With You Forever by Chloe Liese
Publication Date: September 14, 2021
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Pre-order: With You Forever
Review
With You Forever by Chloe Liese
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
With You Forever is a stunning romance that I highly recommend
What you need to know about “With You Forever”:
✔ Slow Burn but steamy
✔ Dual Point of View
✔ Rooney Sullivan, 24, Willa’s BFF, studying environmental law
✔ Axel Bergman, 30, reclusive artist
✔ Forced Proximity
✔ Marriage of Convenience
✔ Grump and Sunshine
✔ #OwnVoices
✔ Bergman Brothers #4
In “Ever After Always” (Bergman Brothers #3) Rooney kissed Axel during a game of charades to his everlasting shock and then ran out of the room.
In “With You Forever” we quickly find out the reason she ran out, which I will not be revealing in this review. I will just say that she’s been hiding something from everyone including Willa and now she’s taking some time off and going to the Bergmans’ A-frame in Washington state for some much-needed self-care.
Meanwhile, at the A-frame, Axel is facing a crisis in that it is badly in need of repair, he is facing painter’s block (of a kind) so he doesn’t have the money for repairs and, in order to get his inheritance he needs to be married!
Axel feels that he must tackle the repairs without alerting his family as this is how he shows love to his expressive family. “I don’t love like they do.” He has been unable to paint since the Charades Kiss because all he sees is Rooney.
Rooney arrives at the A-frame and literally runs into a stunned Axel. Axel lets her know that the house is uninhabitable and takes her to his place where he quickly disappears only leaving her with a note letting her know that she can stay there for her visit.
Eventually, their forced proximity situation develops into a marriage of convenience so that Axel can access his inheritance. (that sound you are hearing is me shrieking with joy at all of my favorite tropes being deployed in this novel)
Rooney and Axel’s pairing is wonderful, not just as sunshine and grump characters, but as real individuals with vulnerabilities who are working together as partners to accomplish a goal. Of course, neither of them realizes the other has a giant crush.
Chloe Liese builds an emotional relationship between two people breath by breath and scene by scene, creating something so powerfully real and lovely that you can’t help but be swept up by it.
Liese also creates stunning descriptions of her characters, their emotions and the backdrops that leave your senses overjoyed with descriptors such as, “evening sun drips golden tangerine across the ground.” and “Her eyes meet mine, and that moment feels like a new color, brushed across my heart’s canvas.”
There are also so many moments in this book that are flat out hilarious – the emotions are well balanced and give you a full experience of every range of sentiments you could feel.
Rooney and Axel’s evolving relationship is a pure pleasure to be immersed in. Rooney starts to understand the pressures that Axel places on himself, “The deeper you love, the deeper the risk of disappointment, and hurt and loss.”
As Rooney shares her secret with Axel it is a tender moment as she gives Axel the time to let him express himself. They truly learn each other so well in this book and it is beautiful.
Their relationship is a “delicate dance” and as Viggo says, “there’s a love story for anyone out there who wants one.”
This is a gently paced yet steamy romance that reassures us that no matter what insecurities or vulnerabilities we face we all deserve to be accepted, safe and loved for who we really are. I highly recommend “With You Forever”, a stunning romance that reminds us to our core of the meaning of bravery, family and love.
WRITING STYLE: 5/5
PLOT: 5/5
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5
PACING: 5/5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 5/5
ROMANCE: 5/5
HEAT: 5/5
I received an ARC from NetGalley, the author and I are mutuals on Twitter, my opinions are 100% my own.
View all my reviews
Synopsis
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 DIY home disasters, 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.
*This is an #OwnVoices story for its portrayal of autism by an autistic author.
About Chloe Liese
Chloe writes romances reflecting her belief that everyone deserves a love story. Her stories bring humor, heart, and heat, and often feature neurodiverse characters. She’s an avid reader, lover of leggings, and can’t eat enough mint chocolate ice cream. Diagnosed as an adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder (formerly Asperger’s Syndrome), she supports #OwnVoices writing to represent neurodiversity and other marginalized voices.
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Playlist
Click here for the Spotify Playlist that matches up with the book chapter-by-chapter.
With You Forever by Chloe Liese is one of my favorites of 2021. I really hope you love it as much as I did. Here are links to my reviews for the the rest of the Bergman series: Only When It’s Us, Always Only You, Ever After Always.