Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Het wachten waard

Title: Always Only You
Author: Chloe Liese
Series: Bergman Brothers #2
Genre: Romance
Rating: 4.50
Pub Date: August 4, 2020

T H R E E • W O R D S

Spicy • Refreshing • Endearing

📖 S Y N O P S I S

Ren
The moment I met her, I knew Frankie Zeferino was someone worth waiting for. Deadpan delivery, secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes my knees weak, Frankie has been forbidden since the day she and I became coworkers, meaning waiting has been the name of my game - besides hockey, that is.

I'm a player on the team, she's on staff, and as long as we work together, dating is off-limits. But patience has always been my virtue. Frankie won't be here forever - she's headed for bigger, better things. I just hope that when she leaves the team and I tell her how I feel, she won't want to leave me behind, too.

Frankie

I've had a problem at work since the day Ren Bergman joined the team: a six foot three hunk of happy with a sunshine smile. I'm a grumbly grump, and his ridiculously good nature drives me nuts, but even I can't entirely ignore that hot tamale of a ginger with icy eyes, the perfect playoff beard, and a body built for sin that he's annoyingly modest about.

Before I got wise, I would have tripped over myself to get a guy like Ren, but with my diagnosis, I've learned what I am to most people in my life - a problem, not a person. Now, opening my heart to anyone, no matter how sweet, is the last thing I'm prepared to do.

💭 T H O U G H T S

I'd previously enjoyed book one in Bergman series, so I knew I wanted to continue on. As an avid hockey fan, I was really looking forward to Always Only You because of that aspect. When I ended up in a bit of a reading rut earlier this month, something made me pick up this book and I am so glad I did.

I adored Frankie and Ren individually, but also together! Frankie is fierce and independent whereas Ren has a heart of gold and an old-soul. They are equally loveable and selfless characters. Their grumpy/sunshine natures came across as genuine, their banter was so well done, and their chemistry felt so real. Frankie's job as in-game social media coordinator for the LA Kings was so interesting to me, as was getting a bit of a behind-the-scenes of playing in the NHL. And of course, members of the Bergman family make special cameos throughout, which added to the appeal.

Chloe Liese's disability (autoimmune disease/arthritis) and neurodivergent (autism) rep were very well executed. As a reader, I really got the sense of Frankie's everyday challenges and adjustments in her daily life. Her struggles with socializing and people's reactions to her illness felt genuine as well. Frankie isn't letting her disability or illness hold her back, and I absolutely loved that.

I do have to say the writing wasn't quite as tight as it was in book one. But I enjoyed this story so much that it was easy to overlook. And I'm even willing to go out on a limb, and predict Always Only You will end up being my favourite in the series! This dual POV, slow burn/forbidden romance tackles some hard conversations, while remaining lighthearted. I loved the hockey, the romance, the setting, the characters, and the representation. It can easily be read as a standalone, why anyone would want to skip book one is beyond me. I'd highly recommend starting with Only When It's Us and savouring each sibling's story for the most enjoyable experience. I am eagerly anticipating jumping into book three sometime this summer and seeing where the rest of the series goes from here.

📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• sports romance lovers
• readers looking for disability rep
• fans of great banter

🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S

"Books help me feel a bit more connected to a world that is often hard to make sense of. Books are patient with me. They don't laugh at me instead of with me. They don't ask why I'm always frowning or why I can't sit still. Books welcome me, weirdness and all and take me exactly as I am."

"'Some days I do feel cynical. Others day I'm optimistic. I think that on hard days, when everything hurt and everything feels difficult, I don't find myself very loveable. And I know it's not true, that I'm not allowed to struggled, that I'm not loveable when I do, but it feels... real.'"

"But not everyone has to love us, just the people that matter."

Content Warnings

shannnne_reads_words's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

milesofkiles's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted 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? It's complicated

5.0

Content Warnings

kaydeedickins's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted 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? It's complicated

4.25

Content Warnings

bookishval's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Content Warnings

fuzzywilson's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful 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

Content Warnings

pandalesque's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I preffered this to the first book so I'll continue the series.

Steam/Spice 🔥🔥.5/🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

- I liked the Autistic and Chronic Illness Rep, though I can't really speak to authenticity and if it's an actual good/non-harming representation. Only thing I can say is, when talking about F. maybe having ADHD but instead having Autism, I know that people on the spectrum are more likely to have ADHD and that she could have both and it's not mutually exclusive.

- I liked Francesca as characters didn't quite connect with Soren though. Found Frankie interesting especially being on the spectrum and having chronic illnesses but being a social media manager. Her future dreams and how much work it is to mask all of her struggles. But also her actually working with it/against it (moving against pain, products that help her, therapies...)
- Liked the talk about friendships, family and her actual friendships
- Liked the italian and swedish words woven in though I know that "zenzero" wasn't pronounced well by the narrators
- Also liked the section about the period talk

Soren felt less "natural" I thought making him a Shakespeare lover while being an athlete... felt like an attempt to make him "Not like other men/athletes on the team" but I didn't quite eat it up.

Felt like they're more mature than 25.

Better handled in this book:
- Last book I noticed the casual talk about god/god's will... Which I didn't like I thought this time I it was well weaved into the story/handled bcs of Frankie's catholic background, it made more sense to me.
- I appreciated that this time there was the explicit mention of STDs not only birth control when having intercourse/sex without protection.
-

What took me out of the story and find not appealing:
- Found the Shakespeare thing cringy
- When social issues were talked about like JKR being a turf, toxic masculinity, other feminist statements or else... it didn't feel authentic/natrual to me... rather performative (e.g. in hospital with the child talking about men crying, bar brawl ( her thinking she shouldn't love it, but does), the talk about burgers and eating meat. W. not caring about greenhouse gasses and T. felt a bit like the women are aware of what they're doing but don't care, R. then intervening... (didn't like the implication that they're cool because they eat meat/don't care. Being a cool girl that can hang with the guys... not being like everyone else in LA...))
- Him being a virgin but making her come left and right without a lot of instructions, with him being totally confident or him informing himself what to do or asking his brothers...

Some reoccurring themes (from the last book) in Liese's writing that I don't particularly like:
- I found the obsession with and references to HP unnecessary and cringe-y (especially her "spell casting"...)
- "perfect" athletic bodies no matter who (athlete or not, always a huge dick...)
- Having sex without condoms
- The childish nicknames for female genitalia even though they're able to talk serious about sex, periods or otherwise
- The sometimes very black and white portrayal of femininity vs. masculinity (protectiveness, physical strength, facial hair vs. soft body/skin, their sents...) but then again adding attributes/hobbies to round them out/make them interesting (Love for books and Shakespeare, liking sports,...)

Content Warnings

More...