Can’t Wait Wednesday #173: No Matter What by Cara Bastone

Can’t Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings, to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about that we have yet to read. Generally they’re books that have yet to be released. It’s based on Waiting on Wednesday, hosted by the Jill at Breaking the Spine. So let me introduce you my Can’t Wait Wednesday #173 pick. Click on the book’s cover to add it to your Goodreads shelf (opens in a new window).

Expected Publication: March 3, 2026 by Random House Audio.
Length: ~11 hours.
Narrator: Alex Finke.
Genre: Romance

From The Publisher:

Can love draw them together… again?

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?

Why I Can’t Wait To Read No Matter What:

Cara Bastone has quickly become one of my auto-read authors. Her stories are always so heartfelt, with characters that feel completely real. The synopsis for No Matter What makes it sound like another emotional read—and I’m ready for it.