Reviewer: Tracy
Rival by Penelope Douglas
Series: Fall Away series #2
Also in this series: Falling Away
Publisher: Penguin
Publication Date: August 26th 2014
Genres: New Adult
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Series Rating:

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….

 

Tracy’s review of Rival (Fall Away #2) by Penelope Douglas

Madoc and Fallon are step-siblings who have never gotten along. That doesn’t stop them from wanting to have sex. They start when they are sixteen and though they never show it in public they are all over each other at night. They end up falling in love but of course all good things must come to an end and it does here as well.

Fallon is shipped off and told that Madoc doesn’t want her; Madoc is told that Fallon complained that she was being forced; neither parent is in their kids’ life and when Fallon comes back into town for the summer before she heads off to college, she’s ready for revenge on all of them.

When she sees Madoc, however, she can’t help but remember that at one time in her life she loved him…and never really stopped. They have harsh words to start but then get together. Of course Fallon can’t handle it all and ends up running – several times (which got old) – until she finally realized that if she wanted Madoc she was going to have to stand up to everyone in their life in order to get him.

Madoc is a complete ass to Fallon when she returns and I thought him a complete pig. I didn’t read the first book so I had no previous impressions of him to light my way. He did say some horrible things to her at first but after more info came out we find that he was terribly hurt and was fighting against the feelings he still had for her even after two years of separation.

The story was a good one but Fallon, until she got her head on straight, just kept running away and it drove me nuts. Madoc was really a nice guy when he wanted to be. He truly loved Fallon and the things he did for her, even when she was gone for those two years, were pretty touching. He had a good heart but had not been given the chance in his life to let it grow except when he was with Fallon. Being ripped apart from her hurt him terribly and he’d tried to hide emotionally and ease his pain. I was quite happy when he finally got his chance with Fallon.

The parents in this story….HO-LY. SHIT. Seriously messed up people. Madoc’s dad was never around, Fallon’s mom was a gold digger and a slut, Fallon’s dad was a criminal of sorts. The only parent I actually liked was Madoc’s mom. She was a ball buster but a nice lady. They certainly new how to make life…colorful.

Overall it was a good book. I liked the writing although the story did repeat itself a bit at times. It was hot and sexy and I’ll definitely be reading the next book in the series with Jaxon.

Rating: 3.75 out of 5

The Series:

This title is available from NAL. You can buy it here or here in e-format. This book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.