Oliver Bergman is the 6th out of 7 kids in the Bergman family and the youngest brother. He plays professional soccer in Los Angeles and is bi. Gavin Hayes is at the tail end of his career, playing for the same team in LA because he can no longer make his body perform at the level demanded in the European league. Oliver is keeping himself upbeat and believes in killing them with kindness, especially Gavin, his team mate and next door neighbor. Gavin looks at Oliver and sees everything he has lost and is about to lose.
Gavin and Oliver are locked in an enmity, but luckily for them they have a coach, some poker buddies, and Oliver’s brother, Viggo, happily meddling to bring them together. Their coach makes them co-captains and then tells them if they can’t get along they’ll both be demoted. And then there are shenanigans on top of shenanigans.
Oliver lives with anxiety and panic attacks, and Gavin has wrecked his body playing soccer. Gavin is unexpectedly kind to Oliver during a panic attack. Oliver, raised by a father with a prosthetic leg, autistic siblings, and a sister-in-law with rheumatoid arthritis, is well equipped to accept and understand Gavin’s pain.
Everything for You is full of touch and the way it builds connection. Liese shows her characters touching with friendship, solace, love, and desire. Touch more than words demonstrates the characters true feelings and self. Gavin uses his grumpy face as a shield, while Oliver’s sunshine keeps people at a distance.
One of the joys of a romance series is knowing that a side character is going to get their romance. Sometimes you get a sense of how it’s going to go, or a hint of who it will be with. I don’t know who is going to rock Viggo’s boat, and I cannot wait to see how the romance novel loving Bergman brother is going to get his world turned upside down. I suspect his brothers will relish the opportunity to meddle as mercilessly in his love life as he has in theirs.
As with the other Bergman Brother books, each chapter comes with a song and Chloe Liese provides a link to a Spotify playlist.
CW: a homophobic slur is directed at Oliver, but we see the impact not the word itself. Chronic pain, panic attack on page, off page death of parent, discussion of disability.
I received an advance reader copy from the author via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.
