Review — Beard Science by Penny Reid

Beard Science by Penny Reid
Series: Winston Brothers series #3
Also in this series: Grin & Beard It, A Beard In Mind, Dr. Strange Beard
Published by Caped Publishing
on October 18, 2016)
Pages: 389
Genres: Contemporary, Romance
Review Copy Provided By: Penny Reid


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USA TODAY BESTSELLING ROMANTIC COMEDY SERIES

Make a deal with the devil and you might get what you want, but will it be what you need?
Jennifer Sylvester wants one thing, and that one thing is NOT to be Tennessee's reigning Banana Cake Queen. Ever the perpetual good girl and obedient daughter, Jennifer is buckling under the weight of her social media celebrity, her mother's ambitions, and her father's puritanical mandates. Jennifer is officially desperate.

And desperate times call for Cletus Winston.

Cletus Winston is a puzzle wrapped in a mystery covered in conundrum sauce, and now he's in a pickle. Despite being convinced of his own omniscience, extortion by the exalted Banana Cake Queen of Green Valley has taken him completely by surprise. So... what's a maniacal mastermind to do?

Likely, the last thing you expect.

'Beard Science' is the third book in the Winston Brothers series, is a full-length romantic comedy novel, and can be read as a standalone.

I was provided a review copy; this did not influence my opinion of the book.

 

❝You’re my beginning, middle and end.❞

I’m writing this review in the car while my 15-year-old son is driving me back from visiting my daughter at her university. If you have ever had a teenage driver you know this is an exciting time, one of change and of new beginnings. It is also terrifying. Change is hard, change is frightening. But change is good. And sometimes change is necessary.

❝I felt hushed. I felt smothered. I felt suppressed and … ignored. Not just by my parents and their expectations, but by me.❞

Jennifer Sylvester certainly understands this need for change. Living under her mother and father’s thumbs, she was a puppet and they were the puppeteers. Telling her what to wear, where to work, how she should think and feel. It isn’t that Jennifer was okay with her circumstances, she just didn’t have the confidence to change them. She needed help. She dreamed of having her own family, a husband, and children. She wanted someone who could help her get a man and the tools to keep him. She thought she needed a husband to help her escape.

As a people watcher, Jennifer knew Cletus was cunning and manipulative, he too was a puppet master. She had watched how he got people to do his bidding for him. She knew Cletus would be the man to help. All she needed to do was manipulate the manipulator.

I didn’t want Cletu’s book yet. In fact, I was rather bothered and disappointed when I found out his book was next. I mean, there were other characters I liked better than Cletus. Billy, Roscoe, Beau. I thought Cletus should be last. Not that he wasn’t an interesting character to me, but I just didn’t want his book right now. Well, it’s a good thing I was not writing this series and Penny Reid was. Because this book was FANTASTIC. My favorite book of all of Reid’s books is Beauty and the Mustache … until now. Beard Science has tied BatM as my favorite.

I had no idea I was going to love Cletus so much. He was full of passion, which I would NEVER have guessed was there. He was gentle and strong, smart and sensitive, He Was Perfect! I loved his oddness, I loved his quirkiness. I loved him. His struggle between revenge and doing what was right, as well as his desire to do right by Jennifer had my heart tied up.

❝Control was his comfort zone.❞

Jennifer’s transformation was brilliant. I love that Reid made her realize her own potential and the importance of finding herself as well as making a life for herself ON HER OWN. She didn’t need a man to make her successful or important. She was capable.

The sexual chemistry was perfectly written. You couldn’t help but want them to get together. But Penny Reid stayed true to her characters. Slowly, they explored each other, slowly they began to fall in love and when they became comfortable with each other, Cletus proved he was not only a man of thought but a man who had skills! This is one of the things I love about Penny Reid’s books. I would much prefer a story with substance over a story whose focus is sex. Penny always delivers substance.

I CRIED. I laughed. I swooned. My heart is full. 5+ Stars for Beard Science!

❝Stay away from the normals, the small-minded people who fill their brains with small-minded pursuits, who blend in and keep up with the Joneses. Those people will tear you down and make you boring. Instead, surround yourself with the weirds. With the misfits, oddballs, and outcasts. Because the normals, bless their hearts, have no idea how to have fun.❞

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