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chronicallybookish's review against another edition
emotional
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
4.5
Quick Stats
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 2.5-3/5
Over All: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Special thanks to Chloe Liese and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
Chloe Liese is, and will always be, one of my favorite authors, and the Bergman Brother’s series remains the best romance series I’ve ever read. Every installment further solidifies it’s position, and Ziggy’s was no exception.
If Only You isn’t my favorite of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an amazing book. I honestly don’t think Chloe Liese is capable of writing a bad book. I’m so in love with the wit and humor (and steam!) that wafted from the pages of this book.
This book is promoted as fake friends, real benefits which is an attention-grabbing tagline to be sure. Who wouldn’t want to read that? However I feel like it’s a very inaccurate description of the book. This book is fake friends, to real friends, to lovers. The friendship starts out as a publicity stunt between Ziggy and Sebastien, but they explicitly say that it’s a real friendship at around 30%, before even a kiss occurs. There are no benefits until passed 70%, and the first full sex scene is a while after that, after they confess their feelings and become a couple. So, its not fake friends with real benefits. It’s not even regular friends with benefits.
The pacing of the plot and the emotional relationships were great. Not to mention the absolutely immaculate tension and mutual pining. Oh my gosh, the tension in this book was palpable. However the pacing of the actual spicy scenes was… a bit off in my opinion. For most of the book there’s just tension, and like, one not-quite-sex scene. It was very tame for a Chloe Liese novel—until the very end. It’s like she tried to pack in as much sex as she could into the last three chapters to make up for the lack of it throughout. And for me, it was just too much. It was almost jarring, having it all shoved in right at the very end, compared to the spice levels throughout the book.
Ziggy is one of my favorite romance leads to date. The autism rep was amazing—as Chloe Liese’s autism rep always is. You can tell, reading this book, that Ziggy’s experiences come from Chloe’s own. There’s a depth to the portrayal that can only exist in own voices narration. I truly loved how the plot focused on Ziggy’s desire to be seen as a whole, grown human. The infantilization of autistic people—especially women—is a prevalent and important issue, and If Only You tackled it well, without it ever feeling heavy handed. Seeing Ziggy come into her own, stand up for herself, and be able to tell and show her family that she is a grown, badass woman was so powerful and meaningful.
Seb is also disabled. He has Celiac disease, which is diagnosed about halfway through the novel. I was a bit confused at first, because I didn’t realize he doesn’t start the novel with a diagnosis, but I figured it out pretty quick. I also have a lot of GI issues, and though I don’t have celiac, I am gluten free. I loved the portrayal of Sebastien coming to terms with his new diet and finding all the delicious alternatives. I’m jealous—I want Rooney’s list of the best gluten free alternatives! There were so many things Seb said that felt like verbalizations of my own thoughts and emotions when I first received my own diagnoses.
I cannot express how well done every aspect of the disability rep in this book is—how well done the rep in all of Chloe Liese’s books are.
I truly cannot recommend this book more, and I can’t wait for Viggo’s, even though I know I’m going to cry when the series ends.
Age Rating: 18+
Spice Level: 2.5-3/5
Over All: 4.5 stars
Plot: 4.5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Setting: 4/5
Writing: 4.5/5
Special thanks to Chloe Liese and NetGalley for an eARC of this book! All thoughts and opinions reflected in this review are my own.
Chloe Liese is, and will always be, one of my favorite authors, and the Bergman Brother’s series remains the best romance series I’ve ever read. Every installment further solidifies it’s position, and Ziggy’s was no exception.
If Only You isn’t my favorite of the bunch, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an amazing book. I honestly don’t think Chloe Liese is capable of writing a bad book. I’m so in love with the wit and humor (and steam!) that wafted from the pages of this book.
This book is promoted as fake friends, real benefits which is an attention-grabbing tagline to be sure. Who wouldn’t want to read that? However I feel like it’s a very inaccurate description of the book. This book is fake friends, to real friends, to lovers. The friendship starts out as a publicity stunt between Ziggy and Sebastien, but they explicitly say that it’s a real friendship at around 30%, before even a kiss occurs. There are no benefits until passed 70%, and the first full sex scene is a while after that, after they confess their feelings and become a couple. So, its not fake friends with real benefits. It’s not even regular friends with benefits.
The pacing of the plot and the emotional relationships were great. Not to mention the absolutely immaculate tension and mutual pining. Oh my gosh, the tension in this book was palpable. However the pacing of the actual spicy scenes was… a bit off in my opinion. For most of the book there’s just tension, and like, one not-quite-sex scene. It was very tame for a Chloe Liese novel—until the very end. It’s like she tried to pack in as much sex as she could into the last three chapters to make up for the lack of it throughout. And for me, it was just too much. It was almost jarring, having it all shoved in right at the very end, compared to the spice levels throughout the book.
Ziggy is one of my favorite romance leads to date. The autism rep was amazing—as Chloe Liese’s autism rep always is. You can tell, reading this book, that Ziggy’s experiences come from Chloe’s own. There’s a depth to the portrayal that can only exist in own voices narration. I truly loved how the plot focused on Ziggy’s desire to be seen as a whole, grown human. The infantilization of autistic people—especially women—is a prevalent and important issue, and If Only You tackled it well, without it ever feeling heavy handed. Seeing Ziggy come into her own, stand up for herself, and be able to tell and show her family that she is a grown, badass woman was so powerful and meaningful.
Seb is also disabled. He has Celiac disease, which is diagnosed about halfway through the novel. I was a bit confused at first, because I didn’t realize he doesn’t start the novel with a diagnosis, but I figured it out pretty quick. I also have a lot of GI issues, and though I don’t have celiac, I am gluten free. I loved the portrayal of Sebastien coming to terms with his new diet and finding all the delicious alternatives. I’m jealous—I want Rooney’s list of the best gluten free alternatives! There were so many things Seb said that felt like verbalizations of my own thoughts and emotions when I first received my own diagnoses.
I cannot express how well done every aspect of the disability rep in this book is—how well done the rep in all of Chloe Liese’s books are.
I truly cannot recommend this book more, and I can’t wait for Viggo’s, even though I know I’m going to cry when the series ends.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Alcoholism, Ableism, Alcohol, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
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