A review by allingoodtime
Two Wrongs Make a Right by Chloe Liese

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Having read and loved this author’s Bergman Brothers series (minus the recently released book I haven’t gotten to yet), I knew I would enjoy this first book of a new series. Chloe Liese does a wonderful job writing neurodivergent characters. In this case, Bea is autistic with problems in the realm of food aversions and sensory overload. Jamie (aka West aka James) has anxiety, specifically social anxiety, and compulsions. Jamie and Bea have a lot of similarities, but also a whole lot of differences.

Bea is a bit of a free spirit. She doesn’t do well with being confined to any certain structure or schedule. She’s an artist and can easily get distracted or tune everything around her out, especially when it comes to her art. Jamie is a pediatrician who thrives on structure and schedules. This is chaos meeting order. Even when these two first meet, being pushed together by their friends, they have a connection…through their dislike of one another. With the way they are forced upon each other over and over, it’s no wonder they are annoyed by each other. They both have very good reasons for being single and not being open to starting a new relationship. Frankly, the meddling Bea’s sister does never sat well with me, especially once it is learned how upset Bea is about the trickery. There are no boundaries and it’s upsetting that her twin cannot see how wrong she is to treat Bea like a child.

That being said, once Jamie and Bea start spending time together, their chemistry emerges in full force. Jamie is almost too good to be true. He’s so patient and considerate of Bea and her needs. It’s plain to see this man chose the right profession. He never rushes Bea when she is struggling; the same can be said about Bea. Once she knows about his anxiety and how it manifests, she gives him the time and space he needs when he locks up. They are wonderful for each other.

I wish this story hadn’t had the end conflict. It didn’t need it and, quite frankly, ruined the overall feel of this book for me. I still will highly recommend the story and enjoyed the book immensely. But now I have a bit of a bitter taste in my mouth about Bea and how she handled things. I understand heat-of-the-moment reactions, but I don’t understand waiting so long to make things right. As I said, this conflict wasn’t needed so it felt forced to me.

To end this on a note of all the things I loved about this book: positive representation of neurodivergent personalities, discussions about intimacy along the lines of what is needed and what works for the characters in a non-judgemental way, the friend group discussing and championing Romance and what it means to have a HEA, the swoony way Jamie talks even before the romance starts. 
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