Not This Time by MA Binfield is a second chance romance featuring two former bandmates and loads of unresolved feelings.
Madison (Maddie) Martin and Sofia (Sofi) Flores were members of one of the biggest “girl bands” in America. They were also carrying on a secret love affair. When Sofi decides to leave the band and become a solo artist, hard feelings and broken hearts are left behind.
Five years later Maddie has left the spotlight and moved on to her second career as an interior designer in Miami. Meanwhile, Sofi has become one of the biggest names in pop music.
Although their paths have diverged, fate has a surprise in store when Maddie is unwittingly booked to design Sofi’s house. The last thing Maddie needs in her life is Sofi Flores, or at least that’s what she tells herself. Sofi realizes no one understands her quite like Maddie, which makes her the perfect candidate to design a house that feels like home. Can these two bury the hatchet, or did their old wounds cut too deep?
The Characters
Maddie and Sofi are an interesting contrast. Maddie came out as bisexual after she left the band. Her music career fizzled. She’s now happy to keep a low profile. Her focus is on running her business and being a single parent to her young son.
Meanwhile, Sofi seems stuck in much the same place she was years ago. Fame has become a trap, and she lives her life for others. Her manager and her mother pressure Sofi to keep working even though she’s exhausted. She is stuck in a fake relationship with a male singer because her team fears coming out would harm her career.
Sofi is pushed to her limit, and seeing Maddie again makes her realize what she’s been missing. For Maddie, Sofi represents the ultimate risk, but also the ultimate temptation.
The Writing Style
Not This Time kept me hooked from start to finish. The book starts out strong by showing us a glimpse of Maddie and Sofi while they were still part of the band. Seeing how bright their passion burned helps us understand the depth of pain caused by their breakup, and it encourages us to root for their eventual reunion.
The book doesn’t spend much time on stage or in the studio. Rather, it focuses on the intimate moments that a celebrity and her former lover could share away from the public’s prying eyes. I can’t recall another lesfic I’ve read that was set in Miami, and I appreciated that Binfield sprinkled in a little Miami flavor.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
I have to say, MA Binfield knows how to write yearning. Sofi and Maddie circle around their feelings for each other throughout the book, and the tension is delicious. I was definitely kept up past my bedtime because I couldn’t wait to read the next angsty chapter.
Body positivity was another pro for me. Sofi has curves, and Maddie helps her feel beautiful even when gossip sites and Sofi’s own mother criticize her figure.
Cons And Heads Up
My con for this book is a minor one. Maddie’s son Mateo is unquestionably adorable, but the writing of his character didn’t quite hit the right note for me. He sleeps more and is less supervised than any three year old I’ve met. However, that does give Maddie and Sofi more quality time together, so it’s good for the story.
The Conclusion
You should buy this book if you are ready to wallow in your feelings. Not This Time will put you through it – regret, longing, betrayal, and redemption. Don’t we all need to live in our feelings now and again?
TLDR (too long didn’t read)
Not This Time is an angst-filled, celebrity, second-chance romance featuring two former girl band members and some of the best yearning I’ve read.
Excerpt from Not This Time by MA Binfield
“I imagined sitting here reading.” Sofi pointed at the window seat that ran the length of one of the side windows. “Or playing my guitar on the deck, with the ocean in front of me. Maybe having friends over, grilling outside, listening to music and watching the sunset with a glass of nice pinot gris.”
Maddie thought it sounded perfect. Her own house was much more modest than this one, but it was on the ocean and she’d had all the same dreams when she moved in. She almost said it but managed not to. She felt herself blush.
“Like I say, it’s all imagined.” Sofi shrugged and sat on a stool next to the breakfast bar. “Aren’t you supposed to have color charts or drawings or something like that to show me?” The confiding tone had disappeared.
“That comes later.” Maddie pulled out one of the dining chairs and sat down. She made herself look directly at Sofi. It was hard. The tight hot feeling in her chest was not a good thing.
They had spent years together, barely ever separated. They’d been bandmates and best friends. They’d celebrated every award, every chart success. And they had fallen in love, desperately and madly. It had been beautiful, until Sofi had shown her that it had all been a lie. And Maddie had spent the last five years trying desperately to forget her. She closed her eyes, willing herself to stop visiting the past and to focus on the here and now. This was one meeting, maybe two hours, and then they could go their separate ways again.
She opened her eyes to find Sofi staring back at her intently, her perfect eyebrows raised, a question clearly written on her face.
“I don’t understand. What comes later?” Sofi glanced at her watch and then reached into her pocket to pull out her phone. She cursed softly. “And can we go a bit quicker? I have to get back to rehearsals.”
“I just mean that we usually get a sense of what the client wants in terms of ambience and feel and an understanding of planned utilization, that sort of thing, with the colors and the design options coming later.” Maddie tried to get back into her stride again.
“Utilization?”
“Who lives here, how you intend to use the space, does it need to be child-friendly, that sort of thing.” She opened her iPad. “Can I ask you a few questions?” Maddie logged on as she spoke, not looking up at Sofi.
“Is one of them going to be whether I ever missed you?”
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Bits and Bobs
- ISBN number: 9781635557985
- Publisher: Bold Strokes Books
- MA Binfield Online
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