Always Only You: 2 (Bergman Brothers) Paperback – 25 July 2020

Two great characters, lovely writing of two people who are “hiding in plain sight” finally getting together. Portrayal of autism in FMC felt very real. Did not like the shoe horned in reference to JKRs Twitter. The high incidence of ROGD in girls with spectrum traits should ring alarm bells in this author who very clearly articulates how someone can feel different and that they don’t fit in because of the divergent thinking processes.

cw: autoimmune disease, autism, depression, bullying Frankie Zeferino is the In-Game Social Media Coordinator for the LA Kings. Ren Bergman is the star forward for the team and has secretly been besotted with Frankie from the day he met her. With a no-fraternization clause, he's biding his time.Ren is every bit as adorable as Ryder Bergman, but well, he's also a hockey player, which is my ultimate weakness. Add in his adorable sunshine personality and nerdy obsession with Shakespeare, and I was absolutely done for. Frankie is sassy, seemingly grumpy, and pining for the ginger cinnamon roll/Viking god. I loved that both her autism and her rheumatoid arthritis were written sensitively and realistically, as well as including the side effects of having an autoimmune disease. I particularly loved her friendships with Lo and Ren's sister, Ziggy. I also loved seeing more of the rest of the Bergman's, as well as catching up with Ryder and Willa (and applauded Willa's speech about a certain RL person 😉). There's also a few intriguing plot set-ups for the rest of the series. But it's Ren and Frankie's love story that shines brightest in this book. They are just so stinking cute together, and I loved their development as a couple. The intimacy was particularly beautiful but still steamy. I also adored their easy banter throughout, and I want to join Ren's Shakespeare club! I now have a new favourite cinnamon roll hockey book boyfriend. Another absolute delight of a story. Overall Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️Heat Rating: 🔥🔥Emotional Rating: 🙈😍😉👏🏻💓🥰😂🙈💓😍🥰💓😭💔💓🙈💓💔👏🏻💓🥰

So many aspects of this book hit deep for me, and it made me feel heard and hopeful while providing an amazing and entertaining distraction to get lost in for a while. The way that Ren and Frankie’s story developed was slow and sweet, they had time to learn to love each other how they needed to be loved while learning to love themselves too and they made a pretty awesome couple. There was humor that made the dialogue very fun and a bit of spice that made reading even better. Honestly, I am loving this author and her portrayal of strong characters that have very real struggles yet incredible fortitude to hope and reach for happiness.

I’d probably give this book 4.5 ⭐️ if I could.I’ll start off by saying I am very impressed with how well this author wrote about disability. As a woman who became disabled in my 20s I can understand the FMC, Frankie, and how she views living with an invisible illness and how people view her. I also love several neurodivergent people and seeing how well this author described living with condition and how it affects themselves and those around them I was elated. This book reveals so well how people whose bodies and brains work differently from the norm are whole and worthy of love.On top of all that, the disability isn’t the star of the show. The FMC has let how people have treated her in the past alter the way she views people who may have the power to hurt her in the future, but we all do that to a certain extent. The way her brain works differently also affects the way she approaches relationships because she’s unable to comprehend the less nuanced expressions of other people’s emotions.Setting these facts aside, this is actually a really sweet love story. Frankie is smart and resourceful. She’s always on point with her job, which she adores, and though she only has a couple of close friends, she loves them fiercely. I love her brilliant mind and her determination to work through her body’s limitations.The MMC, Ren, is a star ice hockey player, for the team that Frankie does the social media for. He’s always smiling, he’s kind, incredibly professional,, adores his huge Swedish-American family and has has an unrequited crush on Frankie since he met her 3 years ago, but his professionalism prevents him from making a move on her.When Frankie gets the opportunity to leave her job to go to law school things shift. Things happen to make her see Ren in a slightly different light and Ren finally sees his opportunity to make a move.I adored Ren, he’s an amazing character. He’s sweet, funny, kind and patient. He’s this fantastic blend of physically powerful and competent hockey player, with a shy sweet nerd who loves Shakespeare.Both these characters are utterly unique and I loved them both. When you love characters this much the plot almost doesn’t matter, but I like the way this book was paced. This ways completely about their feelings for one another and working their way together. There were no big dramas with exes or families, no huge misunderstandings, just two people working through their emotions and history to reach each other.This book reminds me a little of Mariana Zapata’s work. It’s a little more spicy than Zapata’s work, but it has the same deft hand at character building and emotional layering.This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I will be reading more.