Cyrano de Bergerac-ish Romance a Swoony Tale About Never Judging a Book By Its Cover

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Although she's yet to be swept up in a whirlwind romance with the Mr. Darcy of her fondest dreams, Greta Elliott still lives a life that's pretty darn idyllic.  The 24-year-old loves her job as an assistant librarian at the old library where she's worked since she was a teen.  She adores Will Marshall, her thoughtful, generous BFF.  And, despite her mother's constant wheedling, the woman is always there when Greta needs her.  

When Greta meets a gorgeous man in the poetry section, she thinks her life is finally complete.  Mackay "Mac" Sanders might be a lowly coffee shop manager, but he's got the face of a cover model and the soul of a poet.  His romantic texts make her heart thrum.  So what if he's less eloquent in person?  Who cares if his conversational skills are a bit ... lacking?  The guy can kiss and craft text-poems that rival the Bard's.  Mac's so pretty to look at that Greta can overlook a few character flaws.  Can't she?

It's only when Greta's world starts to crumble that she realizes it's Will and not Mac who's keeping her afloat.  Is is possible there's more there than just an old friendship?  She's always found Will's heart attractive.  His over-sized body?  Not so much.  Can she finally learn to look past her best friend's physical imperfections or will she lose her chance at true love forever?  For a librarian, Greta's still got a whole lot to learn about judging a book by its cover ...

I've enjoyed Becca Wilhite's previous two novels, so I've been anxious to read her newest, Check Me Out.  The fact that it features a library setting and the cutest bookish cover art ever?  Icing on the cake, baby.  Not surprisingly, I really enjoyed this contemporary romance about learning to appreciate someone for their inner gifts in spite of what they look like on the outside.  Given the novel's premise, there's no way its heroine could come off as anything but superficial and Greta definitely does.  While she proves herself capable in many ways, she's still self-centered and immature.  Kind, self-deprecating Will lacks a backbone but is otherwise a perfect, non-traditional hero.  While he's much easier to like than Greta, their love story remains swoony and sweet.  It's predictable, of course, but Wilhite does throw in a compelling subplot that adds a little more depth and interest to the tale.  On the whole, I ended up liking this fun, upbeat novel.  If you fancy light, clean romances that are engaging and enjoyable, definitely check this one out (pun intended).

(Readalikes:  Reminds me of other girl-swoons-for-hot-egomaniac-boy-only-to-realize-he's-a-jerk-and-her-ordinary-but-awesome-BFF-is-the-one-she-really-loves stories, although no specific titles are coming to mind.  Also reminds me of novels by Melanie Jacobson and Jenny Proctor)

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for mild sexual innuendo

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Check Me Out from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.