When I sit down to read a novel, it usually doesn’t take me very long to know that it’s going to be a good one, one that will hit me just the right way. No Matter What hit me right smack-dab in the heart and that made me a very happy reader.

Cara Bastone is wonderful at creating her characters. Her characters are people that you could meet on the street (some have a bit more panache). I would want to be friends with them. Roz and Vin are an average couple with regular jobs, they budget their money, they work hard, they had a really loving relationship, but now their marriage is in trouble.

Roz knew her marriage to Vin had changed over the past year. After a near-death accident maimed her, Vin, and her best friend Raffi, the trauma took up residence in each of them. While trauma can bring some couples closer together, it can also tear some apart. When Roz found the lease for an apartment that Vin had left on the kitchen counter, she knew that they may never get back to what they had been. Going to the address of his new apartment may have been just what she was looking for, though. Oh, boy! I could feel her heart break right through the pages.

I could feel the hurt, the anguish, and the love that was still there between them. Their feelings were normal. They were a couple going through a difficult time, not knowing how to navigate life together anymore. Life was tough for them. They were living separate lives under the same roof, still feeling for each other, but not knowing how to be with each other.

With plenty of emotion, fabulous characters, humor, and a whole lot of love, No Matter What was an all-around wonderful read.

*4.5 Stars