Chloe Liese is absolutely one of my favorite romance authors! The Bergman series has been such a joy to read and I hold all of the characters near and dear to my heart. As a queer reader, it’s been so great to see various queer characters find love and acceptance in these books. I’m grateful for the love, care and attention Chloe puts into her characters.

I love that each book feels so unique and but somehow still familiar and at home with the Bergman family and the love interests. Ziggy and Seb were so so fun to read about. I loved the dynamics between them. The premise was super unique as it’s not super common to see a “fake friendship” trope instead of fake dating but it was a lot of fun, especially for a fan of friends to lovers (me me me).

The pacing felt a little bit off for me in If Only You. I didn’t totally love that there was a six month jump towards the end and the ending felt a tad bit rushed to me. That’s my only concern with this book and otherwise I think fans of the Bergman series are going to eat this up just like I did!

Some of my favorite parts of the book were when the Bergman family members were engaging with Ziggy and Seb. It’s so fun to see the various sibling dynamics and getting more of Ollie and Viggo is honestly my favorite! One thing I appreciated about If Only You was the “brother’s best friend trope” and how it wasn’t a big secret to be kept from Ren and there was no big blow up or disapproval from Ren. It was great! Also no third act break up??? Amazing.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed If Only You and I cannot wait for Ziggy’s story to be shared with all readers! We’re so lucky to have Chloe Liese in the romance world.

Thank you to the author, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley for an advanced e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. This review will be posted to Goodreads and my instagram on the pub date.

BRB, on my way to beg the Bergman's to let me into the family.

Every single one of these books has felt like a bowl of hot soup on a cool fall Sunday, and this one is no exception. I have been so excited to get to know Ziggy better ever since we first got to know her in Always Only You, and Chloe Liese did not let me down.

Read for:
- Autism Rep
- An FMC who loves fantasy romance
- An MMC working through childhood trauma and takes accountability for his own actions and mental health and doesn't expect the woman in his life to do it for him. (is there anything sexier than a man who goes to therapy?)
- More Bergman family fun
- "Fake" friends to friends to lovers

My only complaint is that we are almost done with the series. While I cannot wait for Viggo's book, I'm also not quite ready to say goodbye.

----5/5 stars!

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

If you're not reading Chloe Liese's books yet, why not?!!?

This latest installment of the Bergman Bros/Sisters series focuses on youngest child, Ziggy. Ziggy is now playing pro soccer and she wants people to start taking her seriously - no longer putting her at the child's table with her precocious niece. In comes Seb, a pro hockey player who plays with her brother Ren. His bad boy image needs rehabbed, so Ziggy offers for them to become friends - maybe his bad boy image will make her a little better known and make her seem a little more grown up? And her clean-cut image can get people to take him seriously and save his hockey career.

Of course, it being a Chloe book, there are wonderful representations of neurodiversity and chronic illness - Ziggy is autistic and Seb discovers he has Celiac disease - coming from an #OwnVoices perspective. I loved how the Bergman family welcomed Seb in and helped him manage his Celiac - much like my friends did for me!

If you're new to Chloe, read the first Bergman book and work your way up through Ziggy before Viggo's book comes out next year!!

Returning to the Bergman family is always such a treat. I adore this family and this series! I LOVED this installment. Ziggy and Seb had an authentic, relatable, lovely story. The diversity representation and inclusivity of these books is top notch. I just adore Chloe Liese and her writing. This was witty yet full of so much heart! I laughed. I cried. I wanted to savor the book slowly yet couldn't put it down. I cannot WAIT for the next book in the series, even though it's the last. I'm sad to see this series come to an end but man, it's one of my absolute favorites. 4.5 stars

Liese's Bergman Brothers romances, though technically contemporary, are more fantastical than just about anything I read. I'm not complaining. Everyone is self-aware and well-supported and working on their stuff and trying their best and patient and fundamentally kind and attractive and able to communicate their feelings (eventually) ... and that's a pretty great place to hang out for awhile.

One thing I really loved in this particular installment: Sebastian is a self-loathing bad boy character and in most other romances that would mean a third-act betrayal of some sort that the heroine would have to get past to get to the HEA. Liese manages to build tension -- I genuinely kept waiting for it to happen -- but resolves that tension in other ways, ways that let both characters keep their agency. I wish more romances did this.

A quibble: We mostly don't SEE Ziggy and Sebastian working on their stuff. We hear about it, usually after the fact, or there's some big moment that's meant to show the change. Overall, it worked for me because, let's face it, Seb, for instance, going to therapy and then working through his angst isn't going to be all that fun. Maybe there are ways to do it, but Liese spends her pages and words on other stuff, including some delightful cameos from the rest of the Bergman family. I'm OK with that, but I could understand how some readers might feel like the plot is rushed or unbelievable.

Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.

Just when I think I couldn't love the Bergmans any more than I already did, Ziggy and Seb went ahead and wedged their way into my heart.

Easily one of my most anticipated reads of the year, the sixth installment in Chloe Liese's stellar Bergman Brothers series did not disappoint. (This is my mandatory reminder that if you somehow still haven't yet read this series, fix that immediately. Thank me later.)

Ziggy has been in the background of many a special Bergman moment, but this was her time to shine... and shine she did! Admittedly, I was just as guilty as her siblings at the start when it came to thinking of her as the baby Bergman, but she swiftly and conclusively proved us wrong. Seeing her growth from her shy teenage self in books 1 and 2 to her (mostly) confident 20s self in book 6 is genuinely so touching. Especially given how much she's overcome, how much progress she's made in designing her life to fit her needs? It filled me with so much pride and secondhand joy.

Sebastian was the type of outwardly broody, internally soft athlete I love to read about. This was an emotional journey for the both of them individually in addition to as a couple, and reading about how they honored each other as friends first, before ever turning into something truly more, was everything. This is definitely a slow burn, so prepare yourself for that, but boy howdy do these two know how to steam it up! 😮‍💨

While reading, I was torn between wanting to fly through it because it was so dang good and savoring it by taking it slow. That's the feeling every reader in the world craves, and Chloe gives it to us in spades.

Chloe Liese has done it again!! This is the second Bergman Brothers book that I have had the pleasure of reading (the other being Always Only You) and I now know I need to binge-read the entire series!

This book is a fake friends to friends to lovers book that dives deep into the characters' flaws and lets the readers experience their growth. Liese effortlessly carries the characters through the different stages of their relationship in a realistic way that is full of yearning.

This book felt like a warm hug. It is adorable and heartwarming but also tackles serious topics which readers can relate to or gain understanding from. Ziggy often discusses her autism and anxiety and I felt myself learning a lot from Liese's writing and also relating to Ziggy. The character that I related the most to, though, was Seb. Seb is a character that has an extremely hard heart and does not believe in love. While reading, we dive deep into this mindset and find that this may be rooted in insecurity and lack of love in the past. These characters are both extremely complex and made me fall in love with this book.

If only You is an absolute pleasure and I highly recommend it to my fellow romance lovers!!

ziggy is a successful soccer player on the women’s national team as well as a local team in LA. she’s graduated from college early and is living on her own in LA. despite all her successes, her family continues to see her as the baby of the family and treat her like she needs to be coddled and ziggy is fed up. she wants to be seen as the successful and independent adult that she is but is not sure where to start.

sebastian is quite literally the opposite. he’s a successful and talented hockey player but he’s gotten himself into some trouble with the media. he has a bad boy reputation and needs a public image resurrection.

after ziggy and seb have an interesting meet cute at ren’s wedding, ziggy comes up with a plan that could be beneficial for both her and seb. she believes that if they become fake friends, it can help him to look less reckless by hanging out with a “good girl” and ziggy’s image would look a bit “smudged” up. shockingly, seb agrees to the plan bc at this point he’s not sure what his best option is.

they know they have to keep things very platonic bc 1) seb is ren’s good friend and hockey teammate and doesn’t want to ruin their friendship and 2) they need to be careful that they’re not perceived as having any romantic connection. but what starts out as a silly little plan quickly turns into a beautiful and genuine friendship. although seb and ziggy couldn’t be MORE opposite, they mesh so well together 😭 one thing ziggy struggled with was being brave and asking for things she wanted, and I feel like seb caught onto this fast and always encouraged her to be brave. seb struggled with a lot of things but especially with feeling worthy of good things for example friendships. ziggy helped show him that deep down he is a good, kind, and thoughtful person and helped him to embrace that.

ziggy and seb helped each other work through so many of their struggles and it was truly so beautiful. they were each so patient, kind, and vulnerable which helped build the foundation for a beautiful friendship. I loved how they slowly got comfortable with getting vulnerable w/one another and asking for things they want/need 🥹 they made each other feel wanted, cared for, and seen. and as the fake friendship progressed, they both realized they wanted more but they feared it would ruin their friendship. so they agreed to continue with the friendship project. so the mutual pining and longing between them was literally off the charts!!!! between all the hugs, the small gestures, bookstore trip, attending each others sporting events, family dinners, shakespeare club, and seb’s halloween party— they were driving me mad!!!! BUT I will say the flow of their friendship to relationship was perfect and exactly what they needed. they both took the time to work on themselves before they took the next steps. and when that time came it was PERFECTION!!!!!

as always, chloe liese killed it with a beautiful addition to the bergman brother’s series. it had all the best bergman family cozy vibes with swoony romance. she continues to write amazing stories with inclusive representation. ziggy, our heroine has autism, is bisexual, and has social anxiety. seb, our hero, is newly diagnosed with celiac disease and is pansexual. I absolutely fell in love with ziggy and seb as they fell in love with themselves and one another. their love and affection was so soft and had my soft girly heart in shambles 🥰

tysm to chloe liese for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

I love family series! While I can't ever imagine having that many siblings, it is a joy to see how they grow when finding love. The Bergman Brothers continue to hit it out of the park. I loved Ziggy and Seb, especially seeing how their connection grew throughout the book.

It's no secret that this series is probably my favorite contemporary romance series out there right now. Spending time with this family of loving, tender-hearted Bergmans is guaranteed to make me sigh and swoon. If Only You is the sixth installment and finally gives our älskade Ziggy the HEA she deserves.

Ziggy Bergman is the baby sister of the Bergman brood. With five older brothers, she's used to being protected and treated like a baby but she's ready to bust out of that public image. Enter Sebastian Gauthier, tattooed, brooding, damaged hockey player and best friend of Ziggy's older brother, Ren. Sebastian needs to clean up his public image after a series of unfortunate events, and Ziggy wants to roughen hers up a bit. Maybe they can help rub off on the other through a fake friendship for publicity?

Ziggy and Sebastian are *perfect* together. They complement each other in the most beautiful ways. They immediately see each other and when they're together on the page, you can feel them almost exhale in relief like their friendship is the safest space imaginable. I loved that we also got to spend so much time with the Bergmans - all of them make appearances in this book, but we especially get to spend quality time with Ren and Frankie which is a treat. If Only You is a super slow burn but the payoff is sizzling. Ziggy and Sebastian have incredible chemistry from their first scene together to the very end (but Chloe, we really need an NSFW bonus epilogue featuring those panties Sebastian stole. Mmkay?)

Content warnings are included on the first page and include discussions of Ziggy's autism, Sebastian's diagnosis with celiac disease, his experience with a verbally abusive stepfather, and references to alcohol and drug use (not on page).

I voluntarily reviewed an early copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Whether you’ve loved the Bergmans from book 1 or are totally new to the series, I can’t recommend this one highly enough. Chloe Liese has topped herself with every new addition, but this one may actually be my favorite—I absolutely love Ziggy & Seb!

The story follows the youngest Bergman sister who has a reputation that’s a little too good and her brother’s best friend whose bad boy ways have just landed him at rock bottom. Cut to a scheme of mutually beneficial fake friendship, which is all well and good until they catch feelings (surprise!) I loved reading about how these pro-athletes encourage one another and offer a safe space to work through their personal issues. It’s a great story of self love AND falling absolutely head over heels.

Plus, the story is set against a backdrop of the usual Bergman antics full of big family dinners, passionate sports fans, baked goods, a little Shakespeare, and 🔥 at the A-frame.

Highly recommend if you’re looking for:
Sports Romance
Fake Friendship
Brother’s Best Friend
A man that knows what women really want (books and clothes that actually fit)
Autism rep
Celiac rep
Bi & Pan rep

It’s out in April so preorder now! Thanks so much to @netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 Stars

Oof. I just want to wrap Sebastian up in a hug and just hold him forever.

The way that Ziggy and Sebastian just ‘click’. Gah, these two were absolutely made for each other. Their slow burn romance was the perfect balance of anticipation and sweet moments.

This series has been an absolute delight, and one of my very favorites. The Bergman family encompasses the love of a wonderful family, one that might not be perfect but are nonetheless amazing. The author does such an amazing job of making sure things are done with care in this book. Normalizing mental health struggles, characters that are autistic, characters that have celiac disease.

This book is low angst, low relationship drama, has a lot of Bergman Family shenanigans, and a lot of love. And that A Frame definitely still has the ‘magic’.

I’m definitely looking forward to the last book in the series, and finding out exactly what Viggo has been up to.

When the details for this book were announced, I was only two books into the Bergman Brothers series. After reading the synopsis, I immediately got books 3-5 from my library because I knew I'd need to read this as soon as possible. I'm glad I didn't space those out much because I was able to move it to the top of my TBR as soon as I got an ARC. And, of course, it was wonderful.

It was so lovely to see Ziggy come into her own after seeing her as a background character in the previous books and hearing about the struggles she had before her autism diagnosis. There are conversations about her past, but a big focus of the book is her getting others to see her as she is now. There are a few key places where she advocates for herself and gets the accommodations she needs to thrive that I really appreciated.

The romance is fantastic. It's a slow burn, but a steady and satisfying one. Ziggy and Seb complement each other so well, and I loved seeing them interact. I was smiling at more scenes than I can count, and I know I'll be revisiting my favorites soon.

CW: anxiety, emotionally abusive parents, self-medication with alcohol, marijuana use (medical)

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book, I was so excited to read it!

In 2022, I read all of the five books that were out of the Bergman Brothers series and loved them all. I was eagerly anticipating the final two books and was awaiting any news about them. When I heard that this book would be Ziggy’s and that it was available to request, I went as fast as I could to do so.

I thoroughly enjoyed Ziggy’s story, we have only heard from her a little bit in the other books and I really liked her voice. Sebastian was also a really great addition to this big group of characters and I loved seeing him fit right in.

The only thing I will say about this book is that I wish we got a bit more with Ziggy and Sebastian in terms of a struggle. It was a very quick turnaround from Sebastian saying they could never be to them being together. I just felt like there were a few scenes missing.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and I am eagerly anticipating Viggo’s book to close this delightful series out.

I've read the other books in this series, and I was excited for this book, although I was hoping we would get Viggo's book before Ziggy's. While I enjoyed this book, it wasn't my favorite and I don't think you would appreciate this book as much if you haven't read the other books in the series.

Pros:
I liked how mature Ziggy was. We've seen her when she was still a child in the previous books and I wasn't sure how her book would turn out. I liked how mature she was and how she really knew herself and had her life together. She didn't need a partner, but she was ready for one.
I liked the LGBTQIAP+ representation in this book. It was very casual and normalized which was immensely refreshing, although part of me kind of wishes Ziggy's love interest had been a woman since she's bisexual.
I found Seb to be a likeable hero. He's your typical reformed rake trope and I think he became likeable very fast. Not all rakes end up being likeable, but he had a lot of growth and he dropped the playboy attitude pretty fast which I liked.

Cons:
It was unnecessary to recap the family structure twice. We got it once from Ziggy's POV at the beginning of the book for no reason other than to introduce the family to readers who aren't familiar with the series. Then we got it again towards the middle of the book from Seb's POV. I think we could've done without the recap from Ziggy's POV since it didn't read like a natural set of information for an individual to give. From Seb's POV it made sense since he didn't know about the family otherwise.
It took way too long for Ziggy and Seb to get together. I understand that there was a lot more of Seb working on himself and character growth and time passing, etc., but they didn't get together until after the 80% point in the book. That is way too late. Ziggy and Seb should have gotten together at least at the 60% point even if they broke up then got back together.
A lot of elements felt underdeveloped in this book. For example, Ziggy has a best friend who we are introduced to briefly and only for the purpose of advancing the story. I don't even remember the friend's name that's how insignificant she was. However, at the end of the book it is acknowledged that the friend and Seb get along. If the friend was so important that Ziggy wanted her approval then why is she not a bigger part of the book?
The book seemed to get into a lull. I think without a real conflict and without Ziggy and Seb getting together sooner, the story got into a bit of a lull where it didn't really feel like we were reading about the characters falling in love.

Overall, I liked this book as part of the Bergman brothers series. However, without the other books as backstories, I think a lot of what's in this book would fall flat for readers. Additionally, there was not a lot of time where we got to see Ziggy and Seb in a relationship. While I like a friends-to-lovers trope, this one took the friends part too far and forgot that this is supposed to be a romance where we see the characters together, not just falling in love. This book has made me more excited for Viggo's book though which I'm hoping lives up to the hype I am assigning to it.

📚Book Review: If Only You by Chloe Liese (ARC releasing Apr 11/23)
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Youngest sibling Ziggy is now 22, graduated from college in 3 years, and playing on both the pro and national women's soccer teams. She is independent and doing well, but everyone still sees her as the innocent little girl who needs protection. She decided to team up with Ren's teammate and friend Sebastian, whose bad boy image needs repairing, so he can toughen her up and she can straighten him up. They are faking friendship-ing for mutual benefits. That's all it is. Right?

Holy crap, Chloe! How do you do this to us over and over?! This book is incredible, both as I've come to expect from the Bergman series, but also in a way that smacked me across the face because I wasn't ready for it. I think that Ziggy finally having her own story, and the fact that she wanted people to start seeing her as a capable woman, made me do just that--I realized I also still thought of her as the youngest sister who struggled until her Autism diagnosis and spent her time playing soccer or with her head stuck in a book. Yes, we saw her slowly coming into her own through the other stories but this insight into her life was excellent. She is definitely one of my fave characters in the series now. Our introduction to Seb was also great and his journey is heartbreaking in the best way. His digestive issues were also relatable to me, especially that moment you realize eating properly and cutting gluten makes you feel so much better. Plus: queer rep! Love them!

Thank you to @chloe_liese for the lived experience ARC through @netgalley! I love your stories and am now waiting for this to release in April to read it again, add my print copy to the shelf with the rest, and for 2024 to come and bring us Viggo's story.

#BergmanBrothers #BergmanSisters #ChloeLiese #IfOnlyYou #ZiggyAndSeb #FakeFriends #FriendsToLovers #AmReading #ARC #RomanceReader #Books

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for the ARC.

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 5/5 stars

Surprising no one, I absolutely adored this installment of the Bergman Brothers series. This story follows Ziggy Bergman, as she struggles to prove that she is no longer the baby of the family. Ziggy comes up with a scheme to “dirty up” her good girl image by fake-friending bad boy Sebastian, her brother’s best friend. Sebastian ends up being a tattooed cinnamon roll and this friendship turns into something more.

Gah these two characters were just too sweet and too angsty. You wanted to give them both a hug. Sebastian is one of my favorite leading men of the series and I already knew Ziggy would be an amazing leading lady. Their love story was perfectly paced and it was so fun to see them go from fake friends to real friends to lovers. Sports romance. Celebrity romance. Brother’s best friend. Perfect tropes galore. I loved it so much.

ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Chloe Liese has done it once again. If Only You is the 6th installment of the Bergman Brothers (or sisters) series, and the long awaited love story of autistic, soccer playing, romance book loving Ziggy Bergman. Us Bergman fans have been chomping at the bit for this story since we all collectively fell in love with Ziggy in book two, with Frankie and Ren. And Ziggy’s love story was just as epic as she deserved.

Who else would be the perfect match for dark/fantasy romance obsessed Ziggy than tattooed, tortured soul with a heart of gold Sebastien Gauthier? Just as with Frankie and Ren, this was another story with an autistic heroine and a hockey player hero. But that’s where the similarities end. Ziggy has spent her life as the youngest Bergman sibling, the girl who struggled in high school and whose family--although doing what they thought was right to help her--ended up smothering and stifling her growth as a person with their love. Seb spent his life constantly let down, or down right harmed, by the people who were supposed to care for and love him the most. And he has spent his adult life harming himself and everyone around him in response. To even out their images, Ziggy proposes a fake friendship. But they both soon realize that their very real feelings might be stronger than their fake friendship, and they each might be exactly what the other person needs to become who they were always meant to be.

This book was Chloe’s slowest burn yet, and when I tell you it was TORTURE watching these two horny disasters try to resist the tangible pull they had on each other, I could not be more serious. I spent the entire night I binged equal parts it kicking my legs around in bed in frustration and squealing in delight or cackling laughter, physically unable to stay still as their chemistry burned through my phone screen. All I’ll say about the scene that made me absolutely lose my mind is HALLOWEEN. Just wait, ya’ll, you’ll be screaming with me when you get there.

But the absolute best part of their relationship was the tenderness between them. Seb helped Ziggy feel powerful, and feminine, and pushed her to demand from life what she needed. He helped her find the power herself to be who she always had been on the inside. And Ziggy helped Sebastien find the kindness and grace he had been trying to bury beneath his pain, for himself. She pushed him to heal himself, demanding he be the man he never thought he could be. Not for her, but for himself, and it was beautiful to see.

As is always the case in Chloe’s books, the representation in Seb and Ziggy’s stories was so thoughtful and beautiful. Ziggy who is autistic and bisexual, and Seb who is Pansexual and has Celiac disease. Chloe allowed these characters to both fully embrace these parts of themselves, while leaving space for the pain and the hurt that came come from these things for internalized and societal reasons. I also want to take a moment of appreciation for the autistic rep especially. This is Chloe’s fourth explicitly autistic character that she has written, and every single character stands on their own, entirely different. Because no two people are the same, and despite what society wants us to believe that includes no two autistic people being the same. Chloe’s characters always fill me with warmth and joy, and I will never get over how these stories always wrap my neurodivergent brain in love and acceptance.

I would do anything to marry into the Bergman family. I mean this whole series has everything. Funny, spicy. heartfelt. Chloe Liese is an instant buy author for me. This book was one of my favorites out of the whole series. I can't wait for this to come out.

Chloe Liese is an absolute master at her craft! She knows her characters so well and that shines through on the page. I absolutely adored Ziggy and Seb as individual people and together. While this story was beautiful and healing in many ways, it was also written gorgeously. I received this ARC through the Lived Experience form and I so appreciate seeing the struggles and experience of living with celiac disease represented on page so authentically. There are a couple scenes that brought me to tears because Ziggy and Seb offered one another such care. Their banter was a ton of fun to read! I will sing Chloe’s praises forever. I loved this last instalment in the Bergman world.