If Only You

4.5/5

I loved this book so much. It was so good.

Ziggy was a wonderful child in the previous books and to see her growing up was fascinating. Her story was so amazing. She and Sebastian are so perfect for each other, though I wish Sebastian was in Ren's book too. I was so confused when he showed up as his best friend when he wasn't in Ron's book. But I loved their friendship here.

I never knew I'd love fake friends so much but this was just delightful. I loved Ziggy and Seb's relationship, and the way that they both called each other by their full names. Amazing. The way they teased each other while being aware and respectful of the others needs was so amazing. I loved it.

I'm slightly disappointed that Ziggy's underwear didn't make an appearance later in the book. I was convinced that Sebastian would use it and I'm sad that he didn't haha.

Sebastian is one of the best book boyfriends btw. THE BOOKSTORE DATE??? HIS COSTUME? I melted. He was incredible. I loved it so much!!!

Reading the author's note at the end made me feel bad about how disappointed I was with this book, so I won't be sharing details. But...yeah. Disappointed, to say the least.

I love the Bergman's so much. Our sweet Ziggy is finally getting her story.

Sebastian doesn't believe he's good enough for Ziggy, but with his time and patience he works on himself to be the best version he can be for her.

Second read; upping my stars from four to five because I'm finding so precious Liese's portrayal of autism and also that these two are committed to respecting boundaries, doing the hard work, and taking the time to heal and build friendship before committing to a sexual/romantic relationship. I appreciate that representation, that the “bad boy” isn't fixed by the love of a good woman, but by steady and true friendship, good role models, authentic community, choosing to be vulnerable, taking responsibility, telling the truth, finding a therapist, getting appropriate medical interventions, and making many tiny incremental changes to grow and heal.

Emotional intelligence is sexy.

And I'm so into all the increasingly excellent neurodiverse rep in this genre, of which Liese is excellently in the vanguard.

I am a fan of Chloe Liese and the Bergman Brother series. I like Chloe's writing but mostly, I love the way she gives voices to neurodivergent characters and mental health issues. If only you is no exception to this and it's another book with stellar representation.

This book follows the story of the youngest of the Bergman's family, Ziggi, who is autistic and still seen as a kid and not taken as serious as she wished, and Sebastian, a bad boy from Ren's hockey team, who desperately needs to put his act together.

What I liked about the book:
- The story was sweet and Sebastian is a great MMC. I enjoyed his evolution and how committed he was to be a better person to be worthy of Ziggi.
- Well executed friends to lovers
- Neurodivergence, celiac disease and mental health representation
- The moments with the Bergman family are great as usual. As Ziggi is very close to Ren, we have a lot of Ren and Frankie cameos, which I liked as they were one of my favorite Bergman couples.
- The book has several funny moments but I particularly liked the ones with Linnie, and the “Rhysand” appearance “hello Ziggi, dear”

What I think it could have been done better:
- Unfortunately, I feel this book and “Everything for you” weren't as good as the previous ones in the series which left me disappointed. I don't know if it is the pressure of changing to tradicional publishers or the need to finish the Bergman series while writing the Wilmot sisters, the truth is that the last books felt quite different to me. The plot has less depth, the endings feel rushed and there is a lot of tell rather than showing that do not benefit the stories.

This book was an enjoyable read and I still think it will appeal to most romance readers.