Been There Done That by Hope Ellis

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Title: Been There Done That
Author: Hope Ellis
Series: Leffersbee #1
Published by: Smartypants Romance
Release Date: March 31st 2020
Format: eARC
Pages: 414
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Source: Smartypants Romance
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2020 Diversity Reading Challenge, Lenoreo's 2020 New Release Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Quarantine Edition
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

Theirs was a forever kind of love, until it was stolen.

ZORA LEFFERSBEE’S once perfect life is no longer perfect. Her tenure at the University is in question, funding for her employees uncertain, and her faux-fiancé, Jackson James’s unpredictability is wearing on her last nerve. Just when Zora is convinced things can’t get more complicated, life proves her wrong.

What the heck is he doing here?

NICK ROSSI’s complicated life is still extremely complicated. He’s used to fighting for everything he has, but he’s also used to winning. Now a man of power and influence, his return to Green Valley after so many years hasn’t gone according to plan, especially with the woman he’s always wanted.

She can’t know why I left, or why I’m back.

A powerful woman intent on righting the wrongs of the world, Zora doesn’t have time or energy to deal with the man who broke her young heart.

A powerful man intent on righting the wrongs of the past, Nick can’t help wanting to protect Zora, even if his devotion is unrequited.

My Review:

I received a free copy through Smartypants Romance in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

3.5 stars — This one started off as a solid 4 star, and I was really intrigued about what went down that caused Nick to leave, and how their reunion was going to go.  Both characters seemed solid and likeable.  I loved the ownvoices aspect to Zora.  And I’m always down for a book with smart/nerdy characters.  It wasn’t more than 4 stars because something about the writing just wasn’t capturing me…it isn’t something I can articulate, I just know I was very distracted while reading it.

My distractedness got worse as the book went on, and part of the problem is that the pacing didn’t quite work for me.  The story dragged on longer than I liked, and there were definitely parts that felt repetitive.  A part of me wonders if the ARCs that got sent out were earlier copies than intended, because there were more typos/consistency errors/etc than I normally expect.  I think the story would definitely have benefited from some condensing in places.

Sort of related to that is that while I liked both Nick and Zora, that was about it.  I didn’t really connect with either of them, and I didn’t always understand their emotions and choices.  I appreciated the way the end worked out, and that they both had room to grow and forgive, but by that point I was kinda tired of the push and pull.

While on some level I understood where Nick’s controlling tendencies came from, it really didn’t make him a very likeable character.  But I also had a hard time connecting with his shrewdness and ambition…  His love of power and influence just wasn’t something that drew me in.  I did appreciate the emotional moments we got to share with him as he confronted his past, and started to understand what drove him and what he was looking for from life.

And then we have Zora.  She’s described as this awkward nerdy woman, but she wasn’t what I was used to in that vein.  Which doesn’t make it bad, but I didn’t connect with her kind of awkward.  I had a hard time making a connection with her most of the time, and I honestly don’t know why.  I didn’t get the dynamic she had with her family (though I enjoyed the fun moments with Walker), and I didn’t quite understand all of what she was struggling with in her search for funding.  I did LOVE learning about what she was doing, and seeing a higher level perspective of what motivated her, what she wanted to improve.

Strangely enough, Jackson actually humanized Zora the most.  I loved their crazy friendship and their bantering.  They felt like good friends, and I appreciated their weird dynamic.

I enjoyed Nick and Zora together, but I wasn’t super duper swoony in love.  And again, I don’t know why.  I guess I just didn’t always feel the chemistry personally.  That doesn’t mean it wasn’t there, just that I didn’t connect with it.

As for the rest of the side characters?  I didn’t really connect with many of them.  I didn’t always understand the bits of humour that were here and there (like stuff from Zora’s Mom) — they went over my head.

So yeah.  This book started off strong, but in the end just wasn’t quite a match for me.  There were definitely some great moments (hence the extra half star), but I just had a hard time connecting in the end.  Ah well.