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Winston Brothers #1
Contemporary Romance
Penny Reid | July 21, 2015

“In all honesty, I’d enjoyed the horse ride more than the man ride. At least the horse had been a stallion. Looking back, my lab TA was more like a Shetland pony—hairy and small.”

I’ve said it so many times, it’s like beating a dead horse, but Contemporary Romance isn’t my favorite.  Yet, even I couldn’t resist the beauty that is that cover.  I mean, could the cover of a book be more suitable??  It’s about bearded country boys, and it epitomizes the sweetness of the country, with the cross-stitch pattern.  I sincerely love the design of the entire series, which makes me even more glad that I liked the first book and I want to keep reading.

So, right off the bat I should have known that I’d probably enjoy this.  I mean, I’m kinda a sucker for family serial stories.  The setup with the Winston family feels like a good head start, when it comes to how I’ll feel in the end.  I adore each family member’s individual personality, and their compassion and loyalty to each other.  I definitely have my favorites, and so far Duane from Truth or Beard is one of them.

There are a few tropes in romance novels that I like, and one of them is rewarding unrequited love.  The idea that Duane has loved Jessica since they were children, but just bides his time until he’s able to act on his feelings.  I loved that.  I also loved that growing up Jessica thought she was in love with Duane’s twin brother Beau.  It turns contemporary romance on its heels.  Her love doesn’t come to fruition because she’s meant for another.  They’re suited.  😀

What I loved even more was how quirky and funny Jessica was.  A lot of the time we are given heroine’s that are supposed to ‘guileless’, and too honest for their own good.  Usually they’re just words, but Jessica actually fits those adjectives.  She’s so honest that sometimes she says the funniest, most crazy, things and they’re so adorable that you know right away what it is that Duane loves about her so much.  They really are too cute together.

So, it looks like the next installment is Jethro and while he isn’t up there as a favorite, I do think the synopsis sounds cute.  I’ll be moving on to book two sooner rather than later.  You’re all welcome to join me, I think you’ll like them too.  🙂

“I’m sorry, I’m always saying silly things I guess. I must’ve overdone it today in the bakery.”
“See now, that’s a great excuse. I usually blame all the silly things I say on syphilis.” I started to laugh at my own joke before even finishing it. However, after seven seconds of dismayed stares and silence, I realized that maybe STD humor was lost on this crowd.”