I received this book for free from Netgalley, Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Rival by Penelope Douglas Series: Fall Away #2
on August 26, 2014
Genres: Fiction, New Adult, Romance
Pages: 368
Format: E-Arc
Source: Netgalley, Publisher
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Madoc
It’s different within these four walls—behind this closed door, at night, in the dark. I’m not Madoc, and she’s not Fallon. I’m not smiling, cracking jokes, or putting up a front. And she’s not cutting me down with her smart mouth or looking at me and wishing I was a million miles away from her.
Here—in her room, on her turf—is where she’ll let go of everything that makes her fight me everywhere else. I told her that she should lock the door to keep me out. She never does.
Fallon
Madoc thinks that he has me pegged. He thinks that what you see is what you get, and that he’s on top of the world. Three years ago, I was cast aside and kicked out of my home all because of him. The little prince plays a game not even knowing that we’re at war.
Some people call it fighting. Others call it angst. Our parents call it sibling rivalry.
This is Book 2 in the Fall Away Series. Madoc and Fallon are STEP-siblings and this can be read as a stand alone. Characters from Book 1 and 1.5 will be featured heavily in this book.
So in Rival on Fallon’s return, both she and Madoc cannot help but fall back into old habits – spiteful comments in public as they pretend to not care – always maintaining the game, until night when they reveal who they are and want they want.
Stubbornness and a failure of trust keeps both of them from fully committing to each other – Fallon has revenge to plot and Madoc has a secret he is a ashamed to admit to. It is these issues plus a whole bunch of family problems that prevent Fallon and Madoc from being together. Both need to confront the past in order to build a future.
Rival was an enjoyable book, but I wished that we got to the end a lot faster. There was too much time spent tooing and froing and a lack of trust with each other and stubbornness that meant neither would talk about their problems. It felt like this trick was used one to many times. In fact I became bored half-way through and had to have a day off.
Saying that I was glad that I came back to this book. The second half is so so much better than the first. Now we get to see how Madoc and Fallon are as a unit and why they make such a good couple. The reasons for their hatred and stubbornness come spilling out, but together they deal with. I especially loved the scenes with Lucas – showing how much Fallon and Madoc understand one another and who they really are under all the catty comments.
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