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**

Purchase: | Audiobook | Amazon | Kindle | B&N | Book Depository |

Audiobook Review: Until You by Penelope Douglas, Narrated by Nelson Hobbs

I loved Jared Trent in Bully, and I honestly couldn't wait to get his POV so I was so excited to start Until You by Penelope Douglas. While this book can be read as a standalone, I would highly recommend reading this one after Bully. I think that this story give so much insight into Jared and the events of Bully, and I think that it is much better having seen Tate's side first. I not only loved Jared's POV, but I also loved the narrator Nelson Hobbs. I thought that he did a fantastic job of bring Jared's story to life as well as Jared's character.

Until You gives the reader Jared's story from Bully as well as never before seen events from Jared's life. Jared had always loved Tate, and would have done anything for her. But when he is sent to visit his father for a summer before high school, everything changed. Now Jared does the one thing that he knows will keep himself from giving in to his weakness, he pushes Tate away and makes her miserable. Jared has learned to thrive on his anger, and by torturing Tate he keeps himself alive. Even though Jared hates Tate, he can't help but still love her as well. Before France, Tate never fought back. But now she is standing up for herself, and Jared is even more drawn to her than ever before.

I really loved seeing Jared's POV. I felt like it added so much to this story, and it was really interesting to see his side of things from Bully as well as stuff that we had never got to see before. Jared's thoughts and feelings were so interesting to me, and I felt like he was so much more than I had ever realized. I could not love Jared more, and though I hate what he did to Tate I was able to understand where he was coming from. I still don't agree with what he did, but I do see what caused him to act the way he did and why he felt like he should do those things. Seeing Tate through Jared's eyes really changed the whole story, and I felt like we really got to know her better as well as Jared. I loved seeing him struggle with his feelings for her and showing her that he was a different person. I think that Tate really saw through what Jared had done and was able to see that he was different than who he had been but that he was also still in part the person that she had grown up with and loved. Jared and Tate's relationship was so interesting in Bully, but I honestly felt like we didn't really get to see but a fraction of their story until Jared's POV in Until You. I also was glad to see what had really been going on with Jared and K.C. I still dislike her character and don't understand her, but it was nice to see things from another side. I really hope that she is finally able to open up to Tate and admit everything that she was thinking and going through later in this series, but it was nice to see her in a different light through her interactions with Jared.

I have to say that what really made Jared's story come to life was the narrator Nelson Hobbs. He was able to really capture Jared's personality and I thought that his voice was absolutely perfect for Jared. But Nelson Hobbs was also able to keep the characters distinguishable, and it was always easy to tell exactly who was talking throughout the story. Nelson Hobbs has a really great voice, and I found myself absolutely enthralled with this story. I was able to really sink into the story because of his telling of it, and the rest of the world just fell away as I listened. I could have sat and listened to this entire story in one sitting if it wasn't for real life getting in the way. But I never once had my attention waver and I felt like that was because of not only the story but the narration as well. This is probably the best audio book that I have listened to yet, and I think that was in large part due to Nelson Hobbs. I would love to listen to more narrated by him. I am really looking forward to more from Penelope Douglas as well, and I can't wait for the next story in this series.

**Audiobook provided by Tantor**

Purchase: | Audiobook | Amazon | B&N | The Book Depository |