Book Smart by Amanda C. PenningtonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
I was provided an arc via the author, all opinions are my own.
This was a really cute sweet romance. If you are interested in a super steamy romance, this is not the book for you. This is pretty clean. There are mentions of sex, but there is only kissing from a physical romance standpoint. If you like cleaner romances, give this one a chance. This one is totally safe to read at work.
This follows Mel, a writing tutor at a local university who wants more from her life. She always aspired to be a writer. She latches on to the idea of writing about about determining if love is timeless by finding out if dating advice from the 1950s is still relevant to day in the world of online dating apps. She's been attracted to one of her best friends, Cam, a professor at the university, but she has a very specific idea of how love is supposed to look and feel like. Cam has been in love with Mel for years, but something has always preventing him from saying something and now he is afraid of ruining their friendship. When she gets this idea to use this list from the 1950s to launch her writing career and meet her own real life Mr. Darcy, he is not thrilled but he is willing to make sure she is safe when she goes out to meet strangers.
Overall, this is a solid debut by Pennington. I did feel that it was a bit on the long side and it was a bit too much of a slow burn romance for my tastes. I thought the the idea of Mel following 1950s dating advice in the present day was a really unique idea for a romance. I also really enjoy the friends to lovers trope. I really enjoyed the friend dynamic between Mel, Cam and Ivy. The trio had some really funny banter. Both Cam and Mel were a bit too stubborn for their own good, which always prevents them from revealing their true feelings. I really enjoyed Cam's backstory and would have loved a bit more about Ivy. Hopefully the author writes a book about her next.
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