Tag Archives: Penny Reid

Review: Homecoming King by Penny Reid

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by

Homecoming King by Penny Reid
Series: Three Kings #1
Publication Date: December 14th 2021
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

Rex “TW” McMurtry’s perpetual single-hood wouldn’t bother him so much if all his ex-girlfriends didn’t keep marrying the very next person they dated, especially when so many of those grooms are his closest friends. He may be a pro-football defensive end for the Chicago Squalls, but the press only wants to talk about how he’s always a groomsman and never a groom. Rex is sick of being the guy before the husband, and he’s most definitely sick of being the best man at all their weddings.

Bartender Abigail McNerny is the gal-pal, the wing-woman, the she-BFF. She’s dated. Once. And once was more than enough. Privy to all the sad stories of her customers, ‘contentment over commitment’ is her motto, and Abby is convinced no one on earth could ever entice her into a romantic relationship . . . except that one guy she’s loved since preschool.

The guy who just walked into her bar.

The guy who doesn’t recognize her.

The guy who is drunk and needs a ride home.

The guy who has a proposition she should definitely refuse.

This was ADORABLE! If you’re in the mood for a romance that’s sweet, feel-good, and fun, you need to read Homecoming King. It’s got a grumpy football player hero, a bartender heroine who used to crush on him back in school, and a marriage of convenience. I legit could not stop smiling while I read this book.

Abby is a bartender who’s sworn off romantic relationships after the mess that was her previous marriage. Then in walks the boy she used to love all throughout school, except Rex is all grown up now. He’s a professional football player who’s had some terrible luck with his own romantic relationships. Every woman he’s ever dated ended up marrying the man she met after dating Rex. He’s sick and tired of being known as “training wheels” for the women he dates so he concocts the perfect plan to stop the moniker: enter a marriage of convenience with Abby.

I loved Abby and Rex’s relationship! Abby is a lovable dork who’s still got a her schoolgirl crush on Rex but is trying to be professional/the best fake wife she can be for him. Even though we don’t get the hero’s POV, you can clearly see Rex slowly fall for Abby and simply adore everything about her, even as she’s a little oblivious to his feelings. Both are endearing, lovely characters I enjoyed reading about so much.

Also, I should’ve realized this was a holiday romance from the cover. I wish I read this a month earlier, but still, it was so good!


lacey

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ INSTAGRAM • YOUTUBE • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Review: Beard Necessities by Penny Reid

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by

Beard Necessities by Penny Reid
Series: Winston Brothers #7 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: November 4th 2019
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

Billy Winston’s family is going to see him happy and in love if it’s the last thing they do.

No one deserves a happily-ever-after quite as much as the second oldest Winston brother and his lady love, Claire McClure (aka Scarlet St. Claire). Cruelty and circumstance tore them apart almost twenty years ago. Secrecy and bitterness kept them separated.

But you know who’s tired of their separation and stubbornness? Everyone. Especially Billy Winston’s family. And now they’re going to do something about it.

Well-meaning interference means the star-crossed lovers can’t stop tripping over each other in the hills of Tuscany, the catacombs of Rome, and the waterways of Venice. Billy and Claire find themselves thrown together and at the mercy of the Winston siblings’ shenanigans.

But will their forced proximity bring them together? Or push them even further apart?

This second-chance romance brings back the entire Winston gang, playing cupid in one last story of love, hi-jinks, and family collusion.

Oh, my heart. I couldn’t be happier for Billy and Claire (aka Scarlet) getting their second chance at an HEA. I loooved all the Winston family shenanigans (hello, Cletus!) and that epilogue made me SO damn happy, my heart was bursting. As bittersweet as this finale is, I couldn’t think of a lovelier ending for the Winston Brothers series, but I am also so thankful we’re getting a Cletus and Jenn series later on!

“But Scarlet,” he said my name reverently, gently, like it was a prayer he repeated often, “I didn’t need to see or touch or taste paradise to know how deeply and irrevocably I am in love with you. That hasn’t changed. That is as constant as my soul, which has been, and will always be, forever yours.”

Billy and Claire’s story has been YEARS in the making, which means years of torturous anticipation for their second chance. Penny Reid wrecked my heart in the best of ways with Beard with Me, so when this final Winston Brothers book landed on my kindle, I dove right in with no hesitation. The beginning was slow and a bit frustrating, I’m not going to lie. I was expecting Billy to be full-on pursing the love of his life, but he chose not to. I felt exactly how the rest of the Winstons did, which was wanting to smoosh Billy and Claire and force them to get back together, because we ALL know how meant to be they are.

Thankfully neither Billy nor Claire spend too much time resisting each other or the love that has always burned between them. It takes a lot communication and patience between them, but once the romance picks back up, I couldn’t put the book down! There’s decades-long worth of tension and longing, and when it explodes, it EXPLODES.

“Make no mistake, what just happened between us was momentous for me. My life and heart have been forever transformed. You are the architect and artist of my own personal paradise. Now, when I close my eyes, I won’t need to imagine what heaven feels like. I’ll know.”

Penny Reid takes us on a gorgeous journey around Italy with all of the Winstons. I loved how determined they were (particularly Cletus) to bring Billy and Claire back together, no matter what scenarios they had to come up with. Having this family all together in the Italian countryside is a total RIOT, and I’m a little devastated that their stories are over for now. But Beard Necessities was absolutely worth the wait, not just for this long-awaited couple, but for the Winston family as a whole. Each one has a love and family of their own, and I’ll be forever grateful to Penny for giving us such a lovely, unforgettable cast of characters!


lacey

Reading Order: Winston Brothers series

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid Beard Science by Penny Reid
   

#1 ~ Truth or Beard: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Grin and Beard It: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Beard Science: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Beard in Mind: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ Dr. Strange Beard: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#6 ~ Beard With Me: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#7 ~ Beard Necessities: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ INSTAGRAM • YOUTUBE • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Review: Beard With Me by Penny Reid

Posted in 4.5 hearts, Reviews by

Beard With Me by Penny Reid
Series: Winston Brothers #6 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: September 16th 2019
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received an ARC from the author in exchange for an honest review

‘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 specialty. 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 specialty. 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 AM NOT OKAY!!!! Words can’t describe how much I need Beard Necessities in my life. Right now.

If the soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts, then my soul was Scarlet.

I stayed up until 1AM finishing Beard With Me up, and it was so worth it. I knew I would love Billy and Scarlet, and Penny Reid didn’t disappoint. Even though this origin story wasn’t quite as angsty as I expected (except in the last 15% of the book, which was hit after hit to the heart), I loved getting to see how Billy and Scarlet met and fell in love for the first time as teens. Their friends-to-lovers story is sweet, slow, and so beautiful. I hurt for their family struggles but the love they found in each other made me so happy, even when I knew it wouldn’t end happily.

If you love the Winston family, you will be seeing them in all their glory in Beard With Me! This origin story gives us a great insight on how this family grows up and especially how Billy loves and takes care of all of them. I really just wanted to give this boy a great big hug for all the sacrifice and work he puts into caring for his family.

My heart ached for Scarlet and her loneliness. It’s not easy growing up as the daughter of an MC president, with parents who couldn’t care less about you. But she finds a new family in Billy and the Winstons, which makes it all the more heartbreaking when you know that her love story doesn’t end well, at least for now.

Can you tell how much I love Scarlet and Billy? They are on their way to becoming my favorite couple of the series, and we haven’t even gotten their actual book yet. These are two wonderful humans who deserve the best of things, not least of which is a second chance at love, which I am SO READY FOR!!!


lacey

Reading Order: Winston Brothers series

Truth or Beard by Penny Reid Grin and Beard It by Penny Reid Beard Science by Penny Reid
   

#1 ~ Truth or Beard: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Grin and Beard It: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Beard Science: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#4 ~ Beard in Mind: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#5 ~ Dr. Strange Beard: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#6 ~ Beard With Me: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#7 ~ Beard Necessities: Ebook • Goodreads (Nov. 4, 2019)

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ INSTAGRAM • YOUTUBE • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Review: Space by Penny Reid

Posted in 5 hearts, Reviews by

Space by Penny Reid
Series: Laws of Physics #2 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: March 11th 2019
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review

One week.
Private cabin.
Famous physicist.
Still an unrepentant slacker.
What’s the worst that could happen?

Mona’s meticulously planned allotment of relaxation is thrown into chaos by the unscheduled appearance of her older brother’s band of friends, including the one person she’d hoped to never face again. Abram still makes her feel entirely too much, which is one of the reasons she disappeared after their one week together. But now, trapped on a mountain of snow and things unspoken, Mona will have to find a way to coexist with Abram, chaos and all.

What can I say about this book that doesn’t spoil besides that I wholeheartedly and completely loved it? I had so many questions when I got to the end of Motion. I was hoping that Space would provide the answers, and Penny Reid did not let me down. In Space, the truth is finally revealed, and we also get the answers to the mystery that was Abram in Elements of Chemistry.

It has been two and a half years since the fallout that ended book 1. Mona left Abram, Lisa replaced Mona, and both Mona and Abram are left wrecked from their one week together. Both move on with their lives, Mona with her academics and Abram with his music. It’s only when Mona’s brother, who is also Abram’s best friend, unknowingly invites the two of them to a cabin in the mountains with their friends that they come face to face for the first time in years – and Abram is out for revenge. But can he hurt the girl that hurt him like no other – but also the one girl his heart has never been able to let go?

I stared at her, and stared at her, and stared at her. I stared at her and I worked to keep my balance, because the floor and the earth moved beneath my feet. The cavern opened and stretched in front of me. I stared at her and I was afraid, because I knew.
My whole life, from this point forward, I would be a fool for Mona DaVinci.

As soon as I picked this book up, I couldn’t put it down. I loved Space even more than Motion – it was everything I wanted and more in the second installment of the Laws if Physics series. Mona and Abram have never been more real than they are in Space, and despite all that’s between them, this is a couple you know is meant to be together. You can feel the pain and anguish the two of them experience during their time apart, but also the hope and love that never disappeared when they reunite. I love that we get Abram’s POV in Space. I felt so much more connected with his character through his POV, and it doesn’t hurt that his POV just screams of his longing for Mona. Mona is able to be herself in all her awkward glory for the first time in front of Abram, and how can you not fall for her real self, who is caring, intelligent, dorky, and flawed? I am DYING to get my hands on the final book now – I absolutely need to know how Mona and Abram’s story concludes.

“I need someone to listen to my heart.” His face inched closer. “And it only wants to beat for you.”


lacey

Quotes are taken from the arc and are subject to change in the final version.

Reading Order: Laws of Physics series

  

#1 ~ Motion: Review • Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Space: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#3 ~ Time: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (April 15, 2019)

The Laws of Physics series is a spinoff of the Elements of Chemistry series!
You don’t have to read one to read the other, however.

Reading Order: Elements of Chemistry series

Attraction by Penny Reid Heat by Penny Reid Capture by Penny Reid Elements of Chemistry by Penny Reid

#1 ~ Attraction: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Heat: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Capture: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1-3 ~ Elements of Chemistry Bundle: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Release Day Review: Motion by Penny Reid

Posted in 4 hearts, Reviews by

Motion by Penny Reid
Series: Laws of Physics #1 (full reading order below)
Publication Date: February 11th 2019
Links: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
Source: I received a copy from the author in exchange for an honest review

One week.
Home alone.
Girl genius.
Unrepentant slacker.
Big lie.
What’s the worst that could happen?

Mona is a smart girl and figured everything out a long time ago. She had to. She didn’t have a choice. When your parents are uber-celebrities and you graduate from high school at fifteen, finish college at eighteen, and start your PhD program at nineteen, you don’t have time for distractions outside of your foci. Even fun is scheduled. Which is why Abram, her brother’s best friend, is such an irritant.

Abram is a talented guy, a supremely gifted musician, and has absolutely nothing figured out, nor does he seem to care. He does what he feels, when he feels, and—in Mona’s opinion—he makes her feel entirely too much.

Elements of Chemistry is one of my FAVORITE new adult romances, so to say I was excited for Penny Reid’s next NA trilogy would be an understatement. We met Abram previously in Capture, part 3 of EoC, and I have to admit I was fascinated with him. He carried so much depth and emotion that I had to know his story, and now we finally have it! At least the first part of it. Motion is a fantastic beginning to Mona and Abram’s slow (slooow) burn romance and I’m unashamedly greedy for more of them already. If you’re in the mood for something different, with unique, weird, unforgettable characters, you need to read this book (and basically all of Penny’s books).

Mona is not your average girl. She’s wicked smart and at nineteen, has already started her PhD program. But for being such a smart girl, she can’t rope her way out of the big mess her estranged, identical twin sister throws her into. Lisa is in jail but she needs Mona to pretend to be her until she gets out so that their parents don’t find out and cut her off. And not only that, Mona needs to convince Abram, their brother’s best friend, that she is her wild sister, someone who is Mona’s complete opposite. Things become even more complicated when Mona realizes she way, wayyy attracted to Abram.

Did he move? Or were we always standing this close? And why wasn’t I cringing away? Goodness, his face would be nice to sit on.
AAHHHH!

Mona as Lisa and Abram are stuck in a house together for a week, and this forced proximity allows these two to get to know one another on a deeper level. Even when Mona tries her hardest to be Lisa, little Mona-isms still manage to reach the surface, which is what Abram falls for. And once Mona knows there’s more than meets the eye with this supposed slacker, she starts to develop feelings for him too. The blazing chemistry that’s always between them certainly doesn’t hurt. But with Mona lying about who she is, can anything real last between them when the truth comes out?

“You have to tell me what you want,” he whispered gruffly. “If you don’t want me, tell me. But you have to know, you must know, I only want to make you happy.”

I love Penny Reid’s kind of humor, which is intelligent yet awkward. This is the very definition of Mona, in fact. At first, she comes across as very standoff-ish and doesn’t seem to connect with anyone. But as we get to know her, her love for Moby Dick, and her ridiculous yet hilarious phrases, her quirks become endearing and you just want to give this girl a hug. Abram himself is just SWOON. How can you not love a guy who reads and loves romance, and Lisa Kleypas books at that?

As you may know, Motion ends of a cliffhanger. As brutal as it is, it is the kind of cliffhanger that you expect, and it’s juicy enough that you want the next book ASAP. Luckily, we don’t need to wait too long for Space, as it’s only a month away. I can’t wait to dive deeper into these characters with the next installment – March needs to get here sooner!


lacey

Reading Order: Laws of Physics series

  

#1 ~ Motion: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads
#2 ~ Space: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (March 11, 2019)
#3 ~ Time: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads (April 15, 2019)

The Laws of Physics series is a spinoff of the Elements of Chemistry series!
You don’t have to read one to read the other, however.

Reading Order: Elements of Chemistry series

Attraction by Penny Reid Heat by Penny Reid Capture by Penny ReidElements of Chemistry by Penny Reid

#1 ~ Attraction: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#2 ~ Heat: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#3 ~ Capture: My Review • Ebook • Paperback • Audible • Goodreads
#1-3 ~ Elements of Chemistry Bundle: Ebook • Paperback • Goodreads

FOLLOW BOOKLOVERS FOR LIFE ON:
✦ FACEBOOK • TWITTER • INSTAGRAM • GOODREADS • PINTEREST • BLOGLOVIN’ ✦

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.