Scan barcode
theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I had to take a break around the middle so I could have a good cry. Willa’s relationship with her mother had me turn into a blubbering, sobbing mess. But Chloe Liese picked up the pieces of my broken heart and made it whole again with Ryders love and determination.
A spicy, 5 star, slow burn that will prove to you that everything happens for a reason.
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Sexual content, Chronic illness, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing
readwithria's review against another edition
- 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
Only When It’s Us was a steamy, emotional, heart pounding book. Chloe Liese created such beautiful characters, and their struggles felt so real.
Read this book if you love
🩵 grumpy characters
🩶 cute nicknames
🩵 care taking
🩶 sports romance (they’re both soccer players)
🩵 Deaf/HoH rep
🩶 forced proximity
🩵 frenemies to lovers
🩶 college romance
I will say that some of the lumberjack peen puns were a little much for me, and it definitely had some parts where it felt a little slow, but with the Berkley republications coming soon I bet this book will get even better.
I will definitely be reading more of the Bergman books. 4 stars
Graphic: Cursing, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Terminal illness, Ableism, Cancer, and Medical content
Minor: War, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood
jillkaarlela's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Bonus song: “I know it won’t work” by Gracie abrams
Mmc is hard of hearing and chooses not to speak, so they all communicate by text throughout most of it! I love the representation!! This was frenemies to lovers, semi slow burn, with lots of banter and tension and chemistry🔥! She’s grumpy/standoffish and he’s a shy/quiet brawny lumberjack with a long beard. He is literally so sweet and lovely and obsessed with her!! He doesn’t give up on her and respects and appreciates her boundaries!! She is such an independent, strong woman, and as she should because she’s a D1 soccer player!
It’s told in dual pov, with a song rec to being each chapter!
Overall I think this was cute, I enjoyed it! The reasons why they won’t date can be a bit frustrating and sad (check TW!) and take longer than I might have liked, but the payoff was worth it! They would definitely stay together!
I’m excited to read the rest of the the Bergman brothers series, since I liked this one, and I saw the others have similar diversity (disability and plus size rep from what I’ve seen!) I’ve also seen the next books are hockey romances instead of soccer, which I think I will like much better!
Age rating: 17+ (3-4 brief spicy scenes, 2/5🌶️)
Moderate: Cancer, Cursing, Death of parent, and Sexual content
galleytrot's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A bit of context before I get into my review: I do not typically read hetero romances. They don’t tend to do much for me, they’re near-impossible for me to relate to, and they plain and simply tend to bore me. This series was recommended to me more than once based on the amount of representation it’s known for, and for one of the books in particular being queer. I was immediately intrigued, as I am all for people from all walks of life getting their happy-ever-afters. I am mostly interested in reading the fifth book of the series, but I figured it might be a good idea to give the rest of the series a try and expand my horizons a bit.
Graphic: Cancer, Grief, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Medical content, and Vomit
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, and War
lisasbookselection's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Minor: Cancer, Grief, Death of parent, Death, Terminal illness, and Cursing
cady_sass's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Sexual content, Abandonment, Ableism, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Medical content, Cursing, and Grief
fromjuliereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
The couple things I struggled with:
- the HP references. It said in a foreword that the book had been edited for some reasons and I cannot understand why those weren't taken out too. There are quite a few pop culture references actually - some were fine, minor, but I wish authors would just stop using them when some don't age well...
- it felt a bit long... the build up and tension, the teasing and pranking (read kind of bullying) went on for waaayyyy too long and that was a big part of me being less interested.
- I'm not sure if this is just me... but it felt... off that Ryder doesn't speak or use hearing aids for basically the first 1/3 of the book, and by the half to the end, he is solely apeaking and using hearing aids. While it was great to see his growth with them and acceptance, it was kind of weird that the only references near the end was him taking his hearing aids on or off for sex or things... but obviously I cannot speak to the hearing loss rep, so take that with a grain of salt...
Anyways, it was fine.
Also side note - the side characters just drop off the face of the earth at points which was strange because they were kind of integral in the first half.
Graphic: Cancer, Death of parent, Sexual content, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Terminal illness, Abandonment, Alcohol, Medical content, and Vomit
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Cancer, Cursing, Sexual content, Death of parent, Grief, Medical content, Vomit, Ableism, and Alcohol
maddie79's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Cursing, Medical content, Abandonment, and Alcohol
roorooreads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Grief and Death of parent
Moderate: Sexual content and Cursing
Minor: War and Alcohol