not even with just the romance but with the plot as well. There was rich parents, marriages and divorces, cheating, gold digging, mobster dad, step-sibling forbidden romance, secret virtuoso, skate boarding, fake baby brother, and many more juicy things that I cannot mention because of spoilers. I’m all for originality but it gets to a point where it is just too much to be realistic and just hurts the story. Despite my criticism in this review I will give Rival four stars. I didn’t love the book because of all that I mentioned above, but I could still enjoy it a lot. I am a lover of the enemies to lovers theme and the drama it brings, as well as HEA so the ending to Rival was very satisfying. I can’t forget the small snippets of Jared and Tate either. Their sweet moments in this book made my day.

Rival é o terceiro livro da série Fall away e confesso que enquanto eu estava extremamente ansiosa pela sua chegada eu também tinha minhas reservas. De fato, Penelope Douglas me surpreendeu com Bully, seu livro debut. Mas, enquanto tal estória funcionou inesperadamente muito bem com um anti-héroi como Jared, eu não sei se eu estava totalmente preparada para outra versão trazendo mais um tirano. Após ler Rival, no entanto, eu posso dizer que esta autora tem o incrível dom de fazer com que nos apaixonemos completamente por personagens antagônicos e que frequentemente cruzam a tênue linha entre o amor e o ódio. A narrativa começa com um curto prólogo que nos mostra que Madoc e Fallon são meio-irmãos, que a principio não se dão muito bem. Fallon é então enviada para terminar o segundo grau em um internato, onde ela fica por dois anos sem ter qualquer contato com Madoc. Mas, agora, ela está de volta. E o seu retorno não é nada amistoso... Nós sabemos que há um mistério que circunda a pendente animosidade entre os dois. Por que eles se separaram? O que realmente aconteceu entre eles? A estória é alternada entre os pontos de vista de ambos os protagonistas, então é possível experimentar os conturbados sentimentos que um tem pelo outro. Fallon reaparece com um desejo de vingança e Madoc quer vencer Fallon em seu próprio jogo. Tiradas sarcásticas e comentários pejorativos não irão faltar. Mas, nada demasiadamente cruel. Além do mais, ao contrario de Jared, Madoc tem uma rival a altura. Fallon com certeza não deixa as investidas de Madoc por menos. Ela, ainda que bastante vulnerável, não é nenhuma donzela desamparada. Madoc é aquele personagem que a principio você quer odiar. Sua moral é no mínimo questionável, ele é irritantemente convencido e os seus comentários são na maioria das vezes ofensivos. Mas ele tem outro lado, um que apenas Fallon realmente conhece e que é impossivelmente irresistível. Aos poucos nós vamos entendendo o que realmente aconteceu entre Fallon e Madoc. Eles querem se odiar em vista da dor e dos segredos do passado. Mas, a conexão entre eles é bastante intensa e a óbvia obsessão que eles sentem é simplesmente impossível negligenciar. Ambos precisam um do outro. Mas será que o ódio, suas famílias e um passado obscuro impedirá o amor entre eles ? É o que nós descobriremos no decorrer deste enredo. A voz única da Sra. Douglas novamente se destaque dentre a invasão de romances New Adult publicados atualmente. Ela traz uma estória instigante e perturbadora que você simplesmente não conseguirá colocar de lado. Para todos os fãs de Bully que estavam ansiosamente aguardado a chegada de Rival, eu posso lhes assegurar que vocês não irão se decepcionar. Penelope conseguiu escrever uma intrigante trama, com personagens cativantes, química extraordinária e diálogos espirituosos. E que me fez ficar ainda mais impaciente pela chegada do próximo livro da série. Mal posso esperar pela estória de Jax!

In my opinion it was the worst of all the series so far, it was kind of non sense all the rage and then all the cheesy part..

Quick delivery, amazingly well written story a rollercoaster of emotions

Ok Tate et Jared, génial, Maroc et Fallon, parfait et Jax et Juliet carrément canon ! Je les ai adorés et relus plusieurs fois ce que je fais très rarement alors ça veut tout dire. À lire absolument, vous ne regretterez pas !

Penelope Douglas delivers an emotional love story combined with beautiful story telling, great writing talent and two main characters that stole your heart.