by Penny Reid
Series: Winston Brothers #5
Genres: Contemporary Romance
Publisher: Penny Reid
Publication Date: July 30th 2018
Source: ARC received for review
Rating: ★★★★
Hunches, horse races, and heartbreak
Ten years after Simone Payton broke his heart, all Roscoe Winston wants is a doughnut. He’d also like to forget her entirely, but that’s never going to happen. Roscoe Winston remembers everything—every look, every word, every single unrequited second—and the last thing he needs is another memory of Simone.
Unfortunately, after one chance encounter, Simone keeps popping up everywhere he happens to be...
Ten years after Roscoe Winston dropped out of her life, all Simone Payton wants is to exploit him. She’d also like some answers from her former best friend about why he ghosted her, but if she never gets those answers, that’s a-okay. Simone let go of the past a long time ago. Seriously, she has. She totally, totally has. She is definitely not still thinking about Roscoe. Nope. She’s more than happy to forget he exists.
But first, she needs just one teeny-tiny favor...
Dr. Strange Beard is a full-length romantic comedy novel, can be read as a stand-alone, and is the fifth book in the USA TODAY bestselling Winston Brothers series.
Baby Roscoe is
all grown up!
Dr.
Strange Beard is set 4-5 years after Beard in Mind, with
Roscoe now a grown man of 26 and a full-fledged veterinarian. It's revealed pretty
early on that he has an eidetic memory, and that he's been avoiding one woman
for ten whole years after she broke his heart…and yes, these two facts are
related, LOL. But suddenly the woman in question, Simone Payton, who happened
to be the daughter of the local diner owner and Roscoe’s ex-best friend, is back
in town when she's not supposed to, and Roscoe should know since he has her
whereabouts tracked in his mind so he knows where not to go, and wait—what
do you mean she's back back in town????
And suddenly Simone
is just…everywhere...
I was actually
surprised at the start because I didn't expect Roscoe to be so...intense? I
didn't expect him to behave how I imagined Billy did in his younger years, or
even Drew. I couldn't reconcile the playful twenty-year-old Roscoe I first met
in Ashley's book and Roscoe in Dr. Strange Beard so it took me a
while to fully get into the story.
Anyway, Roscoe
is more mature in this book. He's also quiet and observant, and he carefully
chooses his life experiences because he tends to remember everything
down to the littlest detail. Simone took a while for me to warm up to, too. She
has a strong personality, possibly the total opposite of Roscoe. I didn’t know
what to make of her at first, but as the story progressed I began to like her
and root for her and Roscoe’s HEA together. I love her thoughts on love and settling down; they echoed mine to the T.
Loving someone is a big fucking responsibility. How could I love someone if I couldn’t even decide between Chinese or Thai food when ordering takeout?
Simone and Roscoe getting back
together was an emotional affair for me. I basically highlighted all the scenes. I’m
especially impressed with Roscoe for having the courage to take a chance on
love again.
“Come with me.”
“Where?”
“Anywhere.”
Plot-wise, there is a lot going on in this book but I’m not going
to discuss it because I don’t know how to do it without being spoilery, but suffice
to say that the plot was another Original Penny™. I’m still not over that plot
twist about That Character…I’m half-convinced I want [redacted] to have
their own book. Hmm. And not to mention that little bit about a certain character's mother? What's the deal with that?
As a whole, Dr
Strange Beard still can’t top Beauty and the Mustache (sorry Roscoe, but Drew
Runous is pretty hard to compete with!) but I still enjoyed it a lot. Reuniting
with the Winston family made my heart so full, and oh my god after all the buildup in this book, Billy’s book is
going to wreck me, isn’t it?
ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:
About Penny Reid
Penny Reid is the USA Today Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. When she’s not immersed in penning smart romances, Penny works in the biotech industry as a researcher. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
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