Tille Cole's Sweet Home and Sweet Rome Review

Note: There are no spoilers in this review, so for those who haven't read these 2 books yet, no worries. :) I'll try my best to share my opinion without giving away too much. 

This book, or rather these books are my first reviews because these are the last two books I've read. I quite literally just finished them a couple of hours ago, so the memory of Molly Juliet Shakespeare and Romeo Prince is still fresh. 

 

Sweet Home is USA Today's Bestselling Author Tillie Cole's first installment in the Sweet Home series. 
 

In this book, the story is told in Molly's point-of-view, so because she's British, I suggest that while you're reading this, channel a bit of Hermione Granger, if you know what I mean. 

Title: Sweet Home and Sweet Rome
Author: Tillie Cole
Genre: New Adult, Romance, Sports, Contemporary
 

SYNOPSIS:

"At age twenty, Molly Shakespeare knows a lot.

She knows Descartes and Kant.

She knows academia and Oxford.

She knows that the people who love you leave you.

She knows how to be alone. 

But when Molly leaves England's grey skies behind to start a new life at the University of Alabama, she finds that she has a lot to learn — she didn't know a summer could be so hot, she didn't know students could be so intimidating, and she certainly didn't know just how much the folks of Alabama love their football.

When a chance encounter with notorious star quarterback, Romeo Prince, leaves her unable to think of anything but his chocolate-brown eyes, dirty-blond hair and perfect physique, Molly soon realizes that her quiet, solitary life is about to dramatically change forever..."

REVIEW:
Whoooo. I love a good preview! Alright-y, so this is the original excerpt created by none other than Ms. Cole. And when you first read it, you would think that it's a typical good-girl-meets-hot-jock plot. But let me tell you this, there's nothing typical about this story. Our good girl ain't as innocent as we think, and our handsome player is much deeper than what we would expect. 

While I was reading these two books, I could picture it so clearly in my head. I really don't know why, but I could totally see this turning into a movie if given the chance. 

Molly and Romeo's relationship is so intense that if the wrong couple had the same intensity it might be destructive. Another great point is despite their feelings for each other, they didn't stop chasing their dreams. Molly wanted to be a professor and Romeo wanted to be a famous NFL quarterback. I point this out because I've read several books where either the guy or the girl had to give up their careers just to support the other one. I find it equally sweet and annoying. Sweet because obviously they're sacrificing for their love, but annoying because it seems unfair how one gets to live life the way he/she wanted to and the other one (mostly the woman) has to be the one standing on the sidelines cheering on.

What I didn't like so much about this book is the ending seems a bit...hanging. When it read the last page I was like, "Is that it? That can't be it!". But when I read the second book, I understood why it was left like that, and personally I think the author made a good call. 

Speaking of the second book...let's go to Sweet Rome. This is the second installment, and it's basically the exact story and events in the first book, just from Rome's point-of-view. I don't know if it's just me, but I always prefer books that are from the male's POV. I think it's probably because it's the closest we get to hearing men's real thoughts. 

 

SYNOPSIS:

"It makes me laugh when I hear folks think Molly and I rushed into things too fast, spouting that we couldn't possibly have felt what we did for each other in such a short space of time. I say, how the hell would they know? We made it, didn't we? She became my whole life, didn't she? And as for my folks not being real, being true? Tell that to me aged ten, eleven, twelve—damn, all my bastard life—when I was never enough, when I was beaten until I bled for being too good at football and not being everything they'd dreamed: the perfectly dutiful son. Tell that to thousands of kids around the world getting wailed on by asshole parents for whatever stupid reason; tell them evil don't exist in their eyes.

Fuck Romeo and Juliet. This is the story of me and my girl, from my lips. No mushy sentiment, no cheese, just the plain, hard truth, and, because I'm feeling generous, I'm going to let you in on more of our story too."

 

REVIEW:

Right. So once again, pretty solid preview, but here you feel the bitterness and angst of our male lead, which by the way I totally love. 

I like this book so much more than the first one. But admittedly, I skipped a few pages because it's just sort of repetitive. My favorite part is when Rome "showed" us their future together. This is what I was looking for in the book preceding this, but reading it here is better so it's totally worth the wait. It shows both of their successes, career-wise and in their family. You see Rome's vulnerability, his love for his kids, and the undying love he has for his "salvation". 

I admit, reading these two books, I felt somewhat compelled to watch American football games now. It just has that impact on a person once you've read it, you know?

Overall, I would be giving this book a "TO-READ" stamp. It's a good read, it's romantic, intense, with smart banter between the characters. I would give it an 8 out of 10. 

This is all I have for now, BUT the series doesn't end here. There are two more books: Sweet Fall which is Austin and Lexi's story, and well as Sweet Hope, Ally's story which is to be released hopefully soon. 

So I hope this review made sense and I tried really hard not to give anything away, so please don't hate me if the things I said seems vague. Do read it and let me know how you guys liked it, alright?

Thanks for reading.