A review by dearhaleynicole
Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Only When It’s Us follows Willa & Ryder’s story over the course of a year at university. Willa is a star soccer player at UCLA, struggling to balance a ton between school, family, soccer and life. Ryder is a classmate of Willa's, who she happens to sit next to in their business class every day. After an infection two years prior took most of his hearing, Ryder is trying to find his new normal while being hard of hearing. They start out misunderstanding each other pretty strongly but then slowly developing a frenemies-to-something more relationship that i really did enjoy reading (we love good banter 👏🏻) but there were some times where our headstrong FMC Willa did frustrate me. She’s navigating an unimaginably difficult life change, but her closed-off personality just felt a bit exhausting to read chapter after chapter. I will say I really loved her passion and how it fuels her when she needs it most. Ryder was patient and understanding and just a really great partner through it all. Both MCs went on their own journeys of emotional healing and it was overall sweet to read. I will also say the slow build romance of it all was great and had me turning pages when it picked up. their relationship was equal parts playful and real. They navigated a lot in this book and i’m glad i got to read their story first 🫶🏻
 
This is the first in a series following the Bergman siblings (Ryder’s family) and I definitely plan to read more of them because I really loved the Bergman clan in general! The side characters in this book were very endearing to get glimpses of. I really can’t wait to read some of their stories after meeting them even just briefly in this one.
 
Also, the covers for the other books in this series, as well as this re-released version one, are really beautiful! I was just looking at them all and it made me really want to pick up the rest of the series sooner.
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