Title: Dr. Strange Beard
Author: Penny Reid
Series: Winston Brothers #5
Release date: July 30, 2018
Rating: 5 stars
Synopsis:
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.
Purchase here:
Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2KqqV41
iBooks: https://apple.co/2twGVeA
Amazon Universal: http://mybook.to/DrStrangeBeard
Nook: https://bit.ly/2LwwIKa
Kobo: https://bit.ly/2yU5zdo
Google Play: https://tinyurl.com/y76ze2x4
Print: https://amzn.to/2LXgohE
Add to GoodReads: https://bit.ly/2KvoGwA
Meet Penny Reid:
Penny Reid is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. She used to spend her days writing federal grant proposals as a biomedical researcher, but now she just writes books. She’s also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.
Connect with Penny:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PennyReidWriter/
Amazon: http://amzn.to/2lakzsD
Twitter: @ReidRomance
Newsletter: http://pennyreid.ninja/newsletter/
www.pennyreid.ninja
REVIEW
Oh how I loved visiting the Winston Boys, their significant others, and the rest of the residents of Green Valley. This series is like a true best friend. One that you don't get to see very often, but when you finally do, there's no awkward pause in conversation or adjustment. I slipped right into this book with a smile on my face, and I was laughing within the first few pages. How many series have you read can you say that about? The trademark humor, unexpected angst, and Roscoe's original personality trait were just a few of the things that made Dr. Strange Beard unputdownable.
We knew from the previous books that Roscoe and Simone were childhood best friends, always together like two peas in a pod. Then suddenly they parted ways in high school with no explanation, much to the puzzlement of their families. But no one was more confused and hurt than Simone, who was ghosted unexpectedly by the boy she cared about and trusted the most. Surely their friendship formed and nurtured over so many years deserved more?
The hurt faded over the years, but never really went away. The mystery was something that wouldn't be silent in her mind, so if Simone just happened to solve that riddle while she's back in town temporarily for her hidden agenda, nothing would make her happier. She convinced herself that the past was shoved into a box never to be touched or noticed again. Roscoe didn't have that luxury. His situational eidetic memory kept him chained to every painful memory as if it happened ten minutes before rather than ten years. He was enslaved to the past and afraid to live in the present.
“Memory is a strange thing.” He pressed another kiss to the soft skin of my interior forearm. “An endless reminder of the past, revealing itself—as a cannon blast or a whisper—when you’re least prepared for it.”
Roscoe has the ability to remember faces and names of people he's met once, no matter how long ago it was. He can remember events in fine detail that happened to him throughout his life, whether they are pleasant or painful. Can you imagine not being able to feel any relief from painful moments in your life, because the memory never fades? I admit I was a little confused at first between what Roscoe lives with, and the photographic memory that most people think of. Though what he experiences is a real thing, it's extremely rare so I wasn't familiar with the specifics of it.
The fact that he deals with this his whole life, and hides it from everyone made his struggle even more difficult because he didn't have his family to lean on for support. He could only make observations of various coping methods and try to apply them to himself, hoping for the best. I never felt angry at either character for the way things played out between them as teenagers. Sure, he could have handled it better, but it just wasn't their time. As heart-wrenching as the loss of their friendship was, she never would have been ready, and it would have hurt him too much to have that reality shoved in his face on a daily basis.
Simone and Roscoe came out of nowhere and caused some unexpected butterflies to beat around in my chest. The unrequited love that he feels and tries to hide from her hit me right in the heart and squeezed me with emotion. I had no idea that he had such a sweet and soulful sensitive side, but I couldn't have been happier finding out. His desperation to try to keep his feelings under control when he was around her was very palpable, and it just made you want to wrap your arms around him to take his and make everything better. Besides his struggle with Simone, he also had to deal with his despicable father's sudden unwelcome reappearance in his life again.
Simone took me a little bit longer to warm up to. Not because I disliked her at first, she's just more reserved with her emotions so I wasn't sure what to make of her. Seeing her sister crash and burn in a bad way in the romance department when they were teens had an effect on her. She was happy to scratch her itches occasionally and then move on with her life. It was all very clinical and functional.
I’ve never been into romance and such, finding puzzles, mysteries, and science more alluring and interesting than almost anything else. The marriage of chemistry and physics was the only kind of marriage that had been of interest to me.
Until Roscoe Winston stepped back into her world, shook it up, and blurred the lines of friendship until she wasn't sure what she wanted anymore. Suddenly she had a strange attraction that she didn't know what to do with, and a secret that could break the fragile new feelings that they were tentatively stepping into. I really enjoyed seeing Simone open up to him and realize that making herself vulnerable doesn't have to make you weak. When you're with the right person, someone who knows you inside and out and loves you unconditionally, you're stronger than you ever were.
I adored this book so much, and I can't recommend the entire Winston series enough. Billy has always been my most anticipated brother in the series, but now that his book is around the corner I wish we could keep waiting because I can't imagine saying goodbye. Simone's family was wonderful in this book, so hopefully there will be a chance at more books to explore her siblings and their HEAs.
I wanted him, to be with him, always. It was him. How he touched me, looked at me, held me, knew me, accepted me. His gentleness, his ferocity, his sweetness, even his caution. I loved his reluctance, how earnestly and sincerely he approached every situation, with heart and soul over mind and matter. I loved him.
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