You know the old saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”? The first time I read a book by Penny Reid, I did exactly that. I’d gotten the first book in her Winston Brothers series, entitled Truth or Beard, for free through a newsletter, and I did what I normally do once I download a free book: forget all about it. Then one day, I was scrolling through the books on my kindle and my gaze fell upon this awesome cover. While I know we’re told not to judge a book by one, with a cover image like that, I figured it had to be good. It was, after all, different from what my daughters call my “shirtless man books.” I was hooked from the start, partly because the book opens with a Lord of the Rings quote, but mostly because of the history the two main characters, Jessica James and Duane Winston, share. (I love it when characters have a complicated backstory!) I finished this book in three days.
Most of the time, a series has three siblings, and each gets their own book. Duane Winston has five brothers (in no particular order, his twin Beau, Billy, Jethro, Cletus, & Roscoe) and one sister, Ashley. To date, the Winston Brothers series has five books, with more to come. Duane’s sister Ashley’s story is part of another series, called Knitting in the City. Lucky for you, Ashley’s book is FREE for a limited time (link below). Penny Reid is also the author of the Hypothesis series, the Rugby series (with L. H. Cosway) and the upcoming Dad Bod series.
I have read every one of the Knitting in the City books, and also own most of them on audiobook. (Side note: Joy Nash, who does a lot of the narrating in both of these series, is AMAZING. I am VERY picky about my female narrators, because I don’t like the way the majority of them do the male’s voices.) I have read all of the Winston Brothers books so far, except the most recent, Dr. Strange Beard, which I am saving for my beach vacation next week!
Penny Reid is known for “smart romances.” You’ll read about bitcoins, the Nigerian oil crisis, RICO charges, Artificial Intelligence, and the NSA. She is hysterically funny, and her books make me FEEL ALL THE FEELINGS! I remember when I was reading Dating-ish, book #6 in KitC, and something happens to Marie, the main character. Penny’s incredible writing made me feel as if it had happened to ME. I honestly had to put the book down and walk away for a couple of days, because I was so profoundly affected by it. That’s the sign of an excellent and well-written book, right there!
If you’d like to find out more about Penny Reid, you can check out her website http://pennyreid.ninja/ and sign up for her newsletter. You can find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Even better, you can start reading one of her books for FREE right now! After you’ve fallen in love with her writing, be sure to join like-minded readers in her Facebook group, called Sharks of Awesome!
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