After some irresponsible choices threaten Seb’s professional hockey career and sponsorships, he is determined to pretend that he has turned over a new leaf. Ziggy is the youngest sibling in the Bergman family and the youngest member of the National soccer team; as such, she finds that she is consistently being babied and underestimated. So, Ziggy comes up with a plan to restore Seb’s tainted reputation while giving her own reputation some much-needed edge – they will start a “fake” and public friendship. It soon becomes clear that there is nothing fake about Ziggy and Seb’s friendship but their growing attraction towards each other makes it challenging for them to stay in the friend zone. If Only You is the sixth installment of the Bergman Brothers series; it can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading this series in order so that you avoid spoilers. If Only You is a contemporary, slow burn, sports romance featuring the brother’s best friend/ teammate, bad boy with good girl, and “(fake) friends to lovers” tropes. I would recommend this book to fans of Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, A Million Kisses in Your Lifetime by Monica Murphy, Mixed Signals by B.K. Borison, Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy, and Throttled by Lauren Asher. Topics/ themes include celiac disease, autism, anxiety/ mental health, family (including challenging family dynamics), character or growing up, change versus tradition, and love and companionship. I think that the moral of this story is that people are capable of change. Firstly, I liked how If Only You was unique (I think that this is the only book I’ve read that featured celiac disease and angry yoga) and authentic (like Ziggy, the author Chloe Liese is also neurodivergent, making this an “own voices” book). I also appreciated that there wasn’t a stereotypical third act break-up as I’m personally not a fan of that plot point. Being an avid reader, I loved all the reading references and bookish content that was included in this book; the private bookstore visit, and the bookish Halloween costumes were my personal favourites! I also loved how one of the ways that Ziggy and Seb bonded was over books; it was reminiscent of Jess and Rory’s relationship on Gilmore Girls. Having read all the other Bergman Brothers books, I appreciated that the rest of the Bergmans made regular appearances throughout the book, and I enjoyed getting to see how the Bergmans’ relationships have grown/ changed. I’m very excited for Viggo’s story, the next and final Bergman Brothers book which is expected in 2024; Viggo is one of my favourite Bergmans since he’s very into reading historical romance, so I just know that I’m going to love his story!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and would absolutely recommend the Bergman Brothers series to fellow sports romance fans.
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February 2024
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