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emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Wow. I didn’t expect to like it this much, but I was pleasantly surprised.
Going into it, I didn’t really know what to expect at all. It’s been sitting in my TBR for ages so the one TikTok that made me add it was long forgotten, but this book was amazing.
I loved the representation when it comes to Ryder. I think everything surrounding him was well done as well.
And god how I didn’t expect to be crying so much (iykyk). That hit me like a truck.
Going into it, I didn’t really know what to expect at all. It’s been sitting in my TBR for ages so the one TikTok that made me add it was long forgotten, but this book was amazing.
I loved the representation when it comes to Ryder. I think everything surrounding him was well done as well.
And god how I didn’t expect to be crying so much (iykyk). That hit me like a truck.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent
emotional
hopeful
slow-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:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Chronic illness, Terminal illness, Grief, Death of parent
Because of the content warnings about her Mom
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Death, Terminal illness, Death of parent
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
I loved the representation in this and the heavier topics (definitely check trigger warnings). I really enjoyed the writing style overall. I found it easy to get into the story and enjoyed the characters. I liked the frenemies element to the relationship, but my biggest problem is that we don't get any growth past that until the last 50 pages or so. Even with the heavier topics, the characters aren't discussing them at all. I get that it is part of Willa's deal, but I needed to see a little growth throughout the story, and we don't get any. Then the conflict happens, and we even back track (understandable for what happened, but without the growth beforehand, it didn't have the same impact). Then, while I am perfectly fine with slow burn and no spice, past a scene here and there, all that comes into play the last 50 pages or so, and it was a bit much. I did enjoy the story overall and look forward to seeing what the rest of the series holds.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death of parent
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
sad
slow-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
This was a really sweet rivals-to-lovers romance with really strong disability rep and a lot of heart. I had a few issues with some elements but overall I really liked it.
Willa is a student athlete and her ability to play - and to someday get attention from a professional soccer recruiter - is dependent on her grades staying strong, so it’s a problem that she’s struggling with her Business Math class. She needs notes for the classes she misses because of her games, but rather than help her out, her professor refers her to her classmate, Ryder Bergman, for help. The problem? The first few times Willa tries to talk to Ryder, he straight up ignores her. Willa may be someone who avoids confrontation, but she’s got a fiery temper and she’s not good at hiding it. And even though it turns out Ryder had a good reason for ignoring her - he’s deaf, and though he wears hearing aids, they aren’t perfect, so he didn’t actually hear her speaking - he’s not above antagonizing her even once they do figure out how to communicate. But their professor pushes them into working on a semester-long project together, so Willa and Ryder are forced to figure out how to get along. Over time, their relationship shifts from animosity to a teasing sort of friendship and an undeniable sexual attraction emerges. Willa would be happy to pursue a frenemies-with-benefits relationship with her “asshole lumberjack”, but she isn’t interested in anything serious and Ryder doesn’t want casual. It seems they are at an impasse - but when Willa faces a family tragedy, Ryder is the one who stands by her, and it becomes impossible to deny their feelings for each other.
There was so much that was good about this book. I liked Ryder and Willa a lot, though neither of them was perfect. Willa was definitely short tempered and had trust issues, but as you got to know her background, you understood why and sympathized with her. The only thing I didn’t like about her character was how much emphasis was put on her tendency to talk to herself out loud - how often, and how loudly, it happened without her noticing just didn’t seem believable. Ryder was also great. He was a bit of a stereotype of a big, muscular, outdoorsy guy, but the book was self-aware about it, so that was fine. I occasionally found the emphasis on Ryder’s masculinity a little weird, but that’s personal taste, not a real criticism of the book. Willa and Ryder had strong character arcs, both individually as they dealt with the personal issues that were keeping them from pursuing relationships, and as a couple. They had great, sexy chemistry together.
The disability rep in this book was really great. Ryder became deaf as an adult and at the time we meet him, he’s still learning to adjust to being disabled and the life he lost because of it. Liese clearly knows what she’s talking about when it comes to late-acquired deafness and the use of hearing aids; even when he chooses to get the best hearing aids he can, Ryder’s hearing is never perfect, and in some way using his aids creates additional challenges. She also deals with the emotional trauma that Ryder experienced as a result of becoming disabled as an adult in a very realistic way, focusing on his loss and need to adjust without turning his disability into a tragedy. I especially liked that though Ryder had many people in his life (the Bergmans are one of those enormous, overly close families that you get in a series romance) to support him, they didn’t always do the right thing. Ryder’s family sometimes got too pushy, or didn’t understand what he was going through; in particular, I liked the handling of the twist withthe professor who pushed him and Willa together being his well-intentioned but boundary-pushing brother-in-law. Aiden meant well when he tried to force Ryder out of his lonely comfort zone by hooking him up with Willa, but he overstepped and he eventually acknowledges that and apologizes. The only thing that bugged me a little with the disability rep is that coming to terms with his deafness was Ryder’s major character arc, the equivalent to Willa dealing with her mother’s death , but once he started to adjust, the emotional impact of that felt a bit muted. The relationship with Willa clearly had a huge impact on Ryder’s decision to stop being in denial and start dealing with his disability, but it wasn’t really acknowledged in the text, and once he started using better hearing aids and speaking, he was just suddenly fine. It felt like, because Ryder was such a masculine character, the narrative didn’t want to make him that vulnerable and that was annoying. But it was a minor quibble.
My one big issue with the book was a situation that came up towards the end.Willa’s mother is dying of cancer throughout the book, and about midway through it becomes clear that Ryder’s father is her oncologist and close friend, though neither Willa or Ryder are aware of the connection. Then Ryder does find out - but before he can talk to her about it, a series of roadblocks pop up and get in the way, and the situation spins out of control when Ryder learns that Willa’s mother will be going into hospice and living in his parents’ house for the last weeks of her life, and he can’t tell Willa about the connection because, seriously, they can’t find time to meet up. It’s such a contrived series of events that I kept waiting for the book to tell us that Ryder really didn’t want to talk to Willa about this issue for some reason and was making excuses, but no… just food poisoning and conflicting schedules getting in the way of him telling her that her mother is going to die in his childhood home. Even though the fight that happens between them because of it felt contrived, I still was on Willa’s side, because it was such a seriously weird thing to do. And even weirder that both their parents, who did know, didn’t tell her either! This whole conflict ended up feeling really unnecessary to the story and I could have skipped over it.
Willa is a student athlete and her ability to play - and to someday get attention from a professional soccer recruiter - is dependent on her grades staying strong, so it’s a problem that she’s struggling with her Business Math class. She needs notes for the classes she misses because of her games, but rather than help her out, her professor refers her to her classmate, Ryder Bergman, for help. The problem? The first few times Willa tries to talk to Ryder, he straight up ignores her. Willa may be someone who avoids confrontation, but she’s got a fiery temper and she’s not good at hiding it. And even though it turns out Ryder had a good reason for ignoring her - he’s deaf, and though he wears hearing aids, they aren’t perfect, so he didn’t actually hear her speaking - he’s not above antagonizing her even once they do figure out how to communicate. But their professor pushes them into working on a semester-long project together, so Willa and Ryder are forced to figure out how to get along. Over time, their relationship shifts from animosity to a teasing sort of friendship and an undeniable sexual attraction emerges. Willa would be happy to pursue a frenemies-with-benefits relationship with her “asshole lumberjack”, but she isn’t interested in anything serious and Ryder doesn’t want casual. It seems they are at an impasse - but when Willa faces a family tragedy, Ryder is the one who stands by her, and it becomes impossible to deny their feelings for each other.
There was so much that was good about this book. I liked Ryder and Willa a lot, though neither of them was perfect. Willa was definitely short tempered and had trust issues, but as you got to know her background, you understood why and sympathized with her. The only thing I didn’t like about her character was how much emphasis was put on her tendency to talk to herself out loud - how often, and how loudly, it happened without her noticing just didn’t seem believable. Ryder was also great. He was a bit of a stereotype of a big, muscular, outdoorsy guy, but the book was self-aware about it, so that was fine. I occasionally found the emphasis on Ryder’s masculinity a little weird, but that’s personal taste, not a real criticism of the book. Willa and Ryder had strong character arcs, both individually as they dealt with the personal issues that were keeping them from pursuing relationships, and as a couple. They had great, sexy chemistry together.
The disability rep in this book was really great. Ryder became deaf as an adult and at the time we meet him, he’s still learning to adjust to being disabled and the life he lost because of it. Liese clearly knows what she’s talking about when it comes to late-acquired deafness and the use of hearing aids; even when he chooses to get the best hearing aids he can, Ryder’s hearing is never perfect, and in some way using his aids creates additional challenges. She also deals with the emotional trauma that Ryder experienced as a result of becoming disabled as an adult in a very realistic way, focusing on his loss and need to adjust without turning his disability into a tragedy. I especially liked that though Ryder had many people in his life (the Bergmans are one of those enormous, overly close families that you get in a series romance) to support him, they didn’t always do the right thing. Ryder’s family sometimes got too pushy, or didn’t understand what he was going through; in particular, I liked the handling of the twist with
My one big issue with the book was a situation that came up towards the end.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Death of parent
Minor: Ableism
emotional
funny
hopeful
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
✨ Review ✨
📖 Only When It’s Us
📚 Book 1 of Bergman Brothers
✍🏻 Chloe Liese
☑️ Contemporary Romance
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
🌶️🌶️
“𝙄’𝙙 𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙛𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙚𝙡𝙨𝙚.”
I thoroughly enjoyed this!! Great start to a series.
Overview:
•College Romance
•FMC Soccer Star
•Frenemies to Lovers
•Dual POV
•Deaf/HoH Representation
•Grief and Loss
•Large, Lovable Family
𝗔𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗗𝟭 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮 𝗴𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗹𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗥𝘆𝗱𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆.
I officially added this book to my tbr this year because of the disability representation, and also because I love a good sports romance - and I’m happy that this delivered on both accounts!
Ryder, still adjusting to his HoH/deafness, presented a gruff exterior, but his intentional heart won me over so quickly. I really appreciated his vulnerability, particularly with his fear of leaning into hope.
(When he showed up after that one game?? Full swoon 🥹)
Willa’s tempestuous spirit felt a little abrasive at times, but I totally empathized with her grief and fear of commitment - especially considering her past. Plus, her relationship with her mom was so tender and lovely.
"𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙤𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙡𝙚𝙚𝙫𝙚-" "𝘿𝙤 𝙣𝙤𝙩." 𝙄 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙬𝙖𝙮. 𝙈𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙘𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙥𝙨 𝙞𝙩 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙥 𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙜. "𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙖𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧-𝙩𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙜𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙩𝙚𝙢𝙥𝙚𝙧, 𝙒𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙖 𝙍𝙤𝙨𝙚. 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙮.”
Special shoutout to her mom. I loved her!! And honestly, I needed to hear some of her stories and advice.
“𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙚𝙣𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝," 𝙈𝙖𝙢𝙖 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨. "𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙨𝙩 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙚𝙨𝙣'𝙩 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙣 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩."
Both Willa and Ryder grow extensively through this book, both individually and as a couple, and it really was so heartwarming. Part of that wholesome vibe came from their incredible families (which makes me even more excited to continue this series).
Romance books that feature imperfect people just trying their best to love one another - to create a warm, affirming, and safe place to land - will always be special to me. Liese writes stories that empathize how everyone is deserving of love, and that is ever needed and powerful.
"𝙄 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙠 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝙏𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙.”
Overall, I recommend this book to all romance lovers who want that balance of depth and lightness.
✨ Read via Libby ✨
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This whole series came highly recommended from several people. It’s a frenemies love story that also deals with disability and ableism and grief and cancer and vulnerability issues and expectations and pressures and familial relationships. I was not mentally prepared for some of the grief issues dealt with, but that’s on me for not wanting to look up anything about this to be spoiled.
Some of the situations felt a bit too contrived or convenient and it pulled me away from the story some, but overall I’d recommend this as a contemporary romance read or listen and plan to continue the series.
Some of the situations felt a bit too contrived or convenient and it pulled me away from the story some, but overall I’d recommend this as a contemporary romance read or listen and plan to continue the series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Cancer, Death, Grief, Death of parent
emotional
funny
lighthearted
sad
fast-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:
No
What a sweet little romance, I really enjoyed it.
Content Warnings
Minor: Death of parent