Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Only When It's Us

Reviews tagging 'Cursing'

Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese

20 reviews

levilore_'s review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed this story and loved the way this author explored disability along with grief. The characters were awesome and the complexity of relationships were explored really well.

In particular, the fact that Ryder had such complex feelings about being deaf and that the author explored the different ways he communicates was really cool. I was worried

when he started speaking that it would erase his other forms of communication, but I loved that he still used sign language and that throughout the book characters asked him about whether speaking or texting was better. The scene when he speaks again made me cry, along with when he first heard Willa's voice and she first hears his. I liked that despite being a hearing character, Willa had a similar reaction to hearing Ryder's voice for the first time.

I thought the author dealt with grief, trauma, and death in a beautiful way, especially the idea of gaining and losing family.

The only issues I had were that it kinda dragged on in the middle, beating you over the head with the Pride and Prejudice stuff (I say as a P + P lover) and sometimes the phrasing made me roll my eyes. Although overall, it was a really good story and I'm excited to read the rest of the story.

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thehannahclaire's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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wildatheart1339's review against another edition

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4.0

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abicaro17's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny lighthearted tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I love love loved Ryder and Willa! Ryder is a former soccer star prospect who's career was cut short by a case of bacterial meningitis that caused him to lose his hearing. Willa is a current soccer star who's losing her mom to cancer and struggling to balance sports and school. When her and Ryder are paired up for a school project, frenemies become lovers. I adored the banter and jokes between them and this slow burn was nice and slow just like I like it!! My only issue was the communication. Not literally obviously because Ryder is deaf but emotionally. Willa and Ryder both refused to talk about anything real almost the whole book!! It was so frustrating to read and it kinda dampened the fun.

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A Bergman Brothers book with the slowest of slow burns. Just when you think Willa and Ryder will never get their sh!t together and finally act on their feelings for each other….. they don’t. And so much happens before they do. But, trust me, the wait is worth it for this frenemies to lovers story.

I had to take a break around the middle so I could have a good cry. Willa’s relationship with her mother had me turn into a blubbering, sobbing mess. But Chloe Liese picked up the pieces of my broken heart and made it whole again with Ryders love and determination.

A spicy, 5 star, slow burn that will prove to you that everything happens for a reason.

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readwithria's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

“I just know I’d rather be afraid with you than fearless with anyone else”

Only When It’s Us was a steamy, emotional, heart pounding book. Chloe Liese created such beautiful characters, and their struggles felt so real.

Read this book if you love
🩵 grumpy characters
🩶 cute nicknames
🩵 care taking
🩶 sports romance (they’re both soccer players)
🩵 Deaf/HoH rep
🩶 forced proximity
🩵 frenemies to lovers
🩶 college romance

I will say that some of the lumberjack peen puns were a little much for me, and it definitely had some parts where it felt a little slow, but with the Berkley republications coming soon I bet this book will get even better.

I will definitely be reading more of the Bergman books. 4 stars

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jillkaarlela's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Taylor Swift songs: “I think he knows”, “stay stay stay (tv), “labyrinth”

Bonus song: “I know it won’t work” by Gracie abrams

Mmc is hard of hearing and chooses not to speak, so they all communicate by text throughout most of it! I love the representation!! This was frenemies to lovers, semi slow burn, with lots of banter and tension and chemistry🔥! She’s grumpy/standoffish and he’s a shy/quiet brawny lumberjack with a long beard. He is literally so sweet and lovely and obsessed with her!! He doesn’t give up on her and respects and appreciates her boundaries!! She is such an independent, strong woman, and as she should because she’s a D1 soccer player!

It’s told in dual pov, with a song rec to being each chapter!

Overall I think this was cute, I enjoyed it! The reasons why they won’t date can be a bit frustrating and sad (check TW!) and take longer than I might have liked, but the payoff was worth it! They would definitely stay together!

I’m excited to read the rest of the the Bergman brothers series, since I liked this one, and I saw the others have similar diversity (disability and plus size rep from what I’ve seen!) I’ve also seen the next books are hockey romances instead of soccer, which I think I will like much better!

Age rating: 17+ (3-4 brief spicy scenes, 2/5🌶️)

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galleytrot's review against another edition

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Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

READ: Apr 2023

FORMAT: Audio

BRIEF SUMMARY:

In this contemporary romance, Willa is a full-ride soccer student who is having difficulties in one of her courses. When the professor refers her to Ryder for the lecture notes, she finds the man won’t so much as give her the time of day. A misunderstanding and some competitive spirit sparks a series of escalating pranks and shenanigans between the two as they dance around their attraction to one another, while they condition themselves to mistrust and stay suspicious of each other’s motives.

ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 3 / 5⭐
A bit of context before I get into my review: I do not typically read hetero romances. They don’t tend to do much for me, they’re near-impossible for me to relate to, and they plain and simply tend to bore me. This series was recommended to me more than once based on the amount of representation it’s known for, and for one of the books in particular being queer. I was immediately intrigued, as I am all for people from all walks of life getting their happy-ever-afters. I am mostly interested in reading the fifth book of the series, but I figured it might be a good idea to give the rest of the series a try and expand my horizons a bit.

Alas, my personal response to this book was not what I was hoping for. And by no means was that the fault of the author, or the characters, or the representation. I simply was not the target demographic for this one. I tried to make the shoe fit, and wound up with blisters for my effort. I adored Ryder’s character well enough, but couldn’t find it in me to get past Willa’s stubbornness, suspicion, and self-sabotage. The whole prank-wars trope generally doesn’t work for me in the first place (although the term “prank” is used rather loosely – these guys’ idea of getting at each other is just making the other one sexually frustrated, with the side-effect of also making themselves sexually frustrated, ad nauseam).

TECHNICAL / PRODUCTION: 3.75 / 5⭐

I didn’t have any notable issues with the writing of this story, except maybe how the passage of time was tackled. There were a couple times where there had been some time jumps but I didn’t realize it. There were other times where I felt like there must have been a time jump, but it was only a day or two later. It’s possible I missed something from the translation to audiobook format – I find I have more trouble with time passage when I’m listening to a book instead of reading it.

Both of the narrators for this book were new to me, and I had no problems with their performances.

FINAL THOUGHTS - OVERALL: 3.25 / 5⭐

I can understand why this book has as much appeal as it does. To the correct audience, it ticks all the right boxes. Antagonistic enemies-to-lovers, a hefty dose of angst and tragedy, plenty of spice (after it finally actually gets to the spice; it’s a pretty long wait, but there is payoff). I simply was not the correct audience, though I wouldn’t say I disliked the book at all.

This book has representation for hard-of-hearing individuals (sensorineural deafness). At least one character is a person of colour.

The following elaborates on my content warnings. These may be interpreted as spoilers, but I do not go into deep detail.

This book contains: medical content, terminal cancer; ableism; alcohol use, heavy drinking; vomiting (alcohol induced); mentions of an absentee father; past war story involving a wound leading to the loss of a limb, mention of PTSD; death of a parent; grief, loss, depression; and, an act of blatant disrespect for one character’s body autonomy.

Content Warnings

lisasbookselection's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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cady_sass's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Meh. I picked this up because I inadvertently read #2 in the “series” without realizing it’s a series, but it’s really not. Each book is a standalone about a different brother. I appreciate what the author did in both books with normalizing disabilities and making them accessible to the layman, but the overall story here just falls flat for me. #2 was much better.

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