5*
In this 7th and final installment of the Bergman Brothers series by Chloe Liese, we finally get Viggo’s story and it doesn’t disappoint. As dedicated readers know, Viggo is the romantic of the family who wears his heart on his sleeve and is often the one who calls the Bergman Brothers Summits where they help and encourage each other (or their siblings’ love interests) to work through the problems they’re having on the path toward love. It’s the absolute opposite of toxic masculinity and such a refreshing change to see men embracing their emotions and each other.
It turns out that all the time Viggo was spending in Escondido in previous books was to learn the bookselling business with the ultimate goal of opening a (mostly) romance bookstore. (Shout out to the real one in Culver City, The Ripped Bodice!) However, despite his dedication to the romance genre, he had never been in love and seeing his siblings pair up one by one has been difficult. In his first week of college, he noticed Tallulah Clarke in one of his classes. His crush was instantaneous, which made her outright rejection of him devastating. So when he met her again several years later and she still did her best to ignore him, the last thing either of them expected was that they’d soon be helping each other meet their professional goals and making themselves vulnerable to each other by sharing their baggage and their disabilities (his ADHD and fear of failure and rejection and her Type 1 diabetes, dysfunctional family, and belief that love is nothing more than a social construct that has the ability to destroy you if you let yourself forget that). Yet, when he invites her to be his temporary roommate so that he can help her with the romantic relationship in her next book and she can help him get his store up and running, what’s the chance that a hopeless romantic and a jaded cynic can find common ground and a happily-ever-after?
Liese, who is neurodivergent and deals with chronic illness herself, began self-publishing this series and, with the help of TikTok, eventually found a publisher and an audience of avid readers that appreciates her honest portrayal of people with disabilities who deserve to be loved without having to compromise who they are. In all her books, she explores the vulnerability her characters face in light of childhood trauma, physical and mental challenges, and more. At the center of this series is the big (both in number and physical size) Bergman family who adopt their children’s and siblings’ romantic partners, providing all the love and support that these misfits have been missing. In Only and Forever, readers get plenty of time with all of the couples from previous books and, as bittersweet as it is to know this beloved series is at an end, it’s heartwarming that penultimate book boyfriend Viggo (who bakes, adopts rescue dogs and kittens, coaches kids’ soccer, names his plants after real romance novelists and his car for one of Tessa Dare’s fictional dukes, has a way with babies, makes pottery, and is the human equivalent of serotonin according to his brother) finally has his shot at a forever love. My only slight criticism of this enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, slow-burn but steamy romance is that it gets REALLY sappy at the end. I highly recommend the entire series and hope that Liese someday gives us a bonus epilogue, a parents’ prequel or, better yet, a next-generation series.
I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Berkley through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.
Publication date: April 2, 2024
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