I have loved all the Proper Romance books published by Shadow Mountain Publishing. I was excited to read their newest contemporary Proper Romance called Check Me Out by Becca Wilhite!
Synopsis:
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 café where he works. The only problem is that he seems to be a different person in his texts than 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 that it is what’s on the inside that matters most.
My Review:
Check Me Out was unlike any proper romance I have read up to this point. It was a contemporary novel, which is new for the Proper Romance lineup! I was excited to read it, but a little leery because of the title. The title of the book is called “Check Me Out”….so sitting somewhere holding up that book seems a little silly, but the story was fun and it was a quick read.
I do have to say it was not my favorite proper romance written, I liked a lot of the story but it did seem to drag on a little. It was definitely one of those stories that I knew exactly what was going to happen in the end. I do like the characters and liked that we could learn something from each of them. Wilhite did a great job show each of their personalities through the pages. I kind of wish there was an after story telling more about her and the man she ends up with. I was a bit bugged by the amount of kissing she and Mac did, mostly because I thought she was being pretty shallow. It wasn’t inappropriate, just annoying!
I could tell through the whole book that she definitely loved Will but because of what he looks like on the outside she was nervous to tell anybody else how much she loved him, even herself. She was willing to tell people that she was his best friend but to share that she actually loved him took her some time.
Being a 36 year-old, I didn’t really feel like I could relate to this book as much. I do love clean romance books, but this one was definitely set for older high school students and young college students. Which I think is great for Shadow Mountain to put on the lineup of proper romances. They need to reach out to all women. I do think you can learn a lot from this book and from Greta, Will and Mac. I think it teaches girls to stand up for their beliefs, and not sit back and do nothing about things that they feel strongly about. It also teaches good lesson on looking at others and what they are like on the inside and not necessarily what they are like on the outside. To see the beauty in all things. Overall I did enjoy the book, although it was not my favorite Proper Romance.
Purchase Check Me Out by Becca Wilhite
