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

Dec 27, 2016 Reader rated it really liked it

Shelves: contemp, rom-coms, 2016-reads

Enjoyed so much of this book. I'm a sucker for brotherly interactions. 4 stars because sometimes both Duane and Jessica made me want to smack them. ...more

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Aug 29, 2016 aniryllis rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, in-english, owned

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

My hate for “love” triangles has no limits, so you can believe me when I say it’s not that.
I also hate bffs/sisters/brothers involved with the same girl/boy annnd here it didn’t bother me. At all. Jessica’s infatuation with Beau is naïve (never serious) and she “meets” Duane right away. It’s only Daune since the very beginning.
The only thing I didn’t like was Daune’s relationship with someone else while proclaiming he loved the heroine for the whole time.
Penny Reid’s writ ...more

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Jul 26, 2015 Sherry rated it it was amazing

I found myself truly and utterly enamored with Duane Winston from Penny Reid’s newest smart romantic comedy, Truth or Beard. For the life of me, I hope that his twin brother, Beau, gets his own book. Because, seriously, who doesn’t want to see twin sex-gods (“for the love of Thor!”) But, I digress.

Jessica James has never wanted anything but to get out of her hometown. Of course she has a plan. All the smart girls do. What the smart girls don’t count on is the attraction to the sexy, red-haired, ...more

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Aug 08, 2015 Andrea Peralta rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favs, great-male-lead, funny, best-2015

this book was fantastic! Ilove the banter. Atthe momentI think Penny Reid can't do wrong....can wait for Jethro's book ...more

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Sep 27, 2015 Christine Hill rated it really liked it

This review was originally posted on my blog: loveserially.wordpress.com

Truth or Beard (Winston Brothers Book 1)

Rating: 4 (sXe)

Quick & Dirty summary:

Jessica James has had a schoolgirl crush on Beau Winston since she was, well, a schoolgirl. Beau’s twin brother, Duane, is another matter completely. So when things get hot and heavy at the Friday night community music night, Jessica thinks her dreams have come true. Of course they haven’t, and you don’t have a twin story until you have a case of mi This review was originally posted on my blog: loveserially.wordpress.com

Truth or Beard (Winston Brothers Book 1)

Rating: 4 (sXe)

Quick & Dirty summary:

Jessica James has had a schoolgirl crush on Beau Winston since she was, well, a schoolgirl. Beau’s twin brother, Duane, is another matter completely. So when things get hot and heavy at the Friday night community music night, Jessica thinks her dreams have come true. Of course they haven’t, and you don’t have a twin story until you have a case of mistaken identity. However, as Duane forces Jessica to rethink their shared childhood, Jessica realizes that she may have been telling herself she was in love with the wrong brother the whole time. As Jessica and Duane go a courtin’, motorcycle biker gangs, long distance relatives, and troublesome older brothers make what could be a simple happily ever after into something a bit more complicated.

What I loved and what I not-so-loved?

This book was totally unexpected for me. After reading Beauty and the Mustache, I shared Ashley’s vision of her brothers as dirty, red-headed hicks. This idea did not dissipate even towards the end of Beauty and the Mustache, as Ashley realizes her brothers have changed over the years. in Truth or Beard, Duane had a lot of layers, and Reid confesses on her website (I think that’s where I read it) that this novel was a change of pace for her because so much of it is written from Duane’s point of view. I have loved that about Reid’s novels—getting to know the male characters from their own thoughts and feelings. But in some ways, this was a double-edged sword. I felt a little disconnected from Jessica. She was clearly cute, and painfully honest, but the different components of her personality didn’t quite gel together into a cohesive person. She wants to do the right thing, but she also wants to rebel against her Baptist upbringing. She speaks her mind clearly, but also seems easily befuddled. She loves kissing boys, but she isn’t interested in sleeping with them. None of these things is unrealistic or makes me dislike her character. But there seemed to be a bit of distance between her and me that may be due to Duane. It’s like I couldn’t bond with her because Duane kept interrupting our girl time.

The beautiful thing about this novel was that it tried to resolve some of the tension between honoring your family and honoring yourself. That’s a hard thing to do when your dreams take you away from home. But Jessica and Duane seem to navigate those waters well—communicating openly with their families about their hopes, while leaving their plans flexible for revision.

The Bottom Line: Would I recommend it to my BFF?

I’m not sure. I hate to say this because I love Penny Reid, but there is a lot going on in this novel. From the motorcycle gang, to the other brothers, to Ashley and Drew, I’m not sure my BFF would get as much out of it if she hadn’t read Beauty and the Mustache, which she hasn’t. And it’s like I can see the future books building out of this first novel, which is a double-edged sword (damn that sword!). It made it difficult to see the trees from the forest… or maybe it’s the forest from the trees. What I can say for sure is that if you are a fan of Penny Reid then this book (and series) is a MUST. ...more

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Jan 15, 2018 Shannon rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own-ebook, 2018-popsugar

In true Penny Reid fashion, this is awesome. The Winston Brothers are hilarious and I loved getting to know Duane in this one. I also loved that we got more of the rest of the Winston clan, we get to know Beau, Duane's indentical twin, Cletus, their older brother and business partner, BIlly is around but not involved too much, and Jethro is around at the end. If you've read Beauty and the Mustache, this takes place after Ashley goes back to Chicago while Jethro and Drew are away in the Appalachi In true Penny Reid fashion, this is awesome. The Winston Brothers are hilarious and I loved getting to know Duane in this one. I also loved that we got more of the rest of the Winston clan, we get to know Beau, Duane's indentical twin, Cletus, their older brother and business partner, BIlly is around but not involved too much, and Jethro is around at the end. If you've read Beauty and the Mustache, this takes place after Ashley goes back to Chicago while Jethro and Drew are away in the Appalachians doing their game warden thing. The two stories reunite towards the end.

I was in a foul mood when I started reading this the other day, which is why I picked a Penny book. I knew reading one of her books would cheer me up, and the Winston's did just that. Shortly after starting the book, I was feeling better and laughing at Duane's antics with Jess. Jess has always thought she was "in love" with Beau Winston, he's the nice twin, the safe twin. Duane has always played pranks on Jess growing up, he has dangerous hobbies like dirt track racing, and driving fast. Growing up with the Winston boys, Jess knows both brothers and has pulled plenty of pranks on Duane to get back on him for his antics towards her. Now everyone is all grown up, and Jess runs into Duane on Halloween, but she isn't quite sure which twin he is but she thinks he's Beau. Duane is happy to take advantage of the situation playing along until things get a little heavy, then he tells her his identity and Jess is rightfully angry. The pair continue to bicker and fight, but they eventually can't deny that they are as Duane would say suited for each other.

Jess is the local high school calculus teacher, but she has big plans to travel after her student loans are paid off and she's saved up some money. She wants to travel the world and see where life takes her. Her family thinks that is a terrible idea. Duane's whole family minus his sister, lives in the family house. He and his brothers own an auto repair shop and he's happy where he's at, though he does like to spice by racing on the local dirt track. When Duane and Jess decide to make a go of things, she tells him that she plans to leave eventually. They decide to try to make things work for a year and only a year.

Enter the monkey wrench...Jess' Aunt passes away and her family has to deal with the aftermath of her death. This means major changes for Jess and puts major strain on Jess and Duane's relationship. Meanwhile, Duane is approached by the local biker gang with an attempt to blackmail the Winston family. You see their father was a member of the Iron Wraiths the local biker gang, and the eldest of the brothers Jethro was not always and upstanding citizen. Jethro has turned things around and he's working as a park ranger or a game warden (can't remember which, sorry). The Iron Wraiths keep trying to pull the Winston's into their shady business dealings and use the people they care about to get them to do their dirty work. I like how the drama gets resolved, its pretty whitty and not a convenient rushed ending. The ending feels complete with most of the strings tied up nicely. I felt happy and content when I was done with this book, which was exactly what I needed and exactly what I knew I'd get from Penny Reid and the Winston's.

I can't wait to get to know more of the characters that we met in the story. I loved Claire, and I hope we see more of her going forward. Ashley's book is my favorite and I hope we see her moving forward as well. I can't wait to get to know the rest of the brother's and see where the series takes us. ...more

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Mar 12, 2017 Shannon rated it really liked it

Shelves: modern-romance

I love this book. This is my third time reading it. With each book in this series, I think that the author is single-handedly attempting to overcome my aversion to southern bearded men. Now I walk around and, when I see a man with a beard, I hope he will have a sweet Southern drawl and an ability to reference great literature. Unfortunately, where I live, it is more likely for such a specimen to be a hipster vegan who makes his own beard oil from the tears of reptiles (because, you know...bearde ...more

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Sep 14, 2017 Rachel rated it it was amazing

I absolutely loved this book. Sigh, I like when Duane said he was in love with Jessica since they were kids. I also love all the comedy, I laughed aloud a lot.

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