About the Series
I have a weakness for cliché contemporary romances, especially books with an alpha male, a strong female lead, and an awesome romantic story. Also, since this book was based on the famous Shakespearean Romeo and Juliet, I had to read Sweet Home. It’s up to the reader to see if these reincarnations of Romeo and Juliet finally get their HEA.
The review of the series includes reviews on each of the following books (listed in order of release):
- Sweet Home (Molly and Rome) – Molly’s POV
- Sweet Rome (Molly and Rome) – Companion to Sweet Home in Rome’s POV
- Sweet Fall (Lexi and Austin)
Note: The review of Sweet Rome may discuss spoilers from the first book since they are companion novels. Books 2-5 in this series are Standalone.
Sweet Home (Sweet Home, #1)
Release Date: October 13th, 2013
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 …
*Mature New Adult novel – contains adult content, highly sexual situations and mature topics. Suited for ages 18 and up
• Heroine experiences PTSD and abandonment from her mother’s death and father’s resulting suicide
• Hero’s mother and OW cause the Heroine to miscarry
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM (the Heroine sees the Hero pretend to be together with his ex-girlfriend to appease his mother–the OW kisses him).
• Does have the Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Sweet Home was so sweet. I was instantly invested in Molly’s (last name Shakespeare) story from the prologue, but once we meet Rome–short for Romeo–phew, that just notched the story up high in my eyes!
But when they meet, something magical happens. They find a kindred soul. And with their whirlwind courting comes true love. But are they destined to live the fate of their namesakes?
The best part of Sweet Home, I think, was how Cole owned her own version of Romeo and Juliet. While the original Romeo and Juliet shared many similarities and plot consistency, Rome and Molly had their own story to tell. It just so happened that Rome and Molly had the makings of their own Romeo and Juliet story: a conniving ex-girlfriend, horrid parents, a lot of insecurities, and more.
Sweet Home was fast-paced, but when it slowed down, it was to enjoy the slow and romantic parts of Rome and Molly’s relationship. Although their relationship was fast, it seemed realistic, with Rome being as alpha as he was.
Sweet Home was faced, filled with twists and turns, and the worst part of the book was that I was constantly waiting for that other shoe to drop because hello!?, it’s based on Romeo and Juliet! But even with all the emotional upheaval, I LOVED THIS BOOK!
Sweet Rome (Sweet Home, #1.5)
Release Date: January 28th, 2014
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.
Sweet Rome is a New Adult Companion Novel to Sweet Home—contains adult content, sexual situations, and mature topics. Suited for ages 18 and up.
• Heroine experiences PTSD and abandonment from her mother’s death and father’s resulting suicide
• Hero’s mother and OW cause the Heroine to miscarry
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM (the Heroine sees the Hero pretend to be together with his ex-girlfriend to appease his mother–the OW kisses him).
• Does have the Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
Important: This review is a companion to the first book in the series, so it may contain spoilers
“The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again when you fall. It’s Vince Lombardi.”
For his whole life, Rome has been told he’s not enough, so he’s accustomed to acting how he wants to act and not caring what people think about him. But when he runs into a little British bird, all that starts to change.
“My body recognizes you as something that’s good for me. My mind recognizes you as someone who’s right for me, and my should recognizes you as someone meant for me.”
It isn’t long before Rome and Molly fall fast for each other, but in Sweet Rome, we get their sweeping love story from Rome’s perspective—and an extended epilogue!
I was SO excited when Cole announced that she would release a companion novel to Sweet Home from Rome’s POV. Seriously, it made my week.
A common theme in companion novels is that the author regurgitates the previous plot from a different perspective. However, with Sweet Rome, we get a whole other story. The story wasn’t complete without Rome’s side, much like how I think we wouldn’t truly understand the entire picture if we didn’t have Molly’s POV.
Since Sweet Rome was in Rome’s POV, we experienced the same scenes in his mind and read other scenes that weren’t included in Sweet Home.
The best part of Sweet Rome was the extended storyline (exceeding what Sweet Home covered), the epilogue, and the other epilogue (this one occurred before epilogue #1).
Sweet Rome was awesome! But I honestly cannot decide which one was better. The book was fast-paced, but Cole again worked through the emotional bits. I loved seeing Rome and Molly where we left off in Sweet Home; they were so cute!
Sweet Fall (Sweet Home, #2)
Release Date: August 26th, 2014
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 spiralling 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.
• Heroine is depressed
• Hero’s brother is in a gang and sells drugs
• Hero’s mother is dying from ALS
• No descriptive sex scene with OW/OM
• Does have the Heroine pushing away
• Does have a separation between the Heroine and Hero
• See Ending for HEA status.
• See Possible Triggers for Abuse and OTT sad parts.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
“I don’t need to look up at the stars to feel interior, Austin. All I have to do is open my eyes and look at myself in the mirror.”
Both Austin and Lexi are experiencing incredibly hard times. They’re broken, and neither sees a way out of the downward spiral they’ve found themselves in.
“Lexi … Lexi …” Austin murmured, and I braced for his wrath, his anger but then he whispered, “Hold me… please…”
Austin and Lexi slowly find solace in each other’s arms, finding a kindred spirit and their other half. But both have demons chasing them, demons that will do everything to ruin not only their hope but their lives.
What an emotional ride! Sweet Fall was filled with drama, and I know I mentioned waiting for the other shoe to drop in my other reviews of this series (above), but this is the definition of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
It was heartbreaking reading Lexi’s inner struggles as she works her way through her anorexia and Austin, who has so much on his shoulders for only being 21. The past two books have been slightly heavy since we had knowledge of Romeo’s abuse and Molly’s abandonment issues, but we only really saw brief scenes of the cruelty of Rome’s parents. Sweet Fall, though, is all about understanding the rawness of our hero and heroine, how broken they are, and how strong they are because they never give up.
Towards the end, I quickly flipped the pages, hoping to get to the HEA. But god, the heartbreak, and how fate didn’t cut either of them any slack! It was insane.
When I finished Sweet Fall, I felt like I had just come off a seriously daunting roller coaster ride. But even with this tornado of emotions, the romance and love between Austin and Lexi are fantastic. I thought what Rome and Molly had was stunning (and it is), but in Sweet Fall, you truly understand the term unconditional love. They loved each other so vividly, so viciously, that it leaked out of the pages.
Loving someone means putting them first. And, if your partner’s problems are exacerbated by stress, you do everything in your power to minimize their exposure to said stress. But what happens if you’re the problem?
Seriously, it’s heartbreaking and moving. Cole just keeps getting better and better!
Preview the Books I Haven’t Review in the Sweet Home Series
Ally and Elpi
470 pages
Elsie and Levi
444 pages
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