Review: Sweet Fall (Tillie Cole)

Sweet Fall
Series: Sweet Home, #2
Author: Tillie Cole
Publication Date: August 25, 2014
Publisher: Tillie Cole LLC
Genre: New Adult, Contemporary, Sports Romance

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Synopsis:

From the USA Today Best Selling Sweet Home Series, comes Sweet Fall; a tale of heartache, beating the odds and finding strength in the most unlikeliest of places.

We all have secrets.

Secrets well buried.

Until we find the one soul who makes the burden of such secrets just that little bit easier to bear.

Lexington “Lexi” Hart is a senior at the University of Alabama. Surrounded by her best friends, her loving family and having fulfilled her life-long dream of making the Crimson Tide cheer squad, everything is going exactly as she always dreamed it would. But beneath her happy exterior, demons lurk, threatening to jeopardize everything Lexi has worked to achieve. When events in her life become too much to cope with, Lexi finds herself spiraling down into the realm of her biggest fear. Lexi falls hard, victim once again to the only thing that can destroy her and, on the way, finds herself falling straight into the dangerous tattooed arms of a guy from the wrong side of the tracks.

Austin Carillo, starting Wide Receiver for the Alabama Crimson Tide, must get picked in this year’s NFL draft. He needs it. His brothers need it. Most importantly, his mother desperately needs it. Brought up in a world where the poor are forgotten, the sick are left to fend for themselves and no hero miraculously appears to pull you out of hell, Austin had no other choice but to make a living on the wrong side of the law—until football offered Austin the break to get his life back on track. But when a family tragedy drags him back into the clutches of the gang he believed he had left far behind, Austin finds himself falling. Falling back into criminal ways and falling deep into a suffocating darkness. Until a troubled yet kindred spirit stumbles across his path, where Austin quickly finds he is falling for a young woman, a young woman who might just have the power to save him from his worst enemy: himself.

Can two troubled souls find a lasting peace together? Or will they finally succumb to the demons threatening to destroy them?

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

Can be read as a stand-alone novel.


I was not expecting Sweet Fall to be the book it was after reading Sweet HomeSweet Home was an entertaining sports romance filled with over-the-top drama. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t quite fall in love with it. It didn’t touch me the way Sweet Fall did.

Sweet Fall was a very special book in my opinion. It took a couple of really tough topics, eating disorders and gang activity, and melded them together seamlessly. Each topic received the attention it was due along with some really great insight into what dealing with those issues involves. I was so impressed with the way Tillie Cole portrayed something she knew so much about. Her strength in sharing her innermost thoughts was commendable. Another thing I loved about Sweet Fall was its first person, dual point of view narration. So many insights were gained through the characters’ thoughts and actions.

Lexi was a girl trying to conquer her deepest fears and secrets. On the outside, she was a bright and bubbly goth cheerleader. On the inside, she was just trying to make it through the day. Lexi didn’t want anyone to discover what she was hiding and took lengths to make sure they didn’t. The only person she was able to share her true self with was the one person she knew she shouldn’t: Austin.

Austin’s football greatness may have him on the way to the NFL, but first he has to outrun his gangster past. He’s given up that lifestyle to play college ball, but the lifestyle is hard to escape when it had a hold of his family back home. There are so many pressures Austin’s dealing with, and shockingly, the only one he can find comfort in is the last person he should: Lexi.

I loved Lexi and Austen together. Both had battles to fight, and I loved the strength they gave each other. Their connection to each other was perfect. Everything Lexi and Austen shared with each other was special and their stories were inspiring. Every moment of their story felt important, and I can only imagine it touched a lot of readers.

Sweet Fall was a special novel that deserves high praise. It’s one I would recommend to readers who like a sweet love story filled with tough issues and a little bit of angst. Reading the first book in the series, Sweet Home, is not necessary, but it would be helpful because there are some spoilers to that book in this one.

4 thoughts on “Review: Sweet Fall (Tillie Cole)”

  1. This sounds like it had a lot of really deep subject matter in it, especially with the eating disorders. I have to say, I’m curious to see what a character who is a goth cheerleader is like! Awesome review!

    1. It was really deep. What’s amazing about it was that it the characters’ thoughts/actions were based on the author’s real life experiences. Thanks!

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