I am extremely picky when it comes to new adult - sometimes the characters are just to young and too immature. This book, however, gets it just right. Both Willa and Ryder are dealing with things no one their age should have to deal with - on top of going to school and, for Willa, being a top tier Division 1 student athlete.

Ryder lost his hearing due to a bout with bacterial meningitis just as he was supposed to start his own student athlete journey. He has been struggling since then to deal with the changes in his world and life. He has pushed everyone, including his very close-knit family away. From his first encounter with Willa you can see that they will be so good for each other.

Willa is working hard to achieve her dreams, at the same time her mother is dying of cancer. Willa and her mom are closer than close. They have been each other's only for a long long time. Neither is ready to let the other go - but cancer is spiteful and isn't leaving them much more time together.

This book is just awesome. It is highly emotional and really gets to the heart of what it means to experience something new and scary. Not just starting a new school or job - but really facing a change in your life that is outside of your control. It is also about embracing life after the change and finding your way forward.

This was my first book by Chloe Liese, but it won't be my last. I had a serious crush on Ryder, a feminist who takes consent seriously and shows what it means to be someone's partner in a real way. The scene where he brings Willa whiskey and peanut butter cups is swoonworthy at its best.

I can't wait for more of this series and to learn more about the Bergman family. Adored it.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley but these opinions are all my own.

Thank you to Net Galley and Chloe Liese for the ARC of Only When It's Us! I thought this book would be a cute enemies to lovers story, but this was so much more! This was a beautifully written book! This was not only a great love story, but a beautiful, heart-wrenching story of grief and the trials of life. Ryder and Willa navigate their way through devastating situations that tear at your heart. I cannot say enough good things about this book! This will for sure be a popular book on KU! I will just be over here impatiently waiting for the next book in the series!

I absolutely adored this perfectly paced romantic drama. The characters are unusual, she's a football star, he's a quiet introvert with secrets of his own but man when they finally open up their eyes to each other, the chemistry is something else. I loved the family dynamics, the slow burn and growth of the relationship, I loved that they felt relatable as college students while not being immature and shaped by their life experiences. I enjoyed every scene and can't wait to read more about the Bergman brothers. So glad I found a new fav author through netgalley - thank you to the publisher, all opinions my own.

A New adult frenemies to lovers sports romance, where the girl is the college sports star! A story of love, friendship, family, heartbreak and grief.

Willa, a fiery, hot tempered up and coming soccer (football) star, and Ryder Bergman, a quiet and blunt guy are thrown together to do a project in their business mathematics class. Cue assumptions, wrong first impressions, misunderstandings and a whole lot of chaos and sexual tension, before they finally get to know each other.

Guys I randomly downloaded this from NG, and it was the best decision! I was at home, sick and feeling sorry for myself, and read this under my duvet in two sittings...I mean it has,
⚽️ Frenemies to lovers,
⚽️ Characters who are forced to work closely together,
⚽️ Funny childish pranks
⚽️ Sloooow burn,
⚽️ Hot sexual tension,
⚽️ Steeeeeam! My goodness I had to fan myself!

BUT ..also so much more than the synopsis suggested! It went so much deeper. I cant say much about it because I don't want to spoil anyone, but not everything is as it seems, and neither character is as they first appeared to be. The story followed these characters, Willa who is angry, wild and doesn't handle her emotions well, and Ryder AKA the 'asshole lumberjack,' as they get to know each other.

Only When It's Us was a sweet, funny, heart breaking and soooo steamy, and I adored it! It reminded me a bit of The Deal but the sports star was a frizzy haired woman! I loved that it showed how wrong first impressions can be! I also liked the way that the woman was not only the college sports star, but she was also the emotionally damaged one, who struggled to let people in, and show her vulnerability. In contrast, Bergman was an honest, stubborn bearded, green eyed hottie! Aw I just loved them both so much!

I loved the part where Willa's mum was reading Pride and Prejudice, and Willa started to see the similarities between her and Bergman, with Lizzie and Mr Darcy! It was cute, and who doesn't love a bit of Pride and Prejudice?!

I liked Willa and her 'mama's' relationship, it was them against the world. But I really loved the Swedish American Bergman family, and kinda want to live with them! I cant wait to read more of these books, about Ryder's brothers, the next one being about Ren.

I definitely recommend this, download it now on NG whilst you still can! While you are dong that, Chloe Liese has made a Spotify playlist to go with the book, which is amazing!
#OnlyWhenIt'sUs

*skips off to read my favourite parts again*

Many thanks to Netgalley Connect for making this available for download!

I absolutely adored this book. The characters were so real that it sucked you in and made you feel a part of the story. You didn't want it to end!

Loved this book, the story of Willa and Ryder. They both have their own issues and you learn these through the chapters from each of their points of view.

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

Five Stars for “Only When It’s Us” (Bergman Brothers #1) by Chloe Liese

Many thanks to NetGalley, NetGalley Connect and Chloe Liese for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review of “Only When It’s Us” (Bergman Brothers #1). My thoughts and opinions are 100% my own and independent of receiving an advance copy.

WRITING STYLE: 5/5
PLOT: 5/5
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 5/5
ROMANCE: 5/5 (slowburn and then fire!)
HEAT: 5/5 (see above)

“Only When It’s Us” is filled with more depth and poignancy than the description lets on. The blurb does provide the bare bones of the story but the heart of this story is much more powerful. Willa and Ryder are both in university and attending Business Mathematics, they get thrown together to do an assignment thanks to their interfering professor and a “frenemyship” develops. When they first meet they both make assumptions about the other and slowly they learn they were both completely wrong. The journey of Willa and Ryder’s first meeting to the last scene is beautiful, funny, sexy, challenging, fraught with heartbreak and loss and completely worth experiencing.

Willa and Ryder share a strong attraction that they fight from day one for their own different reasons. Through painful occurrences in their lives their “frenemyship” becomes much more. In a review for “Their Strictly Friends”, by Nathalie-the-Biblioholic (Goodreads) she writes, “Liese has really cornered the market on depicting people who face some of life’s hardest challenges and how they maneuver their way through these obstacles with courage, anger, bitterness, practicality and hope.” She does it again here.

Ryder and Willa each face life altering challenges and Liese doesn’t sugarcoat their reactions to them. Willa is angry. She has a temper. She can’t express herself. Ryder is blunt and stubborn to a fault. They have very real issues. What is truly great about “Only When It’s Us” is Willa and Ryder’s relationship: they accept each other, no matter their damage, from the beginning. As they learn more and more about each other it doesn’t change their feelings for one another, it only deepens them.

There is a great scene that involves a reading of Pride and Prejudice in which Willa realizes the parallels between Elizabeth and Darcy and her relationship with Ryder. The prejudice that stood in their way as each both deny their feelings - it’s poignant and a little funny too.

Willa and Ryder each battle their own personal hardships to get to a place where they can be together. “Only When It’s Us” is a slow burn but when it ignites, it is hotter than a Carolina pepper. When they finally become vulnerable to each other that leads to their true happiness.

Chloe Liese gives us an honest and beautiful depiction of love, loss, grief in all its forms, the journey back, family, friendship, and the very Swedish, lagom. I highly recommend this book.

We are also introduced to Ryder’s big Swedish-American family the Bergmans, the brothers will have a series of which this is the first book. I’m really looking forward to this series.

Chloe Liese provides a playlist on Spotify to get you through each chapter of Willa and Ryder’s journey. It was quite a wonderful experience to listen to those songs as I was reading.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1XA7KOUcjgBL0ilEDw8Lep?si=lahm4NewSOiCJ8zZKWr0NQ

#OnlyWhenItsUs #NetGalley