A slightly spicy, second chance celebrity romance — multiplied by two. Creating a cleverly executed love triangle that results in a heart wrenching story of lost-and-found love, personal discovery, and healing.

In a race to settle down and become a mother, musical genius Maggie Vine is still struggling to find success in life and love well into her thirties when the same marriage pact she made with two different men years apart proves faithful on her thirty-fifth birthday. Now, simultaneously reacquainted with her past flames, one her first love and the other her best friend, she is forced to make a final choice that promises to lead her into the future she has always dreamed of living.

Told in three alternating timelines (not chronological), Maggie explores both second chance romances in the present day while experiencing each of them for the first time in the past. Despite the life encounters shared over the years (many traumatic) there doesn’t seem to be much growth or maturity in any of the main characters. True to any Hollywood romance this story is frustratingly unethical, emotionally messy, and unrealistic. But also deliciously addicting, funny, and sweetly nostalgic. I enjoyed the Trader Joe’s plot line. And appreciated having a relentless female protagonist with an authentically supportive girl friend. Plus, being strung along to the absolute utter end. No spoilers here. Will you be Team Garrett or Team Asher?

Trigger warnings: sexual assault, infertility, suicide, ptsd.

It just took such a long time for me to get into this book. I understand what the author was doing when she decided to switch between timelines, then vs. now, but it made it really hard for me to follow and in turn get invested in the characters. The romance initially didn’t make sense to me and I didn’t get the why between Maggie and Asher. Their chemistry just wasn’t there for me.

Aside from that, the writing was phenomenal and the book had a lot of potential. It just didn’t spark my interest right away.

I loved this. I'm completely 😭😭😭😭 right now.
This is one of those books that will stay for a long time for me What a unique trope, and what an incredible journey for Maggie. Garrett is so flawed and yet so understandable, how many of us struggle with what he has struggled with. Archer is a cinnamon roll, his emotions and empathy so pure, he was absolutely written by a female. I was almost immediately not rooting for Garrett - Maggie deserved better and I couldn't understand why she was so in love with him when he was so inauthentic.
I love the growth and strength of Maggie, a strong, kind and full of life lead.

I think the author's writing style was beautiful and poetic- along the lines of Abby Jimenez, Ashley Poston, Emily Henry, Carley Fortune and Renee Carlino.

I would absolutely read another book by this author, she is one of my new favourites. Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

The story was ok but I did not love it. I had a hard time keeping interest throughout the story. The pace was a bit slower which I have a hard time with.

Wow! I was excited to read this book but I did not bargain for the beautiful, emotional love story and tale of personal growth that Maybe Once, Maybe Twice delivered. The format was clever and I loved that it contributed to the suspense and investment in the story. The character development that occurred over the 25+ year storyline was incredible. It’s obvious that Alison Rose Greenberg left it all on the page. The writing was fun and vivid and the dialogue was realistic and engaging. I absolutely loved this book and will be telling everyone to grab it.

I received an ARC and shared my review voluntarily.

“The love of your life doesn’t have to last forever. I would live the rest of my life knowing that loving and being loved by him twice in this lifetime, was more than enough."

"Success doesn’t come easily for women who dare to be themselves. It’s a painful road, and Summer and I had already let down a few people along our chosen paths, and we’d let down more. But if we were lucky, at the end of our roads, we’d look back and smile, realizing that we’d made ourselves proud."

"The sob of heartbreak is primal and universal, and if you’ve ever been there, just thinking about the moment your heart broke makes your insides heavy, leaving you with a need to clutch your chest, as if to marvel over the fact that you survived."

"It’s not the heartbreak that defines who we are, it’s how we react to it."

"Hope is the Unknown wrapped in a safety net. It’s wading through rough waters, clinging to the possibility that a big wave might push your shivering, tired body onto the balmy, sun-kissed shoreline, and ignoring the fact that a big wave might sneak up on you and drown you. When sparkly hope gives way to a cruel reality, when you can nearly taste the shoreline but you’re caught in the undertow, it’s heartbreak."

These Quotes you guys!! I really enjoyed this one! I love that it was centered around music and choices that you didn't know how the MC was going to decide and overall she kept choosing herself which was beautiful! There was a small part of the book where she was adament she had to have a kid by the time she was 35 which really threw me off as not all women have to have children like its some sort of milestone that just be accomplished in life. I just felt it was a little unneeded and didn't add to the story! But maybe some people will dig it! Besides that though I really enjoyed the writing style and the storyline! Thank you @mbc_books & @alison.greenberg for sharing this ARC with me! I'm late though friends because this beauty released on 10/3! So go get it!

I give Maybe once, Maybe twice by Alison Rose Greenberg ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book is like being wrapped up in a blanket that just came out of the dryer. This book is like drinking the perfect cup of tea while watching it snow outside, knowing you don’t have to leave the house. All in all, this is my new comfort read!

This book just wasn’t it for me. I did not like the main character & the love interests did nothing for me. The time jumps were distracting and the miscommunication trope drove me insane.

Overall it was just okay to me.

I went into this book expecting it to be funny and sweet, and while it was it delivered so much more. It introduced depth and emotional range that made me tear up and feel for the characters. It's also wonderful to read a book about a woman in her 30s-so often books focus on younger women but women of all ages deserve to seem themselves in books as well

I really loved Greenberg's debut but this just wasn't a vibe for me. I think I wasn't the audience for this one.

Let me start this review but stating that I don't think there was anything wrong with this book, it just wasn't for me. To start, I normally don't like dual timelines because I always find myself preferring one over the other, making the book seem to drag and that's how I felt about this book. It was hard for me to be fully invested in the book when I was only interested in reading half of the story. This is a personal preference though and I think if you like second chance romances with dual timelines, then you'll really enjoy this story!

emotional hopeful reflective tense slow-paced
Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75 stars

This book was so sweet. It's my first by Alison Rose Greenberg and because of her writing style, I'm interested in her backlog!

I started reading it blind, so honestly the two love interests caught me a little bit off guard — but I LOVED the way the story developed. I do think the skipping around was a little too much, but I liked how it helped to tell the story. The baby plot was kind of off-putting for me personally, but I can see how it made sense for our character's journey. That said, I hated the break up with Asher (not Garrett's, that one was really sweet)and didn't think it was necessary. Especially since they got together in the end anyways! This read more like women's fiction to me, especially since so much of the story focuses on our main gal's growth. I think this is a great read for women in their late 20's/early 30's — the issues the characters were dealing with felt relatable and age appropriate.

*Content warning for sexual assault and off-screen mention off suicide*

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc in exchange for my review!

Gosh I adored this book!!! I loved the shift between past and present, times perfectly with little glimpses into the relationship development with each MMC.
This author captured the emotions so well that I could really feel it throughout every moment, especially the moments of impact.
Sometimes it’s hard to keep me invested in a love triangle, but Maybe Once, Maybe Twice was written so well.
Can’t wait to read more books by this author!

First and foremost, thank you to NetGalley/St. Martin's Press for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honesty review.

This novel had a lot of potential. The one thing that overshadowed the book as a whole was the insane amount of time hopping. It was a lot to keep up with and felt unnecessary at times. I liked the description of the book, but it just wasn't executed well in my opinion.

Most of the characters weren't loveable whatsoever. I feel like the description of Maggie and Garret's relationship did not warrant all of the back and forth she was doing over him in comparison to the description of her love for Asher. I would have been more satisfied if the book was just about her and Asher's relationship. The Garret storyline didn't mean anything in the end. In the grand scheme of things, I feel like we as readers got more insight into Maggie's relationship with Garret and it wasn't needed.

Overall, the story felt all over the place to me and it was difficult to connect to the characters.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I liked the idea of there being two different guys that she made this "if we're not married by 35" pact with, but I liked one of guys and found the other one kinda annoying, so that made it harder to enjoy half of the book. I liked the multiple timelines and the flashbacks from both of the relationships throughout her life. After enjoying the author's previous book, I wanted to love this book more than I ultimately did.

Did you ever make a pact or hear of someone making a pact with a friend. Something like “If we're not married by a certain age, then we'll marry each other.” I did, so I thought it was really funny to read what would happen if those two people remembered and then brought it up to each other.  Maggie made this pact with not one but TWO different men. She turns 35 and has to deal with the fallout. I loved this book! For the most part, it was funny and made me laugh out loud so many times. Some of the topics were a bit heavier. Send me a DM if you want to chat about it before you buy/borrow it. Or see if there are TW listed somewhere.  

There were times when my heart ached for Maggie when she was dealing with some of her emotions and processing some events that occurred during her lifetime. There were times I felt like she was mourning the life she might have had if events were different. I could feel her raw emotions. Loved it!

There was a love triangle, but it was pretty closed door. I felt connected to Maggie and adored both MMCs. This was such a pleasure to read.

There were multiple timelines, which you know is my jam. There is a lot of back and forth in time, so I think for a lot of people, the physical or e-book copy will be the best version. However, I listened and read this book and said both versions were great. The narrator, Katherine Littrell, did a great job! Hats off to her!

Thank you to @alison.greenberg , @netgalley & @stmartinspress for a gifted copy of this ebook!! 

Read this Book If:

You want to laugh

You want to read about the relationships Maggie has with two very different men who were very important in her life.

You want a fairly closed door love triangle

3.5 stars

I really loved the premise of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice. The story was a fun read and the characters for the most part were very likable. I also liked the past and present views to help us understand each characters past with each other.

***SPOILER***
The part that kept me from giving this book a higher star rating was the fact that Maggie just jumped into a relationship with Asher while she was still so in love with Garrett.. I just felt that the timing was off and her actions didn’t really mesh well with her feelings. Other than that I really enjoyed this book.

***Thank you Netgalley & St. Martin’s Press for an ARC copy in return for an honest review***

Audiobook Rating: 5/5 🌟

It really pains me to write a mediocre review for Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg and I want to immediately preface this review by saying if you think it sounds good you should DEF read it! I am in a bit of the minority here and I would never want to stop someone from reading something just because it wasn't personally for me. I read and REALLY enjoyed Bad Luck Bridesmaid when it came out, and I couldn't wait to see what Greenberg had in store for me with this one. I loved the little love triangle, and I found it rather funny that Maggie made a marriage pact with 2 different guys. I loved when her bestie called her out for it, because how does this happen?! It was humorous but also (maybe?) understandable.

I loved the audiobook accompaniment for the book, and I thought Katherine Littrell did a really great job as the narrator. She was the perfect person to embody the voice of our Maggie, and she is definitely what kept me listening even when I thought I might set it aside. My biggest issues with this book are as follows. For one, there are a lot of time jumps as we follow along with Maggie's story, and I don't think the storyline needed them all. In fact, sometimes they downright confused me, and I didn't love that they weren't chronological. Second, I could not understand why Maggie thought it was okay to fool around with Garrett even when he was engaged. Literally, no remorse about this or any of her other trysts with him while he had girlfriends. Those kinds of characters really don't sit well with me and made her a quite unlikable character in my mind. Despite these things, I will definitely read this author again, and if you are looking for a laugh-out-loud but also deep romance, you will find it in Maybe Once, Maybe Twice!

I know you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but I am an absolute sucker for cute rom-com covers like this! The cover made me want to pick up the book, and the beautiful writing made me never want to put it down! The idea that the marriage pact you made with not one, but two different people may actually come true is wild. I, like Maggie, made one when I was younger (except my friend and I are both in very happy in separate committed relationships now). I enjoyed the story and I hope you do as well!

This book does have timeline jumps, which I know is not for everyone. If you're looking for a cute rom-com with a fun take on a marriage pack, I would recommend giving it a try!

The synopsis of this book pulled me in right away and I was not disappointed! As someone in their early 30’s, I definitely loved the mid-30’s main character and want to seek more of those out. I will say that I did NOT expect Maggie to choose the guy she ended up with, but I get it! Overall, I loved the pacing of the story, the tension, and the romance!