Blog Tour: Excerpt, Review, and Giveaway for Sweet Hope by Tillie Cole

The finale to the Sweet Home series is here and it's a riveting tale about the power of love and redemption. There's an excerpt and giveaway that are not to be missed!

Title: Sweet Hope

Series: Sweet Home #4

Author: Tillie Cole

Age group: New adult

Genre: Contemporary romance

Release date: 29th March 2015

BLURB

From the USA Today Bestselling Sweet Home Series, comes Sweet Hope.

My name is Ally Prince and I've always been unlucky in love. I don’t know why, I just always… have.

When all of my best friends were falling for their soul mates in College, I was left behind. I was Ally, the pretty cousin of superstar quarterback, Romeo Prince. I was Ally, the best friend to the most amazing group of girls I've ever known—a title I loved, but one I became tired of 'just' being. And I was Ally, the one on which they could all rely.

But to me, I was Ally, the girl with the heart no one had claimed... And I was, Ally, the girl, who underneath it all, was heart-breakingly lonely.

I LOVE love; the thought of it, the nervous excitement of falling for Mr. Right, the desire of someone becoming my entire world... of me becoming theirs. I’ve always wanted passion, heart-stopping, epic, life-changing romance... I’ve always wanted the fairytale… I’ve always wanted it all.

It just never seemed like I would get it.

For the past few years I've thrown myself into my career as a museum curator. I’m the best of the best, the person every museum wants to hire, so when an opportunity came up to move to Seattle, I jumped at the chance. My cousin and my best friend lived in Seattle and I needed a change.

I needed a new beginning.

I wasn't expecting to meet anyone in the Emerald City. I wasn't expecting to work closely with the reclusive new sculptor my all-important gallery design was centered around. And I certainly wasn't expecting to fall for him... heart-stopping, epic, life-changing love...

My real life fairytale come true.

But, like in every fairytale, there’s a villain, a dark and tortured soul... I just didn't know that the villain and the hero in my story would end up being one and the same.

New Adult Romance Novel—contains adult content, sexual situations and mature topics. Suited for ages 18 and up.

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US Amazon UK Barnes & Noble iBooks Kobo

GOODREADS LINK

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18759355-sweet-hope?ac=1  

EXCERPT

Straightening my shoulders, I forced my feet forward and suppressed my nerves. The closer I got to the end of the hallway, the more I doubted my decision to come here. It was his private space. He most definitely would not want me intruding.

But as I thought to leave, I heard the poetic sound of a chisel chipping away at marble and I stilled.

I wanted to see him work. To observe an artist at work was a rare privilege. And more than that, I wanted, no, needed to see Elpidio again.

I couldn’t help it. I felt a pull within me that refused to let me turn round and leave.

Rubbing my lips together, I bent to place the box of text board drafts on the ground and crept forward to stand in the door-less doorway… And the sight that greeted me took my breath away.

Elpidio stood in the center of the room, dressed only in a pair of black ripped jeans, his top half bare, every inch of his olive skin covered in what looked like thousands of tattoos. 

There wasn’t one bit of naked skin showing. I’d never seen anyone so covered in ink in all my life. But aside from the tattoos, which had me gripping the doorframe with rigid fingers, were the thick defined muscles protruding over his shoulder blades, the cut pieces of flesh damp with the sheen of sweat, flexing with every blow from the hammer in his hands.

His bulging thighs were rigid as he stood his ground, carefully sculpting the back of a marble slab which looked to be the image of a young boy with a larger boy at his back whispering in his ear.

The heavy rock music filled the room, and before I knew it, my feet were carrying my forward like a moth to naked flame. The closer I got, the more I noticed.

Elpidio’s back was marred with scars. In fact, all of his skin had scars, both long and short, raised and flat, red and white. But one long, jagged scar ran along the back of his thick neck… a neck that was visible now it was free from the curtain of dark hair which was tied on the middle of his skull in a loose bun.

That made me smile. I’d always thought his long hair was like his protection, his mask. It pleased me to see when he was sculpting it was pulled off his face… like he was free of all constraints, pouring his soul into his carefully-crafted masterpieces.

It was overwhelming to see such a ripped and tortured man so raw and unkempt, but passionate all at the same time…

REVIEW

★★★★★ stars

It's amazing how hard it is to find the words to describe how wonderful this book is.  I had no problem starting and finishing this book in one sitting or bawling my eyes out as I read, yet the right words are hard to find.  I can't believe this is the last book in the Sweet Home series.  I think I could read about these characters in perpetuity. 

I don't know who I loved more, Ally or Elpidio.  Ally is her usual bubbly self, but she wants what her friends have, true love, and I can't blame her. She's giving, kind, and understanding. She sees the good in everything and she loves deeply.  Elpidio is facing his pain and past and it's not easy, for him and the others around him he has to face. He's broody, and even though he has this tough exterior, he's vulnerable to people's reactions to him.  The chemistry the two of them have is blazing hot and it was almost tangible.  Of course Elpidio is fighting it with everything he's got because he doesn't believe he deserves a second chance, let alone happiness or kindness.

There is pain in this book.  There is anguish.  There were moments when I wanted to curl up in a ball and just sob.  However there is hope, optimism, unyielding will, and love too, that all help keep a balance. Ally and Elpidio's love story was more like a journey the two took together.  While parts of it hurt, there were parts I loved, like seeing Romeo, Molly, Lexi, Austin, and Levi, Cassie, and Jimmy-Don.  It was like meeting all of my old friends again after a small break.  Many of them were involved in the journey as well.

Tillie Cole has a gift with words. Take this line for example.  Ally says to Elpidio, "The most beautiful art is often born from the most desperate of circumstances." It was like reading poetry and many lines like this one moved me to tears.  The entire book is full of similar beautiful lines and Ally and Elpidio do them justice.  Each book has been better than the last and this final book outdoes them all.  

*Thank you to the publicist for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for them in any manner.*

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Amazon & USA Today Best Selling Author, Tillie Cole is a Northern girl through and through. She originates from a place called Teesside on that little but awesomely sunny (okay I exaggerate) Isle called Great Britain. She was brought up surrounded by her English rose mother — a farmer’s daughter, her crazy Scottish father, a savagely sarcastic sister and a multitude of rescue animals and horses.

SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

http://tilliecole.com

https://twitter.com/tillie_cole

https://www.facebook.com/tilliecoleauthor

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7074846.Tillie_Cole

GIVEAWAY

Tillie is giving away a $150 Amazon gift card.

a Rafflecopter giveaway