Audiobook Review: Rival by Penelope Douglas, Narrated by Abby Craden and Nelson Hobbs

I have been so excited to get Madoc's story ever since I read Bully! I thought that Penelope Douglas had such a great writing style, and I loved how new and different her characters were. I am really enjoying this series, and I like how unique her stories are. While I really liked Rival, I will say that I didn't love it as much as I did Bully and Until You. But I still highly recommend this series, and I can't wait to get the next book!

After two years of being away, Fallon is back from boarding school. She left without a word, and Madoc never knew what happened. He only got the story that his father and stepmother told him. Back then, Madoc and Fallon had nothing to do with each other during their days, but their nights were a different story. They had just started to realize their feelings for one another when suddenly everything changed. But two years apart and many secrets now between them have changed everything. Madoc and Fallon find themselves more attracted to each other than ever, but they are both scared to let the other see how they really feel after everything that happened in the past.

I loved Madoc. He was so funny and charming in the first two books, but you could tell that there was so much about him that he didn't show to others. I loved his friendship with Jared, and it was good to see how close to Jax he had become in Rival. But it was also great to see some of his past and how he had been shaped by everything that happened with Fallon. He had this facade that most people assumed was how he really was, but it was clear that no one knew him the way Fallon did. Fallon was strong and a take no crap kind of girl, which I really loved. She was tough when she had to be, but she had such a vulnerable side as well. As hard as she fought it, she couldn't keep Madoc from getting under her skin. The feelings between these two ran so deep, but they had both been unaware of so much. The one thing that had never changed though was the chemistry between them. These two belonged together, and it was clear that they were beyond attracted to one another.

My biggest issue with this story compared to the first two was that there was so much drama. It got a bit over the top towards the second half of this book, and I just felt like that sort of distracted me from the connection between Madoc and Fallon. There was just so much going on and it was a bit too much. But Madoc and Fallon's story was still great, and I continue to become a bigger fan of Penelope Douglas's with each new story I read of hers. I really enjoyed listening to Abby Craden and Nelson Hobbs tell the story, and I thought that they did a wonderful job of bringing this book to life. I loved that we got both a male and female narrator, and it felt like the reader was really able to get into the minds of each character. Abby and Nelson did a great job of showing each emotion and feeling of the characters, and keeping the voices different enough that you could always tell them apart. I am really looking forward to more from both Abby Craden and Nelson Hobbs in the future, and I can't wait to see what Penelope Douglas has in store for Jax next. I loved getting to know him better in this book, and I can just tell that his story is going to be interesting. I definitely recommend this series to NA fans, but I think that romance fans in general will really enjoy each of these books as well.

**Audiobook Provided by Tantor Audio**

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Audiobook Review: Bully by Penelope Douglas, Narrated by Abby Craden

Bully is the first book in the Fall Away series by Penelope Douglas. I have been hearing great things about this book for quite awhile, but had never picked it up. I have no idea what I was waiting for, and I can't believe it took me this long. This story was fantastic, and I loved everything about it! Penelope Douglas wrote such a great story, and I felt like Abby Craden did such a great job of bringing it to life with her voice. I was drawn in from the start of this story and I felt like the story and narration did a great job of holding my interest all the way through.

Tate and Jared grew up next door to one another, and were the best of friends. Jared helped Tate get over the painful loss of her mother and Tate and her dad gave Jared an escape from his alcoholic mother. But right before high school, Jared went away for the summer to stay with his dad and came back a completely different person. Now he makes it his personal mission to terrorize Tate, going out of his way to make her life miserable. He sabotages her relationships and spreads rumors about her at school. Tate would do anything to avoid him and get through high school until she can leave and head to college away from him. She even went to France for a year to get away. But now that she is back for her senior year of high school, she refuses to let him continue to get away with treating her as he does. She decides it is time to stand up for herself and fight back. But even though things between them have been horrible for years, Tate has never stopped wondering what changed to turn Jared from the sweet best friend from next door to the mean bully he is now.

I really loved Tate and Jared. I knew that there was so much going on that we had no idea about, and I couldn't wait to see what was really going on with Jared. Jared was so much deeper that you could see right off, and I knew that he had to have been through a lot in order for him to make that transformation so suddenly. Tate was strong, and I can't imagine having been through everything that she had been put through. Even though I felt so bad for her and hated Jared at times, I wanted things to work out for them so badly. Jared and Tate had such a strong history and they definitely still had a connection. I just had to hope that the truth would come out and that they could put the past behind them and find their back to one another. I will admit that I really disliked Tate's best friend K.C. I thought that she was awful, and I didn't understand her at all. I felt like she crossed a line that you just don't ever cross, and I don't know that she will ever be able to redeem herself.

I loved how Abby Craden was able to voice each character with distinction, and that it was very easy for the listener to know who was talking and when. I thought that she did a wonderful job with each character, and her voice was very easy to listen to. In the past I have had trouble listening to audio books because I find my mind tends to wander. But that wasn't the case with Bully, and I think that it was because of the story Penelope Douglas had written as well as Abby Craden's narration. She was able to draw me in from the start, and kept me so interested that I had to know what would happen in the story and my attention was fully focused on her telling of the story. I absolutely can't wait to get more from Penelope Douglas and I look forward to more of this series. I would definitely be interested in more stories narrated by Abby Craden as well. I was really impressed with her ability to bring the story and the characters to life in a way that just reading the book isn't able to.

**Audiobook provided by Tantor**

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