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Always Only You
By Chloe Liese
Bergman Brothers, Book 2 
🎧 Narrated by: Nelson Hobbs & CJ Bloom
Book 20 of 2024

Nope. this is it. Ren is the perfect book boyfriend. I should just stop reading now. I will never find better.

Thank you to everyone in the Romance ARC group chat that has gushed over the Bergman Brothers for years until I finally picked them up! This is the second book in the series, and you could read it without reading the first, but the characters that are introduced in book 1 show up, so it’s a little more fun if you already know them. I did think that Book 1 had some pacing issues, but was overall good and worth the read! 

Frankie is the social media manager for the hockey team that Ren plays for. Ren has been hopelessly infatuated with her since the day that she started, but would never in a million years try anything because they are coworkers. 

But…one night when the team is at a post-game bar hangout…a teammate crosses the line with Frankie and Ren gets all *protective* …and ends up driving her home…and omg oh no her apartment was broken into so THE ONLY CHOICE is for her to go home with him. Obviously. 

Forced proximity + Forbidden + Grumpy / Sunshine = perfection

Each of the main characters holds such a special place in my heart. Ren is our sunshine character and while he may appear hyper-masculine, being a professional hockey player, he also has such a soft side. He runs a Shakespeare club and loves so fiercely and I just love him so much.

Frankie is hyper independent, especially after her diagnosis with a chronic illness in her teens made her mom overprotective. As someone with a disabling (but not terminal) illness, her internal journey was so powerful and I related so strongly to her difficulty with allowing people to take care of her. 

QotD: (choose one or all)
– Who was the last character that you strongly related to?
– What series are you working your way through or waiting for a new release for? 

[book synopsis]

It’s an office romance on the ice rink in this heart melting story about love’s power not in spite of difference but because of it.

Ren has known Frankie Zeferino was a woman worth waiting for since the moment they met. She’s a master of deadpan delivery, has a secret heart of gold, and a rare one-dimpled smile that makes his knees go weak. But as long as Frankie’s the team’s social media manager, she’s off limits.

Frankie is a self-admittedly blunt, grumbly grump, but even she isn’t immune to sunshiney Ren Bergman. Who could be, when he’s a six-foot-three hunk of happy with a hockey player’s physique? Maybe in the past, Frankie would have gone for a guy like him, but since being burned too many times by people who learn about her diagnoses and see a problem, not a person, she’s wised up.

After waiting years for the right time to make his move, Ren learns Frankie plans to leave the team to pursue a new career. But what he didn’t anticipate is how hard he’ll have to work to convince her to let him have his shot at winning her heart.