Jan 12, 2015

Review: Rival by Penelope Douglas

Title: Rival
Author: Penelope Douglas
Publisher: NAL
Publication Date: 8.26.2014
Pages: 368
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Series: Fall Away #2
Source: Finished copy from publisher

Rating: 4 Stars

Summary (from Goodreads):
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:
If you've read BULLY, then you know that Madoc is Jared's best friend who started as a total jerkface, but then evolved into a decent guy that I personally loved. I was so freaking excited to see Madoc getting his own story and RIVAL just might surpass its predecessor on the awesome book scale. Well done, Penelope Douglas!

Madoc and Fallon have such a complicated history. Step siblings who crossed a line (repeatedly) and then were abruptly separated (apparently their parents thought them hooking up was a bad idea...?), and two years later are back in the same house.

If you love romance with a lot of sparks, this is your book. Fallon and Madoc have explosive chemistry and each one of their scenes is brilliant. I loved the way Douglas had them fighting one second and making out the next - but it never felt forced. It was all genuine and awesome and yeah.


BULLY took me by surprise by how much I enjoyed it, but RIVAL confirmed my love of Penelope Douglas and her writing. If you like romance and new adult, this is a great series to check out.
Buy: Rival by Penelope Douglas

1 comments:

  1. I've seen a few reviews for this series and it's still weird for me to figure out now could anyone fall in love with their Bully so I'm not sure if I will read it. It seems everyone loves it, so I must be the minority :)

    ReplyDelete

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