The pining in this book is my absolute catnip! I think I knew this book would be it from the second I saw the blurb. Chloe Liese is a favorite of mine already and the tropes in this are just perfection. Liese handles everything with such love & care. Pick this book up now! Pick up the whole series if you haven't.

If Only You may have taken the top spot as my favorite of the Bergman Brothers series! Which is hard, because I ADORED Always Only You.

If Only You follows Ziggy (the youngest Bergman sister) and her slow burn fake friends/dating to lovers romance with her brother's best friend, Sebastian. I've loved watching Ziggy's growth throughout the entire series, so finally getting her book was a treat! Despite coming into her own as a professional soccer player and independent adult, Ziggy still feels like she is not taken as seriously by her family and the public as she wants. Meanwhile, Sebastian's hockey career is perfect, but his reputation and goodwill with his sponsors is not. He needs a clean image, fast. Influenced by her romance books, Ziggy proposes that she and Sebastian hangout together as friends, so that his "bad boy" reputation will rub off on her a little bit, and her "innocent" persona will hopefully help Sebastian settle down. Of course, what started off as being for show developed beautifully into a friendship both of them needed and cherished.

This was probably the slowest burn out of all the authors books, but I think it was necessary. Sebastian didn't come from a big, loving family like Ziggy did. He needed to appreciate having a friends like Ziggy and her crew before he could feel like he was worthy of a romantic relationship with her. Likewise, Ziggy's growth was phenomenal. I loved seeing her stand up for herself. Finally getting her POV also helped you see that Ziggy is not nearly as innocent as we thought she was!

As usual, the author has great neurodivergent and chronic illness rep. We saw in Always Only You how Ziggy struggled in school until she was able to start getting the help she needed once she was diagnosed with autism. Seeing her out on her own using her coping skills made my heart warm because I feel like we've grown with her from the start of this series. I liked seeing how Sebastian coped with his celiac disease diagnosis. As a professional athlete, he was afraid of how his life would change with the newfound diagnosis. I loved that Ziggy was 1000% supportive of the diagnosis by helping him navigate a new diet and meal prep techniques!

I could gush about this book all day, but the one thing I always say about a Chloe Liese book is that I feel like I came home at the end of it. The Bergman family is not perfect, but they are so supportive of each other and their partners. Seeing Sebastian basically be adopted by the Bergman clan, and watching his relationship with Ziggy flourish, warmed my heart to no end!

I am smitten.

That’s not even a big enough describing word for the love I have for Ziggy and Sebastian. You guys, you guys, GAHHHHH!!! They were so good. They were the perfect slow burn, the most adorable flirty banter, the sweetest friends-to-lovers. I freaking adored them and the absolutely delightful way they lit up my heart.

I swear there was some sort of magic in these pages. Ziggy, who I’d already met over and over again throughout this series, completely blew me away. I loved her bravery, I loved her big strong heart, and I loved her sharp sense of humor that made me laugh out loud more than once. I loved the way she brought Sebastian to life, and I loved - loved - the way Sebastian cared for Ziggy. I loved how these two made space for each other, and then made that space safe and loving for each other. I loved the way they surprised each other, and the achingly sweet way their dubious friendship caught fire and burned into something so much deeper. I’m gushing, but y’all – this romance just completely swept me off my feet and it was everything I love about love stories.

I’ve made no secret of my feelings toward the Bergman family and how fiercely I adore them. This rowdy, rambunctious group of siblings continues to be an absolute delight to read. They love each other so purely, and they annoy each other so authentically. The family vibe is *chef’s kiss* perfection and I’m going to be so so sad when I have to leave them behind.

If Only You might just be my favorite of this series so far. It was heartwarming, sensitive, playful, and sizzling with slow burn sexiness. I cannot say enough good things about this story. It was absolute romance perfection for me, and an effortless five stars!

We are big Chloe Liese fans here at Parnassus. We chose Two Wrongs Make a Right for our February Romance Book Club. So naturally we have been waiting for Ziggy's story in her Bergman Bro series. Ziggy doesn't disappoint. I love a good bad boy/good girl dynamic when it's done well and isn't patronizing and Zigy and Sebastian are exactly that. Chloe's commitment to repping chronic illness and neuro-divergent leads is also so deeply appreciated. What a great book!

To read Ziggy's story is a dream!

Ziggy is the youngest Bergman with the quintessential bad boy, Sebastian. Not only is Sebastian the bad boy, but he's Ren's best friend. I'm so happy that this story was a slow-burn trope, as it was greatly needed for their friendship to bud into a relationship. One thing I wished is that it was a bit longer in terms of length and was able to explore a more polished character development.

I loved how along the way, Ziggy found herself and was able to express her feelings clearly. Also, Seb became more lighthearted and learned to enjoy life. Together they became a powerhouse couple which made my heart feel good.

Overall this was a great book. Ms. Liese's novels are like coming home. The Bergmans are perfectly imperfect. I can't wait to see what's in store for Viggo.


*ARC courtesy of the author and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. Thank you to the valued author, the publisher, and Netgalley for providing a copy.*

If Only You is the 6th book in the Bergman Brothers Series by Chloe Liese and like all the others it can be read as a standalone, although all the other characters from the previous books make an appearance. And that just might be one of my favorite reasons I love this series so much–how this family really sticks together no matter what and has each other’s backs all the time, even when they’re giving each other a hard time (Viggo!) I’ve been looking forward to reading Ziggy’s story since we met her and I feel this book captures her personality perfectly. I honestly never dreamed that Seb would be her love interest, but obviously I was so wrong because they’re most certainly each other’s soul mate. Ms. Liese does a fabulous job writing characters with various issues, including autism and autoimmune diseases and I think she did a fantastic job in this book as well. Sebastian and Ziggy’s story is a fun, flirty, slow burn romance that I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm grateful to have been given an opportunity to read and review an early copy of this book through NetGalley.

I really like this series. All the characters feel well fleshed out and interesting. The romance was sweet not much spice until the very end. I only wish there had been more soccer in it.

Izzy is the baby of the Bergman Family, and she just wishes to be treated like an adult as she is 22 and independent. Sure, she's autistic but she's had many years of learning how to deal with this.
Sebastian is Ren, Izzy's brothers' best friend, and his image is utter trash. After seeing Izzy at Ren's wedding, he can't stop thinking about her but he would never go there and ruin the only friendship he's ever had. But when Izzy runs into his life with an interesting proposition of a fake friendship to help his image and tarnish hers a bit, he decides maybe this could be worth it.
But the angst, feelings, and mutual pining makes this book absolutely golden. Sebastian's work to being worthy of Izzy's friendship (and hopefully more) is so wholesome and chock full of fuzzy feelings.
I love the fact that Izzy's neurodivergent tendencies is talked about so positively and with no stigma attached to it because it is so rare to have autism portrayed in a light that is normal and healthy. I appreciated that Izzy was able to live like an autistic woman in a very authentic way, and her differences made her unique, not abnormal.

I love the Bergman Brothers Series. Ziggy’s story did not disappoint.
Ziggy is a good girl on the spectrum looking to rough up her edges a bit.
Sebastian is a bad boy needing to rehab his image.
Fake friends
Queer representation
Celiac’s Disease rep
Sports romance
Therapy
Slow burn

If you know me you know how much I love The Bergmans. I couldn't wait for Ziggy's story.

As the youngest of seven kids, Ziggy gets treated like she's a child even though she's in her twenties, on a national soccer team, and thriving.

She decides the only way to get her family to realize she is an adult is to date bad boy Sebastian.

Sebastian who is a self proclaimed bad boy plays on the same team as Ziggy's brother Ren. While he is out with an injury he needs to fix his reputation.

The autism and anxiety representation really was perfect for me. As someone who struggles with both I loved seeing myself in the characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

Ziggy, the youngest Bergman sibling, wants to change her good girl image. She's tired of being overlooked as the baby and the one who always needs to be taken care of. She decides to balance this out by suggesting to her brother's bad boy friend, Sebastian, that they spend some time hanging out together. Sebastian needs to clean up his bad boy reputation so surely the two of them can help each other out.

I'm going to stop the synopsis right there because I'm sure you already know what happens. Like all of Chloe's previous books, I really struggled to put this one down. It was such a sweet and genuine story that it had me reading well into the night. The relationship building between our two characters was phenomenal. The two went from not getting along to slowly becoming friends to finally becoming more, but only after some time. I loved how both Ziggy and Sebastian overcame their own issues too, with the help of the other. I will read anything Chloe writes and I am so sad that there is only one more sibling left to complete this series. If you haven't picked this series up yet, I cannot urge you enough to give it a go.

Beautifullest book by Chloe? Honestly I am surprised every time I read one new arc how can I love each book more. Well I can not really decide wich is my fave. I fall in love every time I meet a new member of this family. And I love to meet each of them in the next series. They are my fave ficion family.

I loved to spend time with Ziggy, I always loved her as an superb autistic person. In this book we get to know more close this soccer player, the youngest of the siblings. I died at the first scene, when she is furious about her underwear. She get an idea to ask her brothers best friend a deal, become friends and get her good girl reputation less good and his bad boy reputation less bad. And Seb accepts. They laugh, they cry and they laugh again. I coud read about forever. A slow burning with many lovely sport, love and drama scenes with Sheakspeare reading secenes. And a date in a bookshop that all booklovers dream about.

How can you not fall in love reading this series?!? Thank you Chloe Liese for this arc...

THE PINING!!!!

Seb is so gone on Ziggy it isn't even funny. I loved their relationship dynamics so much. I only wish we saw more of Ziggy's personal journey.

I began my Bergman Brothers journey because I was approved for this ARC, and I am SO GLAD I did. I loved every single book in the series, and this one was no exception.

I was so curious about Ziggy throughout the first five books. I loved the insight we got into her in the second book, and how she formed a close bond with Frankie. I was so glad to see her come into her own in this story. She wanted to change her reputation, and she did a damn good job of it!

Seb was like…the icing on the Ziggy cake. 🤣 He was the epitome of a broken hero, bad boy, self-loathing, didn’t think he was worthy of love. I just adored how Ziggy wormed her way into his life & later, his heart.

I think fake friends-> real friends-> lovers is my new favorite trope! So much tension & mutual pining & absolute deliciousness! And hanging with the Bergman family is always a great time. Perfection!

Ziggy and Seb are two characters that just feel like a warm hug. This book is a slowwwwwww burn. I feel like slow burn is even gracious because lord almighty does this book make you wait for it. But, it’s all around Seb feeling unworthy of Ziggy and that is pretty dang sweet. Loved Seb’s journey through his celiac disease, as someone who cut out gluten because of gastrointestinal issues, I related to the frustration and the burdening feeling. My only real complaint is seeing this one marketed with bisexual and pansexual representation, but it came across as if it were just boxes being checked. Both Ziggy and Seb had a sentence declaration then literally nothing else was said on the matter. Overall, I just adore Chloe’s ability to write these complex and realistic characters you can’t help but fall in love with.

Goodness I loved this book so much. It was pure slow burn gold.

The way they meet, to the way Ziggy storms into Sebastian’s life, was all just so amazing.

Ziggy wants to be seen and for things to change, but she doesn’t know how. Sebastian needs a major pr overhaul. A fake friendship benefits them both.

Gah! I loved them. I loved their chemistry, I love how they wanted each other, they were just funny and silly and lusty and just brought each other to another level.

I felt all the emotions in this book. I swooned super hard so many times for Sebastian. Both grew so much and made my heart so happy. I did not want this book to end.

In Chloe Liese’s sixth installment of the Bergman sibling series, we get Ziggy’s love story now that she’s a grown woman, professional soccer star and yet still the subject of her older sibling’s overbearing protectiveness and care. She just wants to be her own person and earn some respect. Seb is Ren’s best friend on the LA Kings and is in desperate need of image rehabilitation.

-brothers best friend
-bi & pan rep
-hockey & soccer players
-fake friendship (real feelings)
-Bookstore date (iykyk)
-Revisiting the family & A-Frame you’ve come to love.

Ziggy is personal to me. I’m sure I’m not alone in this, especially when I find fellow Bergman lovers and we all gush about our favorite siblings and their partners. When I read Always Only You, I learned so much about living and loving people with autism, which turned out to be super helpful when I needed to advocate for testing and receiving appropriate diagnosis care for someone who reminds me so much of Ziggy (ok let’s be honest, she’s got the attitude and wardrobe of Frankie lol). Outside of the medical/treatment care and school support, knowing about sensory preferences and reframing social interactions has helped me be a better guardian and caregiver. Yes, I took 4 graduate level classes on Autism Spectrum Disorders while also learning how to be her guardian, but reading romance that centers neurodiverse characters like Ziggy truly helps me be a better ally and support person.

All this to say - I’m so freaking happy that Ziggy (yes, a fictional character - don’t at me) has grown and learned how to successfully navigate her world to find acceptance, confidence, and the love she deserves. I devoured this book in one sitting, and I can’t wait to add the physical copy & audiobook to my library.

This review will be heavily biased because I absolutely LOVE Chloe Liese's Bergman Brothers series. We've been waiting for years to see youngest sibling, Ziggy, find her dark-haired villain with a redemption arc, and she found it in Seb, a teammate of her older brother, Ren. The slowest of slow burns but such a delightful payoff. I can't recommend this and the series enough.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reading copy! Full disclosure - I am obsessed with this Bergman series and anything Chloe Liese writes, so maybe this is a biased review. This is the newest installment in the Bergman sibling series and I loved it. Though this wasn’t my favorite in the series (I think Rooney and Axel will always be my number 1 fictional couple of all time) it was an amazing addition to this series. Ziggy and Sebastian/Seb form a “fake” friendship when both need to re-do their images as professional athletes. But ultimately this friendship turns into something much more in this sweet, slow-burn romance. The thing I liked best about this book was the friends-to-lovers plotline. The build and progression of the relationship was chef’s kiss perfect. I also really liked Sebastian’s character arc and growth; I love a grump/sunshine story, and this plot line also added in elements of redemption and it was done really well. My only argument with this book was that it was a little long, with a lot of Bergman cameos taking up a lot of story space, but I love this series so much, it was ultimately okay with me to see all these characters come back. If you haven’t read Liese before, I would recommend starting with the first book in this series to get a grounding in this world and characters; I don’t think this story would work as a standalone because of all the cameos, but I could be wrong! Ultimately, if you haven’t read Liese, please do! She’s a master of contemporary romance, mental health and autism representation, great writing, and thoughtful characters. Her stories always resonate with the importance of self love and that everyone deserves love, and I love that messaging. I recommend this book for fans of Liese, contemporary romance, OWN Voices, autism representation, and mental health.

*thank you to chloe liese for providing me this arc in exchange for an honest review*

Guys, I really enjoyed this book. Honest. This book has all of the tropes I know you’d be interested in and it’s not just the tropes that make this book interesting; but the dialogue. With the way Liese wrote these characters, you really are able to feel their chemistry.

This book has frenemies to lovers, will they won’t they, opposites (sort of) attract and hurt/comfort.

We have our physically “dark and broody angsty ‘wears all black’ but personality wise is a carefree, goofy player-side character turned into a main character energy—so you know he has a lot of personality. Imagine the evil, dark fae we read in our fantasy books—that’s Sebastian. My only qualm is that I wished they went more into his backstory with his parents.

Now for our female love interest. Ziggy. We get to learn more about her aside from the shy, depressed quiet kid we met in the other books.

This book has autism and celiac representation and we love to see the inclusion.

4/5 stars
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