[Review] Once, Again, Always - Amanda Gayle

Summary: Molly Graham’s day can’t possibly get any worse after she wakes up in a hospital bed with a head injury and amnesia. But then Aster Bishop—the Aster Bishop who made her life hell at boarding school—storms into her room calling her his wife.

To Molly’s shock, in the six years she no longer recalls, she somehow fell in love with a man she once despised. Persuaded by her lifelong friends to give her new reality a chance, she reluctantly returns to the home she and Aster share to try and piece together her life.

So much has changed, not least the considerate and devastatingly handsome man who spends every night sleeping on the sofa to avoid making her uncomfortable. This Aster is nothing like the entitled boy she once knew. Their chemistry is undeniable, but he’s distant with her, infuriatingly so. It’s clear he has secrets, and Molly can’t stand it. Especially knowing that she might never regain her memories.

That she fell in love with Aster Bishop once is hard enough to believe. But to fall in love again? To promise a future, always, when she can’t remember her past? It feels impossible when faced with a man she hardly knows and isn’t sure she can trust.

And yet… (Pub Date: Oct 06 2026)

Molly wakes up one day and she doesn't recognize her life. She's lost whole six years of memories and to her it's just like she traveled to the future. As if not remembering so many years wasn't enough trouble, she's not married to the boyfriend she loves but to her nemesis who tormented her for years in high school. 

 

3+ 

 

I love the premise, it's 13 Going 30 without resorting to magical realism, and without a problematic romance between an adult and a teenager. And for maybe half the book, I also loved how things were going. It was at least a solid 4. Nothing bad really happened to change my opinion. To be honest, there even some interesting events and revelations that made the characters and the story itself feel more realistic. At the same time, however, I had already gotten tired of the withholding of plot advance, especially done by Aster's reluctance in telling Molly what couldn't remember. At first, it's cute that he's afraid too much information will make her run, and of course we sense there is something big behind that, but weeks pass, and Molly is still in the same situation. This wasn't even just a case of "Come on, girl, do something for yourself!" or being upset her own friends won't step up for her, although I did have those moments as well. The thing is that this also made progress too slow. To make things worse, the big event to change everything was just so cinematic compared to how subtle it had been now, at first I didn't believe it was really happening and then I just didn't understand the need for it. And what about her ex-boyfriend? That was really it? I don't even see the need for including him if he's gonna be so inconsequential. And I'm pointing this out while detesting love triangles.

 

Another thing that bothered me was that as hard as life could be, the stakes were never really high. Most of the characters were so rich the reader already knew they wouldn't mind sharing if our main characters needed anything. This made their life hard to believe. And even if Aster's family's money was a conflict for Molly, I don't feel like the book dealt with this directly thanks to all those friends giving them what they needed instead of it coming from his family, leaving this issue not well solved in my opinion.

 

It is, however, a good story. One that may have chosen the easy way to resolve conflicts, that could have ventured more. But it's still a cute romance. I like Aster, I like Molly, I love the life they built together. I was really cheering for their happy ending. 

Honest review based on an ARC provided by Netgalley. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.

Rating: 3 out of 5.