virgoreader

★★★★ A marriage of convenience should be no problem for these two almost-friends who have orbited each other for years, and now have to be loveless and in lust together - right?

Chloe Liese can do no wrong! What’s so amazing to me about her and her writing is that she is truly EMPATHETIC. She tries so hard to represent the conditions her characters have well - you can tell the amount of time and research she spent on research and sensitivity reading - and she makes them multidimensional, so they are never defined by their illness. It never feels “token”. 

Need I go on??? 

Okay, I will. 

So much of why I love the Bergman books are because of Chloe as a writer. The way she puts us into the mindset of someone like Axel, who struggles so much with expressing and showing love to others, who is uncomfortable with feelings - struggling with how to even identify his own... it's so good. There were pieces of Axel I related to, like this quote, when he talks about how he struggles with giving the kind of love and affection his family doles out, so he shows his love through acts of service. 

I know I’m not easy to feel close to. I’m not warm and affectionate like the rest of my family. I don’t hug spontaneously or laugh often or thrive in the intimate chaos that defines our large family. I don’t love the way they do.
So I do this. I protect the place we care about, the A-frame that’s been the heart of our family since my parents bought it. This is a way that I love them. And nothing’s going to stop that.

Or that sometimes, even though he's part of his big, loud, loving family, he still feels alone.

I want to tell her that you can have all the traditions and family recipes you like and still not feel like you belong. But I would never tell her that. I’ve never told anyone that. 

While there was significantly less steam than in previous books, it kind of fit the mood of the book - the awkwardness they both feel around each other. And the sexual tension was piping hot. This is taking spot #2 on my Bergman list - Ren/Frankie still have the top spot, then Axel/Rooney, then Ryder/Willa, then Aiden/Freya. I’m excited for the rest of the books but maybe especially Ziggy’s?! I know we’ve seen the least from her (out of the remaining siblings) but I just think it’ll be amazing. 

My only complaint is I wish we got a LITTLE more wrap up. A scene with Rooney confronting or being honest with her parents, perhaps? I would have loved if instead of (or in addition to) her seeking therapy she traveled to her mom in Italy. Also, is no one seriously going to know Axel and Rooney married??? Or that he spent an inheritance to fix the house?? It wrapped up soooo quick I wish we got an epilogue. Everyone’s just gonna think they’re dating?!