Been There, Married That Book Review

Been There, Married That is a hilarious battle of wills that will make you laugh out loud, cringe, and keep turning the pages to see what crazy disaster will happen to Agnes and how she’ll rise from the ashes.

About Been There, Married That

Agnes Murphy Nash is the perfect Hollywood wife – she has the right friends, the right clothes, and even a side career of her own as a writer. Her husband Trevor is a bigshot producer, and from the outside it looks like they’re living a picture-perfect celebrity life, complete with tennis tournaments and lavish parties.

But the job description of a Hollywood wife doesn’t cover divorce, which is the way Agnes’ life is headed after she comes home one day to find her credit cards cancelled and the security passwords to get into her enormous LA home changed. Oh, and there’s a guy there whose job it is to tase her if she tries to enter…which she does.

Needless to say, Agnes’ husband is dead set on making sure she loses big time, but Agnes isn’t the type to just lie down and take it. In a world of fremenies and hot nannies, personal psychics and “skinny” jello shots, Agnes may be losing her husband, but could that mean getting her own life back?

My Thoughts

Been There, Married That is a fast paced, humourous, and at times an almost hard to believe novel. I felt like I was reading a television reality show (think Desperate Housewives and a cross with Kardashians but maybe a bit more out of this world), you had moments of absolute disbelief but it also left you wondering could people really behave like this??

Our two main characters are part of the Hollywood crowd – they have the money, fame and careers. But as we know all too often, this doesn’t bring you happiness. Agnes’ husband (who is over the top, dramatic, selfish and down right unbelievable) decides he wants a divorce but he doesn’t go about this the normal way. Instead he locks her out of the house, cancels her credit cards and begins a very strange relationship with the live in nanny. Agnes is a free spirited, independent and bold woman. She rolls with the punches and takes everything thrown at her as a joke. Which also helps her bounce right back, even after hitting rock bottom.

The plot itself is very interesting but the novel was a bit hard to follow at times. The events were extreme and while it gives you a good laugh, it is almost a bit too unbelievable. While I really enjoyed Agnes’ character (come on how can you not love someone who takes an incident where it looks like she peed her pants in front of a crowd of people and come out with an advertising deal), I wish her character was a bit more developed. Agnes at time felt like she was spiraling but given the nature of their environment and her situations this made sense.

If you enjoy the world of reality television and celebrity gossip then this may just be a great fit for you. The theme is messy, out of this world and unbelievable – everything you tend to picture when you think of the lives of the rich and famous.

You can purchase a copy of this book on Amazon.

Rating: 3.5/5

About the Author

Gigi Levangie is the author of several novels, including The Starter Wife, which was adapted for an Emmy award-winning miniseries starring Debra Messing, and Maneater, which was adapted for a Lifetime miniseries starring Sarah Chalke. In addition, Levangie wrote the screenplay for the movie Stepmom, starring Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon. Her articles have appeared in Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, and Glamour.

Disclosure: I received a digital copy of this book in order to facilitate this review. All opinions expressed are my own.