{"id":22449,"date":"2023-10-02T17:34:01","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T21:34:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=22449"},"modified":"2026-03-22T08:56:00","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T12:56:00","slug":"ever-after-always","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22449","title":{"rendered":"Ever After Always"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ever After Always<\/em><\/a> (2021) Chloe Liese<\/a> (Bergman Brothers)<\/p>\n

\"Ever<\/a>Aiden and Freya have been married for almost a decade, but the last six months have not been good. They have, in fact, been bad.<\/p>\n

But that\u2019s when it all went downhill. That\u2019s when it tripped something inside me that I haven\u2019t been able to get under control. That\u2019s when work became something I couldn\u2019t stop fixating on, when preparing financially for a baby became consuming.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although the chapters alternate between Freya and Aiden, the overwhelming number of my quotes were from Aiden’s point of view.<\/p>\n

It took me a long time\u2014and lots of therapy hours\u2014to accept that my anxiety makes life harder, but it doesn\u2019t make me wrong or damaged or\u2026well, anything bad. It just\u2026is.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

My therapist has encouraged me to be compassionate with myself, instead of wanting to fix myself or change how I am. And listen, I like her. She\u2019s good. Shit, I can even admit she\u2019s right. But that doesn\u2019t mean I like it. Acceptance is not a solution. And I want solutions. I want to be able to fix it.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He struggles with his anxiety, and tries to hide it, which–let me be blunt–never makes things any better.<\/p>\n

Fuck. Fuck. I just keep replaying it, like many things I\u2019ve screwed up throughout my life. Moments I made an ass of myself or felt embarrassed. When my clothes were worn out or too small.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That doesn’t mean I disliked Freya and didn’t emphasize with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere\u2019s this coming from? You know I love your body. You love your body.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cNot always,\u201d I admit. \u201cI tend to oversell the body love a bit.\u201d <\/p>\n

He frowns at me in bewilderment. \u201cWhat? Why?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how to explain it. It just feels like I can\u2019t simply eat and exercise and look how I look. I have to love that I\u2019m this way and make sure other people know, too. Otherwise, they think I\u2019m trying to lose weight, that I\u2019m not happy with how I am.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But mostly it was Aiden who resonated deeply with me.<\/p>\n

I stand quietly and sip my drink, more than ever a stranger to myself, to people who once felt like mine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is so marvelous about this book is it shows you just how hard marriage can be. That marriage is work.<\/p>\n

“There\u2019s a lie we\u2019ve been told in our culture that our romantic partner\u2019s attunement to our emotions and thoughts should be nearly psychic, and that is the barometer of our intimacy. If we feel like they aren\u2019t \u2018getting\u2019 us, we reason that we\u2019ve stopped having that magical intimate connection. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s not the case. The truth is that we change and grow significantly in our adult years, and to stay close with a committed partner, we have to keep learning them, examining if our growth is compatible or divergent.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of the things I particularly like about some of my favorite long-running fantasy series is that after the couple has gotten together, the authors continue to show the work of the relationship–that couples can still argue and bicker and disagree and that’s a normal part of a marraige \/ relationship.<\/p>\n

This book focuses on just that part–and does a wonderful job of it.<\/p>\n

Rating: 8.5\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ever After Always (2021) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) Aiden and Freya have been married for almost a decade, but the last six months have not been good. They have, in fact, been bad. But that\u2019s when it all went downhill. That\u2019s when it tripped something inside me that I haven\u2019t been able to get under […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,292,207,608,26,56],"tags":[680,210,711,50,710],"class_list":["post-22449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-ebook","category-mental-health-rep","category-neurodiversity","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-abandonment","tag-anxiety","tag-bergman-brothers","tag-boinking","tag-chloe-liese"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-5Q5","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23162,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23162","url_meta":{"origin":22449,"position":0},"title":"Two Wrongs Make a Right","author":"Michelle","date":"February 4, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Two Wrongs Make a Right (2022) Chloe Liese (The Wilmot Sisters) I picked up my first book by Chloe Liese because it was highly rated and had a female main character with ASD. I've very much enjoyed every book of hers I've read since then, although I don't read them\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Two Wrongs Make a Right","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Two-Wrongs-Make-a-Right.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Two-Wrongs-Make-a-Right.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/Two-Wrongs-Make-a-Right.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":20901,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/20901","url_meta":{"origin":22449,"position":1},"title":"Always Only You","author":"Michelle","date":"October 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Always Only You (2020) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) Frankie is a social media coordinator for the LA Kings hockey team, which (considering the nature of hockey) gives her plenty to do. I also document informal charitable outings geared toward our most underrepresented fans. It\u2019s not in my exact job description,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Always Only You","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Always-Only-You.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22443,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22443","url_meta":{"origin":22449,"position":2},"title":"Only When It’s Us","author":"Michelle","date":"September 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Only When It's Us (2020) Chloe Liese (Bergman Brothers) Trigger Warnings: cancer, death, grief I read Always Only You and liked it, but didn't rush out to read other books in the series. Finally, I decided I might be in the mood to try another, and tore through the story,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Only When It's Us","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Only-When-Its-Us.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":25622,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/25622","url_meta":{"origin":22449,"position":3},"title":"The Mistletoe Motive","author":"Michelle","date":"January 13, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mistletoe Motive (2021) Chloe Liese There is a lot I love about this story: the ace rep, the female lead with ASD, the single point-of-view. Jonathan glances up and meets my eyes, his gaze speaking some cryptic language that I don\u2019t. I hate that feeling. It\u2019s old and familiar,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"The Mistletoe Motive","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/The-Mistletoe-Motive-188x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":23009,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/23009","url_meta":{"origin":22449,"position":4},"title":"The Mistletoe Motive","author":"Michelle","date":"January 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"The Mistletoe Motive (2021) Chloe Liese Gabriella Di Natale love Christmas. She also loves working in Bailey\u2019s Bookshop, where she can recommend books (especially her favorite romances) to customers. But the store is in trouble. 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