“Maybe Once, Maybe Twice" presents an intriguing concept with mixed execution. While the novel does have its moments of brilliance, it falls short in several key areas, leaving readers with a mixed bag of emotions.

The central premise of the story is undeniably interesting. Greenberg takes a bold step by refusing to provide a clear resolution to the romantic dilemma faced by Maggie. Throughout the narrative, readers are left guessing, uncertain about who the protagonist will ultimately choose. Both romantic options are well-developed, and this ambiguity adds an air of unpredictability to the story.

However, this intriguing concept is marred by execution issues. The story occasionally feels worn out, as if it's treading familiar ground without adding a fresh perspective. The emotional conflicts, while relatable, can become tiresome, especially when the same theme is repeated between different characters.

One of the highlights of the book is the character of Summer, the protagonist's best friend. Her personal conflict and struggles add depth and authenticity to the narrative. It's genuinely heartbreaking to witness the challenges she faces in her life, and the inability to find resolution for her character's storyline leaves a lingering sense of sadness. However, the decision to introduce a similar conflict with Maggie and Asher feels repetitive, diluting the impact of both narratives. The repeated theme of the conflict surrounding children, or the lack thereof, tends to overshadow the narrative. It can come across as an insurmountable obstacle, which, for some readers, might feel a bit too heavy-handed.

The pacing of "Maybe Once, Maybe Twice" is a significant issue. While the book feels overly long, with stretches of the narrative where not much happens. At times, it seems as if the story is dragging on, causing readers to lose engagement. Conversely, the ending appears rushed, leaving many loose ends and unanswered questions. This imbalance in pacing leaves readers feeling unsatisfied, as if they've invested too much time for too little payoff.

Lastly, the excessive use of Taylor Swift references may prove distracting for some readers. While one reference can be clever and relatable, multiple mentions start to feel forced and even annoying. It's a case of "less is more" that the author could have benefited from.

The emotional depth of certain characters, particularly Summer, is a redeeming feature, but the unresolved conflicts and hurried ending leave readers with a sense of disappointment. While the book has its moments, it may not fully satisfy readers seeking a more polished and balanced narrative.

What happens when you make a marriage pact with two different men, at two very different points in your life, and both of those men come back to cash in on that promise you made? Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg tells that very story of Maggie Vine and the only two men she’s ever loved in her life – Asher Reyes (teenage boyfriend turned movie star heartthrob) and Garrett Scholl (unrequited love and Mr. Maybe after multiple missed opportunities). This book was both poignant and funny. The dual timelines and flashbacks tied the present day story together so well, that it really made you understand why Maggie was where she was in her life. There were definitely times I wanted to shake her because she wasn’t making a choice I would have made, but ultimately she did end up choosing the right guy – in my opinion. Lots of heartache and longing and a slow burn – which personally I’m a huge sucker for! The 90s music nostalgia was also very real in this book, and had me running to Spotify to listen to the songs that were mentioned throughout the book (Dave Matthews Band, Foo Fighters, Fall Out Boy…the list goes on and on). Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book and definitely recommend you add it to your TBR.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book provided to me through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Alison Rose Greenberg and St. Martin's Press, St. Martin's Griffin for giving me the opportunity to read this book!

I liked this story a lot! At first I wasn’t to sure if I’d vibe with it because of the different timelines but it actually worked out well. Similar to other reviews you want every character to get a happy ending but out of the guys you start to pick a front runner for sure. I think the amount of love shown by each character was great because it all looked different. There were similarities but nothing that made you as a reader get bored with what was happening in each relationship. I really love Maggie’s growth and her always going for her goals. It was fun book to read. This was definitely emotional and spicy but all together it worked out really nicely!

💁🏻‍♀️ Maybe Once Maybe Twice was a great read…𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥𝘭𝘺. The right person wrong time energy of this book ripped my heart out on more than one occasion. The chemistry and tension between Maggie and each of the male heroes was spicy, intense, and emotional. It wasn’t all heartbreak though, this book also had me grinning at the pages, and laughing out loud at hilarious moments I didn’t see coming(miniature horses may have been involved). If a book can make you feel that much, you know you’re going to remember it.

Although love triangles can be tricky to execute, Alison Rose Greenberg did an excellent job of making all 3 main characters likeable and interesting. On top of that, the side characters, particularly a couple of female friends were well done. I love women supporting women🫶🏼

The story is told from flash backs to her teen years, twenties and early thirties and also in present day where Maggie is thirty-five. I really enjoyed the way music was such a big part of Maggie’s story, and how she channeled her emotions through her lyrics.

The author tackles some heavy topics in the book and I appreciated the way she included and approached mental health.

𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬: I recommend this book to people who really like friends to lovers, love triangles and emotional rollercoasters. If you’re a fan of A Love Letter To Whiskey, read this book!

It is safe to say I’m a fan of Alison Rose Greenberg!

I loved Bad Luck Bridesmaid and I loved her new novel (out 10/3!) Maybe Once, Maybe Twice!

Maggie is now 35 but this book does some time jumping back to other ages and big life moments. We jump back to when she meets her first love, Asher, and when she meets Garrett. This book is Maggie’s story involving these two and it is told so well!

Maggie is a musician and you can tell it is her soul food. We get some lyrics of the songs she writes too and it’s powerful stuff! I kept wondering if the author is a musician as well!

This is an Atlanta area author (woohoo!) and there was an honorable mention of ATL in the story 🎉🎉🎉 I always love that since I’m in ATL.

if you like books that are NOT the annoying cutesy love stories but are about love- THIS IS IT!

Thank you to the publisher and author for this advanced copy.

This is the first book I’ve ever read by this author and I’m blown away!

Maybe once maybe twice is a book about a 35 yr old woman who finds her way through obstacles that are so relatable. ( to me) . From the heartbreak of her first love to finding out some important information about her health to putting her career back on track on track. When we meet Asher we immediately fall in love with him. His character build was the best one in the book imo or maybe they all were but I was super drawn to him because of his suffered trauma as a teenager. Maggie and Summers friendship is proof that opposites attract you just need a little communication.
This book will make you laugh, cry, get frustrated, and break your heart into a billion pieces all while bringing up the teen years for you and making you relive them. I didn’t want this to end. I wanted more page after page after page. I’ve only had one other book do that to me.

Can I say this is up there with the best book I’ve read this year ? Absolutely! Would I recommend this book to everyone ? Yes!


Thank you Alison Rose Greenberg for writing this incredible story, St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

Another wonderful romance from Alison Rose Greenberg! Maybe once, maybe twice will take you on a journey through Maggie Vine's life. You'll feel for her and you'll be rooting for her in every stage of her life. Such a refreshing take on what it's like to have two loves of your life and the things that you sometimes have to sacrifice to be happy and successful. It was beautiful, emotional, and a story you'll be thinking about long after you read it.

I really did want to like this book as it had so much I love, musicians, the live music hustle, second chance and a marriage pact; a back up person to marry and be with if you haven’t found your soulmate. Combined with two men showing up on Maggie Vine’s 35th birthday I should be extolling this books virtues.

However I’m sorry to say I couldn’t get past chapter 9. I ended up skimming to the end to find out what happens and wow Goldberg touches on some really timely topics and issues, but the ending sucked for me and I should have realised it from the first chapter as it’s signposted. I definitely preferred Summer’s journey more. As for who she ends up with, the messiness of the person she doesn’t end up with was realistic but it was so crap that both of them didn’t communicate yet communicated with others fine (though, as I said I didn’t read this book). In some respects I wish they did finally end up together given the outcome with the other guy: since it was about wanting the same things.

Maybe I’ll try again, but I just found the flash backs excruciating which completely slowed down the pace and couldn’t hold my attention: what she does in the present day after both these guys clearly didn’t work out in the past.

I am giving this a three purely because I do think Alison Rose Goldberg is a talented writer who shouldn’t be unfairly penalised by this brutal star rating system because this wasn’t my jam. Sorry, it’s me not you. To those interested, do read it, just know it’s not a rom com, it will touch on some heavy subjects and there will be some heartbreaking moments.

I really wanted to keep reading this book and find out what happens to Maggie, such a strong and confident woman. I enjoy a love triangle and second (and third and fourth) chance romance. The sexual tension was definitely there. But I’m not a fan of a cheating trope. And parts of the writing bothered me- why do we need to know that Garrett is always wearing wingback shoes or what he and Asher smell like in every scene or that Summer has had a shit-eating grin on her face? Phrases and ideas felt overused. I also felt that everything tied up a little too nicely, given how much a mess Maggie’s life started out as.

This book. Oh my goodness this book gave me whiplash but in the best way. I’m just really glad it ended how it ended because if it went the other way we would’ve been looking at a very different review here.

I had to sit on writing this review a few days after finishing it. I kept thinking about the plot and the characters and the feelings and couldn’t get it out of my head. I felt like I lost my friends when I finished - that’s how attached I got.

Maybe Once, Maybe Twice tells the story of Maggie, a struggling 35 year old singer throughout multiple years of her life, figuring out what she wants with her life and going through multiple ups and downs, while almost being stuck in a love triangle. For the past twelve years, she’s been pining after her best friend Garrett, who it seems like it’s always the right person, wrong time situation. But from seemingly out of nowhere comes her first love, Asher. Will the stars finally align for her and Garrett, will her and Asher fall back into place, or will Maggie get what she’s been wanting for her whole life - a successful music career and a baby?

I felt so connected to all of the characters here, especially Maggie and her best friend Summer. The ending felt very rushed to me and felt like it jumped forward too quick, but besides that I really, really loved this book.

4.5/5 stars rounded up. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press, Alison Rose Greenberg, and NetGalley for the eARC!

I loved this book, definitely a 4.5 stars
I loved the dual time lines and being able to see our MC character development throughout those scenes.
I loved the friendships in this book as well! Summer while always very blunt was an amazing friend that was always there for Maggie and vise versa.
This book touched on multiple heavy topics and did an incredible job with it.

and an added bonus, the music taste was great and the song lyrics throughout the book felt like actual songs i could cry to in the car.

thank you to NetGalley for on ARC of this book

This was such a fun premise for a book. Though it was hard for me with a love triangle. One of the love interest was a clear winner to me.

This book does deal with infertility, so FYI if that’s a trigger warning for you.

The first 25% was so good. The rest was just okay. The ending felt very rushed. I liked how in this love triangle, you could root for both the men. They were both good people. I left like the “closure” with the one of them wasn’t actually closure and that felt rushed. Overall, I really liked the premise of the story. A bit of the pacing at times felt a little off. I really liked how each chapter was a different age, it was like pieces of the puzzle coming together.. 3.5⭐️ rounded up for me.

Thank you NetGalley for eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book ripped out my heart and soul, stomped on it, and somehow put it back together again.

The primary plot of this book is a love triangle but oddly one where you want all the characters to be the winners, even when you know that’s impossible. But more importantly, and what makes this book such a stand out to me, was the FMC’s passion and drive for music. Now I’m going to be honest, I don’t have a single musical bone in my body, but I was obsessed with the artist/song references, and the original songwriting/lyrics peppered throughout the book. It gave the characters and their love such emotional depth and left me wanting more.

I cried like a baby for the last 20% or so of the book, so please don’t mind my raccoon eyes. Beautiful writing, and loved the ending though it felt a tad rushed. I wish we had more details similar to earlier parts of the book to give the final story line the dedication it deserved.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend to fans of more emotionally heavy (but still a HEA!) contemporary romance authors like Emily Henry or Mia Sheridan.

I really enjoyed this book! Maggie was such an emotionally raw character. I identified with her a lot. I was so happy to see her success and love story!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

This one just didn’t work for me. I really didn’t like Maggie as a character, she felt much younger than 35 (the chapter age didn’t seem to matter). The timing of everything that she ends things with this man she loves and runs into bed with another the next day also just didn’t sit right with me. It all seemed too convenient. The way she handled her trauma also just didn’t seem realistic, but I also (thankfully) can’t speak from experience there. I really liked Summer, though.

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

A thoughtful and lyrical look at a woman sorting out what she wants out of life over 20+ years of highs and lows. A high-powered music career with fame and major awards? A baby? A second chance with her first love? A committed relationship with her never-available-at-the-right-time second love? As her priorities fluctuate, we jump back and forth in time, getting glimpses of key developments in her love life and nascent career, leading her toward hard choices about what to let go of and what to cling to with her full heart. I really enjoyed the central friendship in this one, and the ways Greenberg used the character of Summer as a foil for her lead, showing how a very different set of choices and priorities still comes with challenges, and "having it all" isn't as easy as it seems. I also enjoyed the role music played in both the structure and content of the story, and readers who enjoy songwriting will be delighted to find the full song lyrics at the back of the book. Despite the sweet cartoon cover, this is not a light rom-com, and content warnings are advised for readers who prefer a good warning of what they might encounter. A great fit for readers who enjoy layered relationship-focused stories with imperfect characters sorting through life's challenges, with an overall hopeful tone and a few toe-curling kisses.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for this Advanced Readers Copy of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg!

Thank you so much for an advanced copy of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg!

This book has such a cute premise, and I was really excited to read it. While it is a cute read and I loved the main character, I also grew incredibly frustrated with her actions and choices. I also just could not get invested in the romance side of the book, and it ultimately fell a little flat for me. I think this book has strong characters and will work for a lot of people; it just didn't click with me right now!

I still recommend this book, though, because I think it is a cute story with likeable characters, and I also think the story will resonate with a lot of people!

Rating: 3⭐️