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Better Luck Next Time

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Two frenemies find a surprising second chance in this timeslip rom-com, starring Mae Whitman ( Parenthood ), Colin Woodell ( The Flight Attendant ), and a full cast.

Mona and Duncan used to be best friends. Now they can’t stand each other. Too bad that’s not a good enough excuse to miss their two families’ annual trip to the cabin. But things get really complicated when they accidentally drive through a wormhole together on the way. Look what playing nice and carpooling gets you.

Now they’re stranded indoors by an epic storm and stuck in an alternate timeline where things are just slightly ... off. Duncan and his dad aren’t speaking for reasons no one knows, Mona’s mom doesn’t like her hair or her career choices, and their siblings are meddlesome as ever.

Oh, yeah, and apparently they're going through a divorce. Which means that in this universe they are married. To each other.

All they can really do is play along until they figure out how to get back to the real timeline. How hard can it be—they already hate each other, don’t they? But figuring out how exactly Mona and Duncan managed to fall epically in love with one another—and then break each other’s hearts—is easier said than done. Navigating all these big feelings is leading to new ones, but are they destined to hurt each other in any universe? And what happens to this new relationship when they’re back to their old lives?

Available in Dolby Atmos on Audible.

5 pages, Audible Audio

First published May 15, 2025

143 people are currently reading
1264 people want to read

About the author

Cara Bastone

13 books5,715 followers
Cara Bastone is the author of Ready or Not. She lives and writes in Brooklyn with her husband, sons, and an almost-goldendoodle. Her goal with her work is to find the swoon in ordinary love stories. She's been a fan of the romance genre since she found a grocery bag filled with her grandmother's old Harlequin Romances when she was in high school. She's a fangirl for pretzel sticks, long walks through Prospect Park, and love stories featuring men who aren't hobbled by their own masculinity.

source: Amazon

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5 stars
732 (10%)
4 stars
1,980 (27%)
3 stars
3,151 (43%)
2 stars
1,096 (15%)
1 star
271 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 910 reviews
Profile Image for ♥︎ Heather ⚔ (Semi-Hiatus-attempting return).
1,014 reviews5,099 followers
May 23, 2025
Omg this was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT for me today! I needed something cute that didn’t require much brain power and this delivered the cutest story with great banter!

Utkarsh you need to read this one.

If you enjoy friends to lovers who so obviously love each other but are too blind to see it, with a cute family dynamic, a doggy from another dimension, tension and a bit of a time slip? Check this one out.

The audio is 5 hours and 2.5 hours at 2x speed. ❤️❤️


💛Frenemies
💛Alternate Timeline
💛Time-Slip
💛Rom-Com
💛Second Chance Romance
💛Audible Original (Included)

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Profile Image for buket.
1,018 reviews1,599 followers
May 16, 2025
sorrows sorrows and prayers. my least favorite cara book💔 it could be better if it didn’t involve singing🌝
Profile Image for ✨Julie✨.
819 reviews1,791 followers
May 23, 2025
✩ 2.45 stars ✩

What to Expect:
➼ Frenemies-to-Lovers
➼ Estranged Childhood Friends
➼ Second Chance
➼ Banter
➼ Cute Stray Dog
➼ Obnoxious Singing
➼ Timeslip
➼ Rom-com
➼ Graphic Audio (Full Cast Narration)
➼ Third Person POV

I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I HATE graphic audio, and this one was particularly grating. The FMC is a singer in a band and would randomly start singing some of the most obnoxious songs I have ever heard. The whole idea of a timeslip rom-com sounded so promising, but I really struggled with the characters and felt that their personalities and interactions were very childish. The FMC can’t make up her mind to save her life and the MMC was too passive about their relationship for me to find him attractive. Call me old fashioned, but I want a man to show some initiative and not just make a move when I completely spell it out for him. The way it was written, it seemed like he had barely considered the idea of them together and would have been happy to just live next door forever and never make a move. They were both cowards. 🙃

Despite many issues, Cara Bastone’s writing is so genuinely funny that there were a lot of moments I did really enjoyed. Listening to this however, was a completely jarring and overstimulating experience. I honestly believe I would have rated this more favorably if I had physically read it, but sadly readers won’t have that option for this book. Frankly, I think Audible did her dirty on this one.

I LOVED Promise Me Sunshine and Ready or Not, so it pains me to say this, but this one was a dud. I’ve been looking forward to listening to her other books on Audible, so I’m really hoping this is just one bad apple in the bunch and not a bad omen for the rest of her catalogue. 🤞🏻

✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼

Pre-read: The reviews for this one are ominous… I’m not ready to accept that Cara Bastone could produce anything but bangers, so I hope you guys are wrong. 😆

✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼  ҉  ✼

Um… excuse me?! A Cara Bastone timeslip rom-com publishing in a month?!! Losing it!!

≪ ◦ ❖ ◦ ≫

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Profile Image for Snjez.
1,050 reviews1,086 followers
December 8, 2025
I usually enjoy this author's stories and the audiobooks make them even better. This one failed me on both accounts.

I didn't find the storyline interesting. There's a parallel universe situation that felt more complicated and messy than fun. I didn't like Mona at all. She is such an annoying and whiny character. I can't picture her as a love interest and I have no idea why Duncan loved her. They had no chemistry and I didn't feel any romance in this story.

To make things worse, I really didn't like Mona's narrator. Her voice and constant shouting irritated me as much as Mona as a character. The worst part was singing. I don't remember I've ever heard something that cringe and painful on audio. Duncan's narrator has a very pleasant voice, but that wasn't enough to carry this whole story for me.
Profile Image for Christy.
4,593 reviews36k followers
June 10, 2025
3 stars

I love Cara Bastone’s writing but I don’t think her sci-fi/time travel books are for me. The narration on this one was top notch, but the story was meh.
Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 3 stars
Narrators: Full Cast
Narration Rating: 5 stars
Genre: Sci-Fi (time travel) Romance
Length: 4h 50m



Profile Image for Noi (in & out) .
981 reviews569 followers
May 16, 2025
"We have a possible beginning, so you can't leave at the beginning. We haven't even tried yet."

(it might be better to read 'maybe this time' first)
--------------------
FREAKING OUT
THROWING UP
ON THE FLOOR
Profile Image for Nina (ninjasbooks).
1,643 reviews1,795 followers
July 29, 2025
A fun read with some great dialogues here and there. Also liked the sci-fi element. But I felt no great romance despite the heartfelt declarations in the end, the fights they had didn’t make me feel their chemistry and deep love.
Profile Image for Ri ♡ .
578 reviews2,253 followers
December 10, 2025
3 stars

This was so messy, chaotic, and hilarious in both funny and annoying ways. I really liked the storyline, but sometimes too much was happening and I had a hard time keeping track of everything. The concept of alternate timelines and a time-slip rom-com was executed well, and I am kind of excited to see if Cara is cooking up more stories like these. I would definitely eat them up 😋

I was in it for the romance and chemistry and some drama, but the whole family drama was maniacal. I enjoyed some scenes, like how they meddled between Duncan and Mona, but it was too much. Mona was annoying and, like Buket said, she is ‘self-sabotage final boss’. Duncan was cute in a nerdy way, the supportive type of guy who would do anything to keep his girl happy but would never find the courage to actually date her.

The romance was fine, but the unnecessary drama and miscommunication gave me a headache. I wish we’d gotten more story about the married Duncan and Mona from the parallel universe. I was so invested in their divorce drama 😭

The audiobook was good, but Mona singing every ten minutes tortured my eardrums 😭 I did not sign up for that!? Anyway, Buket and I at least had a good time listening to it, hating on how annoying Mona is and making up weird theories 🥹💕
Profile Image for Belle₊˚⊹♡ (for keeps ∞♡).
173 reviews102 followers
August 28, 2025
5 stars!! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

(Spoiler-free🩷🩷🐵)


Idc about that cliche ending,
THE LAST CHAPTER WAS PERFECTIONNNN?!!
😭👏🏼🎸🎵🎧

The whole cast, production and plot line was sooo good and differentt I loved it sm! 😍

I loved how we got TENSIONNN and on top of that, so many parts that had me laughing so hard lol 😭

I will literally listen to every audiobook Cara Baston writes if she continues this series, I NEED MOREEE🙏 💥


⭐️Rating: 5/5
🔥spice: 0/5 (minor-references, 🙉)
📚age rating: 15+


🎧💘songs:

~Birds of a feather~Billie Eilish

~Must be love~Niall Horan

~From The Start~Laufey

~Oh, what a world~ Kacey Musgraves

~Are you bored yet?~Wallows, Clairo

~Sofia~Clairo

~Late night talking~Harry Styles

~Superstar~Taylor Swift

~Delicate~Taylor Swift

~Hey Stephen~Taylor Swift

~Risk~Gracie Abrams


🎧📱Pre-listen:

I LOOVED maybe this time, so I really hope I like this one as well 😩😭🙏
This audio is only 4 hours so i hope I get this finished today! 🤭
Profile Image for carolina.
502 reviews1,114 followers
May 19, 2025
2.5 stars (half star for the audio production)

Cara, I love you but I didn’t love this book 😭 it made me cringe every five seconds, I hated the characters and the story made me think of the plot of a really bad Disney channel movie. And don’t get me started on the singing. Why? Just why? 😭 the only thing I enjoyed were some of the conversations at the end. But the miscommunication between the characters annoyed me so much, it’s the main reason why I didn’t like this.
Profile Image for Sandra Castro.
316 reviews65 followers
February 17, 2026
Rating: 4⭐⭐⭐⭐
Format: audiobook
Platform/app used: audiobookbay, utorrent, audify

Tropes:

• Friends-to-lovers (or frenemies-to-lovers);
• Alternate timeline / time-slip romance;
• Second chance at love;
• Small-town / family trip setting;
• Parallel universe dynamics;
• Banter and misunderstanding-driven chemistry.


Review:


"Better Luck Next Time" is a charming and imaginative romantic comedy that combines elements of time travel with genuine emotional depth. The plot follows Mona and Duncan, once inseparable best friends who now can't stand each other. During a family trip to a cabin, they find themselves caught in a snowstorm, leading them to a wormhole that transports them to an alternate timeline where they discover that they're not just friends, but married and in the process of getting a divorce. This twist sparks a journey of self-discovery as they confront how their past decisions influenced their feelings for one another, ultimately raising the question of whether their connection is worth salvaging.

The time-slip premise injects a lively and unpredictable energy into the narrative; one moment, you’re laughing at the absurdity, and the next, you’re touched by the characters’ moments of vulnerability. Cara Bastone effectively weaves humour and romance alongside profound reflections on love across various stages of life and identity. This combination of chaos and sincerity kept me more engaged than I anticipated.

One of the standout aspects of the audiobook is its immersive production. Featuring a full cast and sound effects, it feels akin to a radio drama or a movie, which adds to the story's charm and whimsy. The banter is particularly lively when performed, lending a unique character to the narration compared to a standard rom-com book.

In summary, "Better Luck Next Time" is a clever, funny, and heartfelt romantic comedy that offers a refreshingly unpredictable narrative with its own unique twist on the genre.
Profile Image for Kat.
43 reviews
May 16, 2025
I love that this is a contiuation of the "different universes / time travel" universe, but even with the connection to the former story she released last year, the entire universe is still lacking? I really would have loved for this to expand the lore and explain the universe and the wormholes a lot more, but maybe I'm just asking too much from a romantasy (?) audiobook.

PS:
Profile Image for Lorna.
1,808 reviews114 followers
May 25, 2025
Story 3 stars Narration 5 stars
Cute story about a couple that aren’t really a couple, but should be. When they go for New Year’s weekend to a cabin where all their family are celebrating, something weird happens and they end up in another version of their life. It’s done with a full cast narrative complete with sound effects which I liked until some really bad singing occurs! This was definitely a comedy as evidenced by the weird scientist that comes along with the story. That part was a bit cringe worthy and the reason I couldn’t give it a higher rating. This is a quick listen for those times you want something light to read.
Profile Image for Kati *☆・゚.
1,331 reviews724 followers
January 11, 2026
4.25**** stars


I had a fabulous time with this story. I admit the singing was a tiny bit annoying at times but the banter was top tier and the story had me already in its grip after reading the premise.

The audio was once again fabulous too, but these Cara Bastone audio only’s always are if you ask me. And hat’s what probably makes these stories, tbh.


I’m def digging this time traveling (?) series. Looking forward to the other ones.

*************
Maybe This Time - audio tbr
Better Luck Next Time - 4.25 stars
1 review
May 19, 2025
This book was absolute torture. I listened to this as an audio book on a road trip. I hate to DNF a book so my mom and I listened to the whole thing. This entire book should have been 3 chapters. And the music, she was supposed to be a famous rock star? I don’t think that this author is my type of author- glad I gave it a chance but wasn’t my speed.
Profile Image for ☆Amanda☆.
117 reviews6 followers
March 8, 2026
Entertaining, surprising, and unique. This is a fun way to do a 2nd chance romance, with alternate universe cross over and 2 characters who are forced to see how their choices can change their path.
Profile Image for Natasha Niezgoda.
940 reviews247 followers
June 1, 2025
Like… I get it, but also I don’t. Childhood best friends. Worm holes. A random puppy. Twins from a different dimension. A deranged scientist. Fated love, but not.

Meh, 🤷🏻‍♀️.
Profile Image for Genna.
1,093 reviews22 followers
May 15, 2025
I love Bastone - but this wormhole romance was all over the place for me. I keep waiting for an explanation for everything going on with the MCs but it felt short and confusing 🫤
Profile Image for Andy Kaye.
23 reviews1 follower
May 15, 2025
I always adore the sound effects in these things but the music…THE MUSIC!
Profile Image for Karsyn.
572 reviews29 followers
June 3, 2025
Not my fave by Cara Bastone :/
Profile Image for a_n_i_t_a.
531 reviews34 followers
January 15, 2026
This was a cute freebie on audible 🤗

Second chance romance in an alternate universe. Duncan and Mona lifelong frenemies are riding together to spend new years with their parents (who are bffs). Some weird cosmic interference, and they end up in an alternate reality where they have been together and married their entire adult lives and have recently filed for divorce.

I really liked this! Actually I’ve really liked all of this author’s work on audible. Fantastic narration👌👌

”When you carry a torch for someone, they call it a torch for a reason.

It burns.

[…] I can’t carry it anymore.”



Solid 4⭐️
Nada 🌶️
Profile Image for clara.
453 reviews167 followers
May 16, 2025
mr. haberdashery on spotify WHENNNN?

i love these audiobooks so so much and i’m so glad cara bastone keeps writing them. i could have 100 more! this wasn’t one of my favorites by her but i still had such a nice time. and the end did get me emotional, like always.

stories where the main characters have known each other since childhood and have been pining for ages even subconsciously will always HIT
Profile Image for vicky ꨄ︎.
452 reviews231 followers
Want to read
April 14, 2025
okay i’m not the biggest fan of the cover but nonetheless still excited for this!!

————————————-

did I only read one book by this author?? yes!! but am I going to be excited for her every new release?? also yes!!
Profile Image for Caitlin.
1,899 reviews56 followers
June 17, 2025
The absolute lack of maturity of these thirty-year-olds and the TERRIBLE music that this "musical genius" put on this album that made my ears bleed were enough for this not to get a higher rating. This was ridiculous and I wasn't entertained.
Profile Image for caffeine reader.
261 reviews37 followers
May 29, 2025
It wasn’t great, and I’m partial to a short story but this just wasn’t great at all

I don’t really want to add to much to this review because I hate giving 1 star and it breaks my little reader hear to do this

I’m so so sorry
Profile Image for Bozena.
1,078 reviews19 followers
December 29, 2025
I love her books so much 🤩
Cara Bastone is a rom-com genius.
Her stories and her interactive, full movie-like audiobooks are just amazing.

I love that I always feel like I know the characters.
I can identify with them, and I feel like they've been my friends for a long time.
Her books are exactly what I always need for a good mood and motivation.

I listened to the short audiobook in one sitting because it's such an amazing story.

I enjoyed every second and loved everything about the audiobook.
If you like rom-coms with a touch of magic and sci-fi, you'll love this book.

If I were to briefly describe what I think about this Christmas-Carol-like rom-com story, you wouldn't be able to understand me without reading it.

So read the book and enjoy every second.
We can gladly talk about it later if you like 😉

I've already downloaded her next audiobook.
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