The truth is, we both learned a lesson that day:

Aiden can only push so far.

Freya can only take so much.

Before something breaks.

Badly.

Ever After Always

Aiden

I’ve spent twelve years loving Freya Bergman and twelve lifetimes won’t be enough to give her everything she deserves. She’s my passionate, tender-hearted wife, my best friend, and all I want is to make her happy. But the one thing that will make her happiest is the one thing I’m not sure I can give her: a baby.

With the pressure of providing and planning for a family, my anxiety’s at an all-time high, and I find myself pulling away, terrified to tell my wife how I’m struggling. But when Freya kicks me out, I realize that pulling back has turned into pushing too far. Now it’s the fight of a lifetime to save our marriage.

Freya

I love my cautious, hard-working husband. He’s my partner and best friend, the person I know I can count on most. Until one day I realize the man I married is nowhere to be found. Now Aiden is quiet and withdrawn, and as the months wear on, the pain of our growing distance becomes too much. 

As if weathering marriage counseling wasn’t enough, we’re thrown together for an island getaway to celebrate my parents’ many years of perfect marriage while ours is on the brink of collapse. Despite my meddling siblings and a week in each other’s constant company, this trip somehow gets us working through the trouble in paradise. I just can’t help worrying, when we leave paradise and return to the real world, will trouble find us again?

The third book in the Bergman Brothers series, which I read as part of a read-a-long with LoveARCtually on Instagram, is Ever After Always. I loved the first two, so I figured that I would love this one as well, and it did not disappoint. 

Ever After Always follows Freya Bergman and her husband, Aiden. They’ve been married for almost ten years, but recently something has changed. What used to be an easy partnership built on trust and communication is now a struggling one. Aiden has become withdrawn, and Freya is having a hard time remembering the man she married. Freya wants space, but when they’re thrown together on a tropical vacation to celebrate Freya’s parents’ anniversary, they’re forced to evaluate whether they can fix what seems broken and reclaim their lost spark. 

I never thought I would enjoy a marriage-in-crisis book, but Chloe Liese completely changed my mind, and now I’m going to give this trope a chance. There was a lot of miscommunication, which is a trope I usually hate, but it actually made sense in this context. The problems they had as a couple seemed so realistic, and the way they ended up handling them was done in a healthy way. I loved how they pursued therapy to work through their problems as a couple and individually. 

I also loved the anxiety representation in Aiden. As someone who has anxiety, I saw a lot of what I struggle with reflected in Aiden, but it was written with care and in a way that wasn’t triggering (at least for me; everyone is different). 

Ever After Always wasn’t my favorite of the series (I’m looking at you With You Forever), but I still whole-heartedly loved this book. I loved seeing all of the Bergmans together and can’t wait to read the rest of the siblings’ stories.