This is hell. Marrying someone you’re in lust with is hell.

With You Forever

Thank you, NetGalley, LoveARCtually, and Chloe Liese for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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.

If the first three novels in the Bergman Brothers series didn’t solidify Chloe Liese as one of my favorite authors, With You Forever definitely has. It’s the fourth book in the series and follows Axel, the stoic artist, and Rooney, Willa’s best friend and, therefore, adopted member of the Bergman family. 

The book picks up pretty closely after the events of the Ever After Always epilogue, in which Rooney gets carried away during a game of charades and kisses Axel. It wouldn’t be a problem, except she has a massive crush on him. She’s not the only one, though. Axel has been nursing his own crush for some time. They’ve been able to avoid each other since the kiss, but not for long. When Rooney ends up at the a-frame after being forced to take some time away from law school for health reasons, and Axel needs to get married to have enough money to save said a-frame, they’re thrust together and forced to confront their true feelings. 

With You Forever is by far my favorite of the series. It still has that wonderfully raw emotion of the first three combined with a beautiful slow-burn and witty banter that I’ve come to expect from Chloe Liese, but there is just something about this book that feels different from the others. You can really tell how much Chloe Liese has grown as an author from the pacing and writing. 

The premise of a marriage of convenience—which I find usually works better in a historical romance than a contemporary—and the grumpy/sunshine dynamic are executed so well. I fell in love with Axel’s misunderstood grumpy ways and found myself empathizing with him in a deep way. I loved the vulnerability between him and Rooney. They grow to truly open up to and support each other, especially in terms of Axel’s autism and Rooney’s chronic IBD. 

As with the first three, I adored the Bergman family dynamic. We especially got more insight into Oliver, whose story is being told next (and I’m so excited). We also met some new characters, who were so fun, and I hope we see more from them. I genuinely can’t recommend this series enough. I have loved every single one of these stories, and anything written by Chloe Liese will definitely be an auto-buy from me in the future.