No Matter What by Cara Bastone: My Book Review

Check out my book review of No Matter What by Cara Bastone to see what I think of her latest release about a married couple whose relationship has hit a rough patch.

*Disclosure: This post may include affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

No Matter What Summary:

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 traumatic car accident and their marriage hasn’t been the same. But Roz has held out hope they can fix things…until she discovers Vin signed a new lease. So she does what any soon-to-be-divorced Manhattanite would do: sign up for 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 them 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?

No Matter What: My Review

Cara Bastone is not just an author. I’m convinced that she is someone placed on this Earth to help readers find meaning in heartbreak, in trauma, and in grief while softly giving your heart a squeeze with the love that is expressed in her novels between her thoughtful characters.

No Matter What became one of my most anticipated romance books of 2026 after reading Promise Me Sunshine, which was one of my favorite romance books of 2025. That book absolutely blew me away and made me realize what an astounding writer Cara is, and she brought that same quiet intensity to No Matter What that had me aching for Vin and Roz.

Having the perspective of Promise Me Sunshine before reading No Matter What, I settled in and just let Cara take me on this new journey. This journey is a bit slow at the beginning because you are forced to sit in the discomfort that has become Vin and Roz’s marriage without understanding the full picture of how they got there. But trust me, stick with it because that understanding does come and the beauty that Cara articulates through their reconnection felt like an important life lesson that makes me feel like a reread is in order to make sure I fully comprehend her message.

This learning and perspective is only enhanced by her reader’s note given at the end of the book, which is a beautiful essay on her feelings behind her own grief processing and what drawing means to her. I would almost recommend reading this first perhaps…

This is unlike any romance I’ve read before and it might not be everyone’s cup of tea if you don’t like miscommunication or if you don’t like reading between the lines to really understand what an author is trying to portray. But that’s the beauty of Cara’s work. It’s not just boy meets girl and they fall in love. It’s so much more.

At times I did find myself saying, just TALK to one another and yet if I’m being honest, how many times in my own relationships was being honest just REALLY HARD.

I loved how much Vin loved his younger brother and how much Roz loved her best friend. Raff was a wonderful character who’s own arc about loneliness and individuality I really enjoyed.

I also loved Daniel, Roz’ figure drawing teacher, as he seemed so zen in his approach to help is students and especially Roz.

The entire aspect of using drawing to work through trauma and grief was beautiful and I almost wish that we had more scenes where Roz was drawing Vin. I also loved Cara didn’t just leave the transformation to Roz in this relationship, but had Vin really push out of his comfort zone as well.

Cara Bastone is a phenomenal writer and I am grateful for her words. I cannot wait to see what she writes next.

*I received an advanced copy from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

More From Cara:

• Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone

Related Book Lists:

• Romance Heroes with Tortured Hearts

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