SYNOPSIS

All’s fair in love and auto maintenance.

Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually.
Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever.
She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words.

Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life.

The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean missing out on what matters most.

*****Dee’s Review*****

INFINITE STARS **************

“I want you to love me always. How can I make sure that happens?”
“You keep being you, that’s all you need to do.”

Raw and absolutely stunning. Beau and Shelly’s story was like nothing you’ve ever read from Penny Reid before. It was heartbreaking and hopeful, all at the same time. It is one of those unforgettable stories that will inspire and touch the hearts of all its readers.

Shelly Sullivan is the new mechanic Cletus has hired to fill in for Duane when he goes away on his trip around the world with Jess. Shelly is super-model gorgeous, smart, inventive and incredibly rude. Beau and Shelly started off on the wrong foot. Beau the one Winston brother that everyone likes is being constantly insulted and glared at by Shelly. Beau both dislikes and is attracted to the mean mechanic working at his shop. Quickly Beau realizes that there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Shelly, and he is drawn to her and her complicated personality.

Shelly has as much beauty as she has issues. She moved from Chicago to Tennessee to work on herself. She wants to get better; she needs to confront her fears and issues head on in order to be able to live a healthy life. Beau Winston both scares and excites her; she admires his ability to be nice to everyone around him and she can’t stop thinking about him. Her plan is to confront him and tell him straight up what she wants from him.

Once Beau starts to get to know Shelly and the many layers of her complex personality, his attraction turns into something much deeper. When they are together, nothing else exists, the loud pains get quiet and all their troubles become invisible. But when reality creeps back in, it’s not easy to deal with. The beautiful thing about Penny Reid’s books is that love always conquers all, and Beau and Shelly’s journey to love is not only stunning and unique but truly inspiring.

In this book, Penny once again gives a voice to those who have flaws and shows us how the word beautiful, has so many different meanings and representations.

The Winston family is fiercely loving and supportive of each other. Heavy secrets will come to light but nothing can destroy or weaken the bond these siblings have for each other. Their most amazing characteristic is their ability to find the good and the humor in every situation.

Even though this story has a heavy subject, it is not without the staple Penny Reid humor and smart romance traits we all love in her writing. I really appreciate this author’s capability to bring us readers something unique every single time. The words in this story are bold and fearless, true to the heart and voices in which these characters wanted to tell their story, and the end result was something truly special and impossible to ever forget.

If you love beards, humor, unique characters and passionate romance, pick any book in this series. There’s definitely something for everyone.

*****Mel’s Review*****

4.5 Stars!

Beau Winston lives in Tennessee & comes from a family of seven kids. He has a twin & is very close with all his siblings. Beau is known in Green Valley as everyone’s favorite Winston brother. He’s kind, charismatic & has a heart of gold. He’d give anyone the shirt off his back, and is always helping those in need. He’s just a really good person. He’s also easy on the eyes. Women everywhere flock to the gorgeous, bearded hottie.

Beau owns and runs Winston Brothers Auto Shop with two of his brothers. One of them is planning to move soon, so they need a new mechanic. They hire someone without his input. Suddenly there’s a woman that looks like a supermodel working in their garage. She’s stunning on the outside, but when she opens her mouth Beau isn’t so impressed anymore. She’s rude to him & the customers. She’s bad for business, and he wants to be rid of her as soon as possible. She just isn’t a nice person. Everyone seems to like Beau Winston except this woman. Her name is Shelly Sullivan. She’s recently moved to Tennessee from Chicago. The longer Beau works with her, the more he feels he’s being tortured daily. She’s become a thorn in his side. This strange woman he keeps trying to avoid is getting under his skin. He hates how attracted he is to her. She’s become a constant distraction & it’s driving him crazy.

-Gorgeous didn’t come close to what this woman was.

-Even though I didn’t like the woman, meeting her eye still sent my wits straight out of my brain.

-The strange truth was, despite her oddness- and moodiness, and rudeness, and unpredictability- I liked the woman.

-I wanted to know her better.

As Shelly & Beau work together they bond over their separate personal issues. Beau takes the time to really get to know her, & learns there’s so much more to her than what’s on the surface. A connection forms & soon she’s invading his thoughts and dreams. He can’t quit thinking about her. Something beautiful grows between Shelly & Beau, and they quickly become essential to one another.

This was a touching story about two people who find their missing piece. The person they are meant to be with. It delivers a beautiful message & is extremely unique. I fell hard for Beauford Fitzgerald Winston! Put aside the fact I adore gingers, this man’s heart was breathtaking! If you love the Winston brothers like I do, omg… get ready to swoon hard over Beau Winston!

-I was seeing her now, the real her, this starving creature she kept locked up tight.

-I wanted her. Essential. Madness. Need. All consuming.

-“Where you are, that’s where I want to be.”

*****Patty’s Review*****

*****4.5 STARS*****
{ARC Generously Provided by Author}

She wouldn’t be who she was now without her struggles. Life had shaped her, her fear had formed her, and I wouldn’t have her any differently.

The WINSTON BROTHERS series is fast becoming one of my favorites by Penny Reid. I never thought a bunch of oddball quirky characters would win my heart so easily, but all I can say is that I can’t get enough of these crazy and lovable bunch of characters. I love them so much that I would become an honorary Winston if it were even possible! These siblings are always there for each other and ready to lend a helping hand whenever necessary, and when they find that special someone, they become completely wrecked by love in the most amazing ways! I think Penny needs to create a new Winston brother just for me. BEARD IN MIND coincides with the same timeline as BEARD SCIENCE and although these books can be read as standalones, I highly recommend reading the previous books, if only so you get to experience the awesomeness of this series!!

Beau is considered to be the charismatic Winston twin and the most well-liked by all out of the entire group of siblings. He goes out of his way to say a kind word and to help his fellow town’s people out of a jam whenever necessary. Women fall all over themselves to get his attention and he could be the biggest player if he wanted but Beau is looking to find a special lady to settle down with. Seeing some of his brothers in blissful relationships has his heart yearning for the same type of connection for himself. Beau has never had problems charming the opposite sex but when Cleetus hires a stunningly beautiful mechanic with an abrasive attitude, he just may have met his match.

Shelly Sullivan is Quinn’s younger sister. For those of you who have read the Knitting in the City series, you will be quite familiar with Quinn ‘aka’ McHotPants. Shelly has left her home in Chicago and moved to Tennessee in hopes of getting the help she needs to manage her OCD. For the past couple of years, she has closed herself off from her family because her OCD became almost too much for her to handle and she didn’t want to subject her loved ones to her bizarre behavior. She is not able to initiate physical contact with anyone because she then gets plagued by an overwhelming fear that the person will be in danger. She would then resort to cutting herself to help relieve the anxiety. Since moving to Tennessee, she’s been seeing a therapist and has refrained from cutting for almost a year. When she and Beau first meet, her blunt dialogue and seemingly rude demeanor rubs him the wrong way and Beau is convinced that Cleetus needs to fire her. While he finds her attitude to be annoying his attraction to Shelly is overwhelming him and little does he know she is just as, if not more into him.

When Shelly tries to fight through her fears and anxiety to make a move on Beau, it’s awkward but hilarious as well. Beau then realizes that he may have been a little too quick in judging Shelly and he decides to give in to the crazy attraction that is between them. Beau with his huge heart is not scared off when he learns to the full extent how much Shelly’s OCD impacts her life and her ability to interact with others. He even goes to some of her sessions with her Psychologist and agrees to participate in some new aggressive form of therapy to help Shelly with her inability to initiate physical contact. Sharing something so personal and being intimate with each other as well, has feelings growing with intensity, but while Beau is more forthcoming, Shelly is closed off and reserved. This dredges up Beau’s deeply embedded insecurities which have him believing he’s not good enough to be loved.

Aside from the angsty and steamy bits between Beau and Shelly, there is a huge revelation that impacts the Winston’s and I felt that towards the end of the book it overshadowed the romance between the Hero and Heroine. The ending seemed to wrap up too quickly. Even though this is quite a lengthy novel, I still felt like Shelly’s OCD was a huge issue that the couple needed to find a way to cope with and I would have really enjoyed it if we could have gotten closure with her family.

BEARD IN MIND is currently available! Penny Reid fans are sure to enjoy it. For those of you who haven’t read anything by Penny, this is a series worth checking out.

iBooks: http://apple.co/2t6dEpG
Nook: http://bit.ly/2tpPDw9
Kobo: http://bit.ly/2u4nmsI
Google Play: http://bit.ly/2uzEKF9