I was impressed by this newer author, the book kept my interest, with a strong H&h and an engaging plot, I wanted to keep reading. Personally, I love the fact each chapter was written from both the male & female & probably a large part of why I enjoyed this book & the authors writing so much. The only negative of the book for me personally was the fact the main characters seemed or were 'spoke' a bit 'older' than the plot seemed to indicate they were. Also, I can't decide if the song linked to each chapter is a positive or not but it definitely doesn't detract from the plot.
While I did receive a review copy of the book from NetGalley, I am voluntarily leaving my own opinion with this voluntary, unsolicited review.

Wow! What a steamy story, full of tension, drama, heartache and miscommunication. 2 strong main characters, each with their own internal dialogue, internal struggles are thrown together in a college business class by a well-intentioned professor. Ryder and Willa have intense chemistry and are always trying to 'one up' each other, and although sometimes come across as too harsh and sometimes cruel, the characters took it all in stride and went along for the ride. So while I didn't always like what they did to each other, it added to the passion and their chemistry.

I really liked how at the beginning of each chapter there was a song that was related to what the chapter was about. I also liked how each chapter went back and forth from the perspective of Ryder and Willa. Ryder is the strong, silent type that looked amazing in plaid coming to terms that an accident that changed his life. Willa is a strong, fiercely independent woman riddled with insecurities and challenges while trying to be the best soccer player she can be, a student with passing grades and being a good daughter. Together, once they stopped being so closed off and began talking to each other, wonderful things started to happen.

Thank you Netgally for the opportunity to read this steamy, sizzling romance! If you love a good page turner, then this book is for you!

This was my first time reading a book by this author so I was excited to receive this from the publisher and Netgalley.

What I liked:
Both characters came from strong families. The female main character worked hard to overcome some of her unhealthy thought patterns about men and also pursued counseling to help her through a traumatic experience. I loved these positive portrayals. The male main character suffered from hearing loss and his perspective was really interesting.

What I didn't like:
The book portrayed some potentially reckless scenarios and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Additionally there was quite a bit of language (consistent with the characters' college age just not my preference). The book was also pretty closed door (although lots of suggestive language) but really amped up at the end including some borderline aggressive sexual content in my opinion. Also, the characters seemed almost too mature for their ages. Others may have been that mature at 20 but I sure wasn't.

Overall I'd rate this a 3.5 and I'd try further books by this author as well.

I really enjoyed Only When It's Us. The characters were really well written and the plot kept me interested. I thought the writing was also really well done. I would love to read more from this author!

I usually like a slow burn romance, but Ryder and Willa worked my nerves. The set-up of this sounded so good, but their drama was so petty, and there's a "twist" that just felt manipulative and predictable.

My favorite romance combination is a sweet and sexy slowburn and the author delivers that with Willa and Ryder. The characters have incredible chemistry that crackles up off of the pages, biting wit and humor that left me snorting through out the book. Ryder is the perfect balance of surly quiet lumberjack and adorably caring book boyfriend. Willa is witty and strong with a fiery temper but never comes of as cold or uncaring.

This is such a fun book and I'm so glad I got to read this story. I work with a lot of Deaf and HoH people and I loved that the main character was from this community. This is a really fun story and I loved what these two went through; their misunderstandings, banter, and love story was SO much fun. Thank you for my advanced copy!!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher. I have enjoyed reading this. a great frenemies to lovers romance.

I had put off reading Only When It’s Us earlier this spring due to not being able to handle any contemporary romances (thanks COVID). I’ve adored Chloe’s previous books and I was worried if I read it while the world was falling apart I wouldn’t be able to give it the attention it deserved. I’m sooo glad I waited to read it. I finally picked it up two days ago and devoured it! This was exactly the engrossing, heartwarming, emotional read I needed.

Willa Sutter is a rising college level soccer star, in order to keep her necessary course load she needs lecture notes and her meddling professor pairs her with grumpy, lumberjack look alike Ryder Bergman. This is the slow burn, frienemies to lovers, forced proximity of my dreams. This one is a New Adult, but a lot of the time the characters felt older to me, and I loved that. The banter and tension between Willa and Ryder is immediate and I was sucked in from page one. Both characters have their own unique backstories that give the characters such depth and emotion.

Like previous books from Chloe Liese, I loved the families and side characters. She is a master at creating complex, beautiful interpersonal relationships. Some really heavy situations happen during this story, but the way Chloe tells them she makes them gut wrenching and heartwarming at the same time. I won’t spoil what happens during the book (although I found it fairly obvious from the beginning of the story), but both of the characters go through some form of grief and both of their experiences felt so true to life.

One of the things I love most about Chloe’s books is how she creates characters that realistically deal with some type of hardship. Whether it is illness or disability, she puts so much thought and care into their backstories. As someone living with a chronic illness, I can tell she does a lot of research and takes time to carefully create accurate characters.

A character in this story deals with a challenge you don’t see a lot in romance, I’ve only read a handful of stories with this type of disability. But I can say, hands down, Only When It’s Us handled it the best and felt the most true to life. I didn’t see this coming in the storyline and was so pleasantly surprised and happy with how it played out.

I absolutely adored watching Willa and Ryder go from enemies-friends-lovers. Their relationship was fantastic, I loved all the little “pranks” in the beginning and the banter between the two. But do know going in that this is a slow-burn! Chloe can write some super steamy scenes, but in this story she really makes sure the reader is completely obsessed with Willa and Ryder before we see that side of their relationship. The pacing was so perfect for their characters!

Only When It’s Us deserves alllll the stars! This was hands down a five star read for me. I love love loved this story so much! Thankfully it’s the first in her Bergman Brothers series and I cannot wait to see more glimpses of Willa and Ryder in future books!

Rating: Five stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Steam rating: 🔥🔥🔥 3/5

I really liked the story and am excited for the next in the series but the writing style I found to be a little repetitive sometimes. I think it would make a great beach or pool read since you can focus on other things and read this one at the same time and don’t feel like you’re missing anything.

Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese

Oh Wow! LOVED IT!!!
A 100% true frenimies to....... Story!

Chloe Liese has done a superb job from beginning to end. This story has it all and even more. Fun, Romance, Pranks, Friendship. It's it by fast one of my favorite reads of 2020. I cannot urge fans of rom-coms and frenimies to lovers stories to pick this gem up the second you can. You will not be disappointed. I will definitely be keeping an eye out on whatever next treasure Chloe Liese has enstore for us. I am 100% buying this book when it comes out and hope to find out more about the two leading characters.

5/5 Stars!

Thank you #NetGalley for this book in exchange for my honest review.

Ryder and Willa's electric chemistry makes this book an instant hit! Only When It's Us chronicles two college students, Ryder and Willa, as they navigate life, loss, and heartbreak. Willa, a D1 soccer star is paired with Ryder by their professor, who has some ulterior motives. The two instantly become frenemies and try to navigate class, life, and their own internal battles. Will these frenemies learn get along and find a happily ever after?

This is my first book from this author. Honestly, I'm not sure that I would have picked it up had it not been for the recommendation from a different author that I follow and trust. Boy am glad I took a chance on this one.

The characters were so well developed that, at times, I found myself completely lost in the pages. The chemistry was totally off the charts. And, holy cow, the swoon!! I fell hard and fast for these characters. This book was the perfect combination of sexy and sweet. In between all that there was enough emotion and steam to get my heart pounding. I haven't talked about the banter yet, but if you love witty, sassy and sarcastic, this one is for you!

Seriously, I could go on and on. I'm giving this one 5 flaming flannel stars!!

This was a super cute and fun read with enemies to friends to lovers story. Willa and Ryder's friendship was so cute, it only got steamier and the tension high as the story progressed. The pranks were fun but the beginning of the book had a lot of information to take in, but once you passed that point it was hard to put down. I always love to see playlist with books and this one had a song for each chapter, and there were some great ones that fit with the story! A great edition in the New Adult Romance category, and with the first book of the series, I’m excited to see what’s to come.

This is now one of my favorite books ever. I really enjoyed this book and the premise. I loved Willa and Ryder. The enemies to lovers romance was wonderful. I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

I couldn’t put this book down!!! I stayed up late, got up early, ignored my family just so I could finish this book. I love a good slow burn and this was so slow but in the BEST WAY! So good, I love the individual challenge for each character and their mutual challenge. I can’t wait to meet more of the brothers in future stories!!!

Full disclosure, I didn’t realise that this was “New Adult” before going into it, but that didn’t spoil my enjoyment of this book at all. Like I said, I was looking for something fun and different and that's exactly what I got. It wasn’t over the top with it's sauciness and was well written, with a story and relationship that was well built up over the duration of the book, almost giving you a frustrating relief towards the end.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed the story of Only When It's Us by Chloe Liese, who is an author I am surprised that I have never heard of before.  What I really like about this book was how the story all played out, which is usually hard to come by when you read New Adult books, as the story is usually a second thought. You get to see the story from both Ryder’s and Willa’s perspective, out two love interests, which gives the reader a better an insight towards each of the characters and allows for us to get a better understanding of their thoughts and feelings, whether that's about themselves or each other. This was incredibly frustrating at times as you could see the simply mishaps that they were experiencing from simple miscommunication, which often lead to them confusion. Plus you got to see those moments where they are at their most vulnerable. There was this sweet moment in the book where Joy and Ryder discuss Pride and Prejudice, making subtle hints about Elizabeth and Darcy which resemble the relationship of Willa and Ryder in this book, that made sense to me. 

There are some really good characters within this book and especially those character relationships. You obviously get Ryder and Willa, which has to be one of the main relationships within this book. Even though the whole enemies to lovers thing has been done a lot, it was executed really well in this book for a couple important reasons. The main one being, it developed over some time! It wasn’t rushed and there was some friendship there first and it therefore played out perfectly. The slow burn of this book, and that relationship, then makes it so much more satisfying and real! However, you do get to see other relationships within this book, those that you wouldn't necessarily think of. You get the different types of friendship, the relationship between siblings and that of a parent and child. The relationship that hit the most and was how well written the relationship between Joy and Willa, which hands down I was not expecting. 

This book has the perfect balance of story, sauciness, frustrating and ultimately, satisfaction!

Absolutely 100% loved this and will read anything else this author writes!

This was so fun! Their chemistry was fantastic, and I love romance that doesn't feature your stereotypically leading couple. It was also so sweet, I like a good story, characters who lives outside of their romance and this delivered for sure.

Also if you're in to lumberjack looking fellows Only When It's Us is for you.

Would read again in a heartbeat and already have!!

Holy steamy hot tubs Batman! This is one steamy romance. The sensual experiences of both Willa and Ryder really rachet up the temperature of the story. And yet, for all the heat in the story, there is also a depth of human emotions - pain, sorrow, pride, family, loss, acceptance. I grew to love the characters and want all the good things for them.

A fun young romance for anyone who has ever fancied a lumberjack.
Enjoyable read about friends to lovers. Lots of fun. Thank you for the opportunity to read this book.