Truth or Beard

Reading for the Second Time
Sexy Gandalf, mistaken identity, catastrophic engine failure, and Truth or Dare. Leave it to Penny Reid to whip up such a delightful combination. Right from the start, she had me in the palm of her creative and whimsical little hands.

Jessica James has just returned to her small hometown after college to take a job as the high school's Calculus teacher. She's only in town long enough to pay off her student loans and save enough money to pursue her wanderlust – her intense desire to travel the world. Jessica grew up alongside the six Winston brothers, including identical twins Beau and Duane Winston. Beau and Duane are identical in looks but polar opposites in personalities. Whereas Beau is friendly and outgoing, Duane is moody and unsociable.

Jessica has had a massive crush on Beau her entire life. She hero worships him and is positively tongue-tied in his presence. Jessica and Duane, on the other hand, have had an entirely antagonist relationship involving verbal sparring and one-upmanship of the pranking variety. As for Duane's part, perhaps their love-hate relationship weighed more heavily on the love side?

After she is tricked into kissing the “wrong” Winston brother Jessica finds the Beau spell has been broken and she sees Duane in a new light. As Jessica and Duane come to know each other as the adults they are now, their feelings grow stronger. But can they commit to one another knowing their relationship has an expiration date? Complicating matters, Duane and the Winston brothers get dragged into a dispute with the local biker gang.

Penny Reid has a knack for creating quirky heroines who are also easy to relate to. Jessica is no exception. She is smart, sassy, quirky, and misunderstood by almost everyone. What's more, nobody has ever tried to accept her – until Duane.

I loved Duane. He's such a loyal man. I was charmed by his inherent goodness and his respect for Jessica. What girl wouldn't swoon over his blatant adoration? However, like Jessica, I grew tired of Duane repeatedly putting the brakes on their relationship. And this may just be the perspective of an older reader, but the deal they made entering the relationship seemed unnecessary and rather ridiculous to me. Even so, this is a heartwarming story and a promising start to the series.

The Winston brothers seem like a wonderfully rambunctious brood. Each one is so different and I can't wait to learn more about all of them. Odd, zany, and loveable Cletus really captured my heart and I'm especially looking forward to reading his story.