Slow Burn is Not for Me | Truth or Beard by Penny Reid [Audiobook Review]

Beards, brothers, and bikers! Oh my!

Identical twins Beau and Duane Winston might share the same devastatingly handsome face, but where Beau is outgoing and sociable, Duane is broody and reserved. This is why Jessica James, recent college graduate and perpetual level-headed good girl, has been in naïve and unhealthy infatuation with Beau Winston for most of her life.

His friendly smiles make her tongue-tied and weak-kneed, and she’s never been able to move beyond her childhood crush. Whereas Duane and Jessica have always been adversaries. She can’t stand him, and she’s pretty sure he can’t stand the sight of her…

But after a case of mistaken identity, Jessica finds herself in a massive confusion kerfuffle. Jessica James has spent her whole life paralyzed by the fantasy of Beau and her assumptions of Duane’s disdain; therefore she’s unprepared for the reality that is Duane’s insatiable interest, as well as his hot hands and hot mouth and hotter looks. Not helping Jessica’s muddled mind and good girl sensibilities, Duane seems to have gotten himself in trouble with the local biker gang, the Iron Order.

Certainly, Beau’s magic spell is broken. Yet when Jessica finds herself drawn to the man who was always her adversary, now more dangerous than ever, how much of her level-head heart is she willing to risk?

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Heat Level: Steamy

Penny Reid’s books have been highly recommended to me by romance readers that I trust. Unfortunately, this may be one of those authors that I just can’t get into.

I don’t know what to think of this book. Maybe Penny Reid’s writing is just not for me. I mean, it’s written well, but I don’t exactly love the romance in Truth or Beard. And as much as I love punny titles, this could not make up for my underwhelming reaction to this book. This may be an unpopular opinion to all the fans of this series.

This is my fourth Penny Reid book and the first one was a DNF. It may be because her overall writing style is not for me, plus her books are a bit of a slow-burn. And you know how I am with slow-burn romance.

Don’t get me wrong, I have read slow-burn romances that I enjoyed but one thing that I noticed is that there doesn’t seem to be chemistry between the hero and heroine in the ones that I did not enjoy. But I digress.

I did enjoy reading Truth or Beard but I wasn’t blown away by it. After all the hype and multiple people recommending this book, I expected to be wowed, at least. Yes, it’s smart and funny and I laughed out loud at certain parts. But I just wasn’t wowed.

Truth or Beard has a very interesting plot! I really like unrequited romance and I loved that it was the hero, Duane that was “running” after the heroine. I liked that they were enemies when they were kids and I liked the initial build-up to their romance.

What really got me, though was the part when Jess and Duane finally acknowledged their feelings for each other. This was the part where it got really slow for me. This was the part where it dragged. I didn’t like how their romance and hooking-up was dragged for a few chapters. In fact, that turned me off and I didn’t feel Duane and Jess’ chemistry.

I’m not sure if I will continue reading this series and I’m also not sure if I will be reading any more Penny Reid books. I mean, this is the fourth book that I read by her and I was never wowed by all of the books.

I even picked up the audiobook to help me finish this book. While I liked both narrators, this couldn’t make me love this book. Unfortunately.

There are just those authors that don’t work for you, and it looks like Penny Reid is one of mine.

Winston Brothers Series by Penny Reid

Is there a popular author whose writing style is just not for you?