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A review by mjsam
The Do-Over by Georgia Beers
4.0
ARC received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Ok, first up, I’ll explain the rating, which I usually leave til the end. I’d give this 3.5, but am rounding up to four, because I liked enough of this to rate it more than 3. I liked a lot of this book, it has engaging MCs, good secondary characters, and cute dialogue. But it also has some pitfalls.
Ok, good stuff first, both MCs are lovely (well, in the present anyway), Bella is a therapist who teaches a conflict resolution course and Easton is taking the course because her boss demands it. They both like each other, and have a series of dates/meet ups that are cute and sweet. They also both have great best friends, and I was relieved that Easton’s ex-husband Connor was not written as a dick, but was a nice guy. Easton learning more about herself and coming to terms with what she wanted was handled well, and I liked that Bella was not put off by anything Easton revealed (though in all honesty, it would have raised several red flags for me).
So the two meet up through work, but they’ve met before, in high school, where Easton was not so great. The back story between Easton and Bella was heartbreaking, and more so because of the lack of impact it had on Easton, which unfortunately for me, tainted my feelings about her the longer the book went on. I can tell you I would not have been able to get past it the way Bella did. It was also worse because even when Easton remembered, she didn’t really remember, and if I was Bella, I’d have followed my friend’s advice and just walked the hell away.
The other problem was knowing that Bella was keeping the secret of them knowing each other, because in books with secrets, you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and here it dragged on for way too long, which bogged down the pacing. It also meant the resolution was too rushed. I think it would have been better to have this reveal earlier, and left a bit more time for them to show how they overcame it. There’s also next to no scenes with Bella and Easton’s daughter and I’d like to have seen them relate within the relationship, they also don’t meet each other’s families or friends in any real way, and I would have preferred to have explored that too.
The present relationship and side stories with the besties were enough for me to enjoy probably 80% of the book, but a few tweaks could have had this higher. And in all honesty, this seemed more like a HFN, than a HEA, it’s one of those times I’ve gotten to the end of a book and not been sure the couple was right for each other.
Ok, first up, I’ll explain the rating, which I usually leave til the end. I’d give this 3.5, but am rounding up to four, because I liked enough of this to rate it more than 3. I liked a lot of this book, it has engaging MCs, good secondary characters, and cute dialogue. But it also has some pitfalls.
Ok, good stuff first, both MCs are lovely (well, in the present anyway), Bella is a therapist who teaches a conflict resolution course and Easton is taking the course because her boss demands it. They both like each other, and have a series of dates/meet ups that are cute and sweet. They also both have great best friends, and I was relieved that Easton’s ex-husband Connor was not written as a dick, but was a nice guy. Easton learning more about herself and coming to terms with what she wanted was handled well, and I liked that Bella was not put off by anything Easton revealed (though in all honesty, it would have raised several red flags for me).
So the two meet up through work, but they’ve met before, in high school, where Easton was not so great. The back story between Easton and Bella was heartbreaking, and more so because of the lack of impact it had on Easton, which unfortunately for me, tainted my feelings about her the longer the book went on. I can tell you I would not have been able to get past it the way Bella did. It was also worse because even when Easton remembered, she didn’t really remember, and if I was Bella, I’d have followed my friend’s advice and just walked the hell away.
The other problem was knowing that Bella was keeping the secret of them knowing each other, because in books with secrets, you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop, and here it dragged on for way too long, which bogged down the pacing. It also meant the resolution was too rushed. I think it would have been better to have this reveal earlier, and left a bit more time for them to show how they overcame it. There’s also next to no scenes with Bella and Easton’s daughter and I’d like to have seen them relate within the relationship, they also don’t meet each other’s families or friends in any real way, and I would have preferred to have explored that too.
The present relationship and side stories with the besties were enough for me to enjoy probably 80% of the book, but a few tweaks could have had this higher. And in all honesty, this seemed more like a HFN, than a HEA, it’s one of those times I’ve gotten to the end of a book and not been sure the couple was right for each other.