CD Reiss goes more contemporary romance in this endearing friends to lovers romance. Sebastian and Rachel date back to childhood. Neighbors while growing up, Seb was the victim of bullying at the hands of mean kids at school... a skinny awkward artistic kid, Rachel attached to him immediately. If he needed his books carried, she carried them, or if he needed defending, he defended. One day in high school, they drew up a contract basically stating if they were both single at age 30, even though Rachel had all these grand plans, they were going to get married to each other. Both signed....

Standing by his side for year after year, they lost touch when the college age approached. Fast forward 12 years, they run into each other at Christmas. What about that contract? Well, you know what they say about plans. Nothing went as planned for Rachel and her mother’s cancer may be back. What it would do for her to see Rachel marry the sweet successful boy next door. Could they do it? Virtual strangers? 

Cute yet sexy, dirty talking Sebastian was seriously the perfect guy. Be still my heart. The flame in his heart for Rachel never fully extinguished and seeing her again just further fanned the flames. 

It seems these two needed each other as the rock in different times of life. It was give and take with this couple and their love story just blossomed from there. 

Whether she’s writing about gritty mafia capos or erotica or contemporary romance, CD Reiss immerses her readers into their love stories with her beautiful prose. Looking forward to all that’s to come from this talented writer.

I loved this sweet, sexy, romantic book! Rachel and Sebastian were childhood friends. They were next door neighbors and best friends. She stuck up for Sebastian when he was bullied. But when they went away to college, they lost touch. For over 14 years they had their own lives. Until one Christmas, they both came home and saw each other. And their friendship reunited among other feelings. Their story was so entertaining. I loved watching them discover their feelings for each other. Sebastian, the nerd, became Sebastian, the wealthy hunk. And his sweetness toward his mother and sister and Rachel made me swoon. A perfect summer romance!

I love CD Reiss books. She has such a way with words. I have read almost all of her books, she is one of my favorite authors!

Breathtakingly amazing!!!!!!   It’s hard not to fall head over heels for Sebastian and this story.   
Sebastian and Rachel childhood friends . You watch the friendship get pushed to the back burner to dreams, but can Rachel overcome her plan on how her life should be . Some moments you want to shake Rachel and say wake up look at what’s right in front of you ....



Thank you cd reiss and netgalley for this amazing ARC....

Did not finish.

I had trouble connecting with this book at the characters. What I read was slowing moving and just didn’t keep me hanging in to see what would happen next.

I so love this book! CD Reiss is a known author of romance erotica but in Only Ever You she delivers one heck of a romantic comedy. A sexier version of one with all the  sweet, funny, heartwarming and poignant moments that makes a great  rom com.  Rachel and Sebastian are fantastic characters that will get readers invested in how this romance develops.  The dialogue and story line and marvelous secondary characters and of course Rachel and Sebastian’s journey make this one memorable page turner that is now on my list of all time favorites.

CD Reiss's unique and complex stories combined with her edgy writing style always make for all-consuming reads for me. I enjoy the diversity of her plots which vary from sports to suspense to Hollywood romances, and she always keeps me guessing at whether they will be more light-hearted or on the dark and angsty side. 'Only Ever You' is a slow-burning and sweet friends-to-lovers romance, but overall the story just didn’t come together as I had hoped.

I really liked Sebastian and loved how his character had matured during his and Rachel’s years apart and definitely could sympathize with her frustration with all of the blows in her relationships, career path, and fear resulting from her mother’s illness. Their childhood friendship which resulted in the close-knit relationship between Rachel and Sebastian’s families was very special, and I adored Sebastian’s kooky mother, sister, and Rachel’s parents!

While I thought Sebastian’s devotion and willingness to help Rachel was very sweet, I just didn’t really feel their passion and chemistry together with their marriage of convenience. It was if they went through all of the motions in planning the wedding, but the focus of the story was more about Rachel finding her way. It took most of the story for her to realize that she and Sebastian could have more than a platonic relationship, and the little snippets throughout didn’t allow me to really feel their romantic connection.

The plot was rather witty and interesting with Rachel being known for not being a ‘romantic’ person yet being forced into that genre as a writer for the show ‘Romancelandia’. The title and premise were fantastic, but the story didn’t really come to fruition for me. I had a very hard time getting into it and staying engaged throughout, and the writing felt scattered and often left me backtracking and trying to follow who was speaking in the story at times.

I really think that Reiss is a brilliant writer, and I love how she challenges her heroes and heroines in her sometimes very twisted tales but also always includes so much passion, steam, and sweetness. While 'Only Ever You' didn't win me over as a whole, I do look forward to what she will write next!

2.5 Stars

Only Ever You is a steamy romantic novel with a terrific plot. It’s raw, emotional, and real.

I loved both Rachel and Sebastian. Their personalities are terrific and I kept wishing I knew them in real life. I enjoyed learning about Rachel’s job as a screenwriter. It’s interesting and sad to see how much compromising there is.

While I loved most of Only Ever You, I won’t be sharing it or purchasing my own copy. The foul language and explicit intimacies were too much for me. I know many of you love that, but it’s not my cup of tea.

All in all, Only Ever You is a terrific book and if you love a steamy emotional romance it’s the book for you!

Only Ever You is a standalone romance. Rachel and Sebastian were childhood best friends. They made a pact that if they weren’t married by 30 then they would marry each other. 

Rachel had it all mapped out live in NY, go to NYU, spend time learning the ropes of film and TV, then grad school, get married by 28 and have a kid at 30. What happened? Life has a way of getting in your way. 14 years later. Both Sebastian and Rachel are 30 and single. Guess what happens next?

This is a second chance and friends to lovers story. Sebastian has his work cut out for him because she just thinks she is a little late with her goals and isn’t interested in a relationship. Friends and family are though.

Only Ever You had a good story line. I think I am sap. I loved the ending of Only Ever You! 

“And we lived happily ever after.” 

And I am adding in my,

The End.

This is such a great story about childhood friends who made a pact to get married if they weren't married by 30.  Rachel and Sebastian were best friends since they were little and since Sebastian was a "nerd", Rachel always defended him from the bullies.  Rachel was the girl with all the plans on how her life will be like and what her goals and milestones are for each phase.  Sebastian was shy and not sure what he wanted to do other than he loved art.

When these 2 finally see each other after so many years apart, each is not what the other had expected but Sebastian still remembered their marriage pact.  He kind of wants to go through with their pact but not sure how Rachel feels.  When you add in both meddling mothers to a potential romance, it just gets crazy.  Rachel's life didn't go as she had planned but she's still trying but life has been a little hard on her.  Sebastian has definitely changed from that "nerd" to a hot guy which shocks Rachel a little bit.  When Rachel thinks that her mother is sick again, she asks Sebastian to go along with the pact.  Romance, craziness, and everything else happens when these two realizes that they do have romantic feelings for each other but is not really sure if the other person really feels the same.  A lot of miscommunication, craziness, and the need to change the way each perceives each other finally leads to a very romantic ending!

This was such a sweet, romantic, and funny read.  I love these 2 characters for their belief in each other even if they aren't as confident about their own self.

Rachel had her life all planned. She was going to have it all by the time she turned 30. But fate had other plans. Now she is single and stuck at a job way below her potentials. 

Then Sebastian, her childhood best friend enters back into her life and he suddenly looks like he stepped out of a GQ magazine. He still has the silly wedding pact they made as kids.

It's obviously crazy for them to act on it. Apparently, their family didn't get the memo. 

This book was such a refreshing change. I always love a friends to lovers romance and this one just hit the right mark. Yes I did find it a bit uneasy to get into it at first but soon the story progressed and I fell in love.

Sebastian was just the best. I fell in love with him whole heartedly. I adore that he is so other worldly when it comes to falling in love but at the same time there is this innocence that attracts you towards him. Even though I love this man insanely, I think his character sketching was a bit cliche. I still want him to love me.

Rachel's character was entirely relatable. I understood all her insecurities and fears and I love that she did bit by bit to overcome them herself. Everyone has ups and downs in their life, it;s just how you deal with them is what matters.

I really loved the dynamic between Sebastian and Rachel. Their friendship was the cutest and the way their love progressed was beautiful.

Second Chance romance with a twisted "fake engagement", sign me up! This was a quick read and kept you engaged with the characters. Sebastian is the nerdy boy next door whose been in love with Rachel forever. And Rachel is the writer at her soul who rallies for the underdog. With quirky families and hidden issues they manage to find their way to each other.

4 Recognizing It's Real Stars
* * * * Spoiler Free
C.D.Reiss is not a one-trick pony. Anyone who reads her work should be very aware of this. She has written extremely raw, intense, erotic work. Every single one of those stories has been layered with intricate insights into the characters and plots. Even during the darkest stories, Reiss will throw in sly humor appropriate to the situation. So it could become easy to think heavy erotic when you think of C.D. Reiss... and you would be right...

But you would also miss another part of the Reiss catalog.

Reiss has always played with another side of romance, a tract not as openly intense, a more stealthy way of getting to the core of what makes characters be who they are, what they need and how they can find "their person".

Only Ever You is one of those intricate and revealing books. It is the type of read which will start out and little by little grab you and never let go. You will be taken in by the humor, the realness of it all...for how many of us out there thought we knew what our lives were going to be...had it all figured out, only to be smacked with the reality of current times blowing everything up.

Yes, this story has everything you could want in a romance and then it feels like there is a little bit more...like the author may have put a bit of herself on this page...Where some of the backstories match the known facts adding to the enjoyment.

This was a stunning experience in the way I was able to feel all of the emotions, all of the want from Sebastian and all of the fear and uncertainty from Rachel. C.D. Reiss gave us a story for these times and it worked for me.

A gifted copy was provided by Montlake via NetGalley for an honest review.

I couldn't really get into this. I guess I'm not used to CD's "soft" side. The premise of the book didn't really flow all that good and I couldn't connect with any of the characters.

Oh, what an amazing book! So well deserving of 5 stars! This truly was a wonderfully sweet read, I really fell in love with these characters and the plot was phenomenal. I would highly recommend Only Ever You!

Boy next door meets falling in love with one of your best friends! I couldn’t put Only Ever You down. I was hooked from page one.


The chemistry between Rachel and Sebastian is undeniable; slowly simmering until it turns into a raging boil. I appreciated the confidence that both characters had yet there was a little self-doubt that they kept hidden from the rest of the world.


Read it!

One of my favorite books that I have read! Such a lively and entertaining book about love that grows from youth even though you had different plans.  Sometimes the bigger picture shines ever brighter than your imagination.

Some 15+ years after Rachel and Sebastian made a marriage pact as teenagers, they both find themselves 30 and single... and pressured by their parents to make good on their deal. They haven't seen each other in 10 years, but their parents are already making wedding plans -- kind of forcing Sebastian and Rachel into the relationship.

Unfortunately, I just didn't find there to be a lot of chemistry between them. Grown-up Rachel was nothing like the feisty teen we met in the prologue, and Sebastian just wasn't the strong silent type I though he would be. They both seemed kind of wishy-washy to me, and I kept waiting for some big moment to change it all around that never came.

I also had some issues with the writing style. The conversations felt clunky, and I swear there were characters who just appear out of nowhere with no explanation as to how they are connected to Rachel and/or Sebastian. There were points where I wasn't sure who was speaking, and that made it hard to create the image in my mind. 

There have been several books by CD Reiss that I've loved, and a few, like this one, that kept me wanting more at the end. Overall, Only Ever You is a decent marriage-pact/childhood friends romance, low on the drama and an intersting twist. But it's just not a book I loved and will come back to over and over again.

I received an advanced copy and voluntarily left a review.

I happen to like C.D. Reiss's lighter side but make no mistake there's still some angst and drama a long side. It's not boring or anything. This had a My Best friend's Wedding feel to it and I liked it. But of course it's very different in it's own way being that Sebastian was not a cool kid and Rachel was his ultimate defender. 

Rachel and Sebastian were childhood friends that came back into each other's lives recently. The whole marriage pact was true but only pushed forward cause Rachel wants her mom to be happy. There's two side to their relationship the fake marriage and the feelings for real on the other. That was a bit confusing cause I think Sebastian really liked her way back then and still now. Rachel is messed up by lack of career success and her mom. They do have sweet and cute moments together though and the chemistry can't be ignored. 

It took a while for them to actually get on the same page feeling wise which for me was ok. Sebastian really did want to marry Rachel but something is stopping it from her end to show him her feelings. She maybe a romance writer for a show but she's not really good at it. The romance puns were fun and the whole romance trope stuff. I liked the huge aha moment of figuring it out and the grand gesture was swoon. This was light with some angst but still romantic and cute I enjoyed it.
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“In the end,” I’d said, “I’m marrying you. Now. Later. Whenever. The only lie is the timeline.”


Rachel and Sebastian made a deal when they were teenagers. If Rachel's meticulously designed plans for her future did not work out, they would get married when they turned thirty. But of course this would never happen. After all, Rachel was popular, intelligent, determined, strong and protected Sebastian from the bullies. A future doomed to failure was not in their plans. Truth be told, if anyone failed in this story, it would probably be Sebastian, the scrawny and somewhat awkward nerd.
Years later, about to complete the dreaded age of thirty, Rachel returns home for the holidays. And the card she receives from Sebastian, an innocent joke reminiscent of the pact of the past, will make her admit the harsh truth that her life is far from what she dreamed for herself.
Rachel is stagnant. Her relationships do not work, thanks to her bad choices when it comes to the opposite sex, her career has not taken off, her work does not arouse passion and her bank account is down. The fact that she had taken time to care for her sick mother, though necessary, undermined her professional chances. Nothing went as planned. And coming face to face with the old friend who she has not seen in a long time will certainly not help her self-esteem.
The fact is that Sebastian in no way looks like the dull boy of the past. The nerd has grown. And he became a handsome, successful, wealthy man with a promising career. And Rachel does not know how to deal with this new version of Sebastian.
And in this mood of nostalgia, where the past will be revisited, two nosy and not inconspicuous mothers will play the cupid in a somewhat exaggerated way, planning a wedding for two people who have not seen each other for more than fourteen years. But a random discovery will make Rachel to panic, and Sebastian will help her, embarking on this marriage madness, creating a false relationship to please Rachel's mother.
And with that lie in play, the two will establish a plan to deal with the situation. But if the past has taught them something, it is that plans generally never go as expected. Gathered after so many years and forced to feign a relationship, the vision of past and present will be the greatest obstacle of these two, after all, neither are the same people. And like every good romantic cliche, the repetition of a lie eventually becomes true. But what if the agreement made in adolescence, innocent and funny, hid in the bottom the secret desire of one of them? What would that imply nowadays?


“What was the point of being worthy of her love if she didn’t know how to accept mine?”


The book plays with the deconstruction of the novel itself, metalinguistics is very present in writing, a novel talking about the novel itself, and accentuating in a funny way the cliches present in this type of genre.
The characters are real, dense and make the reader able to connect with them, after all, doubts, fears, joys and frustrations are present in everyone's lives. The question of the plans and how to face when nothing happens as expected is treated in a way that awakens a self-reflection.
Once again the male character stands out. Sebastian is the voice, soul, reason and heart of the book. It is impossible not to cheer with him and for him. Despite an adult man, deep down, the nerd boy still lurks inside him and the fear of rejection is still there.