No Matter What

by Cara Bastone

Sometimes love sends you back to the drawing board.

After a traumatic accident threatens the foundations of their happy marriage, a couple tries to rebuild and find their way back to each other—and themselves—in this tender, slow-burn romance.

Roz and Vin can’t look each other in the eyes anymore, let alone share a bed. It’s been a year since they survived a life-altering accident, and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope that they can fix things, until she discovers Vin has signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: sign up for a figure-drawing class.

Between Roz’s determined attempts to improve her artistic skills and her adventures with her best friend, Raffi, she can almost ignore Vin’s impending move-out date and his footsteps in their previously unoccupied guest room. But it would all be a lot easier if Vin wasn’t Raffi’s older brother, and if she didn’t still find him incredibly, debilitatingly attractive and kind.

So kind, in fact, that Vin offers to let Roz draw him. What is she supposed to say? It’s probably better than her original plan of finding some random male model online, and she needs all the practice she can get. Plus, that’s sure to make a separation easier, right? Focus on every detail of your estranged spouse’s body while drawing him in the nude? But after the year they’ve spent avoiding each other, it feels good to see and be seen by one another again.

As Roz works to capture the wholeness of the person she fell in love with, will they both be able to draw upon the feelings they buried deep inside to finally heal together?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Fiction, Second Chance, Adult, Audiobook

337 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 3, 2026

About the author

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

Reviews

[maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point I need Cara to write my life!!!😭

rtc


____________


┆ ⤿ 🗽 ༝ pre-read:

2 ways to convince me to read a book: 1. it being marriage in crisis / second chance 2. the book being set in nyc😋😋

I love anything Cara writes, so her writing my favorite trope makes me believe I’m not going to survive this read 😭

⊹₊˚‧︵‿₊୨ᰔ୧₊‿︵‧˚₊⊹


I GOT THE ARC OMG🕺🏻🕺🏻🕺🏻 can’t wait to read this, I just know it will be my new obsession
__________

IT HAS A COVER NOW!! I’m so confused as to why cara hasn’t posted anything about this book yet😭😭
_________

OH MY GOD WHAT IS THIS??????👀 after reading promise me sunshine I’ll read anything written by Cara.

AND MARRIAGE IN CRISIS? sign me tf up

[Clace · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so unwell.
___
I have to finish this book before the year ends.... no matter what.

Buddy reading with Hoda

[ଘRory]

If this book doesn't fix me, then nothing will 😔

[rei ‧₊˚✩彡 · Rating 5 out of 5]

╰┈➤ 5 stars!

oh my goodness, cara bastone! i don’t know what to say other than i’m hella sure that this book finished me, instead of me finishing it. i cried (i even recorded myself and sent it to my bf to show him how much this book already means to me), laughed, slept late (zil kept on telling me to sleep), and loved this book so much.

i don’t really get to read books where the main trope is marriage in crisis because second chance romance tends to happen after it’s been years since they broke up. in here, everything in their marriage seems to just be falling apart, so you’re basically walking through shattered glass with the mcs.

୨ৎ roz. she feels like the kind of person who holds everything together. the way she shows her love by cooking for the people she cares about speaks volumes. it’s not loud or showy, but it’s real. she’s dependable in that comforting way that makes you feel safe just being around her. you can tell she carries so much, but that’s what makes her strength so beautiful.

୨ৎ vin. he is someone who tries so hard to bridge the gap between what he feels and what he can say. after the accident, everything between them changed, yet he still kept trying. that effort alone made me adore him even more. he’s the perfect example of “if he wanted to, he would”—because he does. he’s not perfect, but he’s sincere, and that’s what makes him stand out.

this story broke me and healed me all at once. i kept wishing it were written in dual pov because i wanted to know what was going through vin’s head so badly, but even without it, their emotions felt so raw and real. it’s such a beautiful portrayal of what it means to hold on when things get hard—when love isn’t effortless anymore, but still worth fighting for.

it also reminded me of how important it is to check in with the people you love. sometimes we think we know what’s going on, but we don’t. those small acts of care—asking, listening, showing up—can make such a difference. that’s what I love about marriage-in-crisis stories: they strip away the fairytale layer and show what love looks like in the real world, when it’s tested.

this book also beautifully emphasized how relationships thrive not because of grand gestures, but because of the mundane things—the daily presence, the quiet understanding, the small ways we remind each other that we’re still here. and communication? absolutely everything. i’ve said this so many times, but miscommunication tropes really ruin me because of how real they are. it’s painful to read because it mirrors what happens in life, where silence sometimes speaks louder than words.

what also struck me deeply was how it handled therapy and healing. the story showed that asking for help doesn’t make you weak—it makes you human. it’s a brave thing to admit you need someone to guide you through the mess. and through roz’s art, i realized that sometimes people draw or create not just for the sake of art itself, but as a way to understand, to process, or to reach for something they can’t quite express.

overall, this book left me in pieces in the best way possible. roz and vin’s vulnerability, their pain, and their slow journey toward healing were all so raw and honest. it showed that love isn’t just about passion or romance—it’s about patience, forgiveness, and the willingness to start again, even after everything has fallen apart.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dial Press, and the author for the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・

pre-read:

my first br with my angel zil 💞🌷 we both love cara bastone’s books and i’m genuinely so excited to start reading this e-arc with her! i have a good feeling about this book and i hope we both enjoy it 🤞🏼🫧

・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・。・

pre-release:

I GOT THE ARC 🥹💖 this is like one of the best birthday gifts ever 💌 thank you to netgalley, random house, and the author for the arc!

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

reading my first bastone, i was expecting to be ensconced in incisive, evocative prose, characters that i could fall for, as well as a maelstrom of emotions. and yet… i felt lethargic? i read this with a straight face. i did like the integration of art as a way to find a path back though.

don’t get me wrong—i don’t hate books on marital distress. you deserve each other is my favourite romance novel of all time. but i never got that visceral experience here. i was expecting to grieve and fall back in love again with roz and vince alongside them, and i just felt like a forlorn outsider the whole time going through the monotony of their daily life without actually finding the joy and meaning they recultivated.

we never got an unambiguous, lucid insight as to what the accident entailed even though the whole conflict is based on it (and miscommunication). we just got trauma reactions that to me, felt superficial and contrived rather than earned. i understand that she took a fragmented approach of storytelling to mirror grief’s erratic, bereft, and disjointed nature, but that just further disconnected me. i don’t need a long, convoluted chapter like some of those info dumps about vince!!! i just wanted to be able to empathize!! i just wanted the grief to be cemented into something tangible!! i wanted catharsis!!

maybe next time i’ll truly get the hype

-

not to sound like an ignorant bitch, but i kind of.. didn't care? rtc.

-

need to read my accumulated arcs so i can request more lol

-

so i requested this just for fun and got it?? i have way too many books on my cr but i'm gonna try to get to this asap lol. my first cara bastone!!

[aislinn ౨ৎ · Rating 2 out of 5]

─── ୨ৎ 2.25 stars
⤿ .ᐟ spoiler-free review

‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎⤿ ‎⋮ ⟢ started: february 17, finished: march 1

⤷ thoughtsˎˊ˗
I am truly upset to be rating my first Bastone book like this. I really wanted to love this one and was so ready to feel every ounce of this book in my bones because I have been aching for a marriage in trouble book that would change my life for awhile now.

my first red flag was that these chapters were ridiculously long at times... I'm talking 40 minutes long. however, I decided I wouldn't let this affect my rating because some of my all-time favourite books have incredibly long chapters too. what does affect my rating though is the fact that these long chapters were often filled with events that felt like they served zero significance to the story progression. I found myself continuously reading about the backstories of various characters where the information just felt like a repeat of a few chapters prior.

I was also very confused, especially in the beginning of the book. this may very well be a me-problem but there were a lot of characters introduced and then eventually those characters' children, or family members and it was just too much for me to follow along with. I got bored.

not to mention, their relationship didn’t feel believable to me. they were married for eight years, yet they can barely form sentences around each other—let alone read one another’s emotions. their strained dynamic didn’t feel like the aftermath of the accident so much as it felt like those issues had always been there and were exacerbated by it. don't get me wrong, the way these two would talk about each other was really beautiful at times but it is clear that their styles and needs do not and have never really meshed well.

despite my complaints, I definitely would pick up another book by this author because I enjoyed her writing style in many ways. in my opinion, these characters and this story just needed more development in order for me to really fall in love with them the way I hoped to.

.ᐟ thank you to netgalley and random house publishing group for the arc in exchange for an honest review!
‎ ‎ ‎ ‎‎⤿ publishing date: march 3rd, 2026

[Tarah DeWitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cara Bastone is out here writing the new classics. These are sacred texts.

[Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Minor spoilers below.

In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if the author would be able to pull this off, I’ll be honest. Marriage in crisis is a very difficult subject to tackle, imo. And after finishing this book, I know it won’t be for everyone, but it was for me.

Because this wasn’t just an accumulation of random tropes, it was an actual story. Not a cosy, light-hearted one about two people falling in love, mind you. It’s about two people in an established relationship who have been through a traumatic accident and are now struggling to deal with what they experienced and how it changed them and thus their relationship.

It’s heavy and frustrating to read at first. The story explored their relationship in the present and gave some insight on how it started and developed. And especially in the beginning it’s not easy to witness what Roz and Vin are going through, how hard it is on them, and how difficult it now is for them to communicate.
In hindsight, though, I think suffering through all of that was necessary and worth it to really feel how they fight to get back to each other and make it work again. Each in their own way.

Miscommunication was the main theme here. I think it’s important to be clear about that, as I can image that some might not be into that and might want to skip this one because of it.

I also think that quite a few people will read this book and be like “Just talk to each other, it’s not that hard”.
But that’s the thing, right? Sometimes it is that hard, even though it might look like an easy problem to solve from the outside. The author showed this by examining the topic more thoroughly instead of simply using it as a cheap excuse for a third act break up. And I think that was very well done. It was messy and raw, for sure, but it also felt so real to me.

I loved the way Roz’ art helped them connect again and made her see everything in a new light. A big part of them finding their way back to each other is through her art classes and everything she learned about herself because of it, and that fit so beautifully into this story. It kind of made me want to go and take a figure drawing class myself.

Something else that stood out to me was that the conflict was mainly solved around the 60% mark, and after that the book continued to tell their story. We got to see them be happy again, work through minor issues, and enjoy life together.

This was just so good. Like a mindless fun read is perfectly fine and sometimes just what you need. But Cara Bastone’s stories go a little deeper, they’re a bit more real, and I really love that.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for the arc in exchange for an honest review.


___
Christmas came early and I loved it 🥹

[Mira · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

Roz and Vin have been married for eight years, but a car accident they went through a year ago changed them forever—they don’t even sleep in the same room anymore. Roz was hoping their marriage could still be saved, but then she notices a new lease with Vin’s name on it in the kitchen. She’s completely shattered and accidentally ends up in a figure drawing class, where she finds friends and realizes that drawing has become a necessary form of therapy for her.

I adored Ready or Not and Promise Me Sunshine, so I was eagerly awaiting the author’s new book. And I did enjoy it—the crisis the couple is going through, their feelings and struggles are portrayed very authentically. The second half of the book is wonderful, but I had some issues with the first part. It was hard for me to read, to keep track of all the characters, and to understand what those chapters from Vin’s POV were about. It all felt a bit messy. My impression was that the first half was like a dense forest you have to push through to find what you’re really looking for. So if you find yourself in the same situation, don’t stop—keep reading!

I squealed inside when I realized which Ethan Vin met. Yes, it’s that Ethan from Ready or Not and Miles’s friend from Promise Me Sunshine. I truly hope Cara will write a book about him!

This is a good story in Cara’s style that left me with warm feelings, and I think it will especially resonate with readers who have been married for a long time.

𝐓𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐬:
✓marriage in crisis
✓mental health rep
✓slow burn
____________

Pre-read: I’m so happy I can already start reading Cara’s new book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House (Dial Press Trade Paperback) for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[♥︎ Heather ⚔ (Semi-Hiatus-attempting return)]

I mean… obviously I’m starting this rn. Let’s go Cara Bastone- I need a good romance 🤸‍♀️🥰💓

The SJM interview totally sidetracked me last night 😭 starting tonight for real now lol

[aira]

wait, this book was out yesterday tooo...I'm behind on all the new releases I have to read now. 😭

[Lottie Smalley · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️ okay i’m a little conflicted, but i did enjoy this!

it takes place over the summer in new york city, which immediately had me… but it’s not a carefree summer rom com. it’s a heavy, reflective, sad girl summer story where everything feels a little too warm & a little too close 🫠

cara bastone’s writing was as charming & grounded as ever! and I loved the concept of a second chance within a marriage, especially after something traumatic happens. when this book leans into the healing and vulnerability, it really works! plus the figure drawing plot line offered something different that i really enjoyed!

but the miscommunication! … vin, please!!!! so much of the tension comes from him not clearly saying what he’s thinking or feeling AT ALL, and that dynamic really frustrated me. i understand that avoidance is part of his survival amid the trauma, but it felt like the main conflict existed because they just weren’t talking at all!

overall, it was still a really warm & emotional read. promise me sunshine is still my favorite from cara bastone, but i’d absolutely read whatever she writes next! thank you to netgalley & dial delights for the arc in exchange for an honest review 💌

[Dab · Rating 4 out of 5]

🎊Happy Release!🎊!

I’m torn here, because Cara’s writing is an absolute delight to read. Always. I even read the acknowledgments section. So I just can’t give this book less than four stars, because I enjoyed it. In a way.

However.

This was not my favorite book.

The first thing that didn’t work for me was the miscommunication. I just can’t understand how two people who share a native language, and have been happily married for years, can be that bad at communicating. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.

The second thing — but that’s probably on me, since you can tell from the blurb that it wouldn’t be a walk in the park — is that this book was heavy. I didn’t expect to be hit like that. Maybe I was hoping for more of a light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel type of thing. And maybe that was even the general idea behind this story, but I was stuck in that tunnel for too long and haven’t recovered yet.

So yeah, proceed with caution…

Thanks to Headline and NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[ahmeeka · Rating 2 out of 5]

[arc review] I so badly wanted to love this book but it just wasn’t for me—and I’m devastated to be saying that because I’m usually a huge fan of cara bastone and her work!

no matter what is a second chance romance that follows roz as her marriage with vin breaks down. the book is primarily in roz’s first pov.

I’m really sad I didn’t enjoy this the way I thought I would, and that’s not to say it isn’t a good story—I truly believe, like plenty of the other reviews, a lot of people will love it when it’s released.

my main bug bare was the miscommunication. I felt like every time there was an opportunity for the characters to have it out, they didn’t. I also felt the book was really hard to follow—the inner monologue of roz felt choppy, all over the place, and erratic.

I wish we got to see more of what pulled roz and vin together in the first place, because with second chance romances you have to establish what made them get together.

I remember being 25% in and not really understanding what was going on, but pushed through because I wanted to see what all the positive reviews were seeing.

ultimately this book wasn’t for me, but I know a lot of people who are big fans of cara bastone will love this—I just wish I was one of them!

thank you headline eternal for the advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

[carolina · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can’t delete a chapter and get the same ending. And I no longer want to try. I want all of it. Every tangle. I’ll draw right off the edge of the page. Him and me, we’re shooting for infinity.

5 ⭐️

[Thank you Netgalley and Headline for the e-arc 🫶🏻]

Why does one recover from this book? How can I possibly convey everything this book gave me when there are no words? There are no words! Roz draws because there are no words. I will try my best to express my feelings, but it won't be enough. This isn't a book you read; it's a book you experience. It's a living, beating heart bleeding onto the page. It's raw; it's real; it's life.

This is the most realistic and honest portrayal of a marriage in crisis that I have ever read. And can draw so many parallels between Roz and Vin’s relationship issues and real life, and see things that I’m sure everyone will be able to relate to. After all, these two characters are a couple, but they’re also individuals with their own problems. They’re lost in life; they’re trying to make sense of a tragedy that befell them; they’re trying to find a way to move on, yet they can’t stop replaying the worst day of their lives in their minds. They’re shattered, shouting into the void and crying out for help, but they have no idea how to help themselves or each other. So many parts of their story broke my heart. It was painful. It felt like having my heart ripped from my chest. Not only was it hard to see their marriage going through a tough time, but it was also crushing to see them both feeling so helpless. But from chaos can come peace, and the way they picked up the pieces and worked alone and together to put them back together was extraordinary. Not because it was grandiose, but because it was authentic, genuine, and came from a place of wanting love to win; of wanting life to feel worth living. If there's one thing I've learned from this book, it's that no matter how dark things are, there's always a way to find light again. The only way to move forward is to accept that things happened and let life run its course.

It is heartbreaking to see two people who love each other so much become strangers, but it is incredibly beautiful to watch them find their way back to each other. I felt immense pride for Roz and Vin because they didn’t give up. They fought so hard for their marriage. Their honest, vulnerable conversations were difficult, but necessary. They paved the way for healthy communication, and it made them so much stronger. I strongly believe that this is one of those couples who will be together forever, because after everything they have been through, there is no way that anything will come between them. Nothing will break them now.

I feel like there’s so much I want to express, but it’s so difficult! Some of my favourite scenes were the art class scenes, and Cara's reflection on her own experience with art at the end made it all so much more emotional. When everything else fails, art will always be there. Art connects us and allows us to make sense of the world, our thoughts and our feelings. When the world feels dark, art reminds us that life can be beautiful and worth living.

The last few chapters of this book had me in tears, and a certain plot twist shocked me to my core! I’m still processing it. All I can say is: make sure you read Cara’s other books before this one, you won’t regret it! I hope I’ve done this book justice with my words, and that this review encourages others to give it a chance.

QUOTES:

I saw her and thought, here comes my wife.

I put my heart in her chest and she carries it around. And she’ll put flowers on my grave. And from the moment I realized that I wanted to marry her, I was already thinking about the end. Not the end of our relationship, but the end . . . of it all. Loving her made me think about death. In a good way. It was a gift. It was because I wasn’t scared to go. Not when I had her. So, that’s. Yeah. It’s not a story, really. It’s my thought. She’s my “the end is the beginning.”

“I said that I’m going to keep on living my life. A full life.” I pause, because I realize that I’m not talking about choosing a new life without Vin. What I’m really talking about here is hope in the face of doom. What I’m really talking about here, ultimately, is survival. And so I finish my own sentence with the one thing I most want him to say to me: “No matter what.”

“Do you remember—” I start. “Yes.” I laugh. “You don’t even know what I was going to say!” “Doesn’t matter,” he says gruffly. “I remember it.”

The rarest and most special gift is loving someone the way they want, or need, to be loved.

“We want to draw, because we want to understand.”

What if we never get over it? I’d asked Vin. And I think . . . I think the answer is in that drawing and in that photo. Maybe we never really get over anything. It just becomes . . . a part of your drawing, a part of your story. You adapt, you grow, you think about it less. You form new habits. You meet new people. But getting over it? Making it like it didn’t even happen? I don’t know. If you want it like it never happened . . . that’s just denial, right? We have to learn how to accept it. It happened. It’s real. We’re here on the other side. We’re smiling from the other side. Crying and wailing from the other side. Yes, cooking from the other side. Holding each other and feeling perfectly fine on an awful lot of days.

・・・・・
pre-review: wow 😭😭😭 there are no words 😭😭 the plot twist at the end gave me full body chills. I was sobbing 😭😭 I love you Cara Bastone! rtc

[emelie 𝜗𝜚⋆₊˚ (exams!!)]

₊˚⊹ ᰔ 𝐩𝐫𝐞-𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞:
marriage in trouble?! MY FAVORITE TROPE EVER!! “emotional” “young love” “sweet” “tender” PLEASE GIVE THIS TO ME NOW 🥺🤭!!

i’ve never read anything from this author before—but when this comes out in 2026 i will be reading this asap!

╰┈➤ what to expect!!!
🌆 second chance romance
🌺 marriage in trouble
🌆 trauma healing romance
🌺 forced proximity
🌆 young-love
🌺 best friends brother
🌆 slow burn

[Aya ☕︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐

To be honest, I'm a little disappointed... I've been a huge fan of Cara Bastone since "Ready or Not," and her books were five stars for me, but this one.. I don't know, it reads more like self-help books and I haven't read one ever. Sometimes I got so confused; some chapters I think we're in Vin's mind without being told explicitly that he is the one talking, and that made me really baffled. This whole story could just be cut in half if the two main characters are locked in a closet for two hours.... JUST COMMUNICATE, YOU PEOPLE.....

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕮𝖑𝖔𝖘𝖊𝖉 𝕯𝖔𝖔𝖗 𝕸𝖔𝖉𝖎𝖋𝖎𝖈𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

SKIP CHAPTER:19

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚𝕻𝖗𝖊-𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖉˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆

Guess who has one of the most anticipated books of 2026?........ Me 🤭

Thank you so much Netgalley and Random House 🫶🏻🫶🏻

[Cara]

MY QUEEN, CARA (NAME TWIN) IS COMING OUT WITH A NEW BOOK, I NEED IT ASAP❤✨!!!!!!!

[buket · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH GOD

okay you gotta trust the process with this book. at first i was like “hmm this is kinda meh🧐” and then i was like “omg i love vin and roz. i need their love story🩷” and then it became more “oh this is breaking my heart🥹” and then i was like “WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK😫😫😫😫🫠🫠🫠🫠🫣🫣🫣🫣😔😔😔😭😭😭🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻🩷🩷💔💔💔💔” so, yeah.

as someone who almost read all her books i can say that vin&roz is the realest couple she has ever written. it was so raw so heartbreaking so strong, oh god. i cried and cried and cried. vin & roz my favorite couple forever 🔐🤍 they healed something in me i swear

[Destiney Bomberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
More thoughts to come but I LOVE LOVE LOVEEEE anything Cara writes!!!

[jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

i have no words. ok actually, this is a lie. i have a lot of words but i cannot properly put them into sentences right now. i love this beautiful, big hearted, sparkly, tender book with all my heart.

[Kelsey reviews•books]

You had me at "by Cara Bastone." I don't actually need a summary.
I NEEDS THIS BOOK NOW.

[emilybookedup · Rating 3 out of 5]

i binged this on a whim during a weekend puzzle session and thought it was just…okay??! it was my first by her and i’ve heard such amazing things about her work but this didn’t blow me away.

miscommunication tropes are my pet peeve and this has that to a T… so that’s probably the #1 reason for my general indifference. heads up if you dislike that trope too, this book prob isn’t for you!

that said, it was entertaining enough to finish it. it’s also a second chance trope which is my fave so that kept me going as i wanted to see what became of our married couple. i liked the family and friends side plots as well as the adult hobby/making yourself better plots too.

this was well narrated by Alex Finke and easy to follow along while doing a puzzle (audiobooks 🤝 puzzles = dream combo).

i’m determined to give her books another chance - which is the best?!?!

thanks to PRH audio for the gifted ALC of this! out in March

‼️semi spoiler warning—do not read this part if you haven’t read it yet): the pacing was a bit odd - for this being a romance, there really wasn’t a third act breakup and the makeup happened with a good 20% left of the book so i was kinda like… where is this going with another 2 hours on audio??!!! we got one twist/plot resolved which was good but i didn’t understand the pacing and timing of the back half! lmk if you felt the same.

[Ri ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i genuinely thought i would definitely survive this book, but every word felt like a punch to the gut, i was bleeding on every freaking page and crying my heart out in the last few chapters, because the ending and the plot twist absolutely wrecked me. this book ripped me open, but it also healed something inside me. vin and roz are definitely staying in my heart for a long, long time 🥺❤️‍🩹

[Booksblabbering || Cait❣️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cara Bastone will leave me feeling emotionally wrung, no matter what.

Roz’s husband has been leaving her in increments following a recent trauma they both shared with his brother (also her best friend). In an effort to make herself feel alive again, she joins (stumbled across) a figure drawing class.

So, bubbly, kind Roz and handsome, quiet Vin. Then, younger brother and best friend Raffi - playboy extreme.

Bastone makes you feel every emotion these characters go through. We get a first person perspective from Roz that doesn’t shy away from her inner turmoil and despair.

I did tear up.

“Once you realized he wouldn’t fit on the page—which you must have, mid-line—you continued to extend on, preferring to keep drawing instead of bailing out. Look here. The lines are strong and constant straight through the edge. This gives the viewer the feeling that the story is not over.”

I found the reason for the breaking away frustrating, especially as it seems clear to the reader all the way through. Whilst there is an explanation given (especially from Vin’s side), I needed Roz to pull her weight.

I also wish we got to see more of Roz working through her trauma and PTSD in therapy etc.

You are either going to vibe with Bastone’s writing style or not. She uses unfiltered thought, millennial language, and acronyms. It read more authentically for me.

The author’s note is a MUST read. It puts the whole book (and Promise Me Sunshine) into perspective and will tug on your heartstrings.

I read to escape the world, but also to learn more. To feel empathy and happiness and love. Yes, I can get that from real life, but reading is something you can do by yourself and always rely on.

P.S there is a Ready or Not crossover.

Arc gifted by Dial Press.

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[Sarah (bookofsari) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the third Cara Bastone book I’ve read, and honestly, the first one that didn’t fully click for me. I usually love her heartfelt, slightly quirky style—she has such a gift for writing emotionally rich love stories—but No Matter What felt a little too tangled for me to sink into.

Roz and Vin’s marriage-in-crisis premise had so much potential, and I appreciated how Bastone explored grief and healing after trauma. But the book spends a lot of time inside Roz’s head—so much that it started to feel repetitive and slowed the story down. I found myself wanting more actual connection between the characters instead of pages of internal overthinking.

Bastone’s signature quirkiness is definitely dialed up here, but it crossed into too much for me this time. Roz’s narration often felt scattered and chaotic, which made her harder to relate to. And the miscommunication trope… I get that it’s central to their story, but it’s one of those tropes that can easily frustrate me, and this was no exception. There were moments where one honest conversation could’ve solved a dozen problems and pages of filler.

Still, there’s no denying Bastone’s warmth and emotional insight. Even when a book doesn’t land for me, I admire how deeply she writes about love, pain, and second chances. No Matter What wasn’t a favorite, but I’ll definitely keep picking up whatever she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[zilan · Rating 4 out of 5]

WE ARE SO BACK! my friends because cara bastone did it again and made me LIVE and FEELING the story of roz and vin. i truly felt a lot while reading it with my bestie rei!

it's RAW. it’s PAIN. it's LOVE. it's LIFE.
these are the ingredients that make this story so unique and this book makes u experience and genuinely feel everything. trust me because it’s true and ikyk bc u know me :”)

roz and vin… it was such a rollercoaster to read and live their story because it was everything that life’s authentic, painful, raw and extraordinarily beautiful. i’m so proud of them and how their story developed! these two were FIGHTERS and they didn’t give up on their marriage by learning to find each other again and even at the very end of their story they SURPRISED me (especially one of them) and in the best possible way ever!!

but there was another protagonist in the story: ART and its role in connection with people. I had the opportunity to study art during my bachelor's degree and see how it was integrated into the story it was just something else. moreover, the fact that certain scenes were taken from the author's experience made everything even more meaningful than it already was :”)

least but not last A LOT of thanks to headline eternal and netgalley for sending me the e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest opinion!

[joni ౨ৎ - busy]

₊⊹⁀➴ 𝐩𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞
um marriage in trouble/second chance?!!! SIGN ME UPPPPPP i love this trope so freaking much - only read it twice but i love how emotional her writing is - esp with promise me sunshine.

[megan ◡̈]

i dont wanna talk about it

dnf

[tayler · Rating 5 out of 5]

just read what will likely be my favorite romance of the year, and i'm dying to talk about it. like, physically dying.

cara bastone has quickly found rank amongst my favorite authors (promise me sunshine being one of my favorite books) and yet, i was still not expecting to be as floored as i am by no matter what.

this book centers roz and vin, a married couple in new york city who, after going through a horrific accident, have found themselves on rocky ground.

now, listen. when i say i love roz and vin, i LOVE roz and vin. so, so dearly. i adore them individually, their characters are so painstakingly real, they jump off the page. but together? my god. their chemistry, their history, the love that vin has for roz — i mean, seriously, the things he does for her and the quiet ways in which he does them, i'm on the ground - it was unique and fresh in a genre that's become muddled with recycled tropes, and i could not tear my eyes away, i was glued to my kindle like roz is glued to her drawing pad. and don't get me started about the art classes that gets her through the most trying time of her adult life.

but moreso than that, more than the romance, this is a story of healing and how to find a new way to walk in the world you previously knew after something horrible happens to you, when your reality shattered like the light in a kaleidoscope. it's about finding the things to latch onto during a storm and how to find a way to keep going, no matter what. for roz, it's drawing. for vin, ha- i'm not telling you!!! it's tender, and raw, and excruciating in it's reality, and yet so casually hilarious, witty, and above all else, filled to the brim with hope.

i think books like this are so desperately needed in the current times we're living in, and i couldn't have loved this more. i will be thinking above vin and roz (vinny green eyes and clutzy roz) for a long time. thank you dial press + cara for the arc !!! all opinions are my own.