Title: Beard with Me
Author: Penny Reid
Series: Winston Brothers #6
Rating Out of 5: 5 (I will read this again and again and again)
My Bookshelves: Chic lit, Contemporary, Contemporary romance
Dates read: 19th – 21st October 2021
Pace: Medium
Format: Novel
Publisher: SmartyPants Romance
Year: 2019
5th sentence, 74th page: How’re we going to pay for all this stuff?
Beards, brothers, and bears! Oh my!
‘Beard With Me’ is the origin story of Billy Winston and Scarlet St. Claire (aka Claire McClure) and is just the beginning of their epic love story.
No one is better at surviving than Scarlet St. Claire and making the best out of circumstances beyond her control is Scarlet’s speciality. In an apocalyptic situation, she’d be the last person on earth, hermitting like a pro, singing along to her CD Walkman, and dancing like no one is watching.
Scarlet is clever, Scarlet is careful, and Scarlet is smart… except when it comes to Billy Winston.
No one is better at fighting than Billy Winston and raging against his circumstances – because nothing is beyond his control – is Billy’s speciality. In an apocalyptic situation, he’d be the first person on earth to lead others to safety, overcome catastrophe, or die trying.
Billy is fearless, Billy is disciplined, and Billy is honorable… except when it comes to Scarlet St. Claire
I have been putting off reading this book for ages. I knew that it was going to be sad and heartwrenching. And that it was probably going to make me cry. Turns out, it wasn’t ANYWHERE near as bad as I expected. It wasn’t happy, and I still cries. But less tears than expected.
One of the reasons I think this destroyed my heart a little less than expected was probably the fact that I had Beard Necessities ready to go. Knowing that regardless of how sad I found this, the part ending was RIGHT THERE most definitely helped. But, more than that it was Scarlet. She was able to take hold of all this horribleness and be filled with joy. And humour. I seriously loved all of her jokes.
That’s not to say that there wasn’t tragedy and Scarlet was always happy in this. She had so many battles to face. And at fourteen. Then, considering what else she faces after the conclusion of this story. Seriously tragic. Not to mention Billy. I think it was Billy’s ending that completely destroyed my self control. To love someone that truly and deeply… I’m not sure I can even fathom it.
Yes, this story was less soul destroying than I had expected. But it was still completely heart wrenching. It was the kind of story that helped me to completely invest in the couple (even though I WAS already invested). And it is obvious that it was very much needed. But wow. Make sure you have tissues handy.
Earth and Skye 
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