Dr. Strange Beard

[b:Dr. Strange Beard|30315676|Dr. Strange Beard (Winston Brothers, #5)|Penny Reid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528200187l/30315676._SY75_.jpg|50803831]

My goodness! Penny Reid has taken Green Valley fans on one hell of a roller coaster ride with this penultimate installment of the Winston Brothers clan. I felt both like I was coming home again to a cozy, comfortable place in my heart, and at the same time discovering new hidden depths to characters I thought I already knew.

What is masterful about this book is whether you are a fan of the series or picking this one up on a whim, the story is easily read as a standalone but it also advances an ongoing storyline that has been developing since book show more one in this series. The story highlights the difficult and unfair reality many, many individuals in this county face every day while at the same time weaving a powerful and compelling work of fiction.

Dr. Strange Beard follows the youngest brother Roscoe, now a practicing veterinarian and age 26, but we still get lots of glimpses of many familiar townsfolk, a few new ones, and of course all the Winston siblings and their significant others. This story takes place nearly 5 years after the end of book 4. We get a satisfying summary of what has been keeping the Winston’s busy over the last half-decade.

We also get glimpses further into the past. Roscoe and Simone were best friends when they were kids but it has been a decade since they have spoken.
Simone is a delightful character. She is strong, smart, and unwaveringly pragmatic. I would love to read book after book of Simone’s musings. Roscoe...oh Roscoe, he is at once charming when he wants to be and his depth of feeling is heartbreaking. All this without really being angsty. It is quite an impressive feat to read.
What I would also love to see at some point no rush is a book about their parents. Claps. The next book comes out September 16th can’t come soon enough. show less

I loved this interesting and heartfelt story about Roscoe, who up until this story was the Winston brother I knew about the least. I found the description of how Roscoe's mind works, his memories, and how he never forgets people or a face, almost like how I am. I've never read a character before that I could relate to that way. I loved it. Thanks for writing stories for those of us who are a little different.

Roscoe is the youngest of the Winston brothers. He's now working as a veterinarian and trying to deal with his eidetic memory which keeps bringing up memories of rejection by Simone Payton, his former BFF, and love of his life. It doesn't help that Simone is back in town and seems to be everywhere.
Also, his father is back, trying to enmesh Roscoe with the Wraiths motorcycle gang. Roscoe's default mode has been to run and hide, but he decides it's time to confront some of his bad memories and finally deal with them.
Simone is feisty and adorable though a bit dim as far as dealing with Roscoe. She's also an undercover FBI agent trying to bring down the Wraiths. It takes her a while to figure out her feelings for Roscoe; she's not one to show more deal with feelings and doesn't understand why Roscoe ghosted her after high school.
The story is trademark Penny Reid: smart, funny, romantic, and sexy. There's also some seriously scary stuff (much like in Fiona and Greg's story in the Knitting in the City series) with the motorcycle gang. There's also some scenes dealing with race that makes your heart clench. It's a good book though I'm sorry that I'm coming to the end of the series. Only Billy's story is left, but yay! it's two books! show less

https://sofia-loves-books.blogspot.com/2018/08/blog-tour-dr-strange-beard-winsto....

I would like to begin this review by saying that I understood why Roscoe ghosted Simone ten years ago. I could understand why a sixteen-year-old boy decided not to talk to this particular girl after everything that happened back then. What I couldn't understand was Simone. I couldn't relate to her and I didn't even like her. She was a medium heroine at best. Roscoe was not without fault, but I found him easier to read about. He is not your usual kind of hero and I found that refreshing. I wish we had explored more the plotline with his memory and how he never forgets a thing. I don't understand why he was so hung up on Simone, to be honest. After ten show more years I would have moved on on greener pastures.

From the blurb, I got the feeling that this was a second chance romance, but as I kept reading I realized that I was wrong. Simone and Roscoe never took their relationship to the next level back then, so everything is new for them. The book can be read as stand-alone which is a good thing. The worst thing when it came to this book was the complete lack of chemistry between our main characters. These two could have stayed at the friend zone and I would have been ok with it. For me, they didn't work out as a couple. They could even go their separate ways in the end and I would have been happy with it.

In the end, the book wasn't for me and I hope that if you decide to read it, you will enjoy it. show less

I appreciate that Penny Reid sets her books in the present and references current events. I was surprised to see her diving in to white privilege and the realities of driving while black, but I'm glad she did. While her books are still filled with mostly white characters I'm happy to see her branching out with characters like Sienna and Simone.

I loved it, not LOVED IT but loved it. Penny Reid is one of my favorite authors, her quirky humor and sense of romance fit my twisted heart just right. Why didn't I love it ? The Female MC, Simone. I didn't like her, she was too distant, lied and was too cold for my Roscoe. Yup, my Roscoe ! Roscoe is a hunk with manners, treats women with respect and is a veterinarian. There is a scene with him rolling around on the floor with puppies ! That is my porn ! Excuse me I need to fan myself at the memory. Wooowee it's hot in here.

I'm not going to tell you about the story, you need to read this series and know these boys stories to get the quirky things. These bearded boys are hotter than Houston in August. Have a nice cold drink handy when show more you pick these up show less

So excited to get to read Simone and Roscoe’s book! Will have to put most of this review in spoilers to not ruin it for anyone, but super exciting and great plotting in Simone and Roscoe’s story.

Simone as an undercover FBI agent was AWESOME, especially with the piece of her being back in Green Valley to figure out who was behind murders, and pick up Daryl Winston. Kick some butt, lady! Roscoe is a brother we haven’t seen a whole bunch of, and it was nice to get some time with him here. They fit well together. Having things time-jump forward 5 years worked well, I thought, as it gave an opportunity for the Winstons to be in different places in their lives and change things up a bit.

And now I’m that much more excited for Billy show more and Claire’s book!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less