No Matter What
A Novel
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4.4 • 19 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • 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 by the bestselling author of Ready or Not and Promise Me Sunshine.
“Cara Bastone is an absolute master of tender, emotional, soul-charged love stories.”—B.K. Borison, New York Times bestselling author of First-Time Caller
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?
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Art has the power to inspire the mind, move the soul, and even save a marriage in this lively, engaging novel. Roz was having coffee with her husband, Vin, and his free-spirited brother, Raffi, when a truck crashed into the restaurant, leaving them with severe injuries. A year later, all three are recovering, but Roz and Vin’s marriage is on life support. When Roz accidentally stumbles into a drawing class, she finds a new way of expressing herself and seeing the world around her—including her closest relationships. Author Cara Bastone’s great feel for characters and dialogue captures the complexities of marriage as well as the unpredictable excitement of living in New York City, where seemingly everyone has a story to tell. This is an emotional journey, but Bastone finds room for plenty of laughter along with the tears. It’s a sophisticated, grown-up tale about the kind of romance that comes from hard work, commitment, and opening your heart to rediscovery.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Silent yearning and aching hearts animate this deeply emotional contemporary from Bastone (Ready or Not). It's been one year since heroine Roz, her husband, Vin, and her brother-in-law and best friend, Raffi, were gravely injured in a car accident. While all three recovered from their physical injuries, the aftermath left recipe developer Roz and electrician Vin in an awkward place where conversation has become impossible and physical intimacy—the area where they always communicated best—has disappeared. This rough spot comes to a head when Vin announces he's signed a new lease and plans to move out. Looking to escape their apartment as much as possible, Roz pals around with Raffi and signs up for figure drawing classes, which ignite her creativity. A weekly class proves insufficient to help her express all that's churning inside her, however, and she considers placing a Craigslist add seeking nude models for extra practice—until Vin volunteers to model himself, hoping to spare Roz from potential creeps. Tension-filled sketching sessions open the door for the couple to reconnect. Even at their worst, it's easy to see that these two belong together, and Bastone makes their reconciliation a delicious slow burn while doing a good job handling their PTSD from the accident. This impresses.
Customer Reviews
Marriage
This story was a true depiction of what marriage should be and how miscommunication can almost destroy. Loved it