This is NOT a light, breezy rom com, but a more insightful, thought-out romance, which I enjoyed. The book covers some mature themes including infertility, depression, and sexual assault, so just know that before jumping straight in.

I love how this plot feels authentic and genuine, possibly based on experience. It's nothing like unrealistic romances we are accustomed to, with everything working out perfectly no matter the circumstances. Greenberg does an excellent job of highlighting the nuances of Maggie's (the MC) journey.

The narration is first POV past tense, alternating between different stages of Maggie's life. I started loving Maggie almost instantly, sympathizing with her on many levels. Yup, the blurb makes it sound filmy, with the 'marry me at this age' idea, but the execution is chef's kiss.

A constant theme for me was YOLO- and I understood it's full extent through this book. Following a compelling, self-empowered woman was a truly rejuvenating experience. The story is that of failure, love, pining, friendship, rejection, heartbreak, trauma, healing, introspection, and prioritizing yourself. There were times when I felt like my heart would burst with joy, times when I felt low with Maggie, and times when I cracked up at some scenes.

If you're worried about loose ends, don't worry coz it's all done amazingly well. I finished reading with a tiny gap in my heart, but a smile on my face. Maggie's choice doesn't disappoint either, and all the closure and perfect goodbyes were balm to my soul. Ten on ten recommend for everyone!

Many, many thanks to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was an absolute rollercoaster read for my emotions, and I was 100% in for this ride!

35 year old Maggie is an aspiring singer/songwriter and has just found out that she is in for a hard struggle to get pregnant. As if that's not enough for her, enter two lost loves from her past that she had made oaths to marry when she was 35.

I enjoyed the time hopping throughout the story that helps add a great depth to Maggie's past and present. Learning more about what formed her relationships with the two lost loves, Asher and Garrett, as well as how someone so opposite like Summer could be her best friend was so well written, it left nothing unanswered.

The story was so relatable. I appreciated that the author touched on characters who both wanted children and didn't want children; most will focus on only one side of that coin and I admire this author for diving into this as it spoke to me.

I can't say enough amazing things about this book or this author, and I will definitely recommend both to anyone who will listen.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice in exchange for my honest review!

This book started out great but about halfway through it started feeling a bit bland oddly enough. Due to this, it felt like the romance also fell flat. The ending was also so anticlimactic, it was resolved so quickly.

I.....look this book was fascinating for me.

I really liked how it was written. Writing style was nice. I liked the main character, flaws and all, and I loved the best friend. She was incredible and I wanted more of her.

The romances..... wow! Wow, I did not like either. There was the flashback scenes, of which I just wanted to stay in the present. Also my favorite part was how I knew how the "first" guys's story would end, and I was like "Well okay, so the book is over--- oh well the premise says two guys, but who is guy two OH THERE HE IS."

It felt really disjointed, and for so much I didn't want to be in the flashbacks. I didn't feel like I cared about either romance, even though I did very much like the second guy.

Also the last few chapters??? An entire book could've been about the last few chapters! So much happened at lightning speed that it felt like whiplash!

I really wanted to like this because there was so much going on, but my goodness, I really got super frustrated by this book by the end.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an early copy to read and review!

If you like contemporary romances, flashbacks, healing from trauma, and growing through failed relationship mishaps, this book if for you! It's a very very sweet and relatable love-in-your-mid-thirties contemporary romance novel.

I'm going to be honest here though. I struggled with the beginning. I didn't like the love interest. I didn't feel invested in the characters. It just fell flat to me. BUT then the flashback timeline shifted, and man was I invested and interested then!! Honestly, by the time I got to the ending (which is fantastic by the way), I didn't even remember why I struggled at the beginning! I definitely recommend this to anyone who loves contemporary romance, but especially those looking for contemporary romance novels featuring main characters in their 30s.

Content Warning: s*xual assault, explicit s*xual scenes (not as long as later Sarah J Maas books, but I skipped through them and can't say much more than that), strong language

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this advanced reader copy. The thoughts and opinions contained in this review are my own.

Maggie Vine has dreams of making it big in the music business and she's worked her whole life to make it. Along the way, she's fallen deeply in love twice with men who didn't work out but who promised her that they'd marry her if they were still single when she turned 35. Imagine her surprise when they both turned up but with vastly different emotional roller coasters.
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice jumps back and forth along Maggie's life in a show of the moments that made her and got her where she is in the present. It's a great story full of emotional turmoil, success, failure, and timing just not being right. Greenberg's voice is fun and her characters feel relatable even when they're doing things that feel beyond aspirational or possible but still like something totally doable for them. It's a rollercoaster of emotions that doesn't pull you too far into the dark side while also getting several chuckles, the perfectly balanced rom-com that not many writers manage.
I wanted to rate this one higher because I enjoyed it yet I have to accept that it's a story that's been told a hundred times before, and this one doesn't bring anything particularly new to it. It's very enjoyable because Greenberg is a good writer and her characters practically breathe off the page, but that doesn't eliminate the fact that I constantly felt like I had read this book before.
It's a good and perfectly balanced emotional read that's a nice addition to the second-chance category.

Happy thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Griffin for the emotionally satisfying read!

A fun take on “if we are still single at 35, let’s get married”. Perfect for those who love a second chance romance for sure! This one does involve a love triangle, so if that isn’t your thing, then steer clear of this book. Otherwise, highly recommend!

This was such a unique and fresh read!
I loved how it covered a number of years and we were always jumping between years.
I also found the fact that she was torn between two men who were really important to her quite unique.
The musical aspect of it also gave Daisy Jones & Billy Dunne vibes which I'm definitely not mad about.

I wanted to like this one more than I did. Marriage pacts! Older characters! Other Goodreads reviews sang its praises, so I felt the need to request the ARC. This one didn't do it for me.

Maggie is turning 35, and two men pop into her life. Because she has a marriage pact with both of them. One is her friend Garrett, with whom she's had a bit of an on again, off again dynamic. But he's engaged. Their shenanigans through the rest of the book are a major ick for me and almost made me put the book down. Or, well, my laptop with the digital ARC.

Then there's Asher, the Hollywood big shot. She thinks he's forgotten all about the pact they made after breaking up in college, but he comes through in a big way. Like, with a job offer as well as a life offer.

Overall, I didn't *love* either of the men, and I liked how Maggie sort of ended up choosing herself and her own goals/dreams in the end. Although the actual end made me roll my eyes so freaking hard.

Thanks, NetGalley!

I did enjoy the book overall. But I wouldn't necessarily say I really loved it. I didn’t like the time jumps. There were too many and it was sometimes confusing.

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

It was the music for me. And the book boyfriends. TWO unbelievable book boyfriends, are you kidding me? This book was my first by this author and I absolutely adored her writing. The characters were excellent, I related to being told you’re “barren” at the age of 35, Maggie was badass- such a good one.

The story is of the journey of Maggie Vine life. The ups and downs, trying to reach her dreams of making it as a singer/songwriter. Finding love not once, but twice. First love, forever love and not being able to hold on to love. Maggie is definitely on an emotional roller coaster ride, with heartbreaks along the way. There will be a few tears, and will have you wondering if Maggie with ever find her HEA.
I divided reading and listening to the audiobook, both were great. The narrator was exactly as I pictured Maggie voice. I rounded it up to 4 stars, seemed to drag on a bit with the back and forth of young Maggie and present Maggie. Thank you NetGalley for this eARC. I am voluntarily posting an honest review after reading an Advance Reader Copy of this story. #NetGalley #MaybeOnceMaybeTwice

This is not the first book I've read from Alison Rose Greenberg. I loved her "Bad Luck Bridesmaid," and loved "Maybe Once, Maybe Twice" also. The characters were amazingly well developed and I could feel everything Maggie felt. Maggie has had two loves in her life and neither of them has worked out. But love has a funny way of finding it's place. This is a great romance book and a must read for the romance reader!

There’s so much to love about MAYBE ONCE, MAYBE TWICE 💖 Greenberg created relatable characters with so much depth. I love how she wrote both a female character who so badly wants to be a mother while her biological clock is ticking, as well as a female character who doesn’t want children. All of the difficult topics were handled with grace and I have so much love for these characters 🫶

Second chance romance is my favorite trope, and I loved the unique spin with the female MC having two big loves that are portrayed spanning multiple decades. I loved both Garrett and Asher for different reasons and Greenberg kept me guessing who would be Maggie’s “person” until the very end. The music references were 🤌 and all of the song lyrics really brought Maggie’s music career to life! 🎶

MAYBE ONCE, MAYBE TWICE is an angsty love story that pulled on my heartstrings 🥹

I loved the storyline behind this book and I truly felt the chemistry between Maggie and her two men. The structure of the book, going back and forth to different impactful periods in Maggie’s life, was very unique and made for a more enjoyable read. I also loved all of the music lyrics and mentions of songs throughout the entire book. I actually found myself singing a bunch 🤣
While I overall feel as though it was a decent read, my only complaint is that there was a LOT going on and there were certain elements that could have been omitted. There was so much “fluff” that I feel it took away from the ending which left me unsatisfied because it was so abrupt.

Thank you Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and Alison Rose Greenberg for a #gifted ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

3.5/5 ★

Maggie is a 35 year old aspiring singer & songwriter who has made some "innocent" marriage pacts (yes - pacts, as in plural) with two different men at different times in her life. Did Maggie ever expect to see both men at her 35th birthday party? No. Was she expecting to have to get her *ish together and figure out her feelings for these two? Also, no.

'Maybe Once, Maybe Twice' is a cozy, contemporary romance that delves into the inevitable heartbreak & loss that accompany living a life full of [multiple] great loves. My emotions ranged from happy, to laughing out loud, to heartache. My favorite thing about this book was Maggie's dedication to herself; she was her own main character & learned to love herself so beautifully.

If you're like me and regularly require a "palette cleanser" book of sorts in between your usual reads, this is it! It's emotional, wholesome, and SO relatable.

Nope. I didn't like this. Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is all over the place. It felt like a 30-something woman just journaling her sexual/relationship history and glamorizing this will they/won't they story in the midst of making super selfish decisions (TW: cheating). I didn't want to root for Maggie at all and truly didn't connect with her. I thought Summer's storyline with her wife and decision on whether or not to become a mother was way more interesting and raw and real. And the ending was rushed, unexpected, and mostly unbelievable. I don't know who this book is supposed to target, but as a woman who got married in her 30's, it wasn't for me. Too much going on- movie productions, song lyrics, lots of men, meet-cutes... every chapter was Maggie at a different (cue the journal feel)... I dunno, just no.

Maggie Vine just turned 35 years old. She figured by now her music career would have taken off and that she would have a family. Unfortunately, that's not the case and we find out that she made a marriage pact with two different guys from her past. 

Garrett and Asher are her past loves who end up coming back into her life during the present time. So she now has to choose which is best for her. 

I liked that the chapters went back and forth from the present to the past so we could learn more about both Garrett and Asher and her feelings toward both. I also really enjoyed the Monday night Trader Joe’s dates with Garrett from the past and how he would leave her little surprises for her to find. 

The story does touch on some heavy topics so I would check trigger warnings before reading. 

Overall, this has a very good love triangle that will keep you guessing who she will choose up until the end. 

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a cute romance that included marriage pacts. I kind of wished that they didn't make you feel so invested in the guy that didn't turn out to be the one for the main character. I also would've preferred a few less time jumps but overall I liked it.

This book sounded epic and I was so excited to get going. Maggie was a little unlikeable for me. She comes across as spoiled and has no concept of how to communicate with people hence why she ended up in the positions she was in.

I didn't find the romance parts of the book were wow worthy but I did laugh a fair few times and I thought the ending was really solid.

I am glad I finished the book but I guess I was expecting a bit more than I got.

3.5 stars