If Only You
By Chloe Liese
Release Date: April 11, 2023
Book #6 in the Bergman Brothers series
Number of pages: 376
Contemporary Romance
Ages 15 and up
CW: chronic pain, anxiety, depression,
abandonment, verbal abuse
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Ziggy
I’m the youngest player on the National Soccer team, the baby of my family, and thoroughly sick of being underestimated, so I’ve decided to take matters into my own hands. Which is where my brother’s best friend and teammate, the infamous Sebastian Marchand, comes in.
Seb needs to rehab his reputation. I want to give mine an edge. So I propose a fake friendship with real benefits: spending time in the public eye, my good-girl image and his bad-boy notoriety rubbing off on each other. He’s my devious, dark-haired fantasy come to life, but his destructive ways make it easy to keep him in the (fake) friend zone. Or so I thought, until I start to see the heart of gold he’s been hiding beneath that sinister surface…
Sebastian
Like any self-respecting reprobate, I’ve been spiraling downward, and finally I’ve hit rock bottom. My hockey career and sponsorships are in jeopardy, and while I’m not ready to actually reform my ways, I’m happy to pretend that I have, to secure the life I’m on the brink of losing.
So when my best friend’s sister, Ziggy Bergman, proposes a public “friendship” to revamp our reputations, it’s an offer I can’t refuse. Up till now, I’ve stayed away from Ren’s sweet, shy little sister to avoid any risk of ruining my one good friendship. But I reassure myself there’s no risk in our scheme. I’ll fake a friendship with Ziggy, fix my reputation, and get back to hockey, the one and only thing I love. At least, it was, until what began as a transactional arrangement became the most loving relationship I’ve ever known.
If this is your first Bergman Brothers book, rest assured this can be read as a standalone. For those of you who have been reading this series all along, you know the Bergmans are incredibly supportive of one another; very morally upright, defenders of those that need defending, etc., etc. I respect authors who write big, wonderful families like this but still let the reader see that even the best families have their flaws. Especially when those flaws push the love interest into indignation protection mode. While nobody treats Ziggy poorly, her family still treats her like she’s a child who needs constant protection and vigilance. Being the “outsider”, Sebastian notices quite quickly how condescending they are to her without any of them realizing that’s what’s happening. I loved it!
Ziggy and Sebastian are a pairing nobody in their lives expected. Yet his best friend, Ziggys brother Ren, seems the most accepting and even glad they found each other. Of course, he was being told they were just friends. But Ren seemed to hope for more between the two, obviously realizing they would be good for each other. With Ziggy’s patience and the fact that she went into their “friendship” with no expectations, she’s able to handle Sebastian’s pushback with aplomb. This gives Sebastian room to breathe and get to know Ziggy without scaring her away. The two have fantastic chemistry, whether on a friend date or when they finally give in and kiss. I’d definitely classify this as a slow-burn type story, but the author kept the fires stoked throughout so I never got frustrated with the pacing. This story is a true friends to lovers because the majority of the book is spent with Seb and Ziggy developing a beautiful friendship. A friendship neither wanted to lose so they continued to hold off the other emotions so they could get their lives in order first.
This book also helped me to understand Viggo a bit better. He has been my least favorite character throughout the series because I often feel he crosses a line. He doesn’t seem to have boundaries and has made some pretty big blunders in the past. Although Sebastian and Viggo seem to have little in common, Seb seems to understand Viggo on a level his siblings do not. (The whole “family keeping you in one neat box” thing is at play again here.) Through Seb, I found sympathy for Viggo and just know the author will find a way to knock him off his feet when his story is told. After all, Viggo thinks he has all the romance answers with his love of the Romance genre.
As for the couple in this book, Ziggy and Sebastian get their HEA of course. It’s very satisfying. It’s everything Ziggy deserves and more. And it’s everything Sebastian didn’t know even existed.
5 stars
All In Good Time 
I love seeing you give this one 5 stars! I loved it as well.