Always Only You Summary, Characters and Themes

Always Only You by Chloe Liese is a heartwarming and emotionally nuanced romance centered on two opposites working for an LA hockey team.

Frankie Zeferino is the fiercely independent, prickly social media coordinator known for her no-nonsense exterior—a woman who manages life with autism and chronic pain on her own terms. Ren Bergman, a hockey star with a soft heart and secret love for Shakespeare, is her polar opposite: endlessly cheerful, compassionate, and open. As their professional paths cross and their connection deepens, both are challenged to confront vulnerability, family baggage, and their own worthiness in love.

Summary

Frankie Zeferino isn’t your typical heroine. She’s blunt, dry-humored, and known throughout the LA Kings’ hockey organization as “Frank the Crank”—the tough-as-nails social media coordinator who prefers keeping the world at arm’s length.

Living with autism and rheumatoid arthritis, Frankie is fiercely protective of her routines and her autonomy. She wields sarcasm and the occasional cane (her beloved “Elder Wand”) as her shields against a world that too often misunderstands or underestimates her.

But Ren Bergman, a star winger for the team, sees past the prickly armor. Ren is everything Frankie is not: warm, sunny, open-hearted, and relentlessly optimistic.

With his quietly nerdy love for Shakespeare and his deep loyalty to family, he finds himself more and more drawn to Frankie’s intensity and vulnerability. Even as she tries to keep their dynamic strictly professional, he can’t help but care.

At first, their interactions are full of tension and banter. Ren, always respectful, tries to bridge the gap, offering gentle gestures of support and friendship.

Frankie, who’s used to fending for herself and hiding her pain, finds herself both baffled and infuriated by his persistent kindness. As they work side-by-side managing the team’s image, the chemistry between them crackles—at times frustrating, at times hilarious, and always compelling.

Their camaraderie grows during a series of offbeat encounters. Frankie and Ren bond at team outings, share quiet late-night conversations, and even face a few workplace mishaps.

Through moments both awkward and sweet, Frankie lets Ren see her softer side. Ren, in turn, lets down his guard, sharing his secret passions and the weight of his own insecurities.

But it’s not all smooth sailing. A disturbing incident at a bar—where Ren steps in to protect Frankie from a teammate’s drunken harassment—forces both to reckon with how much they care for each other.

The aftermath deepens their emotional intimacy but also raises the stakes. There are rules around staff-player relationships, Frankie’s fear of being a burden due to her health challenges, and Ren’s struggle to balance his career with personal happiness.

Invited into Ren’s world, Frankie experiences the warmth and chaos of his close-knit Bergman family—a sharp contrast to her own more complicated upbringing.

She’s both overwhelmed and quietly hopeful, realizing how much she wants to belong. Meanwhile, Ren’s admiration only grows as he witnesses Frankie’s resilience, intelligence, and dry wit.

As their flirtation turns to romance, they navigate the thrill and uncertainty of secrecy. They share stolen kisses and whispered confessions, but always remain wary of workplace boundaries and public scrutiny.

Yet, Frankie’s self-doubt looms large. Years of feeling “too much” or “not enough” make her question if she’s capable—or worthy—of real love.

She worries that letting Ren in means giving up control, and that loving someone might make her vulnerable to heartbreak.

Ren, meanwhile, is steadfast. His patience and respect help Frankie trust, though he, too, struggles with the pain of loving someone afraid to believe in their own happiness.

As challenges mount—both internal and external—the two are forced to confront their greatest fears. For Frankie, it’s letting herself be cared for; for Ren, it’s holding onto hope without losing himself.

Their journey is full of honesty, awkwardness, hard conversations, and genuine tenderness.

By the time the story reaches its turning point, Frankie and Ren’s bond has been tested by vulnerability, misunderstandings, and moments of crisis.

But their connection is undeniable. Both must decide whether to risk everything for the chance at a love that sees and accepts them, flaws and all.

Characters

Frankie Zeferino

Frankie is the protagonist whose voice and experience shape much of the narrative. She is introduced as the sharp, often blunt, social media coordinator for the LA Kings hockey team.

Frankie is autistic and has rheumatoid arthritis, conditions that shape her daily life and influence how she interacts with the world. She is fiercely independent, building high emotional walls and developing a tough exterior—earning her the nickname “Frank the Crank” among colleagues.

Beneath her sarcasm and gruffness, Frankie is deeply vulnerable, shaped by past experiences of not being fully accepted or understood by her family or society. She is cautious with her trust, slow to let people in, and often battles the fear of being seen as a burden due to her disabilities.

As the story unfolds, Frankie reveals her wit, loyalty, and deep capacity for love. Her journey is one of learning to accept her need for support, understanding that vulnerability is not weakness, and realizing that she deserves love exactly as she is.

Her passion for pop culture (especially Harry Potter), her dry humor, and her moments of insecurity make her a fully realized, relatable character. Frankie’s growth is both poignant and inspiring.

Ren Bergman

Ren is the other half of the novel’s central couple. A gentle giant on the ice, Ren is known for his sunny disposition, patience, and unwavering kindness.

As a star player for the LA Kings, he is the epitome of the “nice guy” trope, but his depth becomes clear as the story progresses. Ren grew up feeling like an odd one out in his athletic family, finding solace in hockey, literature, and Shakespeare—interests he initially keeps private out of a desire to protect their intimacy.

Ren is emotionally intelligent and attuned to the needs of others, especially Frankie. He admires her strength, respects her boundaries, and never tries to “fix” her, instead supporting her autonomy.

Ren’s quiet struggles center on the fear of not being enough or being rejected for his softness, yet he never wavers in his devotion. His steadfast presence, humor, and gentle encouragement help Frankie confront her own insecurities.

Ultimately, Ren embodies the idea that real strength is rooted in kindness and vulnerability, not just physical prowess or bravado.

Willa Sutter

Willa, though not a primary character, plays a significant supporting role as a friend and confidante to Frankie. She is in a relationship with one of Ren’s brothers and quickly bonds with Frankie over their shared irreverence and appetite for greasy food.

Willa is spirited, warm, and unafraid to challenge social norms. Her friendship provides Frankie with much-needed camaraderie and validation, helping her to feel less isolated both at work and in her personal life.

Willa’s easy acceptance and encouragement help Frankie open up and take emotional risks.

Matt Maddox

Matt Maddox is a teammate of Ren’s who serves as an antagonist, albeit a minor one. His inappropriate behavior toward Frankie during a drunken encounter at a bar highlights the everyday challenges and risks Frankie faces as a woman in a male-dominated, high-profile environment.

Maddox’s harassment becomes a turning point in the narrative, catalyzing deeper intimacy between Ren and Frankie. This incident also forces both characters to confront issues of power, safety, and respect in the workplace.

Matt’s actions, though quickly condemned by Ren, serve as a backdrop against which the true character of Ren—and by contrast, Frankie’s other colleagues—is highlighted.

Themes

Vulnerability as Strength in Neurodiverse and Disabled Identities

At the heart of Always Only You lies an intricate exploration of vulnerability, not simply as emotional exposure but as a form of radical strength, especially for those whose identities are shaped by neurodiversity and chronic illness. Frankie, living with autism and rheumatoid arthritis, spends much of her life cloaked in self-protective armor, conditioned by a world that treats her differences as deficits.

Yet, the narrative insists that her willingness to reveal pain, uncertainty, and need—especially to Ren—becomes an act of profound bravery. Rather than equating openness with weakness, the story gradually redefines it as an essential ingredient for intimacy and personal liberation.

The more Frankie resists masking her true self, the more she discovers that accepting support does not diminish her autonomy; instead, it expands her capacity for connection. Through her relationship with Ren, the book dissects the tightrope between independence and interdependence, ultimately proposing that the courage to be vulnerable is itself a radical assertion of strength for people who are routinely told to minimize their needs.

Love as an Act of Unlearning Internalized Ableism and Rewriting Self-Worth

A major, complex theme running through the novel is the slow, often painful process of unlearning internalized ableism—those deep-seated beliefs that one’s body or mind makes one “less than.” Frankie’s journey is haunted by a persistent sense of being a burden, shaped by both her family history and society’s casual cruelty.

Love, in this context, is not a magical cure but a painstaking act of rewriting self-worth. Ren’s unwavering acceptance and gentle adoration challenge every message Frankie has absorbed about her unlovability.

Yet, the book does not romanticize his patience as a solution; instead, it places responsibility on both partners. Ren learns to love without pity, offering care in ways that respect Frankie’s agency, while Frankie must confront the internal voices telling her she is “too much.”

Their romance becomes an arena for battling and ultimately dismantling the shame of disability, showing that authentic love is not about erasing difference but embracing it as integral to the relationship’s depth.

Tension Between Visibility and Privacy for Marginalized Identities

Another deeply layered theme is the fraught relationship marginalized people often have with visibility. Frankie’s role as the team’s social media coordinator forces her into constant calculations about what to reveal, both professionally and personally.

The narrative skillfully unpacks the exhaustion of performing “normalcy,” especially in public or professional spaces where neurodivergent and disabled people must balance the risks of exposure against the need for authenticity. This tension is mirrored in Ren’s own private love of poetry and Shakespeare—parts of himself he keeps hidden in a hypermasculine, athletic environment.

The novel interrogates the costs of invisibility but also resists the simplistic solution of total disclosure. Instead, it honors the right to privacy, showing that being seen on one’s own terms is an act of self-preservation.

The delicate dance between what is shared and what is shielded ultimately becomes a form of self-definition, as both Frankie and Ren carve out safe spaces for their truest selves.

The Subversion of Traditional Masculinity and the Power of Emotional Intelligence

In a genre where male athletes are often defined by stoicism and physical prowess, Ren stands out as a deliberate subversion. His gentle kindness, emotional transparency, and nerdy love for Shakespeare undermine conventional ideas of masculinity.

The narrative suggests that true partnership flourishes not through dominance or performative toughness but through emotional intelligence and compassion. Ren’s ability to support Frankie is not rooted in saviorism, but in a profound respect for her boundaries and a willingness to share his own fears and insecurities.

The book positions these traits not as weaknesses but as sources of quiet power, arguing that masculinity is richest and most attractive when it makes space for softness, vulnerability, and nurturing. In doing so, it expands the definition of what it means to be strong and masculine, providing a template for love that is deeply egalitarian and mutually sustaining.

The Redemption of Found Family and the Longing for Belonging Beyond Blood Ties

Finally, the theme of found family weaves through both Frankie and Ren’s arcs, casting a gentle but insistent light on the limits of biological family and the redemptive potential of chosen kinship. For Frankie, whose upbringing was marked by misunderstanding and emotional neglect, Ren’s warm, sprawling family represents both an ache and a hope.

Her journey is not only about romantic love but also about discovering a sense of belonging she never thought possible. The Bergman family, with its quirks and unconditional support, becomes a haven for her, showing that true family is forged through acceptance and care rather than mere genetics.

This theme underscores the idea that healing from familial wounds is possible, not by erasing the past but by building new bonds that validate and celebrate every part of one’s identity.Always Only You thus stands out not just as a romance but as a layered meditation on what it means to love, be loved, and build a life that honors all the parts of oneself society most often asks us to hide.