The Basic Book Bitches

The Bergman Brothers, Book 1

This story follows college students Ryder and Willa. Willa is a soccer star who is struggling to maintain her grades and her eligibility to play. Ryder is a self-contained student, recently deafened by illness and learning to navigate the new limitations of his environment.

These two have an enemies to lovers relationship, but the enemy portion of their relationship is very mild. The real angst in this story is related to Willa’s mother’s illness. She is cancer-stricken and hospitalized. I read plenty of stories that involve illness and death, but I don’t typically look for that kind of heartache in my romance novels.

I liked this story, but ultimately decided not to continue this series, not for now, anyway. It just didn’t grab me. Liese has a good writing style, but I felt like the dialogue was a little forced, and good verbal interactions between characters is really important to me.

Stars: 2/5, Spice: 3/5