Tag: Penny Reid

Contemporary · Romance

Dr. Strange Beard – Penny Reid

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30315676| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: Hunches, horse races, and heartbreak

Ten years after Simone Payton broke his heart, all Roscoe Winston wants is a doughnut. He’d also like to forget her entirely, but that’s never going to happen. Roscoe remembers everything—every look, every word, every single unrequited second—and the last thing he needs is another memory of Simone.

Unfortunately, after one chance encounter, Simone keeps popping up everywhere he happens to be . . .

Ten years after Roscoe Winston dropped out of her life, all Simone Payton wants is to exploit him. She’d also like some answers from her former best friend about why he ghosted her, but if she never gets those answers, that’s a-okay. Simone let go of the past a long time ago. Seriously, she has. She totally, totally has. She is definitely not still thinking about Roscoe. Nope. She’s more than happy to forget he exists.

But first, she needs just one teeny-tiny favor . . .

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My thoughts: Out of the now five books I have read so far in the series about the Winston brothers, this is the least favorite one of mine so far. I did not find it as funny, lovingly and straight to the heart and warm as the others. And I can’t quite put my finger on it. It is like Reid was uninspired while writing it and did it mostly because of the side story line and plot twists around the father Darrell.

I do understand it. It is an important line not to be forgotten since it has been there throughout the series, but it was a little too much and now so many different things happening and I can’t quite get it all connected in my head. There is no cliffhanger per say, but it is certainly stuff that is not yet cleared up.

I do like the characters as always, even though they were a little more shallow than usual. But hey, it was still good. And I will continue the series. This one just missed the mark this time.

Everyday things · TBR

TBR March

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march.JPGNew month, new To Be Read list. I’m quite happy with my results from February. I had selected 6 books (one was a February book club book) and I read all besides one. Well actually two since I DNF’ed one of them.

“The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” is the one I never started in February. I have put it on my list for March since this is a book I really want to read, I just didn’t get to it last month.

Other than that I have the fifth book in the Winston Brothers series, the fourth book in the Colorado Mountain series and the first book in a new series, The Nevernight Chronicle. The last one, “A court of Thorns and Roses” are actually a reread I have had a desire for lately.

There will also be a sixth book on the list but that one I do not know until my book club have had its meeting on Wednesday. Pretty excited for March and I think this will be a great reading month.

What are you planing on reading in March?

 

Everyday things

Top 5 Exciting 2019 releases

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In 2019 there is a lot of sequels expected to be released. Many of these is series I have not read or yet been able to catch up in the order of already released books. But I did find some few I’m excited to read.

34020885The Seduction Expert by Saya Lopez Ortega
Still with no synopsis published on Goodread, I hear a lot of talk about this one. There is 160 ratings and 4.08 in average rating. This is clearly one book I need to read. According to some of the reviews I have read it is a funny, sexy and a great book to get over a book hangover with. Expected publication is May 27th 2019.

 

40097951.jpgThe Silent patient – Alex Michaelides
This dark thriller, mystery is marked as THE debut novel of 2019. There is a lot of talk about this suspense filled novel about an criminal psychotherapist working with the biggest case of his life. With 518 ratings and an average rating of 4.32 this is a book I do not want to miss. Expected publication is February 5th 2019.

 

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Untitled ACOTAR book – Sarah J Maas.
It was first announced that the fourth book in the A Court of Thorns And Roses series was expected to be published in the late 2019. This has however been changed according to information on Goodreads. But it is still marked as expected to be released in 2019. So I list it anyway, because I can hardly wait for this one.

 

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In her sights – Katie Ruggle.
Even though I wasn’t overly fan of Ruggles latest series and still have one book left to read, I’m excited about the release of this new series. I love her writing and I do hope this new series will be more my taste. Because I absolutely loved the first series she wrote so I know she can. Expected publication is March 26th 2019.

 

30315692.jpgBeard Necessities – Penny Reid
I have not yet read the fifth book in the series but since I have loved all the others, I can’t imagine that the fifth would for some reason make me not continue the series. This is the six book in the series about the Winston brother and focused on Billy. Finally! 🙂 Expected publication is October 7th 2019.

Monthly summary

November Summary

Book Chick2 Comments

monthlysummery2

I’m not that happy with November. I worked so much that I didn’t have much time for reading. It mostly went in audiobooks and I did reread a couple of books for the reason that it was easy on my mind.

But it is starting to slowing down on work now and i’m exciting for the last exciting month of the year. And soon it is Christmas. Woho! :o)

Favorite book this month: A court of frost and Starlight by Sarah J Maas
Least favorite book this month: At peace by Kristen Ashley

Number of physical books: 4
Number of e-books: 3
Number of audiobooks: 4
Total pages: 4521
Female authors: 8
Male authors: 4

85459Northern Lights – Nora Roberts
Settings: Alaska, USA Pages: 637 Published: 1991
Genres: Romantic, suspense, mystery, fiction, contemporary.
My rating: Reread – First time I gave 5/5
Links: Review
22016387Royal Assassin – Robin Hobb
Settings: The Realm of the Elderlings  Pages: 648 Published: 1996
Genres: Epic, High fantasy.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 2 in The Farseer series.
31076583A court of frost and starlight – Sarah J Maas
Settings: Fantasy World Pages: 229 Published: 2018
Genres: Fantasy, young adult, romance.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review
Book 3.1 in The A court of thorns and roses series.
25214258The Devil’s star – Jo Nesbo
Settings: Oslo, Norway Pages: 387 Published: 2003
Genres: Crime, mystery, thriller.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 5 in The Harry Hole series.
38208505Lazarus – Lars Kepler
Settings: Stockholm, Sweden Pages: 543 Published: 2018
Genres: Crime, mystery, thriller.
My rating: 2/5
Links: Review
Book 7 in The Joona Linna series.
170448Animal farm – George Orwell
Settings: England Pages: 144 Published: 1945
Genres: Classic, fiction, fantasy, politics.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review *Review at goodreads
11665750At Peace – Kristen Ashley
Settings: Brownsburg, Indiana, USA Pages: 660 Published: 2011
Genres: Contemporary, romance, suspense.
My rating: 1/5
Links: Review
Book 2 in The Burg series.
32355670.jpgStuffed – Jessica Gadziala
Settings: USA Pages: 123 Published: 2016
Genres: Contemporary, romance.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review *Review at goodreads
31188235The Chemist – Stephenie Meyer
Settings: Washington DC / Texas, USA. Pages: 522 Published: 2016
Genres: Thriller, fiction, mystery, romance, suspense.
My rating: 5/5
Links: Review *first read review
This is a reread. Review is from the first time I read it.
16055994Monster – Micael Dahlén
Settings: All over the world Pages: 235 Published: 2011
Genres: Nonfiction, true crime.
My rating: 1/5
Links: Review
30315673Beard in mind – Penny Reid
Settings: Green Valley, Tennessee, USA Pages: 393 Published: 2017
Genres: Romance, contemporary, humor, funny.
My rating: 4/5
Links: Review
Book 4 in The Winston Brothers series.
Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Romance

Beard in mind – Penny Reid

Book Chick1 Comment

30315673.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: All is 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 losing what matters most.

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My thoughts: Penny Reid is still in the top five, favorite female authors, after this wonderful gem of a book. God damn she is a good writer! She writes such funny, heart-warming, sad, happy and lovable stories that I have no words left to describe it. It is just pure enjoyment to read her books.

The series about the Winston brothers is funny and light but often has one thing that is more of a serious note in it. Reid mix it well and makes it such a part of the story that it is so significant to the whole of the plot. One book has more focus on oppression, another has on hate and malice and this one has sickness and unprocessed feelings. It makes you think and for me personally I do recognize myself so much in Shelly. And Reid has done a wonderful job with writing about something as hard as OCD. Shelly is such a unique person and I love the way she has been written. It is in a way that you do not like her at first but love her at the end.

Beau is just beautiful. I love how the most of the book is from Beau’s point of view and about his feelings. It is like he is the girl but it is so much more rational but still not. It is wonderfully refreshing to read a book mostly from a guy’s point of view and the small chapters from Shelly was enough for me.

However I do have one small problem with the book. And that is that somethings do not feel finished or has a satisfying ending. Maybe there will be more about the situation in the coming books but other things went so fast and suddenly the book was over. Some serious happenings and discussions was never written, only explained after it had taken place. Like a side-note. I was just left hanging, wondering and feeling that it was not done. There is no cliffhanger to explain my feelings. But still it just felt incomplete.

Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Romance

Beard science – Penny Reid

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23337872.jpg| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: 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.

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My thoughts: I’m quite peculiar when it comes to stories/plots and how they are build. I can still like and even love a book, even though I hate some part of the story. And often it can be a pretty big and important part too. But I do have a few type of stories I prefer not to read at all. I call it my triggers. It is mostly about bad things happening to children, rape (child and adult), pedophilia, missing children, animal cruelty and that type of thing. But then there is some, not as serious triggers that just destroys it for me. Like for an example, I do not like the whole, “older female virgin, has sex for the first time and are now an erotic expert”. I’m being ironic here of course. But I do have big problems with the unrealistic way it is (often) displayed in books. And the reason I talk about this before I start the review, is because it is important that you know, how I work and why I reacted as I did to this book. My preconceptions almost stop me from reading it and put it in my DNF shelf. And what a book I would have missed. I’m not a “judge the book by it’s cover” kind of person so I shouldn’t be a “judge the book by its plot” either! Well that is something I can work on.

So this book is about the “Banana Cake Queen” who are a character we met in passing in the first or second (or both, can’t remember) books before this one. This is the third one in the series about the Winston Brothers and I do recommend that you read it in order. Anyway, Banana Cake Queen is a pretty quirky character in many ways. Not only is she a meek and scared 20+ virgin with the love for baking and does not have a backbone, she is also so suppressed by her environment that she interpreters insults as compliments. I feel in love with her from the start. I was afraid that the whole virgin thing would evolve to be one of those books (I HATE) where she has sex for the first time, all is perfect and awesome and now she is a sexual queen with all the experience of a corner hooker and a dominatrix working 40 hours a week. Exaggerating of course. If I hadn’t fallen in love with the Queen as fast as I did, my preconceptions would probably have won. And if I knew then, what I know now, I would have been really, really sad. This is such a great book that no one should miss.

The funny thing is that Jennifer is not really a meek and scared character without a backbone. You get to follow here in her everyday life, trying to reach her dreams. She defies and blackmail to get what she want. And that is how we meet Cletus. He is one of the brothers from the first two books. Quite weird character really. Has some serious compulsion disorder (that no one sees as OCD) and great humor. I love him! I love to follow Jennifer throughout the following months and through all that is happening. I love to read about smart, wonderful but completely dense Cletus and his ways of helping family and friends. I love to meet all those other characters again that I meet and fell in love with in the first two books. This is a series where when you read, you feel like you have come home. You are meeting your friends again and you aren’t even envious on the Heroin because it all is just so damn perfect. In a non-Cinderella perfect way.

Gosh I don’t make any since right? I do not know how I should explain this without risk spoilers or more rambling. That is just how good this book is.

Chick Lit · Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Romance

Neanderthal seeks human – Penny Reid

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17673307| GOODREADS | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: There are three things you need to know about Janie Morris: 1) She is incapable of engaging in a conversation without volunteering TMTI (Too Much Trivial Information), especially when she is unnerved, 2) No one unnerves her more than Quinn Sullivan, and 3) She doesn’t know how to knit.

After losing her boyfriend, apartment, and job in the same day, Janie Morris can’t help wondering what new torment fate has in store. To her utter mortification, Quinn Sullivan- aka Sir McHotpants- witnesses it all then keeps turning up like a pair of shoes you lust after but can’t afford. The last thing she expects is for Quinn- the focus of her slightly, albeit harmless, stalkerish tendencies- to make her an offer she can’t refuse.

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My thoughts: Sometime I wish that GoodReads had the function to choose half stars when it comes to rating. Because this is one of those books that are more a 4 star in rating than a 2 but did not quite reach all the way. So more like 3,5. It is a good book, I liked it, but the 300 + pages of self esteem rant totally destroyed it for me.

Janie is a great character. She is a little naive, stuck in her own head and do not have the best ways to handle feelings. She is witty, a lot insecure and a lot more “girl” than what you first would think. And by that I mean, that constant rant about how “big” she is, tall, big feet, big hands, big ass, big hair and so on. Everything is big with her. She is according to herself not beautiful, and definitely not in a league for a good looking man like Quinn. And when she is done ranting about her body, she goes on to her mind and personality. She is freaky, she talks to much, she can’t flirt, she know too much uninteresting trivia, she is uncontrollably gabby, and on and on and on. And when she is done with that, she starts to rant about events, what she did that particular event and what the persons there did, reacted and so on. I do understand low self esteem. Been there, done that and at some ways still are fighting with it. Everybody does! But there is a limit of how big part of a book it should take. I’m not a big fan of mental insecurity and angst. Some can be great. Too much I just feel I want to punch the character in question and say “there is more to life than this”. It should not take over. And here it takes it all.

If we scaled it back like 50% but kept the rest of the story, I would probable be a five star, freaking loved the book, book. So that’s too bad. Reid did however do a great job with not including Quinn in this rant. He did not confirm or deny her verbal rants. (The most of them was mental though). I loved that he didn’t try to change her toughs through words, but by action. And he kept asking her, pushing her out of her shell and genuinely was intrigued by her mind and personality. So the rants did ease up a bit towards the end. It is a great love story where there is more than a female with hot sexy body and a alpha caveman, with psychotic tendency. Besides, I did learn a lot of facts since Janie is a trivia nut and talk about a lot I didn’t know but now do.

Great story. Funny. Loved the way it started. The whole situation with family and friends was funny and awesome. Was some angst, but not much and it was quickly over. Loved that there was several bad situations but they had not much to do with each other. There is no cliff-hanger, nicely tided together in the end! Can be a great series to follow. Not every girl in this series is like Janie I hope. One is enough.

Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Romance

Grin & beard it – Penny Reid

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23337863.jpg| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ |

Goodreads synopsis: Sienna Diaz is everyone’s favorite “fat” funny lady. The movie studio executives can’t explain it, but her films are out-grossing all the fit and trim headliners and Hollywood’s most beautiful elite. The simple truth is, everyone loves plus-sized Sienna.

But she has a problem, she can’t read maps and her sense of direction is almost as bad as her comedic timing is stellar. Therefore, when Sienna’s latest starring role takes her to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park she finds herself continually lost while trying to navigate the backroads of Green Valley, Tennessee. Much to her consternation, Sienna’s most frequent savior is a ridiculously handsome, charming, and cheeky Park Ranger by the name of Jethro Winston.

Sienna is accustomed to high levels of man-handsome, so it’s not Jethro’s chiseled features or his perfect physique that make Sienna stutter. It’s his southern charm. And gentlemanly manners. And habit of looking at her too long and too often.

Sienna has successfully navigated the labyrinth of Hollywood heart-throbs. But can she traverse the tenuous trails of Tennessee without losing her head? Or worse, her heart?

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My thoughts: I’m in love. Yes I am. I’m in love with Penny Reid. And even though i’m straight I can totally appreciate beauty. Specially if you have the beautiful gift of writing. Which Reid totally has. And it is so obvious in this book.

I’m that kind of reader who makes faces when I read. I smile, frown, I cry and even look bored if the book is boring. But I do NOT laugh out loud, hardly ever cry so that other notice, gasp or talk to the book and the characters. Do you still follow me here? Okay… but this book started with me laughing out loud. Yes. I was like 4 pages in, it was 06:22 am in the morning and it totally made me laugh and I was hooked there and then. The book is highly funny in this sarcastic, in your face, type of way and I totally love it.

I have read one book by Reid earlier (the first book to this series, this one is the second). And even though I really liked it, I did not LOVE it. Not like I love this one.

The characters is just wonderful and it is nice to really get to know them more. Cletus (who is not the main character in this book) has such a big part and you can’t do anything other than loving him, and looking forward to his own book. Sienna is wonderfully quirky, funny and has like “joke diarrhea” which is funny as hell. Jethro is this dark, brooding type of man who is trying to make amends for his past and make everything right by his family and friends. He is open, funny and lovable if given the chance and him and Sienna really match each other perfectly.

I thought, half way through the book, that some shit would happen and you would get this tense, anguished and mentally exhausted part, but it never came and it was so uplifting that Reid not followed the mainstream way, that seems to be dominating in this types of books. And that just made it all that much better.

Contemporary · Humor/Funny · Romance · Young, New adult/College

Truth or Beard – Penny Reid

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23314731| GOODREADS | AMAZON | MY RATING: ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥|

Goodreads synopsis: 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?

My thoughts: I had this book in my kindle for months. It had such good reviews that I felt that this book/series I needed to read. And when I finally got around to do it, I wasn’t disappointed.

In this book you are introduced to the Winston brothers. There is 6 brothers and one sister. They are a tight family, who hadn’t have the best childhood. They all have their own quirks and seem to be characters I will be falling in love with in the future. This book is mostly about Duane and Jessica. I love Duane. The first impression of him is so wrong and when you get to meet the real Duane, you fall hard. Jessica is a warm and really likable characters. I often has problems with female characters in this kind of books but not Jessica. She is a grown up, funny, strong woman with enough self perspective to stop her self when she sees she is being ridicules. I LOVE THAT!

The whole book was realistic and the story felt real. It was a really great book that many times made my chest retract and give me that anxiety/tingling feeling in my stomach. I was on pins and needles when I read and tried to get to the good parts where the truth was out and everything was as it should be. Unfortunately I was missing something, I felt it was a bit slow sometimes and that´s the reason to why I cant give it a full 5 stars.

It is an adorable book and i really looking forward to read more.