BLOG TOUR STOP: REVIEW, EXCERPT, TEASERS, AND GIVEAWAY: Sweet Hope by Tillie Cole

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.

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

PURCHASE LINKS

Amazon US ~ http://amzn.com/B00VDH93YI
Amazon UK ~ http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00VDH93YI
Amazon AU ~ http://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B00VDH93YI
Amazon CA ~ http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00VDH93YI
Smashwords ~ http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/531218

All Teasers Created by Sweet Spot Book Blog

Review

The most beautiful art is often born from the most desperate of circumstances.

Art, especially expressionistic art, has the ability to visually depict the human condition…to exude every emotion that is usually kept hidden…to illustrate the pain, guilt, and shame one feels…to broadcast those feelings that might be better left unsaid but the same ones that must be unleashed in order for redemption…rebirth.

That kind of art is one of the reasons Ally Prince became an art curator and also why the up and coming artist, Elpidio’s art, speaks to her in a way that shakes her to her core. Through his sculptures, Ally sees a tortured soul…someone’s whose demons own him and lock him in perpetual darkness, and unbeknownst to Ally, it’s the reason that her light will hopefully set Elpidio free.

It’s clear from the beginning of Sweet Hope that Elpidio is not an ordinary hero; his past actions and temperament speak more to that of a villain than a prince and the guilt and shame that riddle his mind and soul keep him chained to who he used to be not to who he hopes to become. Tillie Cole does such an amazing job illustrating Elpi’s confliction with his dark internal musings and his outward demeanor. Readers easily understand his reactions and self-loathing and why he doesn’t believe there’s any redemption for him.

But that’s where Ally steps in and shows him exactly who he is underneath the mask and pain and tries to heal his bleeding heart and ease some of the pain she witnesses in his eyes on a regular basis. Elpidio is Ally’s bolt of lightning and when someone experiences that kind of passion, there’s no choice but to fight for it and show him exactly how she sees him. She’s his la mia luce and he’s her mi corazon, and as long as they both hold onto those feelings, there’s nothing they can’t overcome.

Sweet Hope is a hauntingly lyrical tale of pain, forgiveness, and redemption. Ally and Elpidio find hope in the darkness by the light that Ally brings into their lives and their relationship. It’s a connection that they both desperately need because Ally has so much to give to the man that she loves, and he needs every bit of her love, kindness, and grace in order to pull himself out of the darkness and into a light full of compassion and understanding…a place where he can be the man his mother hoped he would be and his brothers always needed in their lives.

One tainted sinner whose demons imprison his soul and one bright, loving woman who yearns for a kind of love that strikes like lightning – an unlikely pair but one that couldn’t be more right. Two souls who find solace and renewal in each other’s arms and a hope that one never thought he could find but is freely given by the woman who helps redeem him.

There are not enough words to express how truly amazing Sweet Hope is. Tillie Cole continues to amaze readers with her heartbreakingly beautiful stories of love, loss, and hope. It’s a book that will make readers feel a multitude of emotions, and it’s a tale that will give hope even to the most hopeless.

A complimentary copy was provided in exchange for an honest review.

5 poison apples

Excerpt 

“Elpidio, I didn’t think you were coming,” she said, all flustered, her hand over her chest.

Fuck me, she was gorgeous. I’d thought so last night, but now, like this…?

I held her stare, watching as her chest began to rise and fall under my attention, it went faster and faster the longer we held gazes. Long dark lashes fluttered in nerves and my fists involuntary clenched together against my chest at the action.

“Elpi,” I reminded her icily.

Aliyana’s eyes flared with embarrassment and her face flushed even more than before. She reached up to play with her hair. At the sudden movement, her partly unbuttoned shirt gaped at the neck, allowing me to glimpse her tan skin and the top of her firm tits under her white lace bra. I almost groaned at the sight, but I was rooted to the spot, just fucking dumbstruck by this chick.

“I’m sorry, Elpi,” she rushed out. “You did remind me about your name last night. I wasn’t thinking.”

I immediately felt like a dick on hearing the apology in her soft voice, but I stayed silent as Aliyana hurried to switch the music off.

I remained frozen to the spot as she took a long deep breath, her back to me, shoulders tensed as a deafening silence hit us both. But she pulled herself together and turned to me with that beautiful smiling face of hers.

“I’m so happy you made it,” she said, moving toward me. Her dark eyes ran down my body, from my messy long hair to my clay-covered black shirt and black ripped jeans. Aliyana’s full pink lips twitched, two deep-set dimples on either cheek popping out. Hesitantly, she reached up her hand toward the ends of my hair. Every part of me froze and my breath clogged my throat as I watched her swallow nervously.

It’d been years since a woman had touched me. And never one that looked like her.

As her slim finger drifted past my cheek, I caught her scent… jasmine. Mamma used to burn jasmine incense in the trailer. I didn’t know if that was the reason, but for the first time in a long time, I felt myself relax around someone. Strangely, it felt like home.

Aliyana took a piece of my hair between her index finger and thumb. Her pink lips parted slightly and her warm breath spread all over my face.

I… liked her this close… touching me.

A second later, Aliyana pulled away her hand and she held it up in front of my eyes for me to see.

“Marble,” she whispered, her dimples deepening as her lips gently pouted, eyes narrowed in suspicion. “You must have been real busy today. You’re covered.”

Author Bio

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.

Being a scary blend of Scottish and English, Tillie embraces both cultures; her English heritage through her love of HP sauce and freshly made Yorkshire Puddings, and her Scottish which is mostly demonstrated by her frighteningly foul-mouthed episodes of pure rage and her much loved dirty jokes.

Having been born and raised as a Teesside Smoggie, Tillie, at age nineteen, moved forty miles north to the ‘Toon’, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, where she attended Newcastle University and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts honours degree in Religious Studies. She returned two years later to complete a Post-Graduate Certificate in Teaching High School Social Studies. Tillie, regards Newcastle to be a home from home and enjoyed the Newcastle Geordie way of life for seven ‘proper mint’ and ‘lush’ years.

One summers day, after finishing reading her thousandth book on her much loved and treasured Kindle, Tillie turned to her husband and declared, “D’you know, I have a great idea for a story. I could write a book.” Several months later, after repeating the same tired line at the close of another completed story, she was scolded by her husband to shut up talking about writing a novel and “just bloody do it!” For the first time in eleven years, Tillie actually took his advice (he is still trying to get over the shock) and immediately set off on a crazy journey, delving deep into her fertile imagination.

Tillie, ever since, has written from the heart. She combines her passion for anything camp and glittery with her love of humour and dark brooding men (most often muscled and tattooed – they’re her weakness!). She also has a serious side (believe it or not!) and loves to immerse herself in the complex study of World Religions, History and Cultural Studies and creates fantasy stories that enable her to thread serious issues and topics into her writing — yep, there’s more to this girl than profanity and sparkles!

After six years of teaching high school Social Studies and following her Professional Rugby Player husband around Europe, they have finally given up their nomadic way of life and settled in Calgary, Alberta where Tillie spends most of her days (and many a late night) lost in a writing euphoria or pursuing a dazzling career as a barrel-racing, tasselled-chap wearing, Stetson-sporting cowgirl… Ye-haw!

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

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