Truth or Beard (Winston Brothers, #1) in Sharks of Awesome

Oct 06, 2014 MB (What she read) rated it really liked it

Shelves: series-that-i-follow, 2018-re-read, cover-art-great, romance-contemporary-or-chick-lit, 2015-read

I made the mistake of starting this book at about 7:00pm on on work night. Couldn't stop and finally closed it with a happy sigh at 2:00pm. Needless to say, that made waking up for work NOT FUN the next morning. Such is life, with a new Penny Reid book to devour.

Some thoughts: This book has a killer of a beginning...makes me think of Susan Elizabeth Phillips in that. I have been on tenterhooks waiting to see what happened next to Duane and Jessica after reading the teaser published earlier in Sc ...more

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Oct 07, 2014 Nancy Reads Romance rated it it was amazing

Shelves: smart-romance

Penny never disappoints! Loved this book!

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Oct 07, 2014 Christy Wilson rated it it was amazing

Oh Penny Reid, how I love thee...

Truth or Beard is the first in the new Winston Brothers Series. You may recall from Beauty & the Mustache that the heroine had six brothers. This series will be about those brothers. And as a side note: if you haven't read BatM, get on it. You can click on the name there and read my review.

Jessica James, daughter of the Sheriff, has returned to her hometown of Greene Valley, Tennessee, to teach high school math for a few years to build up her savings to travel th Oh Penny Reid, how I love thee...

Truth or Beard is the first in the new Winston Brothers Series. You may recall from Beauty & the Mustache that the heroine had six brothers. This series will be about those brothers. And as a side note: if you haven't read BatM, get on it. You can click on the name there and read my review.

Jessica James, daughter of the Sheriff, has returned to her hometown of Greene Valley, Tennessee, to teach high school math for a few years to build up her savings to travel the world, which has been a dream of hers since she was a child. She has nursed a major crush for Beau Winston for years and runs into him at Halloween time.

Or is is Duane, his twin brother?

I don't like to go into too many details about the books I read; I hate spoilers and I know you do too. All I can say is that Penny Reid never disappoints me as a reader. Her books are always fun to read. Truth or Beard is no exception. Funny, smart, sexy - with all the feels. I know there are things that Duane said that brought me to tears at times while reading. Penny's heroes never leave you disappointed, and never do they go over the top in what they say; by that I mean - the romantic things they say pass the Christy eye roll test.

And the heroines? They are always smart and I adore every one of them, Jessica included. There is nothing like reading about a heroine who opens her mouth and says the wrong thing at the wrong time - just like we all do.

Further, I so loved this book because I could identify with Jessica in her wanderlust and in that feeling of not belonging. Of being different in your wants and desires from everyone else in your family, and the people who you have been raised with. I get her.

I could go on and on about the other characters as well. You will LOVE the brothers. LOVE, I say. And you will get in fights with your other reader friends over which brother is YOURS (I'm leaning toward Cletus after this one).

A must read and again - I think will be one of my top books of the year. ...more

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Feb 02, 2017 Ginny Deffendall rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Penny Reid, I think I might love you. I know I can't quit you – I'm currently diving right into Book 2 of the Winston Brothers series, Grin and Beard It.

They may live in the Tennessee Mountains. They may sound and look like hillbillies, but Reid's characters are anything but. They are, in fact, intelligent, well-read, gentlemanly and witty, often causing me to laugh out loud (especially Cletus). And she expects her readers to be intelligent too. She uses words like multifarious and laconic! I fo ...more

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Sep 13, 2017 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-romance

Update from 2nd read: I liked it much more the second time around! Especially after reading the entire series and knowing how everything with the Wraith's concludes. I still hold my 4 star rating, but still enjoyed it better the second time around. (Beauty and the Mustache is still my favorite of all of them!)

I loved, like seriously LOVED, Beauty and the Mustache (prequel book to this series), so I had super high expectations for Truth or Beard. Unfortunately, it's wasn't as good. Don't get me w Update from 2nd read: I liked it much more the second time around! Especially after reading the entire series and knowing how everything with the Wraith's concludes. I still hold my 4 star rating, but still enjoyed it better the second time around. (Beauty and the Mustache is still my favorite of all of them!)

I loved, like seriously LOVED, Beauty and the Mustache (prequel book to this series), so I had super high expectations for Truth or Beard. Unfortunately, it's wasn't as good. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it and it was a good book, just not as fantastic as the previous book.

This book was told from dual, 1st person POV, rotating between Jessica and Duane. That was totally fine and didn't bother me. I think because the previous book was so tame when it came to language and sexy stuff, I was expecting the same in this novel. There was a tiny bit more F bombs and definitely more sexy stuff. While the relationship between Drew and Ashley of BatM was more focused on emotions and feelings, I think that Jessica and Duane's relationship was more focused on the physical side of things, at least in the beginning.

The first half of the book was kind of 'eh' for me. The second half picked up and was much better. I was wondering how she was going to bring these two characters to a compromise when one wanted so badly to leave Green Valley and the other felt like they had to stay. I was very happy with the conclusion!

I wasn't super crazy about the biker story line going on in this book. I like how everything was dealt with and wrapped up, and I've got a feeling that we are definitely going to see more of the biker gang, especially after Cletus outsmarted them, but I hope it's not in every single book. That will get repetitive.

Speaking specifically about the hero and heroine now, I liked Duane but I've liked other heroes more than him in the past. He was too proud and too stubborn for my taste. I'm glad that he conceded in the end and humbled himself a bit. I loved how much he loved Jessica. That was his redeeming quality in my eyes. His refusal to stand in the way of her dreams. Jessica was a good heroine, I just had a hard time understanding her. She has what she referred to as wanderlust, wanting to see the world. And I know that's a real thing and people literally live their lives travelling the world, but I'm not one of those people so I had a hard time connecting to her character. Duane and Jessica were perfect for each other and that's all that really mattered!

I loved the interactions with all the brothers and am very excited to read the next book! Hopefully the next book will be back to being as good as Beauty and the Mustache! ...more

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Jan 31, 2018 Kelly rated it it was amazing

*Swoon Swoon Swoon*

This was my second time reading this book. I can't get enough of those Winston Boys!

Hurry. Go read this. Then read the other books in the series. Come back and tell me who your favorite brother is.

...more

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