Beard Science: A Small Town Romantic Comedy

This isn't your usual tale of the bearded man deflowering the virgin at any cost, oh no. There's blackmail and armadillo infestations afoot! Jennifer isn't your average 22 year old. Her parents have turn her into a version of a 50's Barbie for the family business and she hates it! She needs someone to help her escape and who better then the wickedest, sneakiest man in town? Cletus doesn't know what to think of the crazy woman who has incriminating evidence against him, but if he doesn't help her find a husband all his planning and hard work will be for nothing! Think of it as slow-burn My Fair Lady southern style. At first I didn't like Cletus but he turned out to be just what she needed and vise-versa. Her parents are unbelievable! How can someone be so uncaring, controlling and selfish! This was a great read and I recommend it.

5 stars — Well would you look at that!! I LOVED this one!! Which surprised the heck out of me, b/c I was uncertain about Cletus in the previous books…he seemed…sociopathic in some ways. Just too smart for his own good, and I was wondering how I was going to fall in love with him, you know? But you guys!!! I did!! Maybe it helped that I wasn’t as in love with him going into this book, so I had lower expectations. I don’t know. But whatever it was, I’m just so happy. And the thing is, it wasn’t just Cletus!! I am so in love with Jennifer!! She was just such a Lenore character…not in that she was like me necessarily, but in that she is the type of heroine I gravitate towards. Someone who is kind, beautiful inside and out, but a bit of an outcast, and soooooo vulnerable. She just hit me right in my heart you guys. Her story was so rich, b/c I loved her right from the start, and I just grew to love her more as I saw her metamorphosize into who she was supposed to be…and no spellcheck, I don’t care that metamorphosize isn’t a word…I’m just going to write it again and again to piss you off. *screech* OK, back on track. I seriously leeched onto Jennifer right from her cameo in Grin & Beard It (which I’d forgotten about, so maybe it was a good idea that I accidentally reread it). I loved everything about her. I felt how damaged she was from her parents, and how hard it was to break free from that, especially when she had no support outside her family. I LOVED how smart and quirky she was, but it was accessible. I loved how kind and sweet she was! I loved when she could surprise the heck out of people with her hidden sass. And I loved how she got to Cletus, and helped him to maintain his quirks, but with less sociopathy. My one gripe with Cletus is that, for the life of me, I can’t picture him in my head. There’s so much to him, I just can’t settle on anything, you know? Not that that actually matters. He was a really intriguing hero. It was hard being in his head at first, b/c I figured out why he kind of scared me…for the same reason as Jennifer. Because I think he took so much hurt from his childhood and bottled it up when he decided he could no longer outwardly lose his temper, and he hid it deep inside…and turned it sneaky. I can honestly see how that happened. It’s like an unintended side effect of trying to keep his temper under control. I do wish we’d learned more about the incident he was talking with Billy about…but perhaps we will learn more in Billy’s book? Or in the novella? I hope so. Curious Lenore is curious. I LOVED how fiercely loyal he was to his family…and how much he loved them and wanted to (in his own twisted way) protect them and do right by them. He had so much going on in that big brain of his, I can imagine it would be hard to keep it occupied. In the end, I loved the way Jennifer and Cletus came together. I loved that it didn’t start that way, but that it quickly grew that way as they got to know each other, even if they resisted. I didn’t even mind the resistance, b/c it fit their characters. And I loved how Jennifer brought balance and thoughtfulness to Cletus. And I loved how Cletus helped Jennifer to realize how strong she already was, she just needed to tap into it. I loved that they complemented each other. And I loved their chemistry. Don’t judge me, but I wasn’t expecting the steam to be so steamy!! Sometimes I find it hard to imagine quirky geniuseseses in a sexy light, but that’s my fault. Which is funny, b/c I’m no dummy, and I enjoy the sexy times. Oops, TMI. And OMG, so many good times with secondary characters!! From the Winstons, to their other halves, it was just so awesome!! Billy and Beau in particular had some swoony moments, making it harder and harder to wait for Billy’s book. Seriously, whose idea was it to have his book be last? Diabolical.

Beard Science by Penny Reid is the third book in her amazingly awesome Winston Brothers series. This book is, finally, Cletus's book. The tinkerer, the manipulator, the sneaky one with the odd way about him. The one that gets relegated to "benign" due to his oddness that is actually deliberate and purposeful. His interactions with Jennifer are priceless. Her observations of him - before AND after they began interacting together - I don't have words. Jennifer is astute, unique, and while she initially comes across as extremely meek and a pushover, she is anything but. The combination of Cletus and Jennifer's personalities are explosively funny, swoony, and awesome. Any fan of Penny's writing will love this book. Anyone not a fan of Penny's writing, I hope we don't have to interact because I will inevitably wonder about you and your sanity. Another Penny book that I wish I had a SIX-STARS option.