Reviews: EVER AFTER ALWAYS & WITH YOU FOREVER
Hey everyone! I hope your week is going well and that you’re finishing the month with some amazing reads. I had a pretty great reading month and one of the major highlights for me was continuing to read the Bergman Brothers series. This one had been on my TBR for a few years, but it wasn’t until Berkley started re-releasing the books with these gorgeous new covers that I was convinced to finally take the plunge.
Ever After Always (The Bergman Brothers #3) Goodreads
Author: Chloe Liese
Publication Date: Originally published January 12, 2021, Rereleased on January 2, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I started reading Chloe Liese’s Bergman Brothers series late last year and it’s quickly becoming one of my favorite romance series. I reviewed the first two books in the series over on my instagram account but wanted to spread my love for the series here as well, especially since books 3 and 4 are my favorites so far.
Ever After Always actually features Freya, a Bergman sister. We meet Freya and her husband Aiden in the earlier books and learn so much more about them here. I loved their relationship in those earlier books so my heart sank when I started reading this one and realized they actually have a marriage in crisis. I thought Liese did a fabulous job in this book of giving accurate portrayal of the fact that marriage is hard sometimes no matter how much a couple loves each other. I found all of the struggles that Freya and Aiden went through to be very realistic and relatable, and the range of intense emotions both of them experience felt so authentic.
After seeing Aiden play the fun matchmaker in the first book, my heart especially broke for him in this story. We learn that Aiden grew up poor and when he and Freya start talking about having a baby, it triggers a deep fear within him that he will not be a good provider for a growing family. Instead of talking to Freya about his fears, Aiden chooses to keep them all bottled up, which then puts a tremendous strain on their relationships because Freya can tell he’s keeping something from her. The lack of communication was frustrating but again, very realistic.
I also thought it was fabulous that Liese has them actually choose to go to marriage counseling and that we get to sit in on one of their appointments. I loved that they were both willing to put in the work to try to get their relationship back on track. I’ve not seen marriage counseling in a romance novel before and again, I really appreciated the authenticity.
One last highlight for me is, of course, the whole Bergman family. I adore this family and Liese has brought them to life so vividly that I feel like I actually know them. I just love how they have accepted Aiden as one of their own, and they aren’t letting his marriage fall apart without a fight.
If you’re a fan of marriage in crisis stories and second chance romances, you’ll definitely want to take a chance on Ever After Always. 4.5 STARS
With You Forever Goodreads
Author: Chloe Liese
Publication Date: Originally published September 14, 2021, Rereleased on January 23, 2024
Publisher: Berkley
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I’ve probably said this with every book I’ve read in this series so far, but I’m saying it again. I’m obsessed with the Bergman Brothers!
I just love how heartfelt each of the stories in the series are, but that they are also infused with a bit of humor. With You Forever definitely falls on the less humorous end of the scale, but wow, did it have my whole heart! I really liked Rooney Sullivan and Axel Bergman when we first met them in earlier books, but fell head over heels for them here.
Rooney is an outgoing ray of sunshine even in spite of the fact that she is dealing with an often debilitating chronic illness. Axel is her polar opposite in many ways, quiet, reserved and a bit broody. But he’s also sweet and gorgeous and Rooney has had a secret crush on him forever. When Rooney needs a quiet getaway and ends up staying at the Bergman’s cozy A-frame, right next door to Axel, it soon becomes clear that he also has a crush on Rooney. When Rooney overhears that Axel can’t inherit money he desperately needs for his business unless he’s married, Rooney volunteers to help him out with that.
Watching Rooney and Axel spend more and more time together as they pretended to be a couple truly melted my heart since it was so obvious how much they really did care for one another. I especially loved when Axel confesses to Rooney that some of the reason why he’s the way he is is because he’s autistic and when Rooney shares with him the details of her chronic illness and how it impacts her life. The two of them are so gentle with one another and so respectful and understanding that I actually cried more than once because they were just so freaking perfect together.
I don’t want to give away anything else, but if you’re a fan of grumpy sunshine, opposites attract, marriage of convenience, and/or forced proximity romances and also love when an author does a wonderful job with autism rep and chronic illness rep, please go read this book. It’s amazing! 5 STARS
Top Ten Tuesday: New-to-Me Authors I Read for the First Time in 2023
Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.
This week’s TTT topic is Top 10 New-to-Me Authors I Discovered in 2023. I read a lot of great new-to-me authors last year, and today I’m sharing my favorites from the bunch. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more from all of them.
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Top 10 New-to-Me Authors in 2023
(in no particular order)
1. LUCY SCORE
2. ELSIE SILVER
3. CATHERINE COWLES
4. ANASTASIA RYAN
5. KATEE ROBERT
6. KENNEDY RYAN
7. KAREN ROSE
8. LAUREN ASHER
9. FREIDA MCFADDEN
10. MARIANA ZAPATA
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Who were some authors that were new to you in 2023? Do we share any?
Thriller Thursday Reviews: First Lie Wins & That’s Not My Name
Hi Everyone, It’s Sharon back with another edition of Thriller Thursday. One of my favorite things with reading is finding authors that are new to me and this week I have two such authors. I am very excited to share my thoughts on First Lie Wins, by Ashley Elston and That’s Not My Name, buy Megan Lally. I loved both of these books and look forward to reading more from these authors.
First Lie Wins Goodreads Author: Ashley Elston
Publication Date: January 2, 2024
Publisher: Pamela Dorman Books
I love when I am scrolling through new releases on Goodreads and come across a book by an author I have never read before, and it sounds like it would be an enjoyable read, so I give it a try and it turns out to be an awesome read. That is exactly what happened with First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston.
The story centers around Evie Porter. Only Evie Porter is not her real name, in fact Evie Porter doesn’t really exist. Evie got her identity from her mysterious boss, Mr. Smith. Evie does not know who Mr. Smith really is, but he helped her out of a bind eight years ago and she has been working for him ever since. So, what does Evie do for Mr. Smith? Well, she pretty much is a con artist. Every job is different, but when needed Mr. Smith gives Evie a new identity and location to move to. Once Evie has learned all she can about the location and the people who live there, she is then given the identity of her mark and what she either needs to find out about them or steal from them. Evie is good at what she does, but on her last job she failed and was not able to retrieve what Mr. Smith wanted, so she is not in his good favor at the moment, so this new job means everything. Do what she is asked, and she is back in Mr. Smith’s good graces, fail and she most likely will die. Evie’s newest target is Ryan Sumner, and her goal is to get everything she can on Ryan’s transportation company. Everything is going great, Evie has become Ryan’s girlfriend and moves in with him, but then someone shows up who claims to be Luca Marino. But Evie knows that is not her real name, because that is who Evie really is. What is Mr. Smith up to? To figure this out Evie has to up her game and stay one step ahead of Mr. Smith if she wants to survive.
I loved Evie! She was smart and very resourceful. She took on any job Mr. Smith gave to her and if she knew the original plan was not going to work, she would figure out a better plan. When Evie realizes that Mr. Smith has also put a target on her back, she works with her friend Devon to figure out who Mr. Smith really is and take him down. Evie met Devon online, he is very tech savvy and had helped Evie on many of her jobs. I loved how he became her found family and how they had each other’s backs. I also loved following them as they try and figure out who Mr. Smith is.
Aside from following Evie on her current job, we also get chapters from her past jobs and aliases. I loved getting this look into her past.
First Lie Wins had so many twists and turns that I had no idea where it was heading or how things were going to turn out. This was a very addicting read and I finished it in a couple of days. 4 ½ stars
That's Not My Name Goodreads Author: Megan Lally
Publication Date: December 26, 2023
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
That’s Not My Name is Megan Lally’s debut novel, and what a debut it was. The story is told from the POV of Mary and Drew. There is not a lot I can say about what happens in this book without giving away any spoilers, but I will do my best.
The book opens with a seventeen-year-old girl waking up in a ditch on the side of the road in the middle of the night. She has cuts and bruises all over her and she cannot remember how she got there or who she is. A local sheriff finds her and takes her back to the station and while he is trying to figure out who this girl is, a man shows up frantic to report his daughter missing. Turns out he is this girl’s father. His name is Wayne, and her name is Mary. After showing the officer her birth certificate and photos of them together, Wayne takes Mary back to the cabin they are staying at. I was skeptical right off the bat that this man was her father and even though he had proof I still could not believe the officer let her go with him. As the book went on Wayne became more and more shady to me, as well as to Mary. He forgot she was allergic to strawberries, the clothes he had for her were too small, he didn’t want her to leave the cabin, etc.. I was truly worried for Mary’s safety.
The other POV we get is from Drew, a seventeen-year-old, whose girlfriend Lola disappeared a couple of months ago. Drew was the last person to see Lola. They had a fight, and she slammed his car door and walked off into the night never to be seen again. Everyone in town believes that Drew killed Lola and instead of looking for her the local sheriff is looking for clues that will convict Drew. Drew is doing anything he can to find Lola, but with the whole town against him it is hard. That is until he finally convinces his cousin Max and Lola’s best friend Autumn that he is innocent, and together the three work to find out what happened to Lola. I loved Drew and my heart just broke for him. He really loves Lola, and he feels responsible for her being missing, because of the fight they had. The guilt is eating him up and I just wanted to give him a big hug. I was so happy when Max and Autumn finally joined forces with Drew, finally he has some support. As they find information that could solve the mystery of what happened to Lola, I was hoping and praying they would all get a happy ending.
By the end of the book the suspense and tension built up so much that I could not turn the pages fast enough. And that epilogue. Megan Lally had me in tears reading that.
That’s Not My Name is a young adult mystery/thriller that kept me engrossed from start to finish. 4 stars