This is the second-to-the-last book in the series that I fell utterly in love with last year :) Ever since I read BULLY, the characters and this author's writing have stayed with me. I am so happy to have finally gotten to read Jax's story! Enjoy the excerpt and teasers, and don't forget to find more materials from and about the book by following the tour!
Publication Date: January 6, 2014
Book 3 in the Fall Away Series
Synopsis:
Jaxon is the guy she's supposed to avoid.K.C. is the girl he won't let get away....
K. C. Carter has always followed the rules—until this year, when a mistake leaves her the talk of her college campus and her carefully arranged life comes crashing to a halt. Now she's stuck in her small hometown for the summer to complete her court-ordered community service, and to make matters worse, trouble is living right next door.
Jaxon Trent is the worst kind of temptation and exactly what K.C. was supposed to stay away from in high school. But he never forgot her. She was the one girl who wouldn't give him the time of day and the only one to ever say no. Fate has brought K.C. back into his life—except what he thought was a great twist of luck turns out to be too close for comfort. As the bond between them grows, he discovers that convincing K.C. to get out from her mother's shadow is hard, but revealing the darkest parts of his soul is nearly impossible.…
My Review: ★★★★★ 5 stars!
Four books in and Penelope Douglas is still on a roll! She is really very good at delivering the unexpected: unexpected twists, unexpected depth in characters you initially ruled out as vapid and shallow, unexpected bonds between unexpected people, and so forth. She has a certain method of writing where she keeps readers on their toes at all times. She makes it very hard to put down the book even to eat or take a bath (based on personal experience, yep!) because you just want, no need to know what happens next.Let me just take a moment to say how happy I am for Ms. Douglas that this series became very successful! From the first moment I read the synopsis for book 1, I was immediately drawn to her stories and style of writing. I can confidently recommend her books to any NA/romance reader.
Now about FALLING AWAY! I have three main things to share with you, but please be mindful of the spoiler alert if you haven't read BULLY yet.
First of all, this book has to be read AFTER the first three books (see reading order below). Only then will you be able to fully appreciate Jax and KC now that it's their turn.
Jaxon Trent was Tate's boyfriend's little brother. Nothing more. Just a kid.
A kid who watched me. A kid I ever rarely talked to. A kid who felt like a threat just standing next to me.
Second, if you have read the earlier books, you'll be happy to know that the enigmatic Jaxon Trent doesn't disappoint! Over the course of the series this young man has given off an aura of mysteriousness, seriousness (which further adds to his appeal seeing as he is only 20 yrs. old as of this book, and KC is 21), a deep sense of loyalty, and protectiveness towards the people he considers family.
Three years ago, I laid my eyes on you for the first time, and every time I've looked at another girl since then, I've compared her to you. Every time.
Third, KC.... oh KC, KC KC... I am so pleased to have known more about her. She certainly wasn't at her best in BULLY. In fact my overall impression of her back then was just unpleasant. There was one specific thing she did to Tate that really had me going, "What the eff?" There is more to her than meets the eye though, and it was a relief to see that she is indeed a match for Jax. I cannot speak for every single fan of the series of course (and I know a huge number wasn't impressed at first that KC is the girl he has set his eyes on), but for me, Penelope has done a great job showing people why the two of them together makes sense.
Every time I thought of him, all I wanted to shout was "I love you!" Every time I opened my mouth to speak to him, all I wanted to say was "I love you!"
Fourth, we finally get to know who or what "Juliet" is about. Penelope D. first teased us with this name on her Pinterest board for FALLING AWAY. It's funny, I remember feeling ashamed when I couldn't remember any character named Juliet from the first three books :p and then us fans had to reassure each other that indeed there was no previous mention of a Juliet in the earlier books!
Old fans of the series will love seeing more of Tate & Jared and Fallon & Madoc in FALLING AWAY. I love that they actually helped to keep the story rolling. They don't just appear in a party or got mentioned in passing. They really had a hand in strengthening Jax and KC's relationship.
The climactic scene at the end of FALLING AWAY is a tribute to Jax, honestly. It was a wee bit corny for me, but knowing what Jax went through? Oh goodness... it was something he definitely, definitely deserved.
Fuck the doubt. I was good enough. I was strong enough. And I was worthy enough.
Lastly, although this book is the last full-length novel of this series, it definitely doesn't feel like the end. Just like with RIVAL, the last pages of this book just had me jumping and squealing in my seat, wishing that I could proceed and read AFLAME(novella) right away! That teaser was agony...!
Just one thing though: I was hoping that Jax's heroics in RIVAL will be mentioned even if only in passing. I know that was over and done with, but it was just a HUGE DEAL for me that I was hoping to know more about how he felt with what he had to do to protect the people he loves.
FALLING AWAY is a sizzling hot book that is rich on romance, character development, smooth-flowing writing and compelling story telling. This series as a whole is just addictive! I'll definitely be reading these books again and again in the future.
Only. Ever. You.
Buy Links
Fall Away Series Reading Order
Book 1: Bully
Book 1.5: Until You
(seriously the best alternate POV novel ever!)
Book 2: Rival
Falling Away Excerpt
From Chapter 9
"Jax, I can't," she breathed, placing her hands on my chest. "I . . . ," she stammered, "I don't exactly dislike you anymore, but this isn't a good idea. As much as I'd like to give in, I can't be that girl."
"What girl?"
She stared at me. "A one-night stand."
My fists tightened around her shirt. So that was what she thought I wanted?
My voice hardened. "What makes you think you'd be a one-night stand?"
"Because you're Jared Trent's brother. Because you're young. Why would you want more?" she asked, her tone light. "I'm not trying to be prissy, okay? You get to me. I like the way you feel. I'm just not ready for this." Her lips pursed, and she started to rise, but I pulled her back down.
"Ready for what?" I bit out, getting seriously fucking annoyed at her assumptions and the fact that she compared me to Jared. Two minutes ago she'd had her arms and legs wrapped around me.
Her eyebrows shot up, challenging me. "This," she spat out, and dug into my pocket, pulling out my knife. "It's been digging into the back of my thigh since I sat down. Why do you have so many computers? Why do the cops let you get away with anything? What do you do to make a living? And why do you carry a knife, Jax?"
My chest filled with delight at her anger. She was getting ballsier by the minute.
I shot her a smirk. "Because it's quiet."
And I almost laughed at her arched eyebrow. She was asking why I carried a knife, and I just answered why I carried a knife instead of a gun.
She averted her eyes, but I caught the annoyed expression as she raised the knife up to her face, studying it. She hit the button, and the blade shot out right between us.
I had only a moment to wonder what the hell she was doing before I reared back, seeing her jab the knife into my space.
"You think you scare me, don't you?" she taunted, holding the blade to my neck, playing with me.
I sucked in a few quick breaths and let out a startled laugh as my heart slammed against my ribs. Well, this was new.
I swallowed, meeting her triumphant little smile and leaning into the blade, feeling the sharp, cool steel bite into my neck. "You want to play? You don't know how to play my games, Juliet."
And I snatched the knife out of her scarred hand and brought it down to the hem of her shirt, slicing it up the middle.
"Jax!" she screamed, fumbling with her now useless T-shirt as I threw the blade onto the floor. "What are you doing?"
Grabbing her around the waist, I stood up, whipped her around, and planted her in front of the window looking down onto the backyard full of partiers.
I wrapped my arms around her shaking body and growled into her ear from behind her, "God, Juliet. You think I just wanna fuck? You think I wanna keep myself hidden and mysterious, because it's my play to get women into bed? Huh?" I pressed. "No, baby. I could fuck ten different girls tonight if I wanted to. I don't want to do that."
Her chest shook, and she squirmed against me, probably scared that we could be seen out the window.
"So, what do you want?" she cried. "If not a one-night stand?"
I closed my burning eyes, and buried my lips in her hair. "I want to terrorize you," I confessed. "I want to cut you without drawing blood. I want to break you." I pulled her into me. "And then I want to fuck you."
From the moment I laid eyes on her I had wanted to break her out of her shell. I wanted to see her undone, and I wanted to take her over. For how long, I didn't know, but I knew it would be for more than one night.
I also knew it wouldn't be forever.
Her breathing slowed, and she stilled, staring out the window. I straightened behind her and peeled off the T-shirt she was holding closed.
"Jax," she whimpered, turning her face to me. "They can see us."
Reaching around, I turned her chin back toward the window. "They can't see you. The window's tinted." The shirt, sliced up the front, fell down her arms and spilled to the floor. "But you can see them, Juliet," I pointed out, gently running my hands up her bare arms. "They drink, they laugh, they have meaningless conversations about what's trending on Twitter." I paused and dug my fingers into her hips, pulling her ass into me and breathing into her ear, "And I'm so jacked up I want you so bad."
Teasers
Giveaway!
Penelope is offering up the following prizes. The giveaways are international and ends at 11:59 PM CST 01/27/2015.
• (2) Swag Pack with a signed set of the Fall Away series + other swags (Intl)
• (2) $100 Amazon or B&N Gift Cards (Intl)
• (1) ARC of AFLAME to be gifted April 1, 2015 (Intl)
Blog Tour hosted by As The Pages Turn.
Follow the Falling Away blog tour for teasers, interviews and more!
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