Rival by Penelope Douglas Review

5 Smooches!

Synopsis

From the New Adult sensation and New York Times bestselling author of Until You

Madoc and Fallon. Two estranged teenagers playing games that push the boundaries between love and war…

She’s back.

For the two years she’s been away at boarding school, there was no word from her. Back when we lived in the same house, she used to cut me down during the day and then leave her door open for me at night.

I was stupid then, but now I’m ready to beat her at her own game…

I’m back.

Two years and I can tell he still wants me, even if he acts like he’s better than me.

But I won’t be scared away. Or pushed down. I’ll call his bluff and fight back. That’s what he wants, right? As long as I keep my guard up, he’ll never know how much he affects me….

Review

Rival is book 2 in the Fall Away Series by Penelope Douglas.  I came across Bully, the first book in this series, as a freebie on Amazon a good while ago and I adored it.  I remember after I finished it, I kept thinking that it was the best freebie ever! Imagine my excitement when I found that Penelope was doing a signing not but an hour from my home town.  I was practically giddy.  I was going to meet her and when she posted on the event page for the signing that she would be giving away paperback arcs of Rival, I was determined to be there first.  I wanted it so very badly.  My co-bloggers and I did arrive super early to the event, but right when we got inside, of course, they needed a pee break.  Pregnant ladies…seriously.  FML!  I waited as patiently as I could for them to finish and we rushed over to Penelope’s line.  I watched her hand the girl in front of me a Rival and thought ohh…she still has some.  Unfortunately for me, that was the last one.  I might have teared up a bit.  It might have almost ruined my day.  I might still be a little bitter about that shit.  It all worked out, though.  No, I did not get a signed paperback arc of rival from Penelope Douglas while she was wearing an adorable little top hat, (SOB)  but our blog did get picked to receive an arc and promo the book.  I was damn excited again and when it hit my kindle, my life stopped.  I did nothing but read for hours and ignore my life, my children, and my husband.  Sorry guys, Madoc needed me.

I consider Bully my most favorite NA book.  Well I did.  Rival blew that baby out of the water.  Yes, Bully was a 5 star book, no doubt, but Rival was amazing and honestly, there is no way to rate it.  It broke all my of NA rules.  It was brutal, dark, and daring with its plot twist.  It gave me feels…tons and tons of them.  It was crazy sexy.  CRAZY SEXY!  I lost myself in Madoc and Fallon’s world.

Fallon and Madoc’s parents marry when they are in their teens.  They are from different worlds and they love to hate to each other.  At the age of sixteen they start to play a dangerous game; rivals by day at school and something entirely different behind the closed doors of their home at night.  Until, Fallon leaves for boarding school without a word to Madoc, leaving Madoc with a ton of questions and an absorbent amount of resentment.

It is 2 years later and Fallon is home from school.  The tension is off the charts.  They aren’t kids anymore and things get real.

Fallon and Madoc’s story is a heartbreaking one.  Get ready to ugly cry and probably go ahead and get yourself some chocolate and alcohol, because you are going to need it.  Poor Fallon.  I wanted to hold her and strangle her all at once through the beginning of this book.  You realize right away that she is beyond damaged and as the story goes along it just keeps getting worse and worse.  The more information that was divulged in each chapter I read, the more I cringed, almost physically hurting for her as the mystery of why she left and what happened while she was gone unravelled.  Forget damaged.  She was broken.

“He picks up the pieces.”

I knew what I wanted for Fallon but I honestly didn’t know if she could pull it together after all that had happened to her.  She was strong on the outside by weak and worn out on in the inside.  I loved her character.  She was still fighting even though she had lost so much already.

And Madoc.  You will hate Madoc and then love him and then your heart will shatter into a million little tiny pieces for him.  He is cheeky, alpha, and heart stopping sexy, but underneath all that cheek and charm, he is sensitive, needy, and loving.

“You’re going to ruin me, Fallon.”

Together, they are a force to be reckoned with.  From their fighting to their loving, they do it hard.  Always going to the extreme to hurt and love one another.  Their relationship had more angst than I could fathom and I couldn’t get enough of it.

You are going to love this book.  The writing was witty and fast-paced.  The sex was out of the this world hot.  Fallon and Madoc made me blush and swoon.  Whew.

“She tasted like vanilla and warmth and home.  I couldn’t imagine ever being hungry for anything else but her.”

The best part of this book for me, though, was the feelings.  Oh man, I cried.  It was an emotional roller-coaster I never wanted to get off of.  So much happened with these two beautiful people in only a few hundred pages.  Penelope’s writing makes me feel like I have known these characters forever.  I found myself so emotionally invested in Madoc and Fallon; crying, sighing, and squeeing the whole way.  You must buy this book now.  Madoc and Fallon will not let you down.

“No one can stop us now.”

“We’re free.”

Amie

BUY IT NOW