Melanie "Mel" Hirsch has always dreamed of having a successful writing career, but for now, she works as a writing tutor for a local university. When she comes across an advice article from the 1950s on how to find a husband and starts to wonder if any of the suggestions would work in the modern world, she decides to test the theory and use the results of her experiments as the basis for her first book. If she's lucky, maybe she'll meet a nice guy along the way, too. Unfortunately, her friend and co-worker, Cameron Whitacre, an adjunct computer science professor and director of IT at the university where Mel works, isn't too keen on the idea. He claims that he's concerned about Mel's safety since she'll be meeting a number of strange men while conducting her experiments, but the truth is that he's secretly been in love with her ever since they met five years ago and has been waiting for her to notice him ever since. Mel has a bit of a crush on Cameron too, but won't let herself act on it because she's afraid of messing up their friendship. Besides, she doesn't believe that he returns her romantic feelings; if he did, wouldn't he have made a move at some point in all the years they've known each other? The more involved Mel gets with her "research," the more frustrated Cameron becomes. Will he gather the courage to confess his true feelings before it's too late?
 
I really enjoyed the unique premise of this story as well as Mel's "mancounters," which were generally pretty funny. Most of the advice she followed from the article was terrible, even for the 1950s! I also enjoyed the humorous group texts between Mel, Cameron, and their mutual friend Ivy. However, I was a bit frustrated by Cameron and Mel's prolonged unwillingness to talk to each other about their feelings, both because it was so obvious how they felt about each other and because they both seemed stuck, unable to move forward with their lives as long as things between them remained unresolved. When the conversation finally happened, it was very late in the story, so we didn't get to see much of them as a couple before the book ended.
 
Overall, "Book Smart" was a cute, funny story that I recommend for all fans of sweet contemporary romance and romantic comedy. It's an excellent debut for author Amanda Pennington, and I will certainly be watching to see what she writes next.
 
*Review copy provided by Smartypants Romance. All opinions expressed are my own.