I absolutely adore this series and was so excited for Ziggy’s book! I really appreciated the representation because, as usual, Chloe delivered it in a natural way that shows how they’re/we’re just people. (Loved the little inclusions about how mushy GF pasta is lol, loves that them being queer wasn’t a big deal). The book was sweet and tender and funny. Seb and Ziggy had some great chemistry during this slooooow burn romance. I really enjoyed it and read it in one day. I appreciate that Chloe continues to subtly advocate for reading and romance books throughout. And thanks for the nod to us ACOTAR (or similar) fans.

However… there was something about this book that felt very surface level, as if she just went through a checklist. Seb is described as a “bad boy” who hurts people and continually disappoints but we never see it- he doesn’t appear that way at all, even in the beginning, and never once makes a slip up. He has some type of confrontation with someone he’s hurt but we don’t see it- which would be fine if this was a single POV and we only saw him through Ziggy, but that isn’t the case, it could have been shown in his chapter. Ziggy describes her autism (which we have seen play out in the previous books) but we don’t actually really feel her experience it. She decides to try things that would typically bother her/be difficult for her and much like Seb, there aren’t really any issues with that. None of it seems difficult and she never has a setback. There are these great declarations of love and friendship but again, I didn’t really feel it. It was like it was supposed to be there so it was written in. The spice, which was the least of any of the series (and I’m fine with a book without spice although I do prefer it) was lackluster. Now, this could all be because of me as the reader but I haven’t felt this way about her books before. Oliver’s is one of my favorite romances and I’ve definitely gotten emotional with some of the others.

Overall, I enjoyed it and recommend it. It just wasn’t my favorite of the series.

I received this arc from Chloe via NetGalley as a lived experience reader.

Chloe Liese did it again! There's so much emotion in this book, just like all the others. This one might be my favorite one yet. I am extremely sad we are running out of siblings!

I read this book in one sitting and yet, it was the most wholesome reading experience I've had in a long while. It's common knowledge that I love Chloe's writing and all her characters, but the Bergmans have a special place in my heart. So imagine my suprise when I got approved for an arc of Ziggy's book, I just had to dive in immediately.

Ziggy and Seb are the definition of soulmates. They started off their mutual publicity stunts with no expectations whatsover and ended up the healthiest couple. I absolutely loved every step of their relationship, the early fake friendship, which blossomed into a true, deep friendship, which in turn ended up into the most heartwarming romance ever! They always treated each other with respect, never rushed one another but gave each other time to figure it out in their own terms and time. They stood by the other through thick and thin, they were patient and mindful, supportive and loving, and in the end it's all these what made this couple really special to me.

Seb Gauthier had one of the best character entrances of all time! It was ICONIC and that scene will haunt me to the end of my days! He slowly but surely became one of my favorite characters of Chloe's, the way he acts like a big bad wolf but is actually the softest teddy bear inside; his thoughtfulness and admiration towards Ziggy, his inner strengh to fight for her, become a better person for her...yeah what's not to love?
This was also the first time I read a book with celiac rep, and it's so important to me to see that I'm not alone in my struggles. It's so hard to have to change the way you live for so many years in a single moment, with no one understanding just how emotionally draining it actually is, how much strengh it actually requires. We don't just change our eating habits, we change our entire lives. And I think Chloe did a damn good job of showing just that!

And talking about first appearences, let me tell you, Ziggy killed it. The woman felt uncomfortable and she took matters into her own hands. Iconic, really. She's so not the docile woman I was expecting her to be, and I'm so happy for how she turned out. Turns out, she's not the wallflower (if you know what I mean) we all thought her to be. She's independent, she's strong, she's resilient, she's tough. She takes matters into her own hands, she fights for the things she wants, she stands up for herself and for those she loves. She's patient and kind and she loves so deeply it makes my chest ache.

I loved seeing the Bergmans all come together once again, the family dinners, the scenes in the A-frame, the wedding, the babies! Linnea stole the show once more, and the meddling brothers meddled once again, or at least they tried to. Too bad it turned boomerang on some of them!

This is definitely a 5 stars read, and I can't wait for release day so I can get my hands on a physical copy to reread and annotate!

Unsurprisingly, this book is amazing. I’m going to have to just sit with my feelings for a while because, once again, author Chloe Liese left me feeling raw and open and reaffirmed and fulfilled. And so, so satisfied. I mean, after around 30+ chapters of heavy mutual pining, Ziggy and Seb’s story is satisfaction guaranteed.

I received a copy of this book from the author through NetGalley.

The Bergman Brothers is easily one of my favourite fictional families to read about.

Youngest Bergman sibling Ziggy is trying to revamp her 'good-girl' image and Sebastian needs to improve his 'bad-boy' reputation quickly. Ziggy proposes to Seb that they embark on a fake friendship in hopes that'll solve both their problems. But this book is so much more than a fake friendship and touches on some really hard topics.

My favourite Bergmam Brother novel is 'Only When It's Us' because it's always felt 'more' than just the romantic relationship between the two characters, and I get the same feeling with this book. 'If Only You' takes us through a journey of self-discovery, healing and love and it's such a wonderful read.

I adored the bisexual, pansexual, neurodivergent and celiac representation in this book. Seeing parts of yourself in characters that you adore is so important, and Chloe Liese continues to do it justice and for that... thank you!

As always, we lots of cameos from the other Bergman siblings. Viggo and Oliver stole the show at times and it makes me excited for Viggo's book. However, this book just means we're one step closer to saying goodbye to my favourite fictional family and I'm not sure I'm ready.

I received an advanced copy for free through Chloe Liese & NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

ARC Review

First, I just wanted to thank Chloe (again and again) for sharing an early copy with me as a lived experience reader.

I first found the Bergman family last February when I came across Ren & Frankie’s book. I fell in love with the siblings and Chloe’s writing and read/listened to the rest of the available books in less than three days.

I have felt such deep connections to every character Chloe has written, from the smallest quirks and preferences to being neurodivergent and having anxiety.

In each of the sibling’s books, we’ve seen glimpses of Ziggy, usually when her head in a book (same girl, same) or kicking a soccer ball around with her brothers. As a fellow neurodivergent reader, I’ve been super eager for her book and was delighted when Chloe announced Ziggy’s story was going to be book 6!

If Only You is the story of Ziggy and Seb who spark an unlikely [fake] friendship to improve Seb’s public image and help Ziggy become the best version of herself. What starts as a ruse soon turns into true companionship. They become exactly what the other person needs and support each other along the way. They even put their romantic feelings for each other on the back burner so they could ensure they were giving the other the best version of themselves.

* Bi FMC & Pan MMC 🌈
* Mutal Pining🫶
* Autism Rep (late diagnosis)
* Brothers Best Friend👬
* Dual POV
* Celiac rep (late diagnosis)
* Slow burn (the slowest of the siblings but so worth it)⏰
* Supportive family & siblings
* Professional sports players ⚽️&🏒

This book had me emotional from the dedication to the acknowledgments and I’m not ashamed to say I shed many tears along the way🥹

If you haven’t read any of the Bergman Brothers books yet, please go do so! If Only You releases April 11th, so there’s plenty of time to catch up on the rest of the siblings and preorder Ziggy & Seb’s book!

This is the best Bergman to date!! I didn't think anything could top Ren/Frankie, but I was wrong. I'm so obsessed with both Ziggy and Seb. The character development was beautiful to watch for both of the MCs and the end made me cry. I love how real their love and story is. This was a perfect combination of funny and deep. I won't get over this one for a long time. I can't wait for Viggo's story, but I'll be so sad when the series is over!

This is by far my favorite installment in the Bergman series - full of swoony banter, sports galore, and a heroine who isn't afraid to go after what she wants. We've seen Ziggy in so many of the previous books, but it's worth nothing that it's always from her siblings' perspectives. And man, have they been sleeping on Ziggy. She's full of such power and fire, but keeps getting hung up on what other people think of her. Then there's Seb, the resident bad boy and brother's best friend. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to do some angry yoga with him but he certainly doesn't start as boyfriend material. Let alone even *friend* material.

I felt like this book showed the most character growth out of the 6 published thus far, and that includes even some of the siblings from previous books! It really helped me feel more invested in the characters and just the entire saga that is the Bergmans. This was also my first time reading the ebook rather than listening to the audio, and I didn't feel like it detracted from the experience. Rather it made sense that for the bookish gal Ziggy, I do it the old (but really new) fashioned way. This book is full of easter eggs to previous books, as well as some of Chloe's other novels! This may be the one series where reading them in order is *imperative* IMO (and that's coming from a serial chaos demon)

That being said, I would let Ziggy tickle me until I pee a little for any insider knowledge on Viggo's book because I need that joyful chaos in the world NOW.

*Thank you to Victory Editing and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

The Bergman Brothers series is definitely my guilty pleasure that I want to revisit a few more times and enjoy the entire re-reading experience by spending more time with those amazing characters! I love each and every one of them!

Ziggy (Sigrid) is a 22-year-old girl who is a combination of badass, goofy, quirky, smart, and generous-hearted. She is sick of being treated like the baby of the family and constantly being seated at the children's table during traditional family dinners, as if she is being wrapped in a protective cocoon. Ziggy has had a hard time dealing with her autism diagnosis and has faced bullies throughout her high school years, but she is now the youngest player on the National Soccer Team. With Project Ziggy Bergman 2.0, she is determined to recreate her public image and gain more sponsorships, all in an effort to show everyone that she is not the shy wallflower that they once thought.

After an unfortunate encounter with her brother Ren's best friend and hockey teammate, Sebastian Gauthier, at a wedding where he caught her underwear, Ziggy is determined to be noticed and not fade into invisibility, as he once referred to her. But Sebastian has his own problems to deal with. He has a ruined reputation due to a bar fight and a car accident that resulted in the destruction of a public building. If he doesn't rehab his reputation soon, he may be cut from the hockey team.

Thankfully, Ziggy offers him a solution - they will pretend to be friends, and in doing so, Sebastian can prove that he is not the villain that people believe him to be, and Ziggy can finally get the public attention she desires. But as they spend more time together, Ziggy realizes that Sebastian is not the self-absorbed jerk that everyone thinks. He has his own demons to confront and a troubled past filled with abandonment and abuse. He just needs someone to believe in him, and Ziggy becomes that person.

I adored their relationship as it evolved from fake friends to real friends to lovers. It was heartwarming to see Sebastian work hard to redeem himself and become a better person for Ziggy, and it was equally heartwarming to see Ziggy grow and become braver, speaking up for herself and earning recognition and respect from her team and family. Their slow-burn romance is truly swoon-worthy, sweet, genuine, and honest.

Another great aspect of this book is getting to know the supporting character, Viggo Bergman, and I am looking forward to reading his sequel in the near future.

In conclusion, if you haven't read any of the Bergman Brothers series and met these adorable family members, you are missing out on a lot!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Chloe Liese for providing me with a digital reviewer copy of this inspirational and extra-cute book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

The sixth book in the series while it can be enjoyed as a standalone highly recommend reading the other books prior to get a glimpse at Ziggy prior and also spoilers for the other couples (also they're all spectacular)

CW: celiac's disease, abuse by a step-parent (past), family tensions, parental abandonment (past), autism, self-medicating with alcohol

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

-m/f contemporary romance
-brother's best friend
-fake friends to friends to lovers
-mutual pining
-sports romance
-bi and pan rep
-don't come a-knockin when the A-frame is a-rockin
-slooooow burn
-freckles obsession

I adore the Bergmans and this was another amazing installment in what has become one of my all-time favorite series. I enjoyed following Ziggy's story from the beginning of the series as she received her autism diagnosis. Now an adult she's struggling to shake the mold her family and in some ways she has set herself in. In a similar suit, bad boy Seb is hitting rock bottom and seeing no way out of it. Enter Ziggy. Gosh their first scene together had me screaming (IYKYK) and these two were just fun together. This book was just tropey, soft, and just had so many of my favorite things and aspects of the series thrown in together.

Because how do you change how everyone perceives you but set up a fake friendship with your brother's best friend? I am trash for a good friends to lovers book and this was such a fun twist watching these two become fake friends and fall for each other. The angry yoga, the outings, all of the Bergman family get togethers. Ziggy and Seb both took their own journeys of understanding and self-love as they fell in love with the other.

I also have to give a huge shout out to Seb's journey of determining he has celiacs and living with it. How worried he was going places, not wanting to be a pain and make things difficult for others just so you can eat without a stomach ache and making yourself ill. Because not everyone is like the Bergman's and understands food intolerances, and it can be hard to ask for people to accommodate you. I really appreciated just seeing that as part of his journey and just how lovely the Bergman's were without blinking an eye, especially Ziggy. How soft she got about Seb to bring him happiness and joy to make him see how worth it he was.

This was such a slow burn and gosh these two had me screaming. So many of my favorites returned, especially Ren, his Shakespeare club, the Bergman Brother summits. All of them laughing as they watched their youngest sibling fall in love, and the guy who wanted to be worthy enough for her. These two were just so tender and soft with their feelings for the other and

Steam: 3

‘If Only You’ is the perfect homage to the snippets of Ziggy that we saw throughout her sibling’s books. This book is filled with friendship, interfering siblings, a character that doesn’t think they're deserving of the others' time and a perfectly imperfect love.

Since seeing Ziggy Bergman appear in the other books in the series only a handful of times, we now see her story which begins with her attending the wedding of her brother Ren and his wife Frankie, where her sensory issues start begin to act up when her underwear decides to not cooperate by giving her a wedgie. She then leaves the family wedding photos to go and resolve the issue, only to run into hockey's notorious bad boy, Seb, in the throes of a drinking bender, who catches said underwear. To which ensues one of the greatest and funniest friends to lovers romances I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

I laughed and cried, then cried of laughter because this is what Ziggy and Seb’s story does.

It is a heartrendingly humorous tale of a bisexual national soccer player and a pansexual professional hockey player that both assist each-other on a ‘fake-friendship’ endeavour for Ziggy to garner a reputation that lets the media and her family see her as more than the youngest Bergman in hopes of them taking her more seriously. Then for Seb who, uses the opportunity to survive Frankie's managerial wrath when his own reputation takes a blunder and he has to be on his best behaviour- at least for the eyes of the media.

A bitter-sweet book filled with amazing representation on autism and Coeliac disease, that is an easy five star read.

From the first moment Ziggy’s character came out, I totally connected with her and was looking forward to reading her book. I found Ziggy to be a very strong character with a very good evolution. I liked how you can easily connect with her thanks to how well Chloe’s writing is that makes her characters seem so real.

On the other hand, I was pleasantly surprised with Sebastian. I didn’t know what to expect from his character and the truth is that I totally fell in love with him. As with Ziggy, you can see a strong evolution of Sebastian throughout the book. It’s beautiful to be able to read all the nice details he has with Ziggy and how well he treats her.

Sebastian and Ziggy make an imperfectly perfect couple. They both have fears that they manage to overcome little by little with the help of each other. They complement each other perfectly.

If you love the tropes of bad boy x good girl and hockey bf x soccer gf and you want to read a book that gets to you, IF ONLY YOU is your book!!

Thank you to Victory Editing Co-op and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC to read and review. Oh my god, if I could give this book all the stars, I would. Ziggy and Sebastian were incredibly delightful. There was so many heartfelt moments and I swear I was swooning for most of this book. I loved the slow burn in this case as it really helped the two of them grow close and get to know each other. Their transition into real friends and eventually into lovers was beautiful and I loved the cameos from the other Bergman couples. The bookstore scene was so so so good and I loved so many things with this story. There was a really fantastic moment with Seb and Viggo and it only makes me more excited (but also sad) for the final Bergman to have their love story. I loved the care that was put into the autistic rep as well as the celiac disease and different sexual identities. Liese always does representation so well and her love stories are truly some of my favorites. This made me laugh and honestly tear up a bit and I truly adored Ziggy's moment to shine!

Sixth book in series + queer rep + brother’s best friend!

Ziggy is the youngest player on the National Soccer team & the baby of seven siblings who is fed up with being underestimated.

Sebastian has hit rock bottom & his pro hockey career is on the line. He’s ready to at least pretend to reform his ways.

Seb has the edge Ziggy wants. Ziggy has the good girl image Seb needs. A fake friendship with real benefits begins.

Read if you love…
- dual perspective
- no third act breakup
- autism rep
- celiac rep
- bi FMC & pan MMC
- brother’s best friend
- fake friendship
- FMC pro soccer player
- MMC pro hockey player
- mutual pining
- cameos & meddling by the whole Bergman clan
- open door
- MMC covered in tattoos
- interconnected series about siblings
- MMC who reads FMC’s fave books

From the dedication to the worth-reading acknowledgments, I never wanted this book to end. It’s absolute perfection!

This is the second book Chloe has written where the MCs are queer - Zigs is bi & Seb is pan - & I have loved that in both books the plot never centers around queerness. They just get to live & love. Zigs & Seb (& Ollie) feel especially huge because I feel like there’s such a stigma around being bi or pan, that it’s not “queer enough” or that they’re “not ready to be fully gay.” Chloe just defies that every time.

The rep in this book is as per usual phenomenal: bi, pan, autism, & a new celiacs diagnosis. I loved the care written around each one of these. I loved that Seb just sees Zigs for who she is and stands up for her with her family & that Zigs just jumps right in and asks Rooney (sister-in-law) for help with gluten free food for Seb.

I loved the way they show up for & just really see each other - at each other’s games, with anxiety, the mutual understanding of being pro athlete, & standing up to each other’s families.

The mix of tropes is just so damn good! And while it’s the least spicy & slowest burn of the six books, it’s 1000% worth it.

The Bergman cameos are also chef’s kiss!

Thank you to NetGalley & Chloe for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Trigger warnings: verbally abusive stepparent and abandonment by a parent, past

4 Stars The sixth book in the Bergman Brothers (& Sisters) series, If Only You, definitively proves that Chloe Liese is the slow-burn queen.

As the youngest of 7 kids, Ziggy Bergman is used to being seen as young and naive, and she absolutely hates it. Even though she’s a professional soccer player for both LA and the women’s national team, others see her as immature and misread her autism as being antisocial or introverted. Determined to turn her good girl persona around and be taken more seriously by both her family and her teammates, she turns to her brother’s best friend and teammate, Sebastian Gauthier. Sebastian is the bad boy of the NHL and on thin ice after a streak of bad behavior. Using weed and alcohol to mask the pain he’s in, Sebastian has resigned himself to a fate of disappointing others and being alone. That is, until Ziggy proposes a mutually beneficial arrangement: they fake being friends (and only friends) to help rehab his image while dirtying hers up. Soon, their fake friendship becomes a real one, with both understanding who the other person is behind the mask they wear or the roles that others have placed on them.

This was a classic Chloe Liese slow-burn romance and she does that trope so well. There was so much pining and so many times that I wanted to scream at the characters to just go ahead and kiss each other already. The main focus of this story is Ziggy’s and Sebastian’s character arcs and growth. Both were remarkable with how far they came from the start of the novel, while recognizing that they would never be perfect and never done working on themselves.

Something I was a bit disappointed about was the lack of discussion about the characters’ sexual orientatation. Ziggy is bisexual and Sebastian is pansexual, but this is mentioned only in passing then never again. Their sexualities are not meant to be part of the plot (and I’m glad they aren’t since this wasn’t about them figuring out their sexual identities), but I wish it had been discussed more. We don’t know anything about Ziggy’s romantic past and we just know that Sebastian has hooked up a lot. It would’ve been nice if the bi and pan rep had been more prevalent.

I’m so glad we got to see a lot more of the Bergman clan, especially Frankie and Ren who are my fave couple. Of course, the A frame makes its reappearance and is pretty much its own character at this point in the series. After this one is Viggo’s book—finally! I can’t wait to see how Chloe Liese wraps up this amazing series!

“The Bergman Brothers” series is my absolute FAVORITE series and I will NEVER tire of reading about my favorite Swedish family in the PNW.

In previous books, I’ve grown fond of Ziggy, but there wasn’t a lot we knew about her. This book really introduced us to Ziggy and helped us to really SEE her. It’s safe to say I love Ziggy now even more now that I know her. The entire served to show us, her family, and really the world WHO she is and that she is an adult who can (and should) be taken seriously. I loved Ziggy’s voice and POV and I’m thrilled to have her story out in the world!

The addition of Sebastian was surprising but entirely welcome and I felt like he (like Gavin before him) brought a whole new perspective to the close-knit, sunshine-y Bergman bunch. He appears every bit the “bad boy” but is just a struggling softie underneath.

I LOVED watching Seb & Ziggy’s relationship developed. This was such a unique take on the “fake relationship” trope. The friendship was mutually beneficial for each party’s reputation, but the two ended up getting way more than they bargained for out of the arrangement.

As always with Chloe Liese. The representation in this book was well done! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Celiac Disease represented in a book before, but I loved seeing it depicted here-visibility is so important! I DO wish that the queer rep was more than just an identifier being stated in passing, but the autism rep (as it always is from this author) was real and authentic and perfect!

I will forever be a Bergman stan and I love that we get to see the family grow and change with each book! I’m fully obsessed with Seb and Ziggy after reading their story, so thanks to Chloe Liese for that!

I was given an ARC by the author. All opinions are my own.

5/5 ⭐️ it’s 4am and I’ve just finished If Only You and I have to get up in 2 hours but I have absolutely no regrets. 🥲 this is without a doubt one of Chloe’s best.

I loved this book from page one and not only because WE START WITH FRANKIE AND REN’S WEDDING. Their story (book 2) was my first read by Chloe Liese and it made me absolutely fall in love with her writing (after reading Always only You I immediately binged books 1, 3 and 4 in a single weekend, not kidding). And I’ve been so excited for Ziggy’s story since book 2!

If Only You follows Ziggy (now 22) and bad-boy Seb, her brother Ren’s hockey teammate and best friend, as they both set out to overhaul their images. We immediately picked up with the themes for Ziggy that were introduced in book 2 - a misunderstood character and her emotional needs; a seriously loving and sweet but slightly suffocating and overprotective family. I just instantly felt so attached to Ziggy. Like I was tearing up in the middle of chapter 2 in solidarity with her and I’m not a crier! What!!

Some of my favourite things about If Only You:
All the fantasy romance references (like WINGSPAN and faery smut appreciation)
Ziggy being an absolute sarcasm queen ✨ and she is so emotionally mature!
The return of the least-secret, secret Shakespeare Club!
The profound character development for both Ziggy and Seb.
The freaking representation - LGBTQIA+, ASD, anxiety, invisible disabilities, amoung others. This might be the most inclusive book I’ve ever read.
So much Frankie and Ren and the other LA Bergmans (although I did miss the Washington Bergmans, I think it’s time for a book 1 and 4 re-read 🥲)

And so many other tiny things, like Frankie basically having an attack dog, and Seb shyly asking for a hug. But I especially love that this was more of a ‘fake friends’ ‘friends-to-lovers’ rather then ‘fake dating’ story, because of course the main characters were going to fall in love, but this made their relationship development all the more beautiful! They both fall hard and fast for each other, but they still don’t rush into their relationship and focus on self-growth and developing their relationship.

This can be read as a stand alone (but why would you??? Read them all!). I think people should read book 2 and 5 beforehand. IMO that will really create a deep emotional attachment to the primary Bergmans of book 6.

THANKS FOR THE BOOK HANGOVER CHLOE ❤️ and thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

A absolutely delightful and romantic story about the bad boy who need’s his reputation fixed and his best friend’s sister who definitely is going to sweep him off his feet. Ziggy is the youngest player in her National soccer team, she’s the baby of the family, and she is constantly being overlooked, babied, and underestimated. Ziggy wants nothing more than to be seen, she needs a change, and after a run in with her brother’s best friend, the handsome bad boy and hockey player, Sebastian, Ziggy knows he’s the right person to turn to for help. Sebastian is a great hockey player, yet his lifestyle isn’t so great, after a childhood that left him with scars he’s now turned to alcohol, excess, and just anyway to misbehave... yet his latest stunt has his career in jeopardy and he needs an image change immediately if he wants to keep his career. Suddenly Ziggy, the one person he’s sworn that he would stay away from is at his door and offering to help him fix his reputation if he helps her fix his... by pretending to be friends. Sebastian has promised himself that he would keep his hands off of Ziggy, the gorgeous sibling of his best friend, yet the more time he spends with her the more he is completely thrown off by just how absolutely loving and caring she is. What starts off as fake friendship soon turns into something very real as Sebastian and Ziggy both face their own difficulties and support each other. This was an utterly heartwarming and super sweet story, I had so much fun reading it and getting to see them fall in love was AMAZING. I adored how caring and supportive they were of each other, how empathic and communicative they were about their needs and feelings. Seriously this book is perfection!

*Thanks Netgalley and Chloe Liese for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This was possibly my most anticipated release of the year, and I'm so thankful I got to read it early. Throughout the first 5 books, I've gotten so connected to Ziggy. I've especially deeply related to her experience with autistic burnout and depression because of masking intensely before getting diagnosed. This is something I went through in recent years myself (and I'm still recovering, although I'm a lot better), and it's made me feel so seen. So you can imagine how much I have been looking forward to Ziggy's own book!

In this book, Ziggy is in a much better place, but her family hasn't entirely caught up to that, and it still treating her like the baby of the family. Enter Seb, Ren's best friend, who has some work to do to scrub up his public image. Ziggy suggests a fake friendship for publicity, and of course the goal is to keep things strictly platonic. No problem, right?

So I've already told you how much I love Ziggy and how invested I already was in this book before reading it. But of course I didn't know Seb yet. And a problem is: I really don't like bad boy romances. At all. In fact, you can't get me to touch them with a ten-foot pole, and I'll DNF them so fast when I accidentally pick them up. But of course I trust Chloe Liese to get it right, and rightly so, because I thought it was done perfectly, and I loved Seb SO MUCH.

And then what made this book EVEN BETTER was the writing. There's an eye for detail in these books that makes it so easy to picture them exactly, that invokes such detailed and vivid mental images, and I absolutely love that.

Having just read this, all I want is to reread this immediately, or maybe reread the entire series. Will I wait to do that until Viggo's book comes out? Probably not, but we'll see.

I’m so cautious when putting anything out there before the pub date because I refuse to be THAT person who inadvertently spoils things for the masses. I read the rest of the series this month, and by read I mean devoured. I was incredibly excited for Ziggy’s story but was scared it wouldn’t live up to the hype I created in my brain. Ziggy’s story far surpassed my wildest expectations. What I didn’t expect was to adore Seb just as much. Both Ziggy and Seb have parts of themselves that they truly want to work on and take it on as fake, then real friends which eventually leads to lovers, obviously. Its perfect Classic Bergman family meddling was perfect. How many times can I say perfect in one set of comments? I think the biggest plus for me was there was no third act breakup. I probably would have not been a fan of that because they both deserve the world so I’m really glad that wasn’t a part of their story.

I currently feel like this:
This is like going to a concert you were really excited for and now are like now what am I supposed to do now that it’s over 😭

Also Chloe has 10/10 taste in music which makes me love her writing more even though that makes next to no sense 🫠🤣