Truth or Beard: Winston Brothers, Book 1

Truth Or Beard is the first book in the Winston Brothers Series and a spin-off from Penny Reid's Knitting in the City book, Beauty and the Mustache. It's not necessary to have read Beauty and the Mustache because Truth or Beard works well as a standalone, but I think the experience of the Winston clan would be much richer if the reader had a grasp of the family dynamic and the events leading up to Duane's story. So, if you haven't read Beauty and the Mustache yet, then go! Go now!Sheriff James' daughter, Jessica, is back in Green Valley, home from college and teaching Calculus at the local high school. And Duane Winston is ready to set his plans in motion. He's known for years that Jessica James was the one for him. Sure, she never cared much for him, she was a brat and the Winston Charm Gene must have skipped him. But he knew that things were different and now they could come to each other as adults and start fresh.A case of mistaken identity and some seriously hot Wizard looks are the catalyst for Duane's bold move and it doesn't take long for Jessica to see Duane for the man he is and for her to want him almost more than she wants her wanderlust slaked. But it starts to look like the path Duane and Jessica are on is set to fork in different directions in the very near future, causing both of them to question what they want out of life.In the midst of Duane trying to squeeze in all the love he can into his time with Jess, The Iron Order MC has come to his door with threats to his brother Jethro's freedom. Duane and his twin, Beau, must find a way to keep Jethro out of prison and the rest of their brothers free of the entanglement with the Club.To say that I was looking forward to this book would be an understatement of epic proportions. I. Have. Obsessed. Obsessed over this series and these characters. I've even called dibsies on Billy Winston for book boyfriend. The Winston's are my kind of people. Small-town (but in the best sense), family-oriented, hard-working, intelligent (but in the non-smug way), big-hearted, pure salt-of-the-earth folk. And it doesn't hurt that they are all hot and musically inclined *sigh*.I was very happy that Penny Reid decided to give Duane his story first. If ever there was a sibling that should have identity issues, it's Duane Winston. One of 7, he doesn't have the distinction of being "the girl" or "the troublemaker" or "the weird one" or "the youngest", hell, he's not even the most likeable twin:"We were hoping for Beau. He's so much nicer than you, plus he knows when to show respect."But Duane Winston is proof that still waters run deep:"Jessica." Her name on my lips sounded too loud. I had an odd thought just then, that I should only ever whisper her name, and that she should always be close enough to hear it. "Truth or Dare."Duane doesn't suffer fools gladly, nor does he fear or tolerate the criminal element. He's brave and stalwart and loves fiercely. Whether it's his mom, siblings or Jessica James, if someone is loved by Duane Winston, he will crawl over coals to keep them safe and happy. He may not smile or laugh a lot, but when he does, it's a gift, and when he wants to be with someone, he's all in. "I want to know you..."And I want to be known."To add to his quiet, lone-wolf persona, we also see him for the thrill-seeking car racer he is, which is no small turn-on in my book."Rationally, I knew it was just an old car, but something about the way he drove it turned all that metal into a sexy machine. He drove with swagger, panache, control. How he could be so unbridled on the race track and yet dominate with precision at the same time rang my bell--like, blaring five-alarm fire bell ringing."I may make a stink about Billy, but I'm thinking that by reading Truth Or Beard, I just met and fell in love with the Winston of my dreams.My hat is off to Penny Reid for this book, this series, these characters, this community. Every character has their own distinct personality--personalities that fit their age, life experience, gender and station. The locale is beautifully described and the culture is brought to us so completely I could almost hear the murmur of the crowd and the strumming of the banjos and smell the chili and cornbread as I read.Ms. Reid has the ability to make me love her heroines--even a heroine I can't really identify with, which always causes me to feel so much when I read her books. There are many reasons why PR books are on my "Keeper-Read-Often Shelf" and heroine-loveability ranks at the top.I really wanted to get mad and rail at Jessica, but it was impossible. Impossible because the author knows how to get us to see, really see, the heroine's motivations and feelings, even if we wouldn't feel or act in the same way.I get airsick, carsick, trainsick, seasick and strange food always gives me diarrhea, but no matter how much I'd want to tear up my passport and firmly ensconce myself in Green Valley society and let Duane Winston do fantastic things to my nipples, I get it. I get that a person, young or old, needs to feed their soul. Traveling is Jessica's Siren Song, her passion. I get it, and Duane gets it. Jessica's soul-deep desire to travel might break his heart, but he'd sooner live a lonely life than ask someone he loves to give up on her dreams, nor could he stomach the idea of taking something that wasn't given to him freely and wholeheartedly--a remnant of growing up with a user of a father.Penny Reid also has a talent for creating secondary characters that don't feel secondary--they feel real and important and like they aren't there just to instigate or aid plot progression. We are invested in everyone. In this case, we're most especially invested in the brothers. As a matter of fact, I'd be a liar if I said that Cletus didn't steal the show. Oh, my God. Cletus is amazing. Brilliant. Calculating. Bizarre. Everything Cletus does or says is done with intent--the intent might not be clear to everyone, but make no mistake, he's got a method and a meaning behind his madness. He also has a way of seeing past obstacles to find the solution to whatever problem they are facing and also a desire to see everything put to rights. He might be serious and lacking in the devilish charm of his father and a few of his brothers, but his strangeness is rather endearing, which sets him apart from the rest.I'm always hard-pressed to find fault with a book that leaves me so completely in love and immersed in the tale and so happy for the future of the other characters whose stories have yet to be told. I love the Winstons. However, I would have liked to have seen a few particular scenes play out rather than be glossed over and there's a little familial matter involving Jessica that was left hanging that I really hope gets addressed in later books. Actually, there were a few things regarding Jessica's family that I wished were explained more, but overall, Truth Or Beard was a stellar read.It's also worth mentioning that The Winston Brothers series differs from the Knitting in the City books in that both hero and heroine POV's are represented throughout the book. Just when I thought PR's books couldn't get any better, we get to live in the heads of her heroes!

4.5 star reviewIt felt like I had been waiting forever for Truth or Beard to be released. I was so excited for this book (and really now I am trying to patiently wait for the rest of the Winston Brothers books...). When I first found out Penny would be writing books for all of the brothers I was so so excited. I mean who wouldn't want to read more about these bearded mountain men? Especially when she said they would be more like Beauty & the Mustache, one of my favorite books ever? I loved Duane and Jess' story. It was definitely worth the wait. It has the wonderful combination of Penny Reid wit and charm with some super hot scenes, super romantic moments, moments that made me laugh out loud, just everything all wrapped in one amazing story.If you have read Double Dare from the Shiver Anthology that came out last year then you have read the start of this story. Jess is back in town to teach, pay off her student loans, and save up money to go travel the world. She grew up being infatuated with Beau, Duane's twin brother. Beau was the nice one, the one who always saved her and helped her when she needed it. Not like Duane who always made things worse. Plus she was always tongue tied around Beau. He was her biggest crush.When she shows up at the Halloween event in town and sees one of the twins she knows it is Beau. After all she is drawn to him. She is reacting to him, and she doesn't react like that to Duane. Even though her friend tells her it is Duane she won't listen. Oh it was fun. She didn't listen and then everything gets all confused when she finds out it really is Duane. I mean she always hated him didn't she? Why would she want to kiss him and be with him if it is Duane? It doesn't make sense to her.Duane has always wanted to be with Jess. He always liked her, but he was one of those boys who could never show it the right way. When you see how he thinks back upon some of the things that made Jess angry when they were younger you see he was trying to help. He was trying to be nicer, but Beau was just better at that than he was. He was so cute. So when Jess starts acting like she wants him too he has a hard time not getting involved (even though she thinks he is Beau). Ah I loved him. He was so sweet and kind, yet fiery and passionate. He was a little bit of everything wrapped up in this wonderful man. Loved him.So Jess and Duane. They were amazing together. I loved watching Jess figure out that she actually does like and care about Duane. I loved seeing her grow and get closer to him, start to think back on their shared past and see how things might not be exactly as she thought. I loved that Duane's argumentative side, the things that would drive Jess crazy growing up, was not evil. I loved how he thought, how he loved arguing with Jess.However just because they do get on the same page eventually doesn't mean everything will be smooth sailing. After all Jess has this crazy wanderlust. She has never wanted to settle down in her hometown with a husband, house, kids, the whole nine yards. That is not what she wants. That would suffocate her. She needs to go travel and see the world. She needs to experience it. I get that. I have the same thing. Maybe not to the same degree, but I never wanted to settle in one place either. I have always wanted to just travel everywhere and experience everything. It can be hard, especially if your family doesn't understand like Jess' family. They just don't understand her need to leave. But Duane does. He gets her and he wants her to live her dreams. He was amazing. I loved how supportive he always was of whatever Jess wanted to do.Duane did surprise me in this book. He wasn't quite what I expected. I expected that dare devil hot guy who is pretty great, but I didn't expect him to have this deeper side. This deep, romantic core to him. He was amazing. I loved how he wanted to court Jess. How he wanted things to be just right and perfect for them. How he didn't want to mess this up by moving too quickly or anything. Jess was it for him and he wanted to do it right. He was so sweet! He really made me fall for him.**Slight spoiler alert - I don't want to ruin anything, but I do want to mention one of my favorite things in this book and it could be considered a bit of a spoiler - you have been warned!**One of the things I loved most about this book is how Penny dealt with the physical relationship between these two. Jess is the one who wanted to move the physical relationship forward before Duane was ready. Since Duane wants to marry Jess and he does have that deeper romantic side he wants the first time to be special. He doesn't just want it to be up against the wall in the back room. He wants more than that. Jess had to really tell herself okay I need to back off because he is not ready for this. I need to not pressure him and wait until it is right for both of us. This is important to him so I need to respect him and his choices, even if I want to move forward in that way. I cannot tell you how much I loved this. It seems like whenever I have seen this before in books, where the girl wants to have sex and the guy wants to wait, it is always shown kind of like it is no big deal if the girl keeps pressuring him. Like he is a guy, he should want it, so it is not a problem and I hate that. If it is the reverse it is seen as a bad thing, when guys pressure girls, so I hate when the same is not true when the girl is doing the pressuring. So I loved that Penny included this and had Jess really stop and evaluate how she needs to try and wait for Duane to be on board as well. It made my heart so happy.**end slight spoiler**I would be remiss if I didn't mention the other star of the book for me - Cletus! Oh how I want to read his story now! I have a feeling he is going to be my favorite brother. I love the way he thinks and speaks and everything about him! He was just so much fun! Cletus and his sausage. Loved it! I just have this great voice in my head reading Cletus' lines. He is amazing.So yeah Duane and Jess were just perfect together. I loved them so much. This story had a bit of everything in it. Parts that made me laugh like only Penny can, parts that made my heart break a bit, parts that were zany fun, and parts that were more serious. Penny weaves it all together into one amazing story. If you have read Penny's other books you won't want to miss this one. If not, then what are you waiting for? They are really just wonderful stories.*Note: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*This review was originally posted to Jen in Bookland

A really enjoyable book, great characters, good story with humour, romance and angst, plus a motorcycle club you don’t want to be your enemy Duane and Jessica our main couple have known each other from childhood, Duane is a twin and Jessica has fantasised about his twin brother Beau for years, he is the happy go lucky twin,Duane the quiet serious one who would go out of his way to torment Jessica and also ignore her.Now a teacher of mathematics Jessica sees Duane at a dance, thinking he’s Beau her heart is all a flutter, he in turn grabs her and kisses the life out of her, when she realises it’s the wrong twin she knows Duane is the one for her. Not without some angst, misunderstanding, funny and some sad moments this book takes you on their journey....and it a really lovely enjoyable one.I was lucky to get this book for free, to be honest I don’t think I’d of bothered otherwise because I hated the cover, but decided to give it a go..thankfully. I would continue to read this series but find the price is far to high, I really don’t understand how the publishers can charge £6 or £7 for a digital book, reduce the price and so many more would be purchased.

Jessica’s back in her hometown, living with her parents and working at her local high school until she can pay off her student debts. After that, they won’t see her for dust. She’s always dreamed of seeing the world and nothing and no-one is going to stop her, not even her childhood crush.Beau Winston has always been the man of Jessica’s dreams: handsome, outgoing, charming. He makes her heart race in all the right ways. His twin brother, on the other hand, makes her heart race in all the wrong ways. Duane Winston is straight out of her nightmares. He’s moody, argumentative, and growing up he made her life hell.But the first time Jessica sets her eyes on one of the Winston twins since she came home, she makes a catastrophic mistake. It’s not Beau who’s got his lips on hers and his hand down her pants, but his surly twin. How can Duane be setting her body on fire when it’s Beau she’s always wanted? And how can this be any more than a casual fling when she’s so determined to leave?This is my first Penny Reid book and won’t be my last. She’s a master story-teller, pulling you into the Winston family effortlessly. I’m not usually a fan of beards, mechanics or bikers, but by the end of this book I wanted to hump a Hell’s Angel. This book has humour, heat, angst, mystery, danger, and a cast of fabulous characters to fall in love with. The fact that Duane is such a hard man on the outside and so soft and gooey on the inside is panty-melting, and even though he’s the star of the show, his brothers are so well drawn that I can’t wait to read all of their stories. There’s also unexpected suspense and foreshadowing of high drama that I hope will be resolved later in the series. I absolutely loved this book and hope you do too!

5 starsWow! I was totally captivated by this book! When I was working I was thinking of it and what was going to happen. It really had a feel good vibe.Being honest I never read anything from Penny Reid before. I had heard a lot about the Winston brothers and I was curious to find out what the fuss was about. Believe me, if you haven't read this book yet, you need to! I am annoyed with myself I didn't start it sooner.Jessica is the good girl, girl next door, daughter of the sheriff, sister of the sheriffs deputy, and maths teacher at the local school. Duane is the reserved twin, takes risks, drives fast and is completely in love with Jessica. Jessica on the other hand can't stand Duane, they fight, they play jokes on each other growing up. They are the complete opposite to each other. To make matters worse for Duane, Jessica has a crush on Beau, Duane's sweet, heroic twin brother. However this all changes on Halloween, when Jess dresses up as a sexy Gandalf. Chatting with Claire, Jess sees who she believes to be Beau. She becomes paralysed by her unrealistic crush on him. "Beau" takes this opportunity to pull Jess away from the crowd and kiss her. During there passionate make out session "Beau" pulls away to reveal to Jess his true identity. Duane. Completely shocked and angry Jess tries to storm out. What confuses her more is how much she enjoyed Duane's kiss and how she wants more. At first I though wow that's not a good start to Duane's character but from his POV we see an insight to why he did it.The development of the characters throughout the book is wonderful and sweet. They push each other, respectful of each others hopes and dreams.I would 100% recommend this book. It has romance and humour. It is perfect.

Penny Reid writes multilayered, complex and interesting stories that capture my attention and hold it hostage from the first chapter until the end of the book. Jessica is only back in town until she pays off her student loans and then she’s off to see the world. Duane has an established business and deep roots in the town. How can they have a lasting relationship. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It’s got lots of twists and turns, it’s funny and all the characters a real. What I mean by real is, they are totally believable and relatable. I loved reading this book and can’t wait to read the next book in the series.

I have been after this book for a long long time, and I am happy to know my gut was right about it. But hey, anything with beards involved should be good anyway.And yeah, it was just a hunch and I might not be always right. But luckily, I really enjoyed reading Truth or Beard. To be completely honest, it didn't blow me away but that's overshadowed by the fact that it did actually surprise me. I thought I was getting into a bad boy, bad attitude, from hate to love story and it turned out to be something else completely. Something better.I loved the writing style and I also loved how the author gave a voice to the female lead. For once, it is the female main character the one with the restless mind waiting to wander the world and not settle, and the male character the one who just wanted to throw the fishing net and settle down, and ultimately the one that had to open his eyes to adventure. Their dynamic was sweet and super funny, definitely entertaining even considering some silly things happening that I will not get into now.All in all, entertaining, funny, sweet and a must read for ginger beard lovers.