Hook (Men of Inked: Southside, #3)

Make sure you have some tissues while you read this. You will need them right form the prologue.

This is the third book in the Men of Inked: Southside series. It is a standalone. But, all the books have been great.

This is Angelo’s story.

If you’ve read the previous books, you know he’s a widow and has two kids that he is raising. Those kids are his life.

But we didn’t know exactly how they lost Marissa. Now we do. And it is heartbreaking.

Tilly is great. She has also lost a spouse. And it broke my heart too.

These are two broken souls. Neither are positive it’s time for them to move on. But, they get each other and the pain and guilt that they both have.

The letters got me and so did Tate at the end. I will admit that I cried.

This is a fantastic read. You can’t go wrong with one-clicking this series.

Love love love this new series. Hook was amazing! Lucia and Tilly both have gone through a lot and had tragedy touch there lives and this is a great story of healing.

I love the family dynamic of the gallos and how with you each book you get another part of the family. The books intertwines the family in such a great way.
Everything from a meddling mom to crazy antics with the brothers it is just a great family book. Chelle does romance so good and this is no exception. It has heart, heat, humor and so much more. I don’t want to give anything away but one click this great heartwarming read.

Chelle Bliss has done it again and written an amazing book!!

Tilly has gone through a lose that now person should go through. However, she has finally got her life back on track and doing what she loves and has dreamed about.

Angelo has also gone through a lose, but his was in my opinion harder than what Tilly went through. This was for different reasons. He is only just surviving the days, months, and years for his family.

What happens when the sexy as sin, alpha male meets the new business owner next door? Will these two very broken soles be able to help each other heal or will the remain broken?

This book was amazing and had so many emotions throughout the whole book. When reading I laughed, and became very tearful at certain points in the story. Even though this happened Chelle was able to pull out of it with the way she wrote the love of all involved. The Gallo family knows how to love hard and to except new members into their fold like they have always been there. I really can’t wait to read Vinnie’s story and see/read more of the Gallos.

Reviewed For I’m A Sweet And Sassy Book Whore

I knew going into Hook that this one was going to end up being an emotional read just based on the history we knew of Angelo and emotional it was! The loss of a spouse is devastating and you could feel both in previous books as well as in Hook the devastation and heart break that Angelo was still living through.

Angelo is still not over the loss of his wife, his family knows it, his kids see it, and they feel that he needs to live his life still. Tilly has also lost her spouse, he died in combat and she is just now finally beginning to try to live again with the push of her brother in law. The chemistry between Angelo and Tilly is immediate but, will the loss of their spouses keep them from finding love again? You know the drill, I am not going to tell you, you have to read to find out.

I enjoyed Hook a lot, while I have not lost my spouse in the way these characters have, and my husband was active duty so I connect with Tilly that way, at times the constant loop of am I cheating or being disloyal to my vows got on my nerves a bit. Now I can’t begin to even think of what I would do if I was in that situation but I wanted them to find happiness if not together than in general. Don’t think I am cold hearted because that is the farthest from the truth, but that was a minor issue I had with the book, that’s all.

Hook could be read as a standalone but I think if you read the previous books first you will have a better understanding of the family’s dynamic that will only make you enjoy Hook more. I can’t wait to see what Ms. Bliss gives us next!

This is a must read book!!

It is book 3 in the Men of Ink South Side Series. However, you do not need to read the other books in the series. This can be read as a stand-alone.

In this book we have Angelo, one of the brothers. His wife passed away a few years ago, leaving him to raise their 2 kids. However, he has a loving family who helps any time they can with the kids. Angelo meets his new business neighbor after he hears a loud crash next door.

When he meets Tilly she is covered head to toe in flour. Angelo doesn’t know what to think of her. She is cursing like a sailor at her mixure that fell on the floor, and covered in flour. Tilly is trying to get her new cupcake shop up and running she isn’t expecting a huge man to come in and help her lift her mixure up.

Tilly is a sweet lady who has also had her share of heartache. Tilly is moving forward with her life. However, she too is also afraid of leaving the past behind.

Tilly becomes acquainted with the Gallo family and their bar next door. Angelo’s family is pushing him to move on with his life also. Will Angelo be able to move on and find someone else since his wife’s passing? Will Tilly be the one to help him through the pain? Will Tilly be able to move on from her past?

Wow. I LOVED this sweet and endearing story. We have two people Angelo and Lilly both mourning their late spouses. Neither are over their grief but together they just might be able to move forward.

I cried while reading this story so that has to tell you that this is such a great book. I loved the emotions and thought that went into this book. This is a must read!

Hook is the third book in the Men of Inked: Southside. If you have read about the Gallo’s from Florida in The Men Of Inked series then you need to read this series about more sexy Gallo’s, this time this one are cousins from Chicago all written by the AMAZING Chelle Bliss. The Gallo family just keeps getting better and better. Book 3, at last is the story of sexy widow Angelo Gallo, father of two lovely little children, Tate & Brax and sweet and beautiful Chantilly “Tilly” Carter, owner of the Cupcake shop next to the bar. Chelle Bliss did not disapoint with this mind blowing lovely second chance romance. The plot is fast pace with lots of emotions, family banter, passion, grief, humor, charming children, nosy siblings and so much love. You will fall in love with Tilly and Angelo!!! Can’t wait for the next book, Vinnie’s story!!!

I have mentioned before I am not a big fan of inst love but this is a little different. How do you let go of a lost one when they were all you knew and you thought you could never love again? They have lost what they thought was the love of their lives, but he made promises and she never said good bye. They share the loss and guilt of being the one left behind to live. This author makes it feel less like insta love and more like an awakening or a completion. As each piece of their individual hearts starts to mend and find it’s new norm they find their new beat is all them. The kids are adorable and the family is just that and more, but Mom rules (as it should be). Lots of laughs, deep sighs, and tears as they realize it’s okay to love again. This is a wonderful feel good, emotional (and so much more) standalone from this author.

This book had me crying from beginning to end. It was the most I have bawled my eyes out over a book and I loved it. Both Angelo and Tilly face something that no one ever wants to go through but unfortunately is a part of life. Chelle really knows how to evoke feelings from her readers. I do recommend that you read the first two books in this series as this is the third one of the series.

In the prologue Angelo shreds my heart (and his own) as he says goodbye to his wife, who’s dying of cancer. Years later, he’s still grieving when his young daughter, Tate, shreds his heart again when she very calmly informs him that he needs to get out, get back on the saddle again (after having heard the analogy from her Auntie Nee) and find her brother Brax and herself a mommy. Ouch. When Angelo’s broken heart tries to reason with her that they have a mommy already, Tate puts it best: “She’s not here anymore, Daddy. Brax needs one, and so do I.” Well hell, what does a grieving father say to that?!

And then he meets his new neighbor, the luscious Tilly, who’s opening up a bakery next to the bar. And something is forged that in meeting. They can see in each other a shared pain. The shared pain that only someone who’s lost their love can see in another. But is that pain a deterrent or will it become the backbone for a new relationship between Angelo and Tilly?

It’s no secret that I love the Men of Inked: Southside series. I’ve fallen in love with Lucio and Delilah and Daphne and Leo as they fell in love with each other, but up until now, I don’t think my heart had been broken by a Gallo until Angelo’s heart got seemingly irreparably shattered as his wife succumbed to cancer. And then Chelle Bliss had the nerve to give him a heroine whose heart was in the same condition as Angelo’s. But she knew what she was doing, because it absolutely works for their story. It works so well, so very, very well because who better to understand the other’s grief but someone who experiences the same exact grief? Throw in the absolutely most adorable, precocious adult-like little girl, and the entire loving but loud Gallo family, and what you’ve got in Hook is Grade A romance gold. Gah, I’m still smiling (and crying a little on the inside) even though I’ve been done reading for awhile. Hook is everything you could possibly want in the best kind of story – starting off with two leads who absolutely fit each other perfectly, even though they never, ever thought they’d find love again. Their relationship develops organically and naturally, not too quickly but not a slow burn, either. Not too much angst, but a lot of feels and emotions as the two fight their way through their past loves to find their present love with each other. Add in adorable kids, and a whole loving but rambunctious extended family that includes Tilly’s brother-in-law, and Hook is by far the best thing this author has written, and definitely the best yet of the Men of Inked: Southside series. Vinnie’s story is coming soon, though, (Hustle), and he’s been such an intriguing side character throughout this series that he might top his brother Angelo as the king of the Gallos. Before he arrives though, I am happy letting Angelo and Tilly’s story reign as my favorite Chelle Bliss story and my favorite of this series.