Beard with Me

Can I love a romance even though I know it will end in heartbreak? Going by this book the answer is yes, yes, and heck yes! I was gobsmacked by how much I was invested and destroyed by a brief teenage love affair which I knew was going to go nowhere, not even a HFN.

Billy & Claire/Scarlett have featured prominently in the Winston Brothers series and this first installment of their story doesn't disappoint. Sure, you might ball your eyes out, but you'll also feel love in different iterations: young love, familial love, love for friends. The events in this book take place prior to those in the first book in the series (strictly speaking the MC are YA) but in spite of being a big fan of chronology I think telling/reading Billy & Claire's story last works better. The previous books serve like layers of this goodness cake.

I did the audio and I'd urge you to do the same. It's brilliant.


complaints/niggles:

1) Though throughout the series the author has tried to show Bethany(?) Winston as a good woman who found herself trapped in bad circumstances I can't find it in myself to completely absolve her. The things she allowed/allows to happen to her children are just monstrous. I know where she's coming from, I know she was a victim too but ... just no. I would've been wearing orange.

2) I had to revise my crush on Jethro, his armor was a bit tarnished