*CAN BE READ AS A STAND-ALONE NOVEL*
BLURB
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 17 and up.
Review
I have never in my life read a book more touching than Sweet Fall.
I don't know any one who has dealt with an eating disorder, but this book
the way Tillie wrote it made it come to light that it is a serious issue and a sickness.That to most comes across not as a big deal and not a actual sickness, but it and people who have it need to get help dealing with it. It was phenomanly written.
Lexi is an amazing person who has been thru so much. For the past couple years she has been dealing with the death of her best friend who she loved dearly and she has been dealing with an eating disorder. She is more than beautiful and she covers up that beauty with heavy make up! She doesn't see herself as beautiful. I really never understood why eating disorders are such a BIG deal but walking thru it with Lexi seriously showed me how it can affect a person. Tillie you my friend have helped so many girls with this book. Lexi is so much stronger than she knows and the way you wrote her struggle was just beyond AMAZING! I walked hand in hand with lexi and got to know her as a person. I wanted to hug her thru the whole book and tell her "Lexi girl you are amazing and beautiful inside and out." I couldnt handel it at times and had to put down the book just to catch my book. Getting into Lexis mind was so hard for because I felt all of her pain.
Austin is a football player who is sorta the rough around the edges not your average
jock football player. He grew up in the hood dealing drugs and trying to make ends meat.
His mom is sick and he tries his hardest to take care of her and his little brother.
I loved Austin he was not an asshole but not a gushy guy he was everything you could want.
His gang ties are horriable and I wanted to shake him and tell him Austin you have a good thing what in the hell is wrong with you man.
Lexi and Austin hit it off and they become friends and bond over so much.
Austin gets Lexi and sees right thru her, I loved how he made her feel.
Lexi begins to open up to Austin and Austin opens up with Lexi as well.
There connection is undeniabley strong I fell in love with the two.
Can there relationship grown into something more and can they
over come there demons?
Grab it now and see the piece of art Tillie has written!!
INTERVIEW WITH TILLIE
Today I am very over the moon to be interviewing author
Tillie Cole authors of Sweet Fall book 3 of the
Sweet Home series. This book was so well written I am so honored to be talking
to the woman who worte it.
Hi Tillie thanks for agreeing to do this interview
can you tell us a little about yourself?
Well, I am a thirty-something Brit who lives in Canada. I was a High School teacher of History and Religion for years. I have also worked within a museum setting. Then last year, my life changed when my book Sweet Home was released. Now I am a full time writer and LOVE it!!!! I’m fun and up for a good laugh at any given opportunity!
What are your ambitions for your writing career?
To challenge people with the topics I address. My lastcouple of books have taken a darker, more serious route. I have realized that this very much appeals to me. My writing is stronger when I address topics that mean a lot to me and nothing pleases me more than when my readers tell me that it brought awareness to something they knew nothing about e.g. extreme religious cults. I would very much like to continue down this route and next year is full of books such as this.
Sweet Fall is the 3rd book in the Sweet Home series
Can we expect to see references to former characters?
Yes. All of the original characters are in it as the story runs parallel to Sweet Home. However, this is very much Austin and Lexi’s story, and they really do take the limelight. Sweet Fall is much darker than SweetHome, it will emotionally destroy you, but inspire hope at the same time.
Give us some insight into Lexi and Austin's relationship.
Austin and Lexi are both broken souls, but in very different ways. Lexi was brought up in a comfortable home, loving parents, but is struck with a disorder that threatens her life; a very secretive disorder, one she keeps well hidden. Austin was brought up poor in a trailer park. The only way to make money was to join the gang that his brother belonged to. Football got him out and into school, but when tragedy strikes his family, he has no choice but to return to the gang once again. Austin and Lexi both keep secrets from their family and friends, but when their paths cross, they find a light in one another, happiness in a tormented world, and a heart-searing love begins to bloom. But outside forces begin to tear them apart, and life begins to spiral out of control for two souls so pure, yet so broken. Will their love take the strain?
What can we expect from you next?
I have already started writing ‘Heart Recaptured (Hades Hangmen 2)’. I will continue that series into next year. I will also write Sweet Hope, Ally’s story for next year. I also have a YA fantasy trilogy out in 2015.
Thank you for the great questions!
Big hugs!
Tillie x
Excerpt
Walking into the empty locker room, the smell of hairspray, perfume, and fruit-
scented body wash seemed to hang like a veil in the air. I moved to my locker, taking out
my wash bag and pulling out my cosmetic remover wipes, made my way to a mirror.
For a moment, I just stared. My green eyes were rimmed with black, my face pale
with my light powder, and my lips were bright red, as red as the freshest of drawn blood.
This was me now. This dark makeup defined me. My mask. And removing it at night was
the worst part of every day.
With each swipe of the cotton cloth, my inner strength waned. My white-and-
black makeup gave way to the pink skin of my natural face. All of my insecurities came
flooding back. They always did.
As I dropped the caked wipe into the small trashcan at my feet, I inhaled. My armor
was gone.
My eyes were firmly focused on the bright-white porcelain of the basin, but I forced
myself to look up. Dr. Lund had taught me this process was an important part of my
recovery.
The instant I lifted my head and faced my reflection, I had the same reaction I’d had
for too many years—my heart proceeded to plummet to my stomach and all I felt was
disgust.
There she was. Lexington. Lexington Hart. The girl with too many imperfections to
ever be pretty. Everything unattractive, from her less-than-flawless complexion to the
ugly spray of freckles on her nose.
She was disgusting.
She was fat.
We can improve this, Lexington. Just let me in. We can reach perfection.
My hands balled to fists on the lip of the sink as I fought the demon lurking within.
Reaching behind me, my eyes dipped as I unzipped my skirt, slowly working it over
my hips and my feet. Next came my top and my underwear, until I stood naked.
Until I was again weak.
Tears fell from my eyes as I stood rock still, gazing at the tiled floor. It was the
hardest thing to do. Facing the real me.
My cured body.
One... two... three... four... I counted internally, bracing myself for what I’d see
today. Would I look better? Fatter? Thinner? Worse than ever?
Snapping open my pale-green eyes, I met my bare refection and just stared. My eyes
swelled with water and my hand instinctively lifted to my collarbone. It was plumper
than it should’ve been. It was once the most favorite part of my body, protruding,
defined... visible. But not anymore.
Not anymore...
My fingers walked to the top of my arm, and my thumb and index finger pinched at
the flesh of my bicep. I had to stifle a sob at how much fat I could pull.
Once all I could pull was skin. But not anymore.
Not anymore...
From out of nowhere, I heard faint laughing and my head whipped around to scour
the room. There was nobody there, and chills ran down my spine as I realized who it was.
That is right. It is me, Lexington. No one else is here. Just me, looking at how much
weight you have put on. And you, you are seeing the ugly effect of your gluttony too... I
can see it in your eyes.
I physically froze.
Let me get you back to where you should be. To where you know you want to be. Just
let me back in. Give me the reins. Hand yourself to me. Give yourself over to perfection.
As if being controlled like a puppet, my hands ran over my ribs. One, two, three,
four, five, six... My fingers began tapping frantically at the skin. There was too much fat.
I should be able to feel up to ten ribs, but I could only feel six. No! I could only feel six.
My hand dropped lower, my fingers prodding the excess flesh of my stomach. Lower
still. No, no, no! My hips! My hips were not protruding, not angled or defined. There was
too much fat. I’m too fat. Not again! Please! I... I—
Stop!
Lexi... fight it! I said to myself with urgency.
Panting hard, I came back to myself with a jolt. My pale, naked skin was peppered
with red marks where I’d been hitting at my bones. Hives had broken out on my neck and
chest, and my eyes were red with aggravation and stress.
Seven minutes.
Seven minutes and thirty-two seconds.
Seven minutes and thirty-two seconds until I could move again.
Until I could breathe right again.
Until I could fight the voice in my mind, trying to make me fall.
ABOUT TILLIE COLE
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.
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