This contemporary romance series is definitely one of the best I've read in years - the characters are interesting and diverse, the chemistry between the characters is well written and swoony, and I'm just a sucker for a series about a wonderful family :) 

Freya and Aiden are mentioned quite a bit in the first two books and we know they are having some difficulties in their marriage - this plot point is explored deeply in this book. Ever After Always was such a realistic glance at what marriage is, how it evolves over time, and how mental health and outside stressors can impact even those who want to commit to a happy marriage and love their spouse deeply. This book was beautiful, quotable, and funny at times too! I smiled a lot, enjoyed the minor escape it afforded me in the form of a trip to Hawaii in the book :) I absolutely appreciated the research that goes into these books - Aiden has a generalized anxiety disorder and the representation of his mental health was so real. 

I loved this book and can't recommend this series enough!

I received an ARC of the book to read through NetGalley. Ever After Always by Chloe Liese is the third book in her delightful Bergman Brothers series. I think you will enjoy this book more if you have read the first two books in the series. This book does an excellent job of showing how anxiety and depression can create a vicious circle that can fracture a relationship even when both people deeply love each other. When Freya Bergman asks her husband Aiden MacCormack to leave, he realizes that the methods he’s been using to cope with his anxiety have created a wall between him and Freya. Unless he can find a new way forward, he may lose the relationship that means everything to him. This is a steamy slow-burn second chance at love story that had me turning the pages with tears streaming down my cheeks. I highly recommend this book as much for the romance as for the other family relationships in the book. Steam Level: Medium. Publishing Date: January 12, 2021.  #EverAfterAlways #ChloeLiese #VictoryEditing #ContemporaryRomance #RomanceSeries #BergmanBrothersSeries #bookstagram #bookstagrammer

Twice I attempted to get into this story and I just couldn’t. 
I wanted to like this one, but I could barely make it past chapter 3.
Not the book for me.
DNF.

I loved the first two books in this series, so I was so excited to get approved for this title. Ever After Always did not disappoint. This one is different as the couple is already married and having to find their way back to each other. I loved seeing the characters from the first two books. It's always a good time with them. 

Highly recommend this series!

Most romance stories end with the happily ever after and the reader is left with a warm glow of contentment.  Few tackle the reality of life past the HEA to keeping the marriage alive along with the trials and hardships of everyday life.  I loved how the author incorporated mental and physical challenges into her characters. And that she gave them real life hurdles to overcome. I loved how involved the Bergman family was, in their own bumbling way, with trying to help Freya and Aiden’s relationship.  There were some laugh out loud moments but have some tissues handy as there were some teary eyed moments too.  Even the Acknowledgements was powerful.  
The only setback for me was the number of characters involved as Freya’s family feature heavily in this story.  The fact that she has 6 siblings plus some partners thrown in means there’s a lot of names to keep track of.  But pick up this book and read it.  You will be adding this author to your favorites list too.

Thank you Net Galley for an ARC of Ever After Always.   I adore this series!!  Chloe Liese is an expert at character building.   I highly recommend this series!

I'm super torn between 4 and 5. I loved this married couple, infidelity free romance about a curvy girl and an anxiety ridden dude. I did not like their marriage counselor with her Twister game, but she's a very small part of the story.

Heat Factor: There’s some pining and petting in the middle and some sex at the end
Character Chemistry: These guys love each other so much they lie by omission to protect the other party. Like, a lot. 
Plot: Aiden and Freya are having a tough time. But they also really want to fix what’s going on, so they put in the hard work to make their marriage stronger. 
Overall: I really wanted to like this book. Everything sounds great on paper. But I didn’t get that serotonin boost that I’m looking for when I get to the HEA. 

When you list the attributes of this book out in bullet points, I am all in:
Seducing my spouse! 
Characters go to counseling together!
Everyone reads romance novels - and even quote Kleypas to each other!
Thoughtful portrayal of anxiety!

But when I actually read it, I was frankly kinda bored. It took me ages to get through. After thinking it over a bit, I’ve decided that my disconnect stems from three sources, one that is entirely personal to me, one that stems from this book being part of a series, and one that I think is a little more about craft and the way the book is written. 

Let’s start with the personal gripe. Reading a romance about people with utterly relatable and mundane problems was just too real. I don’t want to read about a marriage growing apart because she thinks he works too much and doesn’t have time for the family. I read romance for fun and escapism - if I wanted dreary real-world problems, I would read literary fiction. When I finished the book I texted Erin asking for some mafia romance recommendations (WHY HOLLY WHY) because I needed a bonkers plot. (Instead of mafia romance, because seriously, that is not actually my jam at all, I followed this with a chaser of Lush Money, which is exactly the amount of bonkers I needed right now.) 

Problem number two: Ever After Always is the third book in a series about a family with a ton of kids. Yes, each story stands alone, but there are a million secondary characters with weird Nordic names and I was at least a third of the way through the book before I had figured out who everyone was. 

But the biggest shortcoming of the book is that I’m not sure that Freya has much personality. I know that she’s athletic and likes to sing. Other characters - mostly Aiden - tell the reader that Freya is super empathetic and feels others’ emotions really strongly (hence him not telling her when he starts struggling), but I don’t recall seeing much evidence of this on the page in either her thoughts or her actions. Aiden was an extremely well-developed character - I got a really good sense of what he was struggling with and what motivated him - but after finishing the book, I couldn’t tell you much about what was going on with Freya except that she felt dissatisfied with her marriage and didn’t tell Aiden until she couldn’t hold it in anymore. 

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. We disclose this in accordance with 16 CFR §255.

This review is also available at The Smut Report.

REVIEW {gifted} Oh @chloe_liese you’ve done it again. #EverAfterAlways is the third instalment in the Bergman Brothers series, which is quickly becoming one of my favourite romance series. This one follows Freya, the eldest Bergman sibling, and her husband, Aiden, who have reached an impasse in their marriage. Aiden’s anxiety has reached an all-time high and he’s become distant and unreachable, and Freya can’t bear the growing distance of their marriage any longer. But as if weathering marriage counselling isn’t enough, they’re thrown together for a tropical family holiday to celebrate Freya’s parents’ perfect marriage while theirs is on the brink of collapse. Despite some meddling siblings and a week in each other’s constant company, the trip somehow gets them working through the trouble in paradise. But when they leave paradise and return to the real world, will trouble find them again?
 
I adore this series. The Bergman siblings and their assorted partners are just SO. MUCH. FUN. There are hijinks galore in this book, which had me snorting out loud and cackling late into the night. But the magic that is Chloe Liese is that the fun and steam (and oh boy is there steam) is complimented so beautifully with heartfelt emotion, and some absolutely glorious character growth. As someone who has been married for quite a while, I loved reading about two people in a long term, committed relationship, and the struggles that Aiden and Freya were going through, the emotions they were feeling and the obstacles they chose to overcome all felt so real to me. I LOVED the fact that this book wasn’t another run-of-the-mill story about a 20-something, very attractive, very successful couple who fall in love after no time at all and then live happily ever after, but rather about a pair of flawed individuals who choose to put in the time and effort that it takes to make a relationship work. I laughed and I cried (often on the same page) and I adored every minute  
 
I loved loved loved this one! Very highly recommend!

Aiden and Freya have been married for 10 years, and those ten years were blissful until recently. Aiden has become distant and secretive, and it's affecting Freya so much that she doesn't even hum or sing around the house anymore. Thankfully, with meddling Bergman brothers, a couple's therapist, and a Hawaiian vacation, these two are able to figure out their problems and get back to their HEA.

When I started reading Ever After Always and realized it was about a couple that has been married for ten years, I worried I wasn't going to like it. However, Liese's characterizations really made this book for pop for me. I also appreciated the portrayal of anxiety and the importance of therapy. The final three or so chapters were a bit overly dramatic and seemed to be drama just for the sake of drama, but, thankfully, they were over quickly. Overall, if you need a romance with great mental health (especially anxiety) destigmatization, Ever After Always will fill your cup. 

Mental health: 
- Aiden has anxiety, and it plays  a rather large part in the story. He also has panic attacks.  

On the chaste-to-steamy scale, it's a 7.

Ever After Always is the third book in the Bergman Brothers Series. It can be read as a stand-alone as I did however I am very much looking forward to reading the others in this series.

The story follows Aiden and Freya who have been together for 12 years. Due to pressures at work, Aiden’s anxiety disorder has become effected and due to this they have a break down in communication. 

For Freya’s parents anniversary her family have organised a trip to Hawaii which forces Freya and Aiden to spend time with each other and confront everything they’ve been dealing with.

It was emotional, steamy and at times had me laughing out loud. I feel like it was such a wonderful representation of a realistic marriage relationship.

I finally understand why everyone is raving about Chloe Liese. What an incredible writer. She has definitely made a fan out of me and whilst this is not normally my favourite genre I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to reading all her other books. 

I want to thank Netgalley and Chloe Liese for generously providing me with this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chloe Liese for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this one a lot! The characters are so different from one another and they have real life issues that I could actually see friends having. This family is so fun and the brothers really keep things lighthearted and moving along. I love how this whole family comes together no matter what the issue. The flaws in all these characters make so much sense and makes you want to be friends with the whole lot of them. I definitely recommend for such a fun read.

Oh my. This topic is a tough one for me. A personal and emotional one. One that makes me feel a like a failure in my beloved HEA department....  Making it even tougher to write a review. BUT!! I love this take on romance. The work of it. The AFTER. Relationships are not easy even when they start out with so much passion. Chloe writes about this tender topic beautifully. And while it is not at all a light fluffy romcom, she did manage to make me laugh through incredibly tough content. 

🌴I loved her openness about anxiety and panic. Very real issues told in very realistic ways. There was no magic solution here. There was WORK.
🌴I love catching up with the Bergman family, of course. And I felt like we got to know a few of the characters even better!
🌴Freya was a real woman. Passionate, emotional, strong. And Chloe didn’t hide that. 
🌴The Hawaii setting through half of the book! 
🌴 The marriage counselor! Everyone should be so lucky to consult an expert like her!!

An essential read for people in long term relationships, those who have anxiety, and those who love someone with anxiety. Thank you @chloeliese for the ebook in exchange for my honest review!

This was my first Chloe Liese novel and I was not disappointed. I'm a sucker for a second chance romance and this was one of the better ones I've read recently. The protagonist have been married for 10 years and despite their love for each other are experiencing a rough patch. Freya and Aiden were refreshingly real and the romance was swoony. I really enjoyed reading about the Bergman family. The brothers especially were hilarious. I will definitely be reading more of Chloe Liese's novels in the future.

5 wonderful second chance stars.

I had 14 highlights in this book. Y'all. This book wrecked me! Wrecked me! I love Chloe Liese's Bergman brothers so much. And Freya and Aiden just ruined me.

There is nothing I love more than marriage on the rocks romance because it is so real. Marriage is hard - like Freya says "Why doesn't anyone tell you how hard marriage is going to be?" - and so often we read romance up until the HEA but really most are Happily For Now. It's nice to see couples work through their growth: in marriage, as they grow together, and as they grow apart. Freya and Aiden's story is about how you make the conscious choice to grow together - to understand how you've changed as people and actively work to understand what this new person you are with needs. Gosh. It's so deep. And so real.

I also loved how Liese showed Aiden's anxiety and the ways that it impacts their relationship. Anxiety is something that is quite common and peaks and flows are guaranteed. Never cured, only something that is managed and supported. As the book progresses, we realize that yes, Aiden has failed Freya, but Freya has failed him as well. And their realization of their failings, as well as their desire to do better, is truly beautiful.

I highly recommend this book, this entire series. Liese has something great going with the Bergman family and I can't see where else she takes us.

"People who love each other hurt each other, too. What matters is that they learn and they try their best not to hurt each other that way again."

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy to review!

“You choose what matters, and the rest follows.” Ever After Always by Chloe Liese

4 stars! This book.... happy sigh.  A great addition to the series!

We have Freya and Aiden’s story now. 10 years into their marriage and there’s a major bump in the road for them.

I love them both! I love their story...how they move on and grow from this, their love for each other constant yet growing along with them. 

Love the Bergman family! They’re really great and supportive of each other. I like how they claimed Aiden as their own too. 

The best thing about this book is the way ever after is shown. It’s not all happy. It’s not smooth sailing all the way.  It’s constant work and constant choice.

So thankful I got an arc of this book even if my review is late.  Thank you @chloe_liese and Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley! I really enjoyed this book.

Loved loved loved this book. Another winner by Chloe Liese and this one is probably my favourite. I highly recommend it. 
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a chance to read and review it.

Aiden and Freya have been together for more than a decade, but until recently things were still great between them. Now, Aiden is distant and Freya doesn’t know why, but she’s had enough and tells him so...just in time for a family trip to Hawaii, where they’ll have to make nice with each other for the sake of her parents’ anniversary celebration. 

We don’t get nearly enough romances where the couple is already together and working through the real issues of marriage. This is an honest portrayal of a couple who desperately want to make things work, but aren’t sure how to fix the problems that have grown up between them. There is a subplot that I saw coming a mile away, and I’m not sure it was necessary to the story. But overall it’s a lovely book, sometimes extremely funny, featuring the antics of Freya’s many overgrown brothers. I love the Bergman family and look forward to the next book. 

Thanks to Netgalley, the author, and the publisher for the ARC to review. All opinions are my own.

My Review: I was so excited when I discovered this book, not often do I find romances around an already established marriage that might be struggling a bit. While I love the concept of the story because it is something I could relate to (having been married for 14 years) but it ended up a bit too relatable and was difficult and painful at times to read. With that said, I absolutely loved Freya and Aiden, they are so in love with each other but clearly struggling to connect. I loved their commitment to making things work and overcoming their own personal battles. As someone who struggles with anxiety, this was a bit more eye-opening that I expected from a romance book and there were definitely times I had to put it down and ponder what Aiden's struggle was revealing about myself, maybe not something I wanted to face in what I was presuming was a light rekindle the romance book. I also had not read the previous two books in this series and it is definitely something I would recommend as this is clearly a family series and a very close knit family at that, we spend a lot of time with a group of very involved siblings that we should be familiar with already. I do think I will go back and read the rest of the series because I love the family dynamics of this group of characters.

My Rating: Do not go into this book expecting a light fluffy romance story, this is hard hitting, deep thought, discover yourself kind of book. I was not expecting to dive into anxiety issues, potential fertility issues and more when picking up this book and it was definitely a bit difficult to read at times.  I do think it was all handled rather well though and really appreciated the effort on Liese's behalf.  I give this one a rating of Three Paws and a Stump Wag.

The Bergman family is sure to steal your heart and soul with every new book. I don’t even know how to express my love for them and all the challenges and love and care they have for one another. 

Freya and Aiden were the golden couple. They have been married for years and the Bergman brothers have always looked up to their relationship (and their parents) as what marriage should look like. Unfortunately, marriages are more work than some people realize, and Freya and Aiden are dealing with a really rough patch where outside life has taken precedence over their marriage. Freya is feeling alone and defeated and is nearing her end of her ability to handle the loneliness. Aiden is struggling to provide for his family the only way he knows how, while dealing with constant anxiety that is completely taking over his life. 

The beginning of this story was truly heartbreaking and made me incredibly sad. It was heavy and definitely hurt. That being said, being a lover of Chloe’s work, I knew the pain she was showing would be handled with care and as a reader, she’d take us on a necessary journey that would end with healing, love and light. I can guarantee, I was not disappointed. We don’t often see romance featuring a couple that’s already married, and so, while the dynamic might have been different from that of a couple coming together for the first time, watching Freya and Aiden relearn each other and what their love looks like now after 10 years of marriage was really beautiful. The emotions felt real and raw, and the conclusion was one of love and hard work. 

I love how organic the diversity and representation is in these stories, and how Chloe handles real, everyday experiences in such a beautiful, romantic way. The Bergman family holds such a fond place in my heart, and I cannot wait to continue reading about their journey together and apart.