Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenberg

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Griffin

Date of Publication: October 3rd, 2023

Genre: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Chick Lit, Adult, Adult Fiction, Jewish, Music

Purchase Links: Kindle | Audible | B&N | AbeBooks | WorldCat

Goodreads Synopsis:

Filled with the romance and angst that defines the years you come to know yourself, with a shifting timeline covering two decades and ratcheting up the tension, Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is a novel of second chances and finding your own way.

You know that old saying, “if we are still single when we’re 35, we should get married?” Well, Maggie Vine made that vow with two different people, at two very different stages of her life.

And they both showed up.

Maggie Vine’s life is going extra-medium. At 35 she’s pursuing her dreams of being a singer and being a mother—though neither is successfully panning out. So when Garrett Scholl—stifled hedge fund manager by day but electrifying aspiring rock singer by night—comes to her 35th birthday party with the intention to kiss Maggie senseless, it feels like one piece might click into place. Except he’s engaged to someone else, and Maggie knows she won’t fit into the cookie-cutter life he’s building for himself.

Enter Asher Reyes. Her first boyfriend from summer camp, turned into heartthrob actor, he’s lived a successful yet private life ever since he got famous. When a career-changing opportunity is presented to Maggie after her reconnection with Asher, it feels like everything—music, love, family—will fall into place. But her past won’t let her move on without a fight.

First Line:

I shifted on my barstool, faraway eyes watching my best friend, Summer, float past the neon exit, her four-inch heels barely touching the ground, a mauve silk duster moving behind her model frame.
Maybe Once, Maybe Twice by Alison Rose Greenburg

Important things you need to know about the book:

Pace: The pacing of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is medium.

POV: Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is told in 1st person POV (through Maggie’s eyes).

Trigger/Content Warning: Maybe Once, Maybe Twice has trigger and content warnings. If any of these triggers you, I suggest not reading the book. They are:

Sexual Assualt (graphic, on and off page)
Death (moderate, off page)
Infertility (moderate, on and off page)
Attempted Rape (graphic, on page)
Toxic Relationship (graphic, on and off page)
Grief (graphic, on page)
Toxic Friendship (graphic, on and off page)
Infidelity (moderate, on page)
Suicide (moderate, off page)
Anxiety & Anxiety Attacks (minor, on and off page)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (moderate, on and off page)

Sexual Content: Maybe Once, Maybe Twice has moderate to graphic sexual content—ranging from simple kissing scenes to intercourse.

Language: There is moderate swearing in Maybe Once, Maybe Twice.

Setting: Maybe Once, Maybe Twice is set in a few places—New York City, Boston, San Diego, and Atlanta.

Age Range: I recommend Maybe Once, Maybe Twice to anyone over 21.

Plot Synopsis (as spoiler-free as I can get):

At 34, Maggie Vine was floating through life. Her hopes and dreams of a successful music career are just out of reach. Her best friend/unrequited love interest is getting married, and her other best friend is starting a family with her wife. She is also hearing her biological clock ticking. But things began to change on the night of Maggie’s 35th birthday party. A promise of “If we aren’t married by 35, we should get married” is remembered by her male best friend. He shows up at the party to kiss her senseless. But, years earlier, Maggie made the same promise to her summer camp crush/teenage boyfriend, who became a famous actor. He also has the connections that Maggie needs to make it in the music business finally. But, as the summer goes on, Maggie realizes she must choose who she wants. Is it the friend who has always been there for her? Or will it be the actor who can boost her career? Or will it be neither, and she will choose herself?

Main Characters

Maggie Vine: When the book started, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Maggie’s. I felt, for thirty-five, that she was immature and couldn’t reach her goals (not from a lack of trying). She felt floaty (if that was a description). But, as the book went on and I got to know Maggie better, that initial impression was thrown out. Maggie’s character growth was tremendous. Her character growth figured into her decisions during the last half of the book.

Summer Grove: I liked Summer. She was direct and wasn’t afraid to push Maggie. Her storyline was sad, but I was happy she stuck by how she felt instead of doing what her wife wanted. She deserves her own book!!

Garrett Scholl: Garrett was a problematic character for me to like. On one hand, I liked that he was such a good friend to Maggie and supported her in whatever she did. But on the other hand, I wanted to strangle him. He wanted Maggie but was too chicken to go all in. Instead, he attempted to cheat on his fiancee with her numerous times. It drove me up the wall to read those scenes.

Asher Reyes: Asher was a complex character to get to know. Mainly because, until about the halfway mark, he was only viewed as a hormone-driven teenager. But I liked the adult Asher. He worshipped Maggie and was willing to do anything to help her with her music career. But I also liked that he set boundaries with her (unlike Garrett). Some things were a hard no for him, and he had no issues letting her know. By the end of the book, I was Team Asher all the way.

My review:

I started reading Maybe Once, Maybe Twice and didn’t like it. Maggie rubbed me the wrong way, and I couldn’t understand her choices. But this book is an excellent example of good things coming to those who wait. The second half of the book was phenomenal.

I wasn’t a big fan of how the chapters were set up. They were assigned by age and bounced around. One chapter could be Maggie at 24, and the next be Maggie at 15. But, because the POV is only Maggie, the chapters worked. But, if the author had thrown in another POV, then it would have been a freaking mess.

The main storyline centers around Maggie and her choices at various times. The storyline was well written and, after the middle of the book, well fleshed out. Maggie’s choices were sometimes painful and other times amusing, but they all resonated with me.

As I mentioned above, I enjoyed Summer’s storyline. I liked that she was truthful with her wife about how she felt and dealt with the aftermath. I also loved that she was like an avenging angel for Maggie at the end of the book. It was her contacts that got the ball rolling in taking down that person.

Garrett’s storyline was intriguing and complex. The history he shared with Maggie as lovers and as friends was deep. But Garrett had issues with boundaries and, if I am going to be completely honest, self-control. He also couldn’t stand up to his father and was miserable. I did feel bad for him, but he should have left Maggie alone. The debacle of his engagement party was proof of that.

Asher’s storyline was the opposite of Garrett’s. His was pretty straightforward, and how he reconnected with Maggie was interesting. What I liked the most about him is that you got what you saw. The author didn’t focus on his fame; instead, she used it as a backdrop to highlight their relationship (intimate and working).

The romance angle of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice was interesting. Instead of building a romance, the author showed Maggie in various relationships at different points in her life. But it always came down to Garrett and Asher. The author did build up the sexual tension between Maggie and her men. So, when they did have sex, it was explosive.

I wasn’t surprised by the end of Maybe Once, Maybe Twice. I had a feeling that what happened would happen. It was just a matter of who and when. I liked that Maggie got her HEA and ran with it.

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