A true gentleman

The art of being a true gentleman seems to be slowing ebbing away, as different generations evolve and grandfathers pass away, habits of the gentile are slowly being forgotten. Not in the Winston house though. Jethro Winston is a man that has definitely earned the title 'gentleman.' He has this lovely calm disposition and is someone who would give you the shirt off his back, he is a very selfless man.

Sienna Diaz experiences what it is like to be helped by Jethro when she gets lost en route to a cabin she has rented. She is a very well known movie star and is in desperate need for some down time before she starts filming her latest movie in Tennessee. This cabin, tucked away in Green Valley, is the perfect place for her to recharge her batteries and prepare for her upcoming role.

Jethro has no idea who Sienna is and he cannot resist helping a damsel in distress, a very beautiful one at that too. In fact helping her out of a spot of bother seems to happen several more times over the passing days. He soon realises that she is not like any other woman he has met before, she is fun and sassy. In fact, he has never enjoyed a female's company like he does Sienna's.

Sienna hasn't met a man like Jethro before, he is a tall, bearded, gorgeous and charming Park Ranger. She has definitely met her fair share of men over the years but Jethro is in a completely different league to them. He wants to know her, not the movie star, just Sienna. It is so refreshing for her to met a man who is not affected by her stardom, someone she can just be herself around.

There is definitely a connection between them and they both want to explore where it takes them. Other people in their lives are weighing in with opinions on this unlikely coupling but Jethro and Sienna are only focused on how they feel. A good way to be if you ask me.

This story is filled with lots of quirkiness and laugh out loud moments. Jethro is a very swoony book boyfriend and I loved how his relationship with Sienna evolved. And just because, here are a few moments from this book...

"Um I would but, right now I need to pee like a hooker with a UTI"

"So I build things, I work with wood.' 'I'd like to work with your wood"

"I want you sitting on my face when I taste your papaya"

"Because when I'm with you, I feel like I am flying and falling"

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

The Thinking Man's Crumpet....

What other book might you compare Grin and Beard It to and why?

Incomparable!
Penny Reid is an author completely on her own. She breaks a lot of the rules of CR. Her stories are both surprising and intelligent. You feel smarter after you've read a book written by Penny Reid.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Jumping on the bandwagon never felt so good.

My introduction to all things Winston Brothers, Green Valley, and in general, anything written by Penny Reid could not have come in a better vessel.
Listening to the words she had written out, narrated by fantastic voice actors was the perfect first dip into her works.

Getting to know this rather dysfunctional, yet utterly perfect family of bearded brothers and a community of misfits, whose faults and quirks make them nothing if not absolutely endearing. The urge to hit one or two, or a few more, people over the head throughout has been deeply embedded within me. But who doesn't want that with family members wanting to insert themselves in one's personal affairs. The lack of privacy in this small town, where everyone has always known everyone is something uniquely charming, which even big-time movie star Sienna has to get used to when she arrives in the backwoods of Tennessee and promptly being discovered in need of help by the one person who could care less who she is. The unruly, charming, yet often blunt Park Ranger Jethro, who introduces her to his world, which should prove a pivotal moment for the both of them.

The story stands out because it seems effortless. The writing flows of the pages, as if one were an invisible observer, fully immersed in the world, the smells, sounds and feelings of Tennessee and the Winston Brothers world. The witty banter is explosive between the rural Jethro with a sketchy past but a heart of gold and a sense of righteousness and on the other hand Sienna, the curvy, hilariously funny, never taking herself too seriously, yet on the forefront to fight for her professional achievements, loving film actress from Hollywood. Their sparks are flying freely and neither is quick to lie down and take it, but the constant struggles with themselves, each other and outward influences makes for a thoroughly and very relatable (yes, even though this is he love between a "celebrity" and a "commoner") story.

Seeing Ms Reid's self-appointed description of writing "smart romance", I absolute agree with this sentiment. She succeeds in writing stories which sport smart heroes and even smarter heroines and never once makes it easy for the reader, rather challenging our reading senses instead of presenting a cut-up, easy meal. And I can only say that this is a fresh breeze of air in all too often rather formulaic storytelling offered today. Therefore, I am overjoyed in having discovered this fantastic writer and I shall be looking forward to being challenged more often from this author in the future.

The narration by Chris Brinkley and Ciela Camargo brings this great story to life, adding the spice of Sienna's latina family and the full-bodied timbre of the bearded Tennessee boys. Utterly charming and delightful, I would recommend this audiobook to everyone.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Bad female narrator

I really love this series but the female narrator on this one was quite difficult to tolerate.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Another great romance by Penny

Would you listen to Grin and Beard It again? Why?

Because it was funny, lighthearted, and romantic

What did you like best about this story?

How Sienna was portrayed as a real down to earth woman, not your normal stick thin movie star.

Have you listened to any of Chris Brinkley and Cielo Camargo ’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Just as good as their other performances

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It made me laugh most of the time and a little crying here and there.

Any additional comments?

This story was funny and lighthearted. I loved Jethro, he is so sexy, strong, and his manners make him swoon worthy. I loved how Sienna is portrayed, not the normal heroine, she is down to earth, and not your normal star from Hollywood. At times her sister drove me crazy and could not stand her creepy co-star and old flame, he was such a stuck up snob. Of course I enjoyed reading about all the other characters and the Winston's and I cannot wait to read more about this great couple in the upcoming books. I listened to the audio book of Grin and Beard it, the narrators made me swoon over Jethro and made the jokes Sienna told really hit home, great job.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

❤️The Beards!

The bearded brothers are wholesome yet manly and "purr-worthy". I love the southern, small town characters. I am from Ky and I felt connected with this town and it's cast of residents. A fun, lighthearted story with enough events to keep me entertained without an exhausting emotional roller coaster. I don't want this series to end!

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

4 Grin and Beard It Stars

Jethro & Sienna

I love me some Winston boys, even though I was surprised the second book is Jethro I was pleasantly surprised. He has that inner marshmallow you just want to squeeze the stuffing out of him.

Sienna comes to town and Jethro is her knight in shining armor, it was really sweet. She wasn't would I thought she was going to be and I am glad for that.
I did find myself wishing she was more forward toward her sister, she was a bit of a pushover in that aspect.

I found myself rooting or Jethro, he was very forward and told it like it was he didn't beat around the bush at all. I loved that.

Again the narration was awesome, loved the male narrator! This was a different one from book 1 for the female but she did a great job in my opinion.

*You don't have to like my review but its 100% my opinion, and I am allowed to have it.*

15 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

It's all about the Winston Brothers

***3.5 Stars***

After reading Truth or Beard I knew three things: I loved the Winston family and I ADORED Cletus. (Yes, I am well aware that Cletus is a Winston, but he deserves his own shout out.) and I’d definitely be picking up the next book in the series regardless of who it was about (Cletus would have been preferred, but one must go with the flow). But due to everything getting in the way reading the book wasn’t a viable option, so if I wanted to read the book this century I’d have to go the audiobook route and I loved being back in the Winston family world and the narrators did a fabulous job, but I had issues with the MC’s, well one of them, and it wasn’t that I didn’t like them, I just didn’t love them both equally.

Jethro and Sienna: 3 Stars

Jethro I loved. He’s turned his entire life around and is putting his money where his mouth is. He is showing everyone around him that he was no longer the asshat, selfish, car stealing biker and instead is an upstanding member of the community and someone they could all rely upon when needed, especially his family. One of the things that made me melt for him was that he didn’t expect anyone to forgive him, he wanted it ~ badly, but he knew that it would take time and that some would never forgive him his trespasses and he was okay with that. I loved his flirty side and how he took the time to make decisions, good or bad. Though as tends to happen, he was quite clueless about somethings.

Sienna. I liked her. I did. I loved that she loved herself. She was comfortable in her own skin and yet didn’t go out of her way to shove it in everyone’s face. She is who she is and you can either accept it or not. She can only be herself. But as much as I loved her confidence I never really warmed up to her like I thought I would. I think what got me was that while she had a strong personality she tended to take the “let’s keep the peace” route when it came to what really should have mattered the most, like the direction she really wanted her career to go and when her jack ass of an ex would come around. Now, in my group of friends I’m label the voice of reason because I too like to keep things running smoothly, but each time Sienna back down and kept silent, even if she didn’t agree with what was going on, it made me want to hit something. Does she finally stick up for herself in the end? Yes, but even then it didn’t make me want to high five the girl.

When it comes to the whole celebrity falls for the non celebrity story you know there will be quite a few bumps in the road and Jethro and Sienna’s story was filled with them, many because they jumped to conclusions instead of communicating (Thank GOD for Cletus), but there were some really sweet and some really funny moments and the sexual tension between them was pretty damn hot. But while I think that they make a great couple and can see them evolving into something great together, I felt as if something was missing. It’s one of those intangible gut feeling sort of things, so pinpointing it is not going to happen, but it is what it is and I still enjoyed their journey.

Cletus and the rest of the Winston clan: .5 Stars

Yes I’m giving them their own little rating because they all deserve it. Cletus is still the one I adore the most, and how can I now when he makes statements like this: “Put your best fuck forward” but being a sucker for well written secondary characters and ensemble casts, I loved spending time with all of them. They feel like a family and all the good, the bad and the ugly that comes with it (Thankfully there is much more good than anything else) and I really want to be invited to dinner one night, especially on sausage nights *BSEG*. And of the brothers Billy is now the one I’m really curious about and can’t wait to find out more about his whole situation.


The Narrators: 5 Stars

This was my first experience with Chris Brinkley & Cielo Camargo as narrators and I really enjoyed them. I liked the tone and cadence of their voices and how they were able to give each character a different feel so that I at least at a clue as to who else was apart of the scene, if not knew outright who was talking. They both did the voices of the opposite sex well, there is always a bit of time needed to get used to it, but they worked for me.

My one main issue with the story came towards the end when Sienna drops a huge bomb and for whatever reason she, and the rest of team, believed that the information wasn’t already out there in Social Media land and none of them, not even Marta ~ which was a huge surprise, bothered to check and see. There were “reasons” given, but in this day and age just because one person may have the “exclusive” doesn’t mean anything, especially when that exclusive was done in an outdoor premier setting with a lot of people with smartphones milling around.

Overall I enjoyed Grin and Beard It. The writing was engaging and I loved the quotes that were used at the start of each chapter and had fun trying to figure out how they applied to what was going to happen. And yes, I am counting the days until the next book, Beard Science, is released because it’s all about Cletus!!

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

I absolutely love the Latina Love story ❤❤❤

I absolutely love that there was a Latina in this and she was not the idea body Image that Hollywood wants and yet she was proud of that!!. Being a Latina my self made me feel repressed in this book world and that love comes in all shapes and sizes and also background. my favorite book so far.

Such a wonderful feel good story.

I may listen to this series over and over again. Along with this COVID-19 thing, I, like most people in the world, have other problems to deal with. I seldom find much to make me smile. This book did! There were a few times that it looked like the plot might go downhill but it was just enough to make me appreciate the good when it showed up . I want to read the next book now but maybe I should save it for a rainy day. Many thanks to Ms. Reid. :)