With You Forever by Chloe Liese

This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.

Title: With You Forever
Author: Chloe Liese
Series: Bergman Brothers #4
Published by: Indie
Release Date: September 14, 2021
Format: ebook
Pages: 350
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Source: Overdrive
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2023 COYER Chapter 2, Lenoreo's 2023 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks
My rating:

Blurb:

Cozy up for a heartfelt, humorous, sizzling slow-burn in this marriage of convenience romance about finding love—and home—in the most unlikely of places.

Axel

Rooney Sullivan is sunshine incarnate. Warm, bright, always smiling, she’s everything I’m not and the last person I have any business desiring. Desperate to hide a hopeless attraction, I’ve done everything possible to keep my distance...until a charades game gone wrong brought that to a grinding halt.

Since then, steering clear of Rooney has been impossible. In a matter of months, she’s kissed me speechless, commandeered my art career, and infiltrated not only my dreams but my home. The woman who was once avoidable has become the last thing I needed: temptingly within reach.

Rooney

Axel Bergman is a gorgeous grump who doesn’t have the time of day for me. Thankfully, I’ve kept my crush under wraps...well, until I kissed him. Charades got away from me, okay? It was an accident! I haven’t seen him since, which is for the best. My life is a mess, and the last thing I need is to embarrass myself further with the man who avoids me like that’s his job rather than painting modern masterpieces.

It seems the universe, however, has a different plan. When Axel and I unexpectedly find our paths—and problems—converging, a marriage of convenience proves the perfect solution. At least, until I’m facing my most serious problem yet: a once-loveless marriage of convenience that’s inconveniently become a love match, after all.

​With You Forever is a sunshine and grump, marriage of convenience romance about a shy artist on the autism spectrum, and a smiley smartypants who has a chronic IBD. Complete with combustible cooking lessons, interfering family and friends, and a steamy slow burn, this standalone is the fourth in a series of novels about a Swedish-American family of five brothers, two sisters, and their wild adventures as they each find happily ever after.

My Review:

4.5 stars — This one just hit for me.  There was something about Axel and Rooney that had me captivated even from the previous books.  They are such a study in contrasts in some ways, but seeing them find safety in one another was so rewarding.

I feel like I got a completely different impression of bits of this story from the blurb, for some reason I thought it was going to be centered more on Axel’s art career, but I loved the story I got instead.  It was quiet and lovely, and just reached in and touched my heart so subtly I didn’t even know it was happening.

It’s funny, b/c I think I had a certain impression of Rooney from Willa’s story, but she was sweeter and softer somehow.  Still sassy, don’t get me wrong.  I loved the way she teased Axel and was so forthright in some situations, while guarding herself in others.  She also had a lot going on with her.  As someone who also suffers from IBD (though MUCH less severely), I really connected with her struggles regarding her chronic illness.  And I ached for how her childhood had shaped her.  It was interesting to see her come to grips with finally getting some help dealing with those things.

Axel was such a complicated character in some ways, but also not.  He was really just struggling to accept himself, ALL of himself.  And still learning so many things about him, both as it related to his neurodivergence, and outside of that.  He had internalized so much harshness, and it was hard to see him reinforce those things so effortlessly, as though they were just true.  Like Rooney, I could relate to elements of his sensitivities (though again, not nearly as severely).

They delighted me as a couple.  I loved seeing them crush on one another assuming it was unreturned.  I loved seeing them explore.  I loved seeing them come to terms with their own feelings, and then figure out how to open themselves up.

Obviously shout out to Harry and Skugga, who made my animal loving heart happy.  And I loved Parker, Bennett and Sky’s loving interference, not to mention Sarah from the store.

I kind of missed the rest of the family at times, though there were obviously still cameos.  I think I needed an epilogue or something, but I guess I know I’ll see more of them in future books.

So yeah.  Definitely another hit in this series.  I can’t wait to read Oliver’s story next.