Truth or Beard (Winston Brothers, #1)

by Penny Reid

Beards, brothers, and bikers! Oh my!

Identical twins Beau and Duane Winston might share the same devastatingly handsome face, but where Beau is outgoing and sociable, Duane is broody and reserved. This is why Jessica James, recent college graduate and perpetual level-headed good girl, has been in naïve and unhealthy infatuation with Beau Winston for most of her life.

His friendly smiles make her tongue-tied and weak-kneed, and she’s never been able to move beyond her childhood crush. Whereas Duane and Jessica have always been adversaries. She can’t stand him, and she’s pretty sure he can’t stand the sight of her…

But after a case of mistaken identity, Jessica finds herself in a massive confusion kerfuffle. Jessica James has spent her whole life paralyzed by the fantasy of Beau and her assumptions of Duane’s disdain; therefore she’s unprepared for the reality that is Duane’s insatiable interest, as well as his hot hands and hot mouth and hotter looks. Not helping Jessica’s muddled mind and good girl sensibilities, Duane seems to have gotten himself in trouble with the local biker gang, the Iron Order.

Certainly, Beau’s magic spell is broken. Yet when Jessica finds herself drawn to the man who was always her adversary, now more dangerous than ever, how much of her level-head heart is she willing to risk?

 

• ISBN10: 1635764866
• ISBN13: 9781635764864
• Publish Date: 10 May 2018 (first published 28 July 2015)
• Publish Status: Transferred
• Out of Print: 27 January 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Diversion Books
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[EBookObsessed]

DNF – I read so many glowing reviews about this book and series but it just didn’t click for me.

This goes to show you that all reviews are simply personal thoughts on a story and whether or not it clicks with the individual. I recently read another glowing review for this book, the characters, the humor, etc., and I decided to take a break from my TBR and checked my eShelves. It turns out that I have a few books in this series and a few other Penny Reid books which have I have been collecting when they were on sale since this original release in 2015. I grabbed book 1 for this awesome series and after about 60 percent into it, I simply lost interest in the characters.

[mrs_mander_reads]

I didn't think I'd find a romance author that I loved as much as Alyssa Cole, but in walked Penny Reid. I loved this book! I can't wait to read the whole series.

[Linda]

Why didn't anyone tell me I had to read this book before now? I absolutely loved Duane, Jess, and all the Weston brood! They were all awesome, and I loved the humor, the love, the romance, and the touch of danger.
I am so happy I have all of the rest of the books lined up on my kindle, too - because now, I can indulge in some serious binge-reading.

[Djilan]

3,5* nice story but felt unfinished.

[bookperson]

Omg how annoyed I am with this book. And still I love it!

[limabean74]

Just wasn't feeling the characters, felt the love story was all over the place. Was hoping I would like it but I didn't.

[nitzan_schwarz]

I was kind of disappointed by this one, to be honest. It wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't have the magic of the Knitting in the City series and didn't flow quite as well.

While I liked Duane & Jessica, I also felt like their set-up was kind of lazy. Yeah, you were actually in love with him since childhood. Just roll with it! It felt like just a stepping stone for the sexy times, and there was too much emphasis on the physical for me, as opposed to the lovely enemies-to-lovers trope that I adore and the synopsis kind of made me expect.

Also, at different points Duane got on my nerves. For someone who's been in love with Jess for ages, he sure takes his sweet time with it and has to be knocked over by his siblings multiple times to make the right choices.

Ultimately, I feel like this was missing something, and I'm more interested in Clair (is she going to be Billy's love interest? He was interested in her, for sure) than I am in Duane & Jess.

Also - Jess's dad is super obvious and WHY didn't we get into it in this story?? We could have cut the hesitation bullshit in half and had a more interesting issue of dealing with that Pandora's box.

[Sam@WLABB]

Rating: 4.5 Stars

I fell in love with Penny Reid's nerdtastic humor through the Knitting in the City series, and my adoration continued with the Elements of Chemistry and the Rugby series. Therefore, I was very excited when I heard about The Winston Brothers, and I can affirm, that I was not disappointed.

This book had many of the trademarks of Reid's other books, however, there was something different. I could not put my finger on it, but it was a little bit of a departure from her prior books. This is not a bad thing as the book still had all those things I love: the nerdy humor, fun-fantastic characters, awesome secondary characters, warmth, and heart. Penny knows how to build a community you want to be part of, and she has done so again with The Winston Brothers.

This book introduces us to the fine Winston family as it tells the story of Jessica and Duane. So many things to love about their story! I loved their history. These two have known each other for a lifetime. They shared a history and many fond memories. Duane has longed for Jess since his teens, and that whole connection made my heart pitter-patter.

He was so dreamy, and I'd forgotten how much I disliked the word dreamy.

Jess was a fun heroine, with many interesting facets, but the real star in my heart was Duane. He was so complicated, but so straightforward. You knew what you what getting, but then you got more than you expected. He was so virile, but had the most tender heart. He was introspective, yet honest. I adored how he went after Jess, and he said so many swoon worthy things.

"But what about your dreams?"
"You're it."

It wasn't just the moments between Duane and Jessica that ingrained Duane in my heart. His interactions from the beginning showed what an amazing fella he was. Trick or treating with a little girl, his interactions with his brothers and sister, his love for his momma, his yearning for Jessica. All of this showed what an incredible man Duane was.

My momma once told me, you don't need to be pushed in order to fall. I don't think you'll need to do much pushing, Jessica.

Overall: Penny with a twist that only led to even greater enjoyment, and a series that I am looking forward to.

[Romance Schmomance]

Review to come.

[stacey_is_sassy]

The Winston Boys – 6 Bearded hotties up for grabs…

I’ll admit it, I’m a sneak. I actually messaged Penny Reid to complain (suck up) that her books were too good to have to wait for. I mean seriously…hot guys with beards…and we’re not talking about just one either…6 of them…and two of them are identical. What’s a girl to do? Well, this little chicky (me) scored. I’m sure she felt sorry for me and decided I had the potential to be a stalker if I didn’t get my way. So here we go…

I really loved those Winston men. This is a family who is getting over the loss of their mother to cancer and a despicable father who showed no love or regard for any of them. They are not perfect by any means but they do have such goodness within them that you can’t help but love them. Duane our H is a daredevil. He loves challenging his mind and body with dangerous activities. He cares about his family and tries to solve all of their problems. Jethro is the oldest. Unfortunately, he started to follow in his father’s footsteps but realises his mistake and makes every effort to change his ways. Cletus…OMG, this guy is funny but it’s the kind of funny where he’s not purposely doing it. He’s extremely smart and is the one all the brothers go to when they need a problem nutted out. Beau, Duane’s twin, is the easygoing one. Smiles for everyone and manages to manipulate most people into seeing and doing things his way. We don’t really get to know the other brothers and sister Ashley, that well. The one thing that stands out is that they love each other unconditionally and will always have each other's back.

The James Family is made up of Daddy, who’s the sheriff, Momma who is a God loving mother to Jackson, a police officer and Jessica, a teacher and the heroine of the story. TBH, they came across as a bunch of people who lived in a house together. We don’t see them checking in with each other or finding out how their lives are going. We do see Jackson give a brotherly face to Jessica and then turn around and show an egotistical jerk to the Winston brothers. Yes, this could be seen as brotherly love, but he never actually asked or took notice of Jessica’s desires or wants. Jackson and Jessica didn’t seem to mind each other but they just didn’t feel connected to me. The Sheriff seemed quite nice and I respected him for not being narrow-minded, but he obviously did not pass these values on to his son. There is also mention of an Aunt Louisa in Texas. It’s not until later that we learn more about her and this part dragged down my opinion of the family even more.

Jessica and Duane’s love story spans years. Jessica is friends with both Duane and Beau. One brother is nice to her, and one enjoys tormenting her. Guess which one likes her??? It’s the old pull the pigtails of the one you like, kind of story (think Maxwell Smart as you read that). You can’t help but love Duane and his devotion to Jessica. He had dreams and made plans that he hoped one day might come true. Jessica made dreams and plans too. Unfortunately, their dreams aren’t on the same track. This story is about finding love and whether sacrificing or compromising can help your dreams meet on the same track.

There are some dramas for the Winston’s with the local motorcycle club trying to take advantage of the boys. The connections between some of the characters to our main characters reinforced the small town vibe. Between the teacher friend connected to the President of the MC, Jess’s cousin also connected to the MC and a history with Duane, it’s got an everyone knows everyone vibe.

I really enjoyed Truth or Dare and will definitely be going back for more. I want to find out who is the perfect match for each of the brothers. I have not read Beauty and the Mustache from the Knitting in the City series, which has Ashley the only sister to the Winston’s in it. I didn’t feel like I missed anything but it has now been added to my TBR pile because I don’t want to miss any of the Winston’s story.

This review and more can be found at http://edgyreviews.com/