⭐️: 4/5

Maggie Vine made a pact with two different men from two different periods of her life that if they’re single at 35, they should get married, and they both show up. Garrett used to be an aspiring rock singer, but now has embraced his parents dream of pursuing a more structured livelihood, and he also happens to be engaged, leaving Maggie unsure how she would fit into the cookie-cutter life he’s building. Asher Reyes, her first love, is now a famous actor, and when he presents her with a career-making opportunity, it seems like everything she wants is within her grasp, but the past won’t let her move on without a fight.

At the beginning of this book, I was really unsure how much I’d end up liking or relating to it at all, since initially, the structure and time-jumping makes it hard to get invested or really see a point to where the story is going. Additionally, before finding its voice, I felt it relied a little too much on trying-to-be-funny one-lined quips that just felt really try-hard to me. I truly had whiplash during the first part of this because of all the scene setting and time jumps, and I get irritated pretty quickly by main characters who blatantly self-sabotage like Maggie had the habit of doing. Ultimately, it ended up winning me over more than I thought it would. I found the themes of dwelling on what could have been at the expense of living in the present so relatable. The story ends up getting a lot deeper and touching on much more serious themes than originally expected too, and handling them with finesse. The conclusion to the secondary plot was very satisfying, but overall, the romance between Maggie and the men involved in her love triangle was honestly kinda mid. One key takeaway from this one though, always use a female gynecologist, because male ones are not to be trusted with providing helpful and understanding information, as they themselves are not vagina owners.

Thank you to @netgalley and @stmartinspress for this eARC in exchange for my honest review!!

I'm easily adding Alison Rose Greenberg to my favorite author list after not only loving her first book Bad Luck Bridesmaid, but Maybe Once, Maybe Twice as well. I absolutely love her writing style, that her characters are flawed and incredibly relatable, which makes her books very hard to put down.

Maybe Once, Maybe Twice follows Maggie who at 35 is evaluating her life and what she has always wanted out of it, to be a mother. Previously, she made two separate vows with both her high school boyfriend Asher, and her friend Garrett, for them to find her at 35 if she was single. They both do, and Maggie has to decide if it is best to follow her head or her heart in choosing who to be with.

In the end, Maggie ended up with the guy I was rooting for, but I understood why both were so important to her and why it was hard for her to come to terms with the possibility of letting one of them go. The book flashes back to build the case for both of the guys and I also liked seeing Maggie's growth throughout her 35th year.

Maggie and Garrett's arc hit a little too close to home for me having had a guy friend in my life where I felt at times our situations mirrored and I feel like reading about it also helped me in opening my eyes to things I didn't want to see. I also loved Maggie's best friend Summer and her storyline throughout the book. I truly loved the ending, it was a little unexpected, but perfect for the journey the reader is taken on.

If this one isn't on your TBR, highly recommend adding it, and I can't wait for Alison's next book!

Maggie Vines is a 35 year old singer songwriter, who is still looking for her big break and trying to navigate what her future looks like, as someone who really wants a family. Things become even more complicated when at her 35th birthday, both of the men she made marriage pacts with (at very different stages of her life) show up. Asher is her first boyfriend from summer camp, who she has known she was 14– who is now a famous actor. Garrett is following his parent’s dreams for him of working at a hedge fund, but plays in a rock band after his 9-5.

I could not put this book down, and devoured it in under 24 hours. The relationships between Maggie and both Asher and Garrett are so well fleshed out, and because of the time shifts in the story, you really get to understand the backstory and development of the relationships with each MMC both in past and present. There is so much tension, and angst, and I thought the pacing was perfection. I also loved Maggie’s best friend Summer, and how well we get to know her. She was such an important side character to this story, and I thought her conflicts made sense with the themes of this book. These characters and relationships felt so real, and it was honestly a joy to see all of their personal growth and journey’s but especially Maggie’s.

This is a story about love, loss, timing and second chances. What it means to really believe in yourself and live the life you choose for yourself, no matter how little sense it makes to those around you.

I only wished the ending felt a a tad bit less rushed after the climax. But the ending did surprise me, which is rare in a romance book. Honestly, I think I needed more because I wasn’t ready for this story to end. There are so many 90’s and early 2000’s musical references in this book— it made my heart so happy. This is such a unique story within the romance genre, and it is one that will stay with me for a long time— and will go down as one of my favorite romance’s of all time.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for the ARC!

Loved this book! It was a surprisingly fun read in parts- I laughed over some scenes in Trader Joe's and the DMB concert in Central Park. Maggie Vine is a bit of a mess, and when she hits her mid-30s, she finds she wants different things. Two men make huge impacts on her in her life, and while I found myself rooting for one, Greenberg ends this novel the way it really should end! I was so happy to see Maggie get a unique Happy Ever After that suited her spirit. While the romance/love stories were on point, Maggie's friendship with Summer is also absolutely wonderful. Just grab this book when you can!

Maggie Vine is hitting 35. She thought by now her music career would have taken off and she’d have the family she desperately wants. This flashes back and forth showing Maggie at different ages. The two men in her life are Garrett and Asher. Asher was her first love and first everything starting as teens as summer camp. Garrett comes into her world in her 20s. The idea that she agrees with each of them if they hit 35 and are single they should marry, is clever and works.

Love triangles are tricky but this one gets it right. It fits better that there is a time difference when they were first involved with each other. And I like that Maggie knows that she has to be true to herself and what she wants. It isn’t just about being in love or married. I connected to her best friend's story as well. This is thoughtful and left me guessing until how things were going to work out.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for the ARC via NetGalley and I am leaving a voluntary review.

I absolutely adored this book! I loved the characters and all of the friendships/relationships between them all. I loved this author’s sense of humor and writing style too. One of my favorite parts was the references to 90’s music which evoked such a cozy sense of nostalgia. I loved the dual timelines and the second chance/happily ever after tropes which are my favorite. The main character ended up with the one who I was rooting for from the start which is always a good thing! I caught myself smiling throughout reading this book and did not want it to end. I will definitely be going back and reading this author’s other book, Bad Luck Bridesmaid!

Thank you so much to St. Martin’s Press Griffin and NetGalley for my early digital copy for my honest thoughts and review.

Maggie Vine makes a habit of making marriage pacts with boys she loves. Unfortunately, she made both pacts for her 35th birthday.

Garrett is a man that she fell in love with on Monday's at Trader Joes - but the timing is never right. Right before her 35th she professes her love to him only to learn weeks later he is engaged. They just can't seem to make it work despite their love and pact.

Asher is the boy she fell in love with at summer camp. Now he is a famous actor and on the eve of her 35th birthday it is announced he is making the movie of her favorite book but needs someone to make the music. Maggie seeks him out and lands her dream job but realizes the deep love the two shared never left them.

However, Maggie's happy ending has some bittersweet twists and turns.

The main character is 35 going on 25. I found her incredibly immature and very much just wanting any partner despite what she said about love. The book just felt very icky and young to me and I didn't really care for it.

Maybe Once, Maybe Twice tells the story of Maggie, and her on again, off again, on again, relationships with her first love Asher, and her best friend Garrett. Having made a pact with both men, at different stages in her life, to marry at 35, if they were single, Maggie gets caught in the middle of two great loves. Between countless missed moments, like two ships passing each other in the night, and unlucky breaks, this book proved to be a combination of extremely frustrating, and simultaneously fascinating, as the author untangled so many components. While there is some heavy material in Maybe Once, Maybe Twice, there was also humor, one scene in particular involving a pony that will live rent free in my head, making me laugh until I cried. Ultimately, Maybe Once, Maybe Twice was a wild ride, that left me a little wanting in the end, giving me sparklers, when I wanted fireworks, but overall was a great read!
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an early review copy of this book!
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is being released October 3rd 2023-mark your calendar!
**Posted to Goodreads on 8/21/2023

What a beautiful book indeed. From the cover to the writing to the plot to everything in between, I absolutely loved this book. I wish I could read it again for the first time. I can see this being very popular in my library.

Thank you to Alison Rose Greenberg, St. Martin's Griffin, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

3.5 Stars

This one was cute. However, it was kind of hard to keep up with because there were a lot of time jumps. I did like the lyrics that were put throughout the book. But I wasn't a fan of Maggie. She didn't act her age, and she could not make up her mind at all.

The writing style of this book is beautiful. The figurative language, imagery, and descriptive language that is infused into every page is gorgeous and kind of reminds me of Emily Henry's writing style.

I love the overarching themes of this book because they feel so human. Maggie struggles in this book so much, which gives her character so much dimension. Also, not everyone in the book gets a happy ending, which hurt me so badly, but made the story so good. I am a sucker for a happy ending, but a bittersweet, not perfect fairytale ending, takes me out every time. It gives the story a purpose and shows that life is messy, not a linear path from start to end. It also shows that these characters are REAL. They have their own lives and desires, and none of them are there just to serve as a plot device. Their stories are messy because humans are messy, which is something I wish more romance books did.

The miscommunication and right-person-wrong-time and wanting-different-futures aspect of this book took me on an absolute rollercoaster of emotions. I went from swooning to crying to screaming in frustration so many times in this book. I literally loved every second of it though.

All of the characters are so well flushed out and developed too. Every character has flaws and issues they are working through, and every character also has admirable and lovable qualities as well. again, and i know i’ve said this multiple times, they feel so real.

Some unique parts about this book: first, they have written song lyrics in the book. I know a lot of people actually don’t like songs in books, but I personally think the lyrics are pretty good. I don't know if they would sound cringey when you sing them though.

Also, the book has many different timelines. Each chapter of the book jumps to a different point in Maggie's life. At first, I found it kind of annoying because I liked specific ages more than others, but I appreciate how the seemingly random age jumps actually enhance the story because you can watch how Maggie's current relationships parallel her past. It was a really great narrative choice.

The men in this book are *chef’s kisses*. Although it was a love triangle and you had to choose one of them, they were both great people who did love Maggie, which is really sweet.

Overall, this is such a good book if you want to feel happy and sad and frustrated all at once. I rarely ever give out 5 stars to books because there is always something I can nitpick. this book is so good, trust me you need to read it!

This book was everything I needed. I flew through the story, I was routing for everyone. The main characters are so love able, in my opinion, it’s hard not to want happy endings for each of them. I laughed, I cried and I loved.

**thank you to netgalley for the opportunity to read and review**

While I enjoyed the main character and her entanglements, the time jumps were hard for me to manage. I also did not see the point of the third relationship and what bearing it had on the story. I enjoyed most of it though!

Sophomore slump was no problem for this author!! I don't even have words to do justice to this INCREDIBLE love triangle romance between Maggie, a talented singer-songwriter with synesthesia, her summer camp crush, Asher and Garrett, the man she meets in her 20s and thinks is her music loving soulmate who never seem to get their timing right!

Fair warning, your head might get whiplash from the sudden jumps in time and place as this is a VERY nonlinear story that starts as Maggie is about to turn 35 and the two men she made marriage pacts with BOTH show up. Over the course of the book we learn about the roads that lead to this moment through a series of flashbacks.

I've never been a huge fan of the love triangle trope but Alison does it to PERFECTION in this book. I was rooting for both men and honestly didn't know who was going to be the final guy. It was almost unfair that Maggie gets to fall in love with two such swoony guys in her life. But the way the book ends actually turned out to be exactly what I wanted and I was 100% satisfied!

Getting to her HEA wasn't easy though, this is an extremely emotionally heavy story perfect for fans of authors like Emily Henry, Abby Jimenez, Carley Fortune or Sarah Ready. The book tackles grief, depression, sexual assault (off page), infertility (PCOS) but on the flip side, there are some of the most HILARIOUS scenes in this story too!! The miniature pony ride had me cackling in horrified glee and every scene with her no filter best friend was a refreshing delight!

All that is to say, I LOVED THIS BOOK!! You don't want to miss this one friends! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review! I listened to this twice back to back it was just THAT good!!

Steam level: fade to black/closed door

DNF at 18%. I’m so not captured by this story. It feels incredibly messy. I can see how the writing is so poetic and beautiful but it makes some of the chapters long because of the poetic paragraphs. I’m just not interested enough to want to know what happens.

A witty and humorous coming of age romance novel. I loved all the banter and references to music from the 90s/2000s.

Maggie made a marriage vow to two different people that if she was single at age 35 they would get married. I laugh about this because when I was in my 20s I did the same thing. They both show up once she is 35. The story takes us on a journey of Maggie discovering herself and where she fits in life. I enjoyed the jumping around of each chapter at different ages of Maggie. Surprisingly this was not confusing or hard to keep track of. It kept things moving and interesting as bits of Maggie's past are revealed.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. The writing was great and loved the story. I do believe that certain people are mean for certain parts of your life and this book is all about that.

I was not prepared to feel the things I felt while reading this. There is something refreshing about what I consider unconventional happy endings weaved in a book that rips your heart out of your chest (repeatedly) and yet somehow leaves it feeling whole. This book is messy and I know it will be one that I think about repeatedly.

While we do get a beautiful story about love, the heartbreaks along the way, right person wrong time...etc...this book is so much more. We get to see beautiful friendships, overcoming trauma, and learning to choose yourself..even if it hurts.

I don't think I can do this book justice and will be buying a physical copy to add to my bookshelf and annotate. Never have I highlighted as many passages as I did with this book.

I loved reading romances with a 30 something FMC! This story was so relatable, especially as someone who lives and works in NYC. I also thought the narrative following multiple timelines was well managed. We’ll be excited to bring this into our star as a featured fall read!