Scan barcode
A review by amieib
Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese
3.0
Where do I even begin?
I've read quite a few romance novels over the last year and as such, I've read the ones I've not liked, the ones I've liked, the ones I've loved and the ones I will love forever: this book falls in the 'I will love it forever' category. There is so much to unpack.
I'll start with the side characters: I've always believed that one of the secret ingredients to a phenomenal read is side characters you love almost as much, if not just as much as the main characters. This book had not one, not two, but several amazing side characters. From Willa's Mama to her best friend, Rooney. Ryder's amazing Swedish-American ginormous family and his best friends/roommates, Tucker and Beck. The fact that I remember each and every side character's name at the end of the book is testament to just how amazing they all were and how much they added to the story. This book couldn't have functioned without them (trust me, I've read books in which the side characters were done so dirty that they might as well have been non-existent) and it was a joy to see an author who truly cared about each of her creations.
On to Willa - My best character trait about Willa was her sense of humour. I did find her annoying at times with her unwillingness and inability to have deeper conversations. I really loved that fact that she would internally call herself out for her prejudices and judgments and make efforts not to repeat them. I loved the fact the she was non-judgmental of Ryder. I loved how much she loved her Mama. One of my favourite scenes in the book was when she called Ryder out for making fun of his deafness. I loved how she defended him and let him know that nobody should be allowed to use his disability against him (even jokingly), let alone himself. It took her a while to grow and evolve but she got there eventually. I loved that for her. I also loved her driven and passionate she was about soccer. You could tell it meant everything to her and all I wanted her to do was become the pro-athlete she clearly wanted to be. As a heroine, she’s alright. You might have to skip some of her POV because she does have a bit of a “woe is me” personality but Ryder will keep you pushing when she falls short and when you get frustrated with her. And I have to admit that she's the character who undoubtedly brings down the book. At times, I felt like Ryder was wasting his time because she was so in her own head and if the roles were reversed, I would have DNF'd the book because I can't stand male characters like that. That was a balance of good and bad right?
Now, on to the star of this book - Ryder. My love. What a man, what a mighty good man. This man has woven his way into my heart and is not leaving. I realised rather quickly that Ryder is my dream man, point blank period. Kind to his core. Sexy as hell. Emotionally sound. Smart. Driven. Attentive. He cooks, he's a CLEAN and NEAT freak. Honest. Trustworthy. Basically, he's perfect. We must protect him at all costs. He raises the bar. This man cried more than once in this book and that did not make him even 1% less sexy. He literally said, "I have no time for toxic masculinity, please. Be gone." If you ever wondered whether consent can be hot, read this book because Ryder doesn't play with consent. I loved the way he slowly and realistically overcame his insecurities and how he dealt with his dream basically being stolen away from him. I loved the fact that he owned being deaf and decided how and when to communicate on his terms. His relationship with Willa's Mama was so sweet. It's difficult not to root for him. His breakthroughs were earth shattering.
As for Willa Rose Sutter and Ryder Stellan Bergman as a couple - I enjoyed them immensely. I enjoyed when they were frenemies, relentlessly pulling pranks on one another. I enjoyed their banter. You literally cannot get bored of their dialogues. Both of them play off each other so well. They had me rolling with laughter numerous times. Their tender moments were delicious. The patience and understanding between them was next level. They were they made accommodations for their individual needs was inspiring. Their relationship was the kind of slow burn I can get behind. It felt like so much happened but also nothing happened at the same time.
I also really enjoyed the pacing and feminist themes woven through the book.
I've read quite a few romance novels over the last year and as such, I've read the ones I've not liked, the ones I've liked, the ones I've loved and the ones I will love forever: this book falls in the 'I will love it forever' category. There is so much to unpack.
I'll start with the side characters: I've always believed that one of the secret ingredients to a phenomenal read is side characters you love almost as much, if not just as much as the main characters. This book had not one, not two, but several amazing side characters. From Willa's Mama to her best friend, Rooney. Ryder's amazing Swedish-American ginormous family and his best friends/roommates, Tucker and Beck. The fact that I remember each and every side character's name at the end of the book is testament to just how amazing they all were and how much they added to the story. This book couldn't have functioned without them (trust me, I've read books in which the side characters were done so dirty that they might as well have been non-existent) and it was a joy to see an author who truly cared about each of her creations.
On to Willa - My best character trait about Willa was her sense of humour. I did find her annoying at times with her unwillingness and inability to have deeper conversations. I really loved that fact that she would internally call herself out for her prejudices and judgments and make efforts not to repeat them. I loved the fact the she was non-judgmental of Ryder. I loved how much she loved her Mama. One of my favourite scenes in the book was when she called Ryder out for making fun of his deafness. I loved how she defended him and let him know that nobody should be allowed to use his disability against him (even jokingly), let alone himself. It took her a while to grow and evolve but she got there eventually. I loved that for her. I also loved her driven and passionate she was about soccer. You could tell it meant everything to her and all I wanted her to do was become the pro-athlete she clearly wanted to be. As a heroine, she’s alright. You might have to skip some of her POV because she does have a bit of a “woe is me” personality but Ryder will keep you pushing when she falls short and when you get frustrated with her. And I have to admit that she's the character who undoubtedly brings down the book. At times, I felt like Ryder was wasting his time because she was so in her own head and if the roles were reversed, I would have DNF'd the book because I can't stand male characters like that. That was a balance of good and bad right?
Now, on to the star of this book - Ryder. My love. What a man, what a mighty good man. This man has woven his way into my heart and is not leaving. I realised rather quickly that Ryder is my dream man, point blank period. Kind to his core. Sexy as hell. Emotionally sound. Smart. Driven. Attentive. He cooks, he's a CLEAN and NEAT freak. Honest. Trustworthy. Basically, he's perfect. We must protect him at all costs. He raises the bar. This man cried more than once in this book and that did not make him even 1% less sexy. He literally said, "I have no time for toxic masculinity, please. Be gone." If you ever wondered whether consent can be hot, read this book because Ryder doesn't play with consent. I loved the way he slowly and realistically overcame his insecurities and how he dealt with his dream basically being stolen away from him. I loved the fact that he owned being deaf and decided how and when to communicate on his terms. His relationship with Willa's Mama was so sweet. It's difficult not to root for him. His breakthroughs were earth shattering.
As for Willa Rose Sutter and Ryder Stellan Bergman as a couple - I enjoyed them immensely. I enjoyed when they were frenemies, relentlessly pulling pranks on one another. I enjoyed their banter. You literally cannot get bored of their dialogues. Both of them play off each other so well. They had me rolling with laughter numerous times. Their tender moments were delicious. The patience and understanding between them was next level. They were they made accommodations for their individual needs was inspiring. Their relationship was the kind of slow burn I can get behind. It felt like so much happened but also nothing happened at the same time.
I also really enjoyed the pacing and feminist themes woven through the book.