Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Always Only You

Taylor Swift songs: “I think he knows”, “king of my heart”!!!

Tropes: dual-pov, reverse grumpy-sunshine, inter-abled couple, secret pining! Hockey romance!

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

This is the best spicy hockey romance I’ve ever read!! It had such good representation for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Autism, with a lot of the struggles and insecurities that come with dating with chronic illness and as a neurodivergent. I thought that was done incredibly well. As someone who has RA, I could relate to a lot of what the character went through and struggles with!!

On top of that, this was just a beautiful, fun, heartwarming, and spicy romance! The chemistry was off the charts!🔥🔥and these characters belong together in every universe. They will literally never break up, they would definitely grow old together. Their story was just so beautiful to read, especially in the dual POV where we get the juxtaposition between Frankie’s and Ren’s POVs:

Frankie is grumpy and hesitant of relationships because she doesn’t want others to have to deal/put up with her illnesses.

Ren is a ginger giant hockey player with huge golden retriever energy who has been in love with her since the day he met her 3 years ago, and wants nothing more than to take care of her and give her everything. He’s just so babygirl🥹

It’s just so beautiful to see these people grow together and individually too realize that they are perfect together, and they can support and love each other the way they both deserve.

I definitely liked this one more than the first book in the series because of the rep and that it was hockey instead of soccer.

Note: one of Frankie’s hyper-fixations of her autism is Harry Potter, but they do acknowledge how problematic J K Rowling is.

Content Warnings

kelly_e's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring 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? Yes

4.5

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

siad's review against another edition

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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

Content Warnings

fuzzywilson's review against another edition

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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

cady_sass's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-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

Read for StoryGraph 2023 Genre Challenge, reading prompt #1: A contemporary or literary fiction novel with disability rep.

Perfectly articulated autism and chronic illness representation. I will admit that I’m biased in this category, but it’s so refreshing to read a novel that gets it *right* - there were more than a few seemingly minor scenes/occurrences that brought tears to my eyes.

I found this to be incredibly wholesome and adorable, so much so that when chapter 26 shows up i was taken by complete surprise. MY god is it hot in here?! The surprise spice! Oh boy.

While I have nothing against the spice, I will say that this part of the story is why I deducted stars from my rating - this actually might’ve been the first contemporary romance to earn a 5 star rating from me - but the spicy scenes were the ONLY part of the disability rep that didn’t ring true. For someone on the spectrum, with chronic, debilitating pain, this scene simply would not go down like this. And it’s disappointing, it’s a complete disservice to the character work that was already done.

On the flip side, the character work for the able-bodied characters and how they interact is equally important here and is done flawlessly. The simple, uncomplicated nature with which these people care for the disabled people in their life as if there’s nothing different, no imposition, while still managing to validate the experiences and difficulties they face?! Not being perfect all the time but always trying? Swoon. This 👏🏻 is 👏🏻 how 👏🏻 to 👏🏻 be 👏🏻 inclusive 👏🏻

Content Warnings