unsurprisingly 5 stars!! i love the bergman brother's series and it still has never missed. there's a bit of a time jump in this book skipping forward four years. this book features oliver and gavin, enemy co-capitans and neighbors. the banter between the two of them was consistently on point and the love the two shared was just so freaking good!! as with all of chloe's books, the side characters are golden. the only thing about this book i didn't like is that it wasn't longer, i felt like there could have been a bit more relationship development.

Absolutely in awe of the magic and beauty that Chloe Liese has captured in her latest installment of her Bergman Brother’s series. Oliver has grown from Man Cub to romantic lead in a beautiful way. Rising star in professional soccer, doting uncle, loving brother. Seeing Ollie as a lead player was such a delight.

And Gavin…

Star soccer player. Supreme grump. And absolutely dreamy in his grumpiness. Gavin is wrestling with chronic pain and questions about the end of his career and what the future holds for him. All the while figuring out how to deal with the perennially upbeat, sunshiney goodness that is Ollie Bergman.

In true Chloe fashion, she has crafted deeply human, complex, gorgeous characters who wrestle with anxiety, pain, and the complex emotions wrapped up in life and love. Ollie’s anxiety over his career and his worth as a human being – a son, a brother, an uncle – was so raw, so vulnerable I could feel it like an ache in my own chest. Gavin’s chronic pain, I felt that too. “Pain is as familiar to me as pulling air into my lungs, as opening my eyes when the sun breaks the horizon.” There are days I can barely roll out of bed because of the pain of my arthritis. To see that on the page like this? Beautiful. And poignant.

“So often, pain isn’t something we can cure or prevent, and that’s not why we lean into the people we love. We don’t need them to fix it for us, or ask about all the things we could have done to avoid it or the ways we’ve tried to remedy it. We just need them to see us, to find ways to love us, not in spite of our pain, but through it.”

Soccer is a theme in all of the Bergman books, but this really scratched an itch with the technical, first-hand, pro soccer element. I loved watching Ollie and Gavin learn to be co-captains, navigating their relationship on and off the pitch, and while I know they play for the LA Galaxy and not Liverpool FC, Gavin and Ollie embody the spirit of Liverpool: You’ll never walk alone.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest reivew

CW: anxiety, panic attacks (on page), death of loved one (past), grief, queer phobic slur (not named but a plot point), mistreatment by family (past), chronic pain, injury during a game

This is the fifth book in the series. While it can be read as a standalone spoilers for previous book in the series, and I think the story line is appreciated more reading the books before it (WHICH ARE ALL AMAZING)

I would recommend if you're looking for (SPOILERS)

-m/m sports romance
-frenemies to idiots to lovers
-only one bed
-childhood crush
-Ted Lasso vibes
-bang it out/just a hookup
-close-proximity/neighbors
-hurt/comfort
-Gorgeous Grump cinnamon roll
-Sunshine people pleaser
-The return of the A-Frame (aka the Bergman hookup spot)

I love this family, I love this series. Chloe has done it again. Dealing with heavy topics with grace, this felt like the lightest and funniest edition to this series, and also the steamiest. I adored Oliver and Gavin. Both lonely in their own ways, one surrounded by loved ones and their partners, the other doing his best to push the world away. Their dedication to their team not wanting to be distracted from their goals.

I loved the banter between them, the glimpses of my favorite family. Oliver falling for his childhood crush, emotionally constipated Gavin confused by the thing thumping in his chest. So much tropeyness and I couldn't get enough. And that they were neighbors, honestly genius. So much close-proximity goodness as their lives intersect in a million ways and they tried to deny their feelings, which only makes them more annoyed to be attracted to the other. How soft both of them were when the other needed it, caring, the intimacy growing despite their best efforts. And I just want to scream how wonderful it was to see the Bergmans, always there for each other, maybe too much at times, and the beloved A-Frame. The little easter eggs about the past couples. How Gavin just immediately fit in.

Read this book, read this series.

I cannot wait for the next book I feel like something is up with Viggo

Steam: 3.5

Disclaimer: The author and I are friends which did not effect my review

Another book I am going to have trouble moving on from. I have loved every single Bergman brother & sister & I love Ollie just the same. Gavin & Ollie could not have been more different. Gavin is a total grump dressed in and lives in strictly greyscale. Ollie is sunshine wrapped in mismatched brightly colored clothing. Ever since he was a kid, Ollie has looked up to Gavin as a soccer player and now not only are they playing together they’re going to be co-captains. The tension, the slow burn, the enemies to lovers, the grumpy/sunshine - everything was perfect. Chloe Liese knows how to write a grumpy/sunshine book & I love it every single time. And as always she has really great representation in her books. This one highlights anxiety and chronic pain. Both Gavin and Ollie are openly queer. They have a non-binary coaching assistant and a black woman as the head coach.
They both have a lot of things to get past. Ollie was hurt in the past and doesn’t want ever go through that again. He’s kind of lost a part of himself because he’s scared. Gavin’s never had a real support system, he’s been alone and until he really realized how he feels about Ollie is was just fine.
I LOVE hearing about all the Bergman’s. Their family is so sweet. I love to see where everyone ends up. Willa talks about how young Ollie was when she first got together with Ryder and it reminded me how far they have all come and it makes me want to go back and start from the beginning.

I received this an as ARC from NetGalley & Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op! I can’t believe this doesn’t come out until MAY and I was able to get an ARC. I can’t wait for everyone to read this book!

I’m going to make an Instagram post on the day of publication - 05/10/22
I am going to post an Instagram story about the review on 04/02/22 and have it saved under my ARC highlight.
And I’ll post the review to my goodreads and storygraph accounts as well!.

You know those books that when you get them, you drop everything and get to reading? Yeah, this was one of those for me. And I thought that was going to happen when the book came out, but I'm VERY happy I got to read this early!

With this book, this series has 100% cemented itself as my all-time favourite romance series. I can see myself rereading this SO much, and to think there's even more books coming, what a treat! Ziggy's book is going to END me, I can already tell.

Of all the books in this series, I was very excited for Oliver's story as well, because I just adore him. We start off with a prologue set shortly after the previous book, but then we make a 4 year time jump, and I think that was SUCH a good choice, because Oliver was still so young and really needed to mature a little first. And he did, but luckily not so much that he's unrecognizable - Chloe Liese is just so good at characterization, and everything felt very consistent with the other books.

I also came to love Gavin so much, I love a good grump! One thing Chloe Liese is also very good at (which I especially came to realize reading her Christmas book) is writing enemies to lovers, and I ate it up here, it worked SO well!

And of course we got plenty of family moments as well, which is just my favourite thing ever. There was even a new character who absolutely stole my heart, but I won't tell you more, you should find that out for yourself!

Chloe!! You have done it again!! This romance was so beautifully written and crafted !! (obviously) The plot, the characters, the development of past books, the character development!! (Gavin Hayes, owner of my heart). THE TENSION!! Oh my lord, the tension, this was what sold the book for me, the will they, won't they, their love for each other felt so hard-won, but SO real, it was so emotionally gut wrenching to read about Oliver, and how his struggle to mix his personal and professional life was what kept him away from Gavin, and on the inverse, how hard Gavin fought to keep his feelings in check. ALSO the queer aspects of this book were done so respectfully and beautifully utilised in the book (the lack of of the use of slurs was something so refreshing to see, but the reaction of the characters was also so amazingly satisfying) and it's something so unheard of, so props to you Chloe!! Must pre-order a copy to annotate!!