~**~ Blog Tour for Book Smart (Work For It #3) by Amanda Pennington w/ Review & Excerpt ~**~

Blog Tour for Book Smart (Work For It #3) by Amanda Pennington w/ Review & Excerpt

Book Smart, an all new friends-to-lovers sweet romance by debut author Amanda Pennington, is available now in Kindle Unlimited!

Melanie Hirsch is tired of watching life pass her by…

I’ve spent the last few years watching my dreams of a writing career and true love fade away, settling for a dead-end job and denying my feelings for my best friend – until I find a list of dating advice for single women to “find a husband” in the 1950s. I decide to experiment: try out the 1950s advice on my 21st-century dating pool and write about the results. If love is timeless, some of the dating advice still holds value. Maybe my experiment will launch my writing career. Maybe I’ll get over my best friend and meet someone new. Either way, I’m done watching from the sidelines.

Cameron Whitacre can’t wait forever…

I’ve spent the last few years in love with my best friend, hoping she’ll notice my friendly overtures have more than friendly intentions – but before I realize what’s happening, she declares me her wingman for a dating experiment. This idea could launch her writing career, so I’m trying to be supportive. But her experiment turns my life into a desperation-fueled dumpster fire. I need to show her how I feel without jeopardizing our friendship, all before she falls for someone else.

‘Book Smart’ is a full-length contemporary romance and can be read as a standalone. Book #3 in the Work For It series, Educated Romance World, Penny Reid Book Universe.

***4 Stars***

A friends to lovers story set in the Pennyverse? Yeah, not gonna say no to that, especially when you add in the whole 1950’s experiment added into the mix. So I dove in and while I enjoyed the journey and loved Cameron, Melanie and many of their friends and family, there was also that feeling like something was missing that would have bumped this baby up another notch when it came to the overall story. But in the end, this was a fun, sweet read filled with great characters, many of whom I'd love more of.

Cameron and Melanie. It was hard to not like these two. They are both good people, with good hearts who have an amazing friendship that anyone would be jealous of. Neither have had picture perfect lives, but they’ve done what needs to be done to live the lives they want.

As for their journey to their HEA. Slow burn is an understatement. Oh my. I love a good slow burn friends to lovers story, LOVE, but man, these two take it to another level. I loved their friendship and it was easy to see how much they truly liked and respected each other, but I didn’t really feel that…that…that thing…that gut feeling that there was a simmering, intense passion between them just waiting to explode…ok that sounds a bit much and cheesy, and I'm not talking about smexy times, I'm talking about the build up to it, I just needed that little bit more from them in that arena. But overall, I’m happy they both finally got over themselves and saw what was in front of them this entire time.

For a debut, this was a fun read. I think the author brought some amazing characters to life and I would really love to spend more time with Cameron, Melanie and their friends and family ~ especially Ivy, who I think has a really interesting story to tell. The writing was engaging, but the pacing was a bit slow at times, but overall kept me turning the pages. So, if you’re looking for a slow burn, sweet, fun, friends to lovers read, this is one to check out.

~ Copy provided by Smartypants Romance & voluntarily reviewed ~

Grab your copy TODAY!

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/3v3vKKG

Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/33yZZOm

Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/3JD5dIu

Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/3GYKVr4

Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3s89i1n

A man with perfect golden-blond hair and a slim-cut suit appeared next to me. He smiled with the bright ease of someone who’s had enough alcohol to lower his inhibitions but not enough to make him obnoxious—yet.

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before.” He gestured at my face with his Guinness.

“I’m new here.”

He grinned. “This is like a throwback to college days, huh?”

Not any college I’d ever been to.

“Right,” I said, “those good ol’ days.”

“So tell me.” He stepped closer. “Are you here for the business or the fun?”

My best friend Ivy hadn’t mentioned which business we were supposed to be involved in, so—“I’m here for the fun.”

Guinness’s smile took on an edge. “Excellent. Want to dance?”

Glancing around for Cameron and Ivy, I couldn’t spot them. The lone bartender was busy with a large crowd, so Cameron would be a long while, and Ivy must’ve been tied up with the host. Besides, wasn’t the point of being here to meet someone new? “Sure.”

We moved to the dance floor at the edge of the pool, swaying with the bass. The light of the chandelier above us cast a glow over everyone, and Guinness looked charming in the glass refractions, his golden hair glinting.

His lips brushed my ear. “You’re beautiful.”

It was nice, feeling charmed.

I took a breath to answer him with my own compliment—probably about his pretty hair—when my gaze locked on Cameron. He stood across the room, leaning one shoulder against an exposed pillar. I smiled at him, but he didn’t return it. He just stared. My rhythm faltered. Tossing back the last of his drink—which actually might have been the gin and tonic he got for me—he moved through the crowd without the ease and friendliness he’d had earlier. No mischief lit his face. He didn’t look away from me—not once—and I forgot that Guinness existed at all.

Cameron broke eye contact when he reached us, glancing at Guinness before opening his mouth to speak.

The crowd on the dance floor surged, jostling us toward the pool. Cameron’s hands reached for me at the same moment Guinness let go of me. An instant passed as we fell into the pool, and then warm, chlorinated water surged up my nose. Even though I didn’t stay under for long, I gulped breaths when my head broke through the surface of the water. The shock of suddenly being in the water, not to mention Cameron’s actions, had left me breathless.

“Pool party!” someone yelled—it sounded like Guinness—and people jumped in at random. The water churned, and chaos reigned. The suits and tuxedos and gowns made a colorful kaleidoscope in the turquoise water.

Cameron grasped my hand underwater. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. Are you?” I sputtered around a wave of water when someone cannonballed next to me.

A man swam into view but I didn’t recognize him until he spoke. The dim lighting of the chandelier was replaced with the harsh blue glow of underwater pool lights, and his golden hair was now flat against his head. He looked completely different. Wet Guinness was not at all attractive.

“Did you bring a swimsuit?” Guinness asked.

Irritation jabbed at me. Did I look like I was expecting a late-night swim? “No.”

He grinned. “I don’t mind.”

And that was my cue to leave. I already felt disoriented from the surprise swim, but this? It wasn’t his fault we were in the pool, or that he looked bad without his golden hair, but it was his fault for suggesting skinny-dipping at this exact moment.

Book note: The appeal of skinny-dipping relies entirely on the context.

I turned away and followed Cameron to the edge of the pool, moving through the water in that vaguely weightless, slow stride I’d seen Grandma use in her water aerobics classes. He climbed out first and then turned to offer me a hand.

I looked up. Oh.

Mr. Darcy at the lake had nothing on Cameron emerging from the pool. Clingy, wet clothes; rivulets of water streaming down his chest; his cowlick sticking on end even as it dripped. Frantically looking away, I took his hand. I couldn’t let Cameron see me staring—he’d never let me live it down.

About Amanda Pennington

Amanda Pennington lives outside Louisville, Kentucky with her husband in their fixer-upper house. When she’s not writing, Amanda loves traveling, running, and reading anything within reach. More information is available at www.amandacpennington.com.