*~*Until You by Penelope Douglas Blog Tour – Deleted Scene, Review, Giveaway & More!*~*

 

Title:    Until You

Series:    A Fall Away Novel, Book #1.5

Author:    Penelope Douglas

Genre:    New Adult Contemporary Romance

Release Date:    December 5, 2013

Tour Organized by:   As the Pages Turn

 

 

Have you ever been so angry that hitting things felt good? Or so numb that you actually felt high? The past few years have been like that for me. Traveling between fury and indifference with no stops in between.

Some people hate me for it, while others are scared of me. But none of them can hurt me, because I don’t care about anything or anyone.

Except Tatum.

I love her so much that I hate her. We used to be friends, but I found out that I couldn’t trust her or anyone else.

So I hurt her. I pushed her away.

But I still need her. The sight of her centers me, and I can pool all of my anger into her. Engaging her, challenging her, bullying her…they are my food, my air, and the last part of me that feels anything human.

But she left. She went to France for a year, and came back a different girl.

Now, when I push, she pushes back.

 

 

 

I cannot make it more clear – I am obsessed with this series…with Jared…with Tate…with Madoc…with all of it.  I love everything about it – the characters, the story, the writing – by far, this is one of my top favorites of 2013.

You can check out my review for Bully and an excerpt from Until You here – plus I also got to interview Tate and Jared at the Birthday Celebration, which you can read here.

 

 

Title:    Bully

Series:    A Fall Away Novel, Book #1

Author:    Penelope Douglas

Genre:    New Adult Contemporary Romance

Release Date:    June 17, 2013

My name is Tate. He doesn’t call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all. No, he’ll barely even speak to me.

But he still won’t leave me alone.

We were best friends once. Then he turned on me and made it his mission to ruin my life. I’ve been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to stay out of his way. I even went to France for a year, just to avoid him.

But I’m done hiding from him now, and there’s no way in hell I’ll allow him to ruin my senior year. He might not have changed, but I have. It’s time to fight back.

*This novel contains adult/mature young adult situations. It is only suitable for ages 18+ due to language, violence, and sexual situations.

**This book is the first in a series but can be read as a STAND ALONE. The next books will focus on side characters from this story.

 

EEEEP!!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE this series…Jared is my heart!  So who is ready to read this awesome deleted scene?  It makes me love Jared more…I can’t help it!

 

Picking Up Tate’s dad – Airport

“Stop it.” I grabbed Tate’s fingers out of her mouth—chewed up finger nails and all—and held her hand tightly. “You look guilty, and we didn’t do anything wrong.”

We sat in the chairs near Baggage Claim, waiting for her father, and she was looking at everything but me.

“I can’t sit here,” she grumbled and popped out of her seat. “You don’t understand. It’s different for guys. My dad’s going to look at me differently.”

Mr. Brandt was due in at any moment. In fact, his plane was on the ground already. Tate had been all nerves since school yesterday, and to be honest, so was I.

We skipped classes today, since her dad was coming in early, and we wanted to be here to face him together. She was so nervous about him and the video that she wouldn’t even let me spend the night last night.

Like he would be able to smell me on her or something.

Yeah. I almost smiled. James Brandt knows everything. Who was I kidding?

That man was the father I should’ve had, and, I hoped, he could see me in his daughter’s life and future. I would apologize for being careless with our actions. I would tell him I was sorry for Tate’s pain.

But I was the man in her life now, and I wasn’t going to apologize for anything else.

Standing up, I snaked an arm around her waist and cupped her face with my free hand. “Would you change anything?”

She still wasn’t looking at me, and I felt my heart pounding in my throat. Her sweet face was scrunched up with worry, and she looked like she was about to break into tears. Her father meant a lot to her, even more so since her mother died probably. His opinion mattered, and she needed his love and respect.

I wanted that from him, too, and for Tate’s sake, I would try to earn it. I’d even forgone my usual t-shirts today in favor of a light blue long-sleeved button up that my mother bought me last Christmas. I’d finally gotten around to taking the tags off this morning.

My mom had glowed with pride this morning, while I just tried to make into the car and out of sight before Madoc or someone saw me.

“Look at me, Tate.” I tipped her chin up. “Your dad is not stupid. He knows you’re a good person, and he knows shit happens. He wants solutions and resolutions. We stand together, and we don’t apologize for shit we’re not sorry for.” I raised my eyebrows. “At least I’m not sorry.”

I willed her to feel the truth in my words. I love you. I’ll love you forever.

“Would you change anything?” I asked again.

She hesitated a moment, and then smiled, hopefully seeing what she wanted in my face. “No.”

I exhaled. “Then stop acting guilty,” I ordered with a smile. “What happened in your room, in the shower, on the kitchen table, against my garage wall yesterday—”

“Alright!” she cut me off, shaking her head, but I continued smiling.

“All of it…” I tipped her chin back up to me, “was love. And no one takes it from us. Remember?”

And I saw my girl smirk at me before laying her head against my chest. “I remember.”

“Ahem,” a burly voice growled behind me, and we both stiffened.

Turning around, I had to make an effort to keep my face stern.

“Sir.” I nodded.

Somehow I knew he wasn’t in the mood for a handshake today.

“Dad.” Tate sounded relieved more than anything as she walked over and hugged James Brandt.

And my shoulders relaxed to see him scoop her up for a loving hug and pat her on the back. He didn’t see her any differently.

Now me, on the other hand…..I wasn’t getting much eye contact.

With his arm still around Tate, he leveled me with his blue eyes.

“Son, I hope you brought your car, because I’d like my daughter to myself for a while.” And as usual, I wanted to crawl into a hole at his scolding tone.

Not to mention, that—no—I did not bring my car, because it’s barely drivable.

Tate and I exchanged a look. Hers was apologetic at the mention of my banged up Boss.

I straightened my shoulders. No excuses and no bullshit.  

“Sir, I stay with Tate.” I spoke evenly and decisively. I maintained my position, hoping he didn’t advance more.

A small smile peeked out on Tate’s face as she inched out from under her father’s arm to come stand next to me. Hand in hand.

He narrowed his eyes on me.

She was his daughter, and he deserved to see her alone, but I wasn’t leaving until this was settled and Tate felt comfortable.

“Then you’re in the backseat,” he snipped.

I don’t know if he gave in to avoid a fight or avoid upsetting Tate, but I let out a breath anyway.

Tate drove, of course, while everyone suffered the deafening silence in the car. Once we were home, her dad ordered us to the dining room table where we at in a triangle. And he was at the top.

“So tell me everything.”

 

 

Until You by Penelope Douglas

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

*ARC Given to Blog for Honest Review*

5 “Such a handful.” “A man knows what needs to be done and just fucking does it.” Kisses

*sigh* Jared…

I am in love with Jared Trent. 100% over the moon in love. There is no cure for my love for him. And I’m perfectly okay with that. He’s mine, I claim him…all of you can borrow him for short periods of time, but I am staking my ownership. I loved Bully, it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year by far, one of my favorite books of all time and it completely knocked me on my ass with how much I loved it. If you haven’t read it…stop the presses and do that immediately, plus you need to read Bully before you read Until You. And trust me…you need to read Until You.

Jared Trent…OMG he’s an ass hole and I love him (have I said that yet? Well…just in case I haven’t…). He’s not an ass hole, really…but he’s just…different. He’s clearly not overly emotional, he’s set in his ways, he does what he wants, when he wants – and you either like it or you don’t, but it really doesn’t phase him either way. You don’t mess with Jared without there being consequences and so a lot of people try and stay on his good side. Is he a bully to everyone? No…just one specific girl is entitled to that wrath, but I’ll get to that. Beneath the hard shell of the Mr. Tough Guy Act there is this incredibly passionate, sweet, kind guy that has so much love it completely melted my heart. While some of that bravado is just the essence that is Jared (love it or leave it), a majority of it is because of his past. He was not raised to experience love so a lot of this is new and difficult for him to understand, but getting his back story, his parents, seeing things as they happened from his POV just enriched the story that much more for me. Jared Trent held me in the palm of his hand for the past few hours and I couldn’t have loved every second of it more if I tried. I will always need more Jared in my life.

‘ Dammit. I ground my teeth together.
How did she do that? How did she always manage to make me feel happy to see her happy?’

Tatum Fuckin Brandt…hehehe…that’s what Jared calls her. I love it. I love her. I love her for loving Jared, because he’s not an easy person to love. Tate is just…awesome. She’s brave, she’s strong, she’s kind and adorable. She’s put up with so much for Jared and honestly…she had every right to tell him to fuck off. Multiple times. In fact I wouldn’t blame her for it. But I love that her love for him was greater than her desire to give up on him. Seeing Tate thru Jared’s eyes was…fun. I know that’s not a very descriptive word for it but the whole process was so unique and complex. You’re riding this roller coaster with him, with both of them, experiencing it all over again and I don’t know why I was holding my breath at some points cause – clearly – I knew what happened, but it was just…different! And interesting. I had certain predictions on what I thought I knew about Jared and the way he felt about Tate and there were so many squeee’ing moments when I was right, it was ridiculous. But it made me so happy – or really, they make me so happy. Like my love for them separately is re-donk-u-lous, so combine that and it’s just out of this world.

‘With long, shiny hair and flawless skin, she looked like fire and sugar, and I wanted to gorge and burn at the same time.
Tatum was hot, but she didn’t know it.
And blonde or not, that was my type.’

Okay…if you’re someone who does not like hearing the same story over again from a different POV…then be prepared. A lot of what is told in Until You are the same events that happened in Bully…they’re from a completely different POV, and in my opinion, there is a lot of new insight to be had. I don’t mind hearing the same events as long as I am learning new information, which for me totally happened. I also think that the information that you get on the K.C. situation is…enlightening and explains so much, which I really liked. Plus, there are a lot of things about Jared’s past that we hear about but didn’t see in Bully and you get that in Until You. It really brought his character around full circle for me and totally made me love him more (as if that was possible). There is a lot of conflict and confusion…I got that a little bit with Tate, but with Jared it’s much more apparent. He’s battling himself and his feelings…this is not easy stuff for him to deal with. Which speaking of…the bulling thing. I got it in Bully, I understood his motives but it was even more crystal clear in Until You why he did what he did. Honestly, it was not difficult for me to forgive Jared in Bully and I could never really explain why…but I just felt his emotions, his pain, his struggle and just felt for him in general…but seriously, he stole my heart with this book.

‘God, I missed her.
The reality disgusted me, but it was true. When I hated Tate, my world got small. I didn’t see all the other shit: my mom, my dad, or my brother in foster care. If I only just had her here again, I wouldn’t be such a jumble of fucking breathing fits and outbursts.
It was stupid as hell, I know. Like she should be around just for me to push whichever way I wanted.
But I needed her. I needed to see her.’

Being in Jared’s head is…amazing-fabulous-awesome-super-stupendous-wonderful-yes-please-more-thank-you. That is all one word by the way. He is magnificence, rolled in hilariousness, dipped in sex and served on a plate of love & swoon. I just cannot even describe how someone that…on paper and under any normal circumstance, I should seriously dislike. And don’t get me wrong, for a large portion of Bully, I was worried that with this build of these things to hate about him, that I wouldn’t be able to get over it. Ha! Fooled me. And seeing those scenes, from his POV, knowing the truth behind his actions, I felt bad for even thinking about not liking Jared! Seriously, he is one of the most endearing and loveable characters I have ever read and once you know his past, it is the easiest thing in the world to forgive him. Your heart breaks for him and you just want to scoop him up and cuddle him. Or is that just me?

‘She’d always cared. She’d always loved me. I’d treated her worse than a dog for three years, and she still cried for me. I felt the ache in my throat as I looked at her, her face twisted up in sadness, and I knew she had every tight not to forgive me.
But I knew she would.
Maybe that’s the thing I’d been missing about love. You don’t withhold it or partition it out when it’s deserved.
You can’t control it like that.’

Heads up – this book is freakin’ hilarious. Jared is dry and sarcastic and just his random inner thoughts made me bust out laughing so many times. For example… ‘Yep. I’m a big bucket of stupid idiot.’ Just typing it makes me giggle. Chalk it up to another reason why I love him so. He was not the only one who made me laugh…of course, the awesome Madoc is there for comedic relief, and I feel in love with him even more. For the record…my favorite Madoc line – “The only time you smile is when you’re pulling the wings off of butterflies.” Because he’s Jared’s best friend, he is much more present in this book which is perfection because now I need more of him in my life. The other boy that stole my heart was Jax, Jared’s little brother (he was pretty funny too – these boys are just so damn cute I can’t help myself!). Jaxon is so similar and yet so different to Jared…it’s very interesting, but needless to say, his book is going to be a blast! I can tell… 🙂 Oh and I totally already have a prediction of who Jax’s ‘mystery girl’ is going to be!

‘“You own me body and soul, and everyone is going to know it. Sometimes I’m going to go slow with you, and sometimes I’m going to fuck you. But it will always be love, Tate.”
Always has been. And always will.’

Oh-my-ever-loving-JESUS this book was amazing. God bless Penelope Douglas for creating these characters and their story. I knew I was going to love being in Jared’s head…there are just some characters that hearing their thoughts and getting their feelings directly from their POV’s just makes everything so much better. And for me, Jared is the prime example. The Fall Away series is just…a series that has to be read and experienced first hand. In my eyes, it has everything…love, angst, emotion, passion, humor, a kick ass heroine with a super sexy BBF on top! Perfection!

Check out an exclusive excerpt!

View all my reviews

 

 

 

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Penelope Douglas is a writer and teacher 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 show Sons of Anarchy, and she shops at Target almost daily.