Reviews

The couple felt way too "perfect", but the story was interesting enough. I loved the side story with Frankie and Ziggy

Also, leave it to me to read a companion AGAIN

itsvalep's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective 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

4.5

Chloe Liese has to take responsability for making me believe men like Ren exist.

Let's break down this review in things I liked and did not liked about this book, because I have plenty to talk about.

Things I did like:

Ren Bergman: Is anyone surprise? If you're familiar with Chloe Liese's books (which I am), you know you can trust her when it comes to writing great male protagonists. Counting this, I've read four of her books, and the male leads are always the highlight of the story. However, it did surprise me how much I enjoyed reading Ren's POV. He's such a perfect guy, and to be honest sometimes I felt like the author only brought up his past to remind the reader he's not. He's by far Liese's most perfect male lead, and while that might be difficult to read for some people, because characters whithout flaws tend to be boring, I feel like Ren's feelings for Frankie, and the way he expressed them, either in his inner monologue or with his actions, was so endearing, fun and interesting to read. Don't get me wrong, he does have a personality, he's a well-constructed character, but it's been a long time since I read a book boyfriend be so in love and obssesed with the female lead.

A plot that flew by and I actually liked: so, in my review of Only When It's Us, I mentioned how I struggled to keep reading because nothing about the plot or the direction things were taking was doing it for me. And I also said I felt obligated to read this first book because I wanted to read books 2 and 5 so bad.
I expected to like this book, this whole grumpy-sunshine inversed sold it to me instantly, and I was right! I do have to mention that around the 50-60% mark, I was wondering what else was left in the book. Like, the characters were great, I was having a fun time, but I didn't feel like the plot had more to offer and that the rest of the book would be boring, but boy was I wrong. The following 30% flew by! So I wanted to mention it.

Frankie, a character I related so much and learned a lot from: I had my issues with her, but that was more on the way the story was developed than in her as a character, so I'll explain it later in the review. What I mean by the first sentence is that I found myself feeling seen by Frankie in so many moments even though I'm not autistic, and I also felt like I learned more about the autistic espectrum from her. I've read autistic leads before in other romance books, but Frankie felt different. And I think it has to do with the fact the author said she put a lot of herself in Frankie, and if I'm not mistaken, Frankie was the first time she portrayed autism in one of her stories. So yeah, Frankie felt so real and raw, written with so much care, love and heart.

As a plus, even though I found Frankie's love for Harry Potter a bit too much at times, like certain sentences and dialogues (I was a potterhead, btw), I appreciated how the author made it clear she was aware of J.K. Rowling's problematic behaviour.

Things I did not like:

Chloe Liese's signature conflict: As I mentioned before, I've read my share of Chloe Liese's books, and I realized she has this tendency to develop the conflict between the main leads (or like the breaking point in their relationship, the issue) in the 90-95% mark, and I hate it!
When it comes to romance books, of course I would prefer having no major misunderstandings, I hate even more the old miscommunication trope. I love it when authors make the characters actually communicate their issues, talk through their fights or conflicts. Then we have the famous third act conflict/break up that even though I don't particularly enjoy, you see it coming, and by being in the 75% of the book, it gives the characters room to face whatever mess they got themselves into. It makes sense, you expect it to happen. But Chloe puts the conflict when the book is almost over, and while she covers everything perfectly, it still feels rushed, I don't know how to explain it, but this is the second time I have an issue with how she handles it. The first time was in "Two Wrongs Make a Right". Let's just say it's not my thing, something I personally don't enjoy, okay? Thankfully, I learned my lesson already, and I know what to expect in her next books. Because I plan on reading books 4 and 5 in the Bergman Series next.

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