Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid is a sweet, slow-burning romance with a crazy cast of characters, heartwarming brotherly love, and a heartbreaking redemption story

Grin and Beard It

Review of Grin and Beard It

Penny Reid never ceases to amaze me with the range and diversity of her stories.

From ex-CIA moms with ninja skills to awkward brainiacs looking for love to bearded brothers wreaking havoc in the Tennessee mountains, no two stories are alike.

Penny creates believable, relatable, and quirky characters that feel as real and as flawed as you and me.

Quirky and Charmingly Sweet Slow Burn Romance

Grin and Beard It is easily one of my favorite books of the year. I loved everything about it–the sweet, slow-burning romance, the crazy cast of characters, the heartwarming brotherly love, the heartbreaking story about a man who carries so much guilt and obligation and a woman who just wants to take a break from the rat race to do something for herself for once.

Oh, the feels.

Grin and Beard It Summary

Sienna Diaz is a feisty, strong, and intelligent Hollywood multi-hyphenate (writer/actress/comedienne) filming a movie in the mountains of Tennessee.  Luckily for her, Jethro Winston is a park ranger with a keen sense of direction when she finds herself in a pickle.

As for Jethro, he’s the brother who is most like their father and it’s a distinction he would rather not have.   After a lifetime of misdeeds and bad behavior, he has spent the last five years making amends for his past sins.

I truly felt every one of the self-criticisms and guilty thoughts he had throughout the story.  Even though he was doing everything in his power to be an honorable man, he would second-guess himself and my heart broke for him several times.

Meanwhile, Sienna has been breaking glass ceilings left and right in the movie industry.  Not only is she a woman, she’s also a Latina and she isn’t a stick-thin waif.

All of the demands on her time are starting to take their toll on her well-being.  I am very pleased with the way that Reid portrayed Sienna as “America’s Sweetheart”.  I can only imagine the pressure Sienna felt on a daily basis to work harder or to be thinner or to be more of a role model to her fans.

I couldn’t wait to read about the Winston Clan again after finishing Truth or Beard. I’ve discovered that I only thought I loved the Winston boys, but after reading Grin and Beard It, I can say that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is true love.

The entire Winston family has wormed their way deep into my heart and I will be reading every.single.one of the books in this series.  Bring on Cletus’ story in Beard Science.  I’m ready!

Excerpt from Grin and Beard It

Finally releasing her hand, Cletus noted conversationally, “If you come next Wednesday, I’ll let you try my sausage.”

I gathered a breath for patience and squeezed Sienna’s waist.

“Here we go,” Drew said as he swapped a knowing look with my sister.

Meanwhile, Beau rolled his eyes and released a disgusted snort. “Not this again.”

“Cletus’s famous sausage is famous,” Jess added helpfully, her eyebrows bouncing. She was already giggling.

Not missing a beat, Sienna asked, “How do you make it? Do you bake it?”

“No way. The heat isn’t right. In order for the sausage to mature, it needs the right type and application of heat. It needs heat on all sides, and wet heat is best.”

“You are the worst,” Billy said, though his mouth hitched on one side.

“This joke never gets old.” Jess was now laughing so hard she’d gripped her stomach, tears leaking from her eyes.

“It does when you have to hear it every month for ten years,” Duane complained, but couldn’t quite manage a scowl.

“My sausage is no joke.” Cletus frowned, wagging his finger through the air like we were all juveniles.

“So you grill it,” Sienna supplied, moving the conversation back on track.

“That’s right.”

“Good.” She nodded once, sounding thoughtful. “In that case, I insist you taste my thighs and breasts.”

These words, so calmly and earnestly spoken, rendered us all speechless.

Even Cletus.

I do believe we stared at Sienna in a collective state of paralyzed suspension, no one quite knowing how to react to her offer.

I felt her shoulders shake, so I shifted to the side, wanting to catch her expression. Her irresistible dimples flashed in full force and she giggled as she explained, “I have a great mojo chicken recipe. We can grill the chicken and sausage together.” Then to Cletus she said, “It’ll help with the wet heat.”

I looked to the heavens, hidden by the porch ceiling. “God, thank you for sending me this woman.”

Meanwhile, Cletus blinked once as though startled, but then a slow grin spread over his typically solemn features.

Beau, holding his hand over his heart, took the bait. “Sienna, I would be honored to taste your thighs and breasts.”

I shot him a warning glare. “Don’t you say that to her.” But I couldn’t keep my face straight either.

“What? What did I say?” Beau tried to sound and look affronted. “I was talking about her chicken. Obviously.”

Cletus’s grin had grown into an immense smile as his gaze moved over my woman with plain appreciation. “Well played, Ms. Diaz. Well played.”

Thank you for the advanced copy of GRIN AND BEARD IT by Penny Reid.  All opinions are my own.

Want more? Check out these posts!

About Penny Reid

Penny Reid is the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today bestselling author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she writes kissing books. Penny is an obsessive knitter and manages the #OwnVoices-focused mentorship incubator/publishing imprint, Smartypants Romance. She lives in Seattle Washington with her husband, three kids, and a dog named Hazel.

About the Book

MY RATING:
5/5

date published : May 31, 2016

publisher : Self-Published

pages : 304

audiobook narrators: Chris Brinkley, Cielo Camargo

audiobook length: 12 hrs, 33 min

Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid is a sweet, slow-burning romance with a crazy cast of characters, heartwarming brotherly love, and a heartbreaking redemption story

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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