Typically I am not drawn to romance/rom-com books but this one just looked so interesting! I'm glad I read this book -- the premise did not disappoint and prefer novels that go back and forth in time, so this was a great read for me. I enjoyed the characters as well, and the creativeness of the songs and telling of the life/struggles of a musician were very entertaining. However, in my opinion there was a little too much cursing for me in the book (I just don't like when there's multiple f-bombs page after page), and the pony scene was weird. Overall, in the balance of what I did like versus what I didn't like, I would recommend this book because it was a good read!

3.5 stars rounded up.
This book was just what I needed. This August I've been bouncing around domestic thrillers and romances. Though this had romance elements to it, it was still an adult coming of age story wrapped around the trope of "If we aren't married by 35, we get married."

And this is where our heroine, Maggie finds herself. Except it's two men whom she made promises to in very different stages of her lives. Her best friend Garrett, whom she's been in love with for almost 12 years. And, Asher, her first love from arts camp. The catch? Garrett is freshly engaged to his girlfriend of almost four years. Asher is an up and coming famous actor turned director whose next project is a film musical based on a book Maggie loves. Maggie's dreams of a budding music career were thwarted, but this may be a chance for her to reclaim her power, follow her dreams, but will her heart get in the way?

This book was angsty, and even though the teenage romance rekindling after all these years is such a delicate trope to get right, that wasn't the focus of the book. Thank you to St. Martin's press for the ARC for my honest review.

Maybe Once, Maybe Twice was just such a lovely read! Maggie Vine has made two marriage pacts that at 35 they’ll get married, only on her 35th birthday they both show up—Garrett comes to her birthday wanting to kiss her, only he’s engaged to someone else, and then there’s Asher, her first love turned heartthrob actor who comes with a career-changing opportunity. I actually really loved this book. I wasn’t expecting to but it is heartwarming and lyrically written and addicting to read. Maggie is so vulnerable and the dual timeline adds so much. Plus Maggie’s best friend Summer is incredible! I want to know everything about her. And I love how developed Maggie felt and how full her life is. It is more her story than a romance and I really loved how firm she was in her dreams. The dual timeline was interesting and the two men were so intricate. Garrett felt so complicated and interesting and Asher is just such a sweetheart. This story is emotional, full of love and growth and dreams, and it’s just a great read.

This is a second chance at romance book and I enjoyed how it was executed. We see the fmc with 2 different lives and in different timelines in past and present. It was an interesting take and I enjoyed it!!

A fun, but rather predictable read. Cute story line of two old friends with an age old promise to marry at 35. Definitely a light read.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS BOOK!!!! For me, it is one of those books that I will always remember. The story is told from Maggie Vine's POV, with a timeline covering two decades. It follows her journey in life, from her different relationships throughout her life to her career ups and down.

Maggie was relatable is so many different ways. Her journey, emotions, heartache, and happiness were so palpable to me. I cried so many times with her throughout the story. I loved the songs she wrote about her two greatest loves. I want someone to record these songs and bring the emotions to life. Her best friend Summer was the best and had me laughing out loud. I liked her jokes and how blunt she was because I am the same way with my friends. Garrett was great in his own ways but I fell in love with Asher. Anyone who reads this story will fall in love with him, it's hard not to.

Tropes:
- Marriage pact
- Second chance love
- Star-crossed lovers
- Soul mates
- Angst
- Heartbreak
- Bestie with no filter
- Music references
- Creative genius
- Adult & teenage love
- Emo heroine
- Singer/songwriter.

Trigger warnings:
- Impact of losing family member to suicide
- Infertility
- SA
- Disassociated parents.

I highly recommend this book, it's a beautiful story. I hope there will be an audiobook so I can enjoy this story again.
Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending this book for review consideration.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin’s Press for the advanced copy of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg!

I really enjoyed this book. Maggie Vine is a wonderful main character! She is easy to relate to, and I loved following her on her journeys. In romance novels, it is important to me that the main character has different conflicts occurring aside from the romance aspect; it makes the character feel real, rather than two-dimensional. Alison Rose Greenberg created a female main character who is just that: REAL. She makes decisions for herself: she is determined to become a singer/songwriter, she wants to have a baby, and she also wants someone to love forever. She is a strong woman who stands up for herself! She is a good friend and has good friends surrounding her; I loved Summer and Maggie’s friendship. I was truly rooting for Maggie to get everything she wanted in life.

Not only did Greenberg create a wonderful female main character, the two male characters, Asher and Garret, were really great characters, as well. This is a love triangle romance, and I was on the edge of my seat while reading, waiting to see who Maggie ended up with in the end! I believe rooting for both characters is such a rare occurrence in love triangle romances! Both men are caring, likable, and, most importantly, swoon-worthy!!! They made the reading experience even more enjoyable.

My only criticism is the extreme time jumps that took place chapter-by-chapter. Sometimes I had difficulty discerning what was happening presently and in the past. Otherwise, this is a great read, and the author is incredibly talented! I highly recommend this book!

I love books that make amazing music references, and this book knocks it out of the park. Listening to the playlist along with reading makes you feel the heartache in your bones!
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice follows Maggie as she turns 35 and her life isn't what she thought it would be. She is still looking for her big break as a musician and is not where she hoped she'd be in her personal life, either. We get alternating timelines and see Maggie grow up and meet the two loves of her life, see them both show back up on her 35th birthday, and a lot of the inbetween.
I loved Maggie's determination, her steadfast friendship with Summer, and that she wasn't willing to compromise on her dreams in either her personal or professional lives.

I can't wait for my physical copy to arrive in October

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Maybe Once, Maybe Twice definitely exceeded my expectations - heartfelt, hilarious, and heart-wrenching at times - I loved this book. Jumping around to different key moments in Maggie's life and in her friendships/relationships with Asher and Garrett - you follow Maggie on a beautifully messy, and sometimes devastating journey - but the journey is so worth taking. And as Maggie learns - if you are going to live true to yourself, then you should do so unapologetically. Maggie and Summer both add so much humor to the book amongst all of the angst. And all of the music and song references were so crucial to the story and Maggie's growth and healing! She is an amazing character and this book is going to stay with me for a while. Definitely recommend. Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this novel.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the wonderful and hilarious ARC of “Maybe Once, Maybe Twice,” by Alison Rose Greenberg. This book is about the life of Maggie, a singer and songwriter in NYC, told out of order in different time periods. It’s an effective way of describing the relationships she has with two men in particular, as well as her story of following her professional dreams. Greenberg’s descriptions of being a woman are laugh out loud funny. I thoroughly enjoyed reading every page. I had not read this author before but based on this story and her writing, I ordered her first book.

This story had me swooning over the idea of having two true loves in life and wondering who you should truly end up with... I couldn't put it down! The pacing kept me turning the pages late into the night and I was dying to know which direction this heartwarming story would take. I truly loved this one and will be thinking about it and its characters for a long time to come.

Absolutely fantastic plot! Could not put the book down once I began reading it. Cannot wait for it to be released. I will recommend it to everyone I know!

Liiiiiterally could not peel my eyes away from this book to the point that I spilled red wine all over my Lakes!!! I was hooked the whole way through, and this is just what the doctor ordered after a book rut and some DNFs! Love love loved!!! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC! Sharing it with alllll of my friends!

Posted on GoodReads

This book will rip your heart out. If you like angst, second chances, and love triangles, this will right up your alley. It’s emotional, and the main character is messy (who makes a marriage pact, let alone two pacts with two different men?).

If you appreciate music, the book will likely be of more interest to you. I’m not a music person, but I still enjoyed the story, though I think some references will not age well (example: “Cruel Summer” being underrated, but it’s everywhere this summer). Check the trigger warnings because there are some sensitive topics that come up.

This is an amazing story about Maggie Vine who is currently a singer-songwriter who lives in NY and is trying to make it big and also spans other timelines in her younger years as well. She has two great loves of her life that have one thing in common - both of them made a pact to marry her at age 35 if still single. And both of them show up on her 35th birthday.

Maggie fell in love with Asher Reyes at age 14 in summer camp for the arts….she an aspiring singer songwriter and he an aspiring actor. They had an amazing relationship that lasted 4 years and then they parted ways. He went on to become an Oscar winning actor and she always wondered if he was her soulmate but she just met him too early.

Maggie fell in love with Garrett Scholl at age 23 when she first heard his voice while he performing on stage. They became best friends for 12 years but could just never get the timing right to become more than that.

Everything converges after her 35th birthday and Maggie is faced with incredible opportunities but also difficult choices. Her best friend Summer has always been her rock since freshman year of college and helps her through this too.

Greenberg does an incredible job of telling this beautiful and devastating story about Maggie’s journey from past to present to become ‘unapologetically herself’. Highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Griffin for sharing this ARC with me in exchange for my honest review

I loved the premise of this book, and enjoyed reading. I don’t have anything bad to say, the writing was lovely and the characters were super likeable. I am mostly removing stars because she didn’t end up with the guy I wanted 😂. It did get a little cheesy at times, but was cute and funny and easy to read. This one is out 10/3!

A roller coaster of emotions! Maggie’s story is 100% complicated—a struggling songwriter and singer who has has two deep loves: her first love who she hasn’t seen in 18 years; and the one love in her life that is a victim of bad timing and circumstances. This is a second chance love story, as well as a love triangle, and in the middle of it is Maggie’s heart.

One of my favorite romances of the year!! I was intrigued by the premise and received so much more out of this story than I thought I would! I absolutely loved and was so amazed by the emotional intelligence and depth to this novel. I couldn't get enough of the characters and their complexities between each other. I admit I was torn between both Garrett and Asher (and would basically turn to mush anytime one of the would speak) and I think the author did a remarkable job of handling the triangle and giving closure. Yes, it is about love, but I appreciated and respected the themes of self-worth and self-discovery and how much we learn about Maggie as individual.

I ugly cried (more than once), but I promise the author takes such good care of the reader. So painful but oh so beautiful with all the healing and growth that happens. First time reading work by this author and cannot wait to see what the author grants us with next. It was absolutely pleasure and privilege to look inside Maggie's life.

Much gratitude to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced digital copy in exchange for my sincere review.

title: Maybe Once, Maybe Twice

author: Allison Rose Greenberg

publisher: St. Martin's Griffin

publication date: October 3, 2023

pages: 336

peppers: 3 (on this scale)

warnings:

on-page sexual assault
death of a parent
vomit

summary: The book jumps timelines between important moments in Maggie's life from age fourteen, when she meets and falls in love with Asher, to age thirty-nine, at the end of the novel. In that time, there are two men whose love changes her, and other men who cause other impacts on her life. While she works consistently to get her singing and song-writing career going, she learns a lot about herself.

tropes:

second-chance (and third and more) romance
death of a parent
strong best friend
we make beautiful music together
famous lover
creepy "mentor"

what I liked:

The book gives a thorough accounting of much of Maggie's life through seemingly disjointed snapshots, mostly on her birthdays. 
Best friend Summer is a great character.


what I didn’t like:

I thought this was a romance novel, but by 75% of the book, I still didn't know who the MMC was supposed to be. (If I had not gotten romance vibes from the cover, I might have had a different attitude about there being two male leads in Maggie's life.)


overall rating: 4 (of 5 stars)

This book. I went in reading thinking by the description that there would be angst but this book was truly deeper than I thought it would be.

Maggie Vine was a complex character. A creative musical talent with a lot of independence and fire. I also believe she was so many current women today. The writing in this book was so much better than I anticipated but at times it did feel a bit over the top and contrived and bordering on pretentious but it did feel lyrical and beautiful and that I appreciated. A few times I said out loud, "Wow great line, or That blew me away." while smiling.

Short version I adored this book. Long version, Garrett. Garret why? Garrett had me intrigued. He was written beautifully with depth and a bit of hidden pain buried deep in that generous giving soul. Garrett had so many chances to just tell her how he felt and make a move but he did not. Instead, he stayed with a girlfriend, throughout many times in the story but later told Maggie he would have left any of them for her. I felt the story put too much burden on Maggie to make a move which of course was quite a bit of the arc for the story but for two people who longed for each other and because the story is written in first person we felt Maggie's pining of Garrett to almost obsession of him. Obviously I have a lot to say about this story but a review should only be so long and simply put for me this is a high recommend.

Garrett's voice first attracted Maggie to Garrett and he was a soulful singer. They connected on so many levels but it wasn't their timing in the book it was their hesitation. But wow within that hesitation such great lines and moments. It made me love this story. As time went on Maggie learned to live without Garrett in her life and it opened up a place for Asher. Asher was a great character also but by then as a reader my heart was in it for Garrett. The author did a spectacular job feeling the chemistry between those two and the love between them. Feeling this thing between them that almost became tangible but never absorbed. Great scenes, great lines, and great moments in the story.

What a great clever story. It's not the same ol same ol and it is beautifully written. It's not even a love triangle it's a story that feels real and that many of us need the time to grow and deal with our stuff before we settle into our future. This story will stay with me.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read and review Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg.