Out now!
A post-graduation stopover in her small hometown turns into career quicksand. Can love help her climb out?After college, 23-year-old Kelsey Whitaker expected a dream job—not a one-way ticket back to her small hometown with nothing but a psychology degree her dad predicted would be useless. By day, she scans groceries and silently analyzes shopping carts. By night, she scours job boards, desperate for her Big Career Break.
Then a customer slips her a receipt with a desperate plea for help scribbled on the back. Soon, Kelsey is running a secret counseling service from her checkout lane—where her “clients” keep multiplying, the risks keep rising, and the guy in produce keeps making her wonder if escape is really what she wants.
When a long-distance dream job finally comes calling, Kelsey must decide: race toward the future she’s always imagined, or hold on to the unexpected purpose—and love—she’s found in the last place she thought she’d belong.
ABOUT the author
Gwen Rockwood makes her fiction debut with Checked Out. She is also the author of the award-winning newspaper column “The Rockwood Files,” published in newspapers across Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. Her first book, Reporting Live from the Laundry Pile, is a collection of fan-favorite essays from her column. She’s a cheese dip addict, a late-night reader, and a mom to three incredible humans. Born in the Rice Capital of the World and a graduate of the University of Arkansas, she currently lives in Arkansas with her husband Tom and their bossy dog.
more to read
reporting live from
the laundry pile
This non-fiction book features a collection of Gwen's most popular columns, covering marriage, motherhood, pets, and more.
the rockwood files
newspaper column
Click the button below to visit the The Rockwood Files website where Gwen's newspaper columns are published.
WHAT readers SAY
"Checked Out has a great mix of romance and drama. It's filled with life lessons, tears, and celebrations -- everything you need in a good book."
"I love it when I get to know characters so well that I find myself thinking about them long after I've read the last page. Checked Out gave me a story I'll remember."
