Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Blog Tour Review and Interview: Rival by Penelope Douglas


Title: Rival (Fall Away, #2)
Author: Penelope Douglas
Genre: NA | Contemporary Romance
Release Date: August 26, 2014
Tour Hosted by: As the Pages Turn







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 three 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.

Three 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….



4.5 Star Review by Nicole Lorenzo

When Madoc and Fallon’s parents get married they are now family. Step brother and sister, and they couldn’t be more different. Madoc is a jokester, he’s preppy and privileged. Fallon is poor, she’s a skateboarder who wears boys’ clothes and has too many piercings. They are complete opposites in every way and have no problems telling each other exactly how much they dislike one another. They say hateful and vile things to each other’s faces and around every one they know on a daily basis, but at night things change. When night time comes they drop the insults, the false pretenses and the hate that is between them slips away and turns into something else entirely. They become each other’s first everything. The only real they can count on even though neither of them have the chance to admit it. When they are discovered by their parents Fallon is immediately shipped off to boarding school and both Madoc and Fallon are left angry, with unresolved feelings and unanswered questions.

“….breaking was beautiful. It hurt, and it was an uphill climb back to sanity, but you came back stronger, fiercer, and more solid than you were before.”

 Nothing bothers Madoc Caruthers. He’s a jokester and a ladies man. Always making inappropriate comments and he’s known for throwing the best parties. Two years ago when Fallon left without so much as a goodbye Madoc told himself he didn’t care about her. They were only sixteen, they used each other end of story. But now she’s back, why after all this time he doesn’t know but he plans to find out. Their first encounter after all this time is just as hostile as ever, but underneath the hostility is something else simmering under the surface, something neither of them want to admit.

“That beautiful girl that hated me, and I hated her, but – goddamn it – I loved how we hated, because it was raw and real. It didn’t make any sense, but yeah – it was real.”

Fallon Pierce has spent the last two years away at boarding school. While she was away she has spent nearly every second planning her revenge on the people that ruined her life. What she didn’t plan was how she would feel when she came face to face with Madoc again. Sure there was anger, distrust and resentment, but there was also something else she knew she had to resist. As much as she longed for Madoc again she had to keep her guard up.

“I wished I didn’t feel the invisible cord pulling me to him, wanting to touch him again, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t. We always want what’s bad for us.”

Old habits die hard and it doesn’t take long before Madoc and Fallon can’t keep their hands off each other, but there is still uncertainty, and distrust between them. The past isn’t as black and white as it once seemed and there are things that they both do not know and have yet to admit to each other. Madoc is afraid to get too close to Fallon she left once without looking back what’s to stop her from doing the same again?  Fallon has been living with rejection for the last two years. Now she has a plan in motion and although she doesn’t necessarily hate Madoc anymore her actions will hurt him indirectly.

“This was a game to Madoc – but it was war to me.”

When the truth comes to light and all the pretenses are left at the door Fallon and Madoc have to decide if they can leave the past behind and move forward. Can they let their rivalry go, can they learn to trust in love and each other?

“You were my first everything. And my only love.”

I didn’t think it was possible to live up to Jared and Tate’s story. Bully and Until You are among   my favorite books and I have re-read them a few times. When I heard Penelope Douglas was writing Madoc’s story I was beyond excited. I loved Madoc from the first books and could not wait to get his story in Rival. Madoc appears to be nothing but a jokester and a player but I knew there was so much more to him and you get to see just how much more!  Madoc was let down a lot through his childhood and put up a front to hide his true vulnerability. The only person he showed even a glimpse of his true self to was Fallon, and when she left, he felt betrayed.  Fallon had it tough and the two years she was away she plotted her revenge. She didn’t expect the feelings she never even admitted to herself to come back full force the second Madoc touched her again. I loved what a strong character she was and that she didn’t take crap from anyone. Even Madoc. The passion between Fallon and Madoc practically simmer off the pages and the hostility as well. They both had to deal with pain and trust issues that occurred when they were separated. When they both learn to drop the act and be themselves and separate the truth from the lies is when the question of whether they can truly be happy is answered.

I truly loved this story. I loved getting to know all the layers that was Madoc. I loved getting more of Jared and Tate. I’m ready for more of them and for Jax’s story which I will be anxiously awaiting! I know you will love this story as much as I did especially if you loved Bully!


Character  interview for Madoc and Fallon with Three Chicks and Their Books

Three Chicks:  Madoc, what were you thinking when you got the Fallen/Fallon tattoo? I know it was obviously for her, but what inspired you to get it.

Madoc: I was struggling with the fact that I was still thinking about her, and I thought the tattoo was a way to get out what I was feeling. No one knew. My father never tried to talk to me about it, and my mother wasn’t always around. I didn’t tell my friends, and I still didn’t understand why she had such an impact on me. It wasn’t until later that I realized were both kind of lost in this house. We were both growing up, and in the middle of the uncertainty of our parents’ marriage, we came together and found happiness in the house. With each other. I had fallen and every day was just getting from one point to another until she came home again. 

Three Chicks:  Fallon, why did you come home when you did? 

Fallon:  I came home to resolve things before college started and lay my demons to rest.  

Were you hoping to see Madoc again? 

Fallon:  Yes, it was crucial to my plans actually. I wanted to prove I was over him. I could walk in, walk out, and never look back.

Three Chicks:  Madoc, why did you follow Jared so blindly in his bullying of Tate, especially when you knew it was wrong? 

Madoc:  Not blindly. Jared’s my friend, my best friend, and I knew the real him. Whatever he was going through, I had to stand by him and see it through. I knew I was a dick, but I knew it was serving a greater purpose in the end. At least I hoped.

Three Chicks:  Madoc, do you think that things would have worked out for you and Fallon if you would not have been separated the way you were? Or do you think everything happens for a reason? 

Madoc:  I think it all happened for the best. Although, I would never want her to go through what she went through again, I know that even if we had made peace and been a couple earlier, we still had growing to do. Chances are it wouldn’t have worked out. We’re taking a huge gamble even now, but the great thing is I’ve never been more sure.

Three Chciks:  Fallon, how did you deal with the heart breaking decision that you had to do on your own?

Fallon:  I ran my father’s car off the road, I stopped eating, and I cried a lot. I had to sink before I learned to swim. I wouldn’t say I dealt with it, but I learned to deal with it in the end. My father was right. There would be a tomorrow and things would get better. 

Three Chicks:  Madoc, how come you never tried to find Fallon? I’m sure Jax could have found out where she was for the two years she was gone? 

Madoc:  I never thought she wanted to be found. I thought she left me.

Three Chicks:  Fallon, have you seen Madoc’s mom since the two of you have been back together? What’s your relationship with her like? 

Yes! She’s so great. Very protective of him, and all the parents now maintain a pretty consistent role in our lives, but I see why Madoc turned out as well as he did. He had two parents that loved him.

Three Chicks:  Madoc, you commented to Tate that Jared never would have gone to New York because of his car. What did you mean? Are you thinking he would have just told her at the last minute he wasn’t going with her? 

Madoc:  No, I just meant I knew this was coming. Jared and Tate have an identity outside of each other. And they should. Jared would’ve realized that the fit wasn’t for him. He needs space to roam. It’s not about his car. It’s about who he is and the lifestyle he wants to lead. I think he’ll find that playing it safe, as he’s doing right now, is the last thing that will make him good for Tate.

Three Chicks:  Fallon, what made you go all Karoke Girl at the bar?

Fallon:  Madoc challenging me at the bar with Aiden. We are rivals, after all. I wanted to shut him up and give him a taste of his own medicine.

Three Chicks:  Madoc, you made sure Fallon had to stick around in South Bend, then you made out with Ashtyn, that’s after you acted like a jerk when you talked trash about Fallon to Aidan. Immature much?

Madoc:  I was eighteen. Remember the dumb stuff you did at eighteen? Okay, then. ;)

Three Chicks:  Madoc, you told yourself you wanted Fallon to leave Notre Dame, but then you had Jax take Tate’s car out of commission-why? 

Madoc:  Easy. I liked the conflict with her. A lot. I wasn’t ready for it to end. When it comes to it, I always engage her.

Three Chicks:  Fallon, have you ordered any more interesting books lately to further your  “education”?

Fallon:  Haha. Yes, massage books. He LOVES them!

Three Chicks:  Madoc, were you surprised by Jax using that video at the charity benefit?

Madoc:  Shocked that it happened…yes. Surprised…no. Jax can be counted on to do what you least expect and it didn’t seem unlike him at all. He has a switch he turns off, and he just figures out what needs to be done, and he does it.

Three Chicks:  Why did you deal with the situation with your parents in such a life changing way? (marriage) Do you ever wonder if 18 is too young to be married?

We loved each other, and we didn’t want to be apart. We were tired of interferences and distractions, and we knew that we wanted the commitment. Marriage is about maturity. Do we trust each other? Do we stand together? Do we put the other first? Yes to all. We were ready.

Three Chicks:  4 kids or less?

5 J



Rival - Excerpt

Reaching around, he twisted my chin towards the mirror, and I sucked in a breath. “What do you see?!” he shouted.

“You and me!” I blurted out. “Madoc and Fallon!”

My heart was racing.

I looked at him through the mirror. I sat on one side of his lap, so he could see from the other side, and we stared at each other, my chest rising and falling more urgently.

“That’s not what I see,” he said in a low voice. “Those names mean nothing to me. They’re simple and empty. When I’m with you, I don’t see the daughter of a gold digging bitch and an Irish drug lord or the son of a crooked lawyer and a vegan Barbie.”

I almost wanted to laugh. Madoc had an ironic way of looking at the world.

But he wasn’t smiling. He was scowling. He was dead serious, and I knew from experience that his genuine moments were few and far between.

He reached up, threading one hand into my hair while the other hand rested on the chair.

“I see everything I want for as long as I can have it,” he continued. “I see a woman that wears the cutest little scowl like she’s two years old and was just told she couldn’t have candy. I see a guy that went and got an apadravya piercing, because he wanted to live in her world for even a little while.”

I closed my eyes. Don’t do this to me, Madoc. Please.

~ Buy books 1 & 2 of the Fall Away series 
Bully (Fall Away, #1) - Buy Links:
Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

Until You (Fall Away, #1.5) - Buy Links:
Amazon | Amazon UK | B&N | iTunes | Kobo

~ About Penelope ~

Penelope Douglas is a writer in Las Vegas. Born in Dubuque, Iowa, she is the oldest of five children. Penelope attended the University of Northern Iowa, earning a Bachelor's degree in Public Administration, because her father told her to "just get the degree!" She then earned a Masters of Science in Education at Loyola University in New Orleans, because she hated Public Administration. One night, she got tipsy and told the bouncer at the bar where she worked that his son was hot, and three years later they were married. To the son, not the bouncer. They have spawn, but just one. A daughter named Aydan. Penelope loves sweets, The Originals, and she shops at Target almost daily.


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3 comments:

  1. Loved, loved, loved Rival. It was great to get inside Madoc's head and Fallon is amazing. Thanks for sharing this wonderful interview with the characters.

    ReplyDelete

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