Book Review: Check Me Out

I was really excited to read Check Me Out by Becca Wilhilte because it's got a cute cover and it's about an assistant librarian. Libraries are one of my favorite places to be!

Greta loves her small town and she's worked at the library since she was a teen. She's passionate about it, and when it's threatened with being closed down, she starts fundraising and being somewhat of an activist to help shine awareness on how important libraries truly are. There are a lot of fun characters and situations in the library thread of the story that are cute and funny. The main thrust of the book, however, is Greta's love life. Her best friend Will is a sweet and supportive, all around lovable guy. He's heavy-set, however, and firmly in the friend zone for Greta. He does help her get a date with Mac, a hot guy who wants to kiss her a lot. When Greta starts to wonder why Mac's amazing, romantic texts don't really match up to what Mac is like in person, the puzzle pieces start to fall together, and the fallout might not be pretty.

I loved Will as the hero. It's not very often that heroes aren't muscular and perfect in nearly every way and I loved that this story showed that looks aren't everything. Will makes the reader fall in love with his heart and I really wanted him to get a happily-ever-after. He was so sweet! Greta also has a lot of good intentions, but makes a ton of mistakes on her path to love. She's funny and loyal, but a bit on the shallow side. I thought the author did a great job with making Greta three-dimensional in her interactions with the secondary cast like Marigold and her mother and readers will definitely be invested in who Greta will choose at the end---Will or Mac? No spoilers here, though.

This Cyrano de Bergerac retelling has just enough tension to keep the reader in suspense about what will happen when the secret comes out. It's a nice addition to the Proper Romance line and romance fans will close the book with a smile.

You can get your copy here

Here's the back copy:

Greta loves her job as assistant librarian. She loves her best friend, Will, the high school civics teacher and debate coach. She even loves her mother despite her obvious disappointment that Greta is still single.

Then she meets Mac in the poetry section of the library, and she is smitten. Mac is heart-stoppingly gorgeous and showers her with affection, poetic text messages, and free hot chocolate at the local cafe where he works. The only problem is that he seems to be a different person in his texts that in his face-to-face conversation.

When the Franklin Library is threatened with closure, Greta leaps into action. She arranges for a "battle of the bands" book jam, hosts a book signing by a famous author, and finally, stages a protest that raises more than a few eyebrows.

Through it all, she slowly realizes that it is Will, not Mac, who she turns to for support and encouragement. Mac has the looks; Will has the heart. How can she choose between them?

Check Me Out is a contemporary romance—with just a hint of Cyrano de Bergerac—that reminds us to never judge a book by its cover.