Kristie J’s review of Beard in Mind (Winston Brothers, Book 4) by Penny Reid
Contemporary Romance published by Amazon Digital Services 31 Jul 17
I’m in love with all the Winston Brothers. Well, to be honest, only in deep like with Jethro, but the rest? Yep, love. I wasn’t sure if I’d love Beau or not. The twin brother of Duane from the first book, Beau is the ‘good’ twin. Everyone loves Beau. He’s friendly, he’d give you the shirt of his back and so on and so on. Reading about him in the other books, I was wondering if he would either be too good to be true or so perfect he’d be kind of on the boring side. But thankfully neither is true. Well, he is too good to be true, but in a truly wonderful way. And he’s way too quirky to be boring. And as he’s an auto mechanic and blue collar, that adds to the total “I love Beau” package.
He is matched with Shelly Sullivan, an absolutely stunning young woman his brother Cletus hires to replace Duane after Duane leaves on his world trip with his lady love. Shelly and Beau DO NOT hit it off, which is so strange because everyone loves Beau. But Shelly is unlike any heroine I’ve ever read before. She suffers from debilitating OCD to the point where it’s even hard for her to function. Because of this and because she doesn’t tell Beau, he just thinks she’s a prime beyotch. He’s insulted to the max when she points out that his face isn’t as symmetrical as his brothers, his nose is a bit off. And this is hilarious, as nothing puts a dent in Beaus sunny outlook.
And not only is Shelly OCD, she also has no filter when she talks to people. She tells them exactly what is wrong with them, and this puts up the backs of many. But Beau very gradually begins to realize there is more to Shelly, and he starts to fall for her, once he begins to peel back her very strange layers. But then there’s the issue of Cletus having ‘claimed’ her. This book takes place at the same time as the previous book, Beard Science, and while not completely necessary to have read that one, it does make things a bit clearer, not to mention that Beard Science is a hilariously wonderfully funny book. So you would want to read it anyway.
This book is wonderful. It’s funny, it’s poignant, and we see that Beau is deeper than we think at first. He has some real things he needs to deal with himself. And I adore Shelly too. Though it’s difficult for her to express her feelings and she has some real oddities about her, we see that she is absolutely devoted to Beau and he is her. It really warms the heart.
Another reason I love this book and the others in the series is the love between the Winston brothers. Especially touching is the love between Duane and Beau. They are two halves of the same coin. And Beau, with Duane soon leaving, possibly for years, Beau is very torn. He loves his brother dearly and wants him happy, at the same time he’s afraid. As a result, he unintentionally pulls away from Duane in order to protect himself. This kind of love between brothers is truly unique and adds a depth to a comedy.
Beard in Mind has everything going for it and is a delight to read from cover to cover. I got this one free with Amazon Prime, but I’m going to buy it outright, at a price higher than I normally pay, because I’m just so very taken with it. Read it!
Grade: A
Summary:
All is fair in love and auto maintenance.
Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually.
Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket.Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever.
She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words. Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life.The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity–exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity–and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean losing what matters most.
No excerpt available.
Other books in this series:
