What a funny interesting romance book with real relatable characters. Who doesn’t love a romance book with identical twins - MALE. Loved the relationship and growth between Jess as Duane. So realistic the banter and bickering. Writing style is awesome. Fell in love with this author in her knitting series. And this book did not disappoint . Can’t wait for next one.

This is such a great start to one of my favorite series! (Or you can take it back a step and read Beauty and the Mustache if you want to know more background!)

This is a story about mistaken identity and long term pining, about a man who knows what he wants and isn’t afraid to go after it, about a woman who knows what she wants and it’s not staying in her hometown, living a quiet little life. It’s also, and most importantly for me, a story about family. About coming together, about the importance of letting those you love help you carry you load when things are hard.

In a world of You Up? texts, the Winston Brothers are old fashioned gentlemen who woo their ladies, who love hard and freely, who aren’t afraid to stand up and do the right thing. The series follows these remarkable bearded brothers as they grieve the loss of their mother, deal with the ramifications of their evil father, face off with a dangerous biker gang, and, of course, fall in love.

The author’s writing is at once lyrical and sharp, full of prose but also whip smart language that will have you re-reading to take it all in. I have laughed with them, and cried with them, and cheered them on over the years. This is truly one of my favorite fictional worlds, and I’m so so excited to see these characters that have become friends out in the world for all to enjoy!

Oh, my word.

Does Penny Reid give a whole new definition to enemies to lovers?
From the very start, she captures perfectly the steaminess between Jessica and Duane (who she thought was his twin brother Beau) to the intense "hate" between them. Turns out, Jessica, who has crushed on Beau, was making out with Duane. He's arrogant, has an on and off again girlfriend, he mocks Jessica at every turn, but has a massive thing for her. He just covers up his fascination with Jessica by being kind of mean. That doesn't stop him from taking his shot the very minute he has his chance and its the biggest, steamiest eye opener for Jessica. Turns out...she likes bossy Duane.
Recommend. Cuz, hot, funny, enemies to lovers done right to a perfect soundtrack in Jessica's head.

this was a fun read! this was my first by penny and I'm excited to read about the whole Winston clan!

Gosh.
This book is good now just like it was years ago when I first read it. It was love at first read with Jessica and Duane. Jessica is such a wholesome, strong, funny and brave character. I love how she stays true to herself throughout the story and ends up following her dreams. Duane is such a gentleman and I will always have a soft spot for he fell first trope. It's always so sweet. I love how supportive of Jess he is.
And this is something that brought me joy and comfort again to read about and that's the Winston family. I love their dynamic so much. I wish they were real people. Although they feel real honestly.

"Truth or Beard" is now the fourth book I've read by Penny Reid. Unfortunately, it did not become a favorite for me, but I still will continue on with my Reid journey. I really liked when we were first introduced to Duane. Jessica and Duane's reunion was pretty hot and filled with plenty of angst. The events that happened afterwards rubbed me the wrong way. Firstly, I couldn't really get down with Jessica messing with her cousin's ex-fling. It was pretty odd to me. It was also horrible that he used her cousin to try to see if he could make Jessica jealous by making out with said cousin in front of her and then proceeded to shoot his shot again like 15 mins later.

Despite this rough beginning I was convinced that Duane really did like Jessica. I could tell that he wanted to eventually marry this woman if he got the chance to do so. It was a bit of a slow burn when it came to them being physical. He wanted to make sure she knew that he was in this for some forever business. I didn't care too much for the whole situation surrounding the shady bikers (that's like majority of the book). I can definitely see the charm in this story as I did like the Winston brothers in general. However, I am undecided if I will read the next books in this series.

Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this arc!

Jessica and Duane's love story really starts off with a bang - a little bit of small town heart, a little mistaken identity, a lot of steam. I loved the varied cast of supporting characters that we had supporting these two and the world that Penny Reid built for all of them. The book has a lot of humor, but I felt like in trying to raise the stakes, the author was introducing new plot points that were taking the overall journey off the rails, both in plot beats and tonally - it felt like too much. And even though it was explained away, I felt like Jessica's willingness to just transfer her crush from one twin to the other was a little underdeveloped and contributed to my main issue with the book, which is that she felt a little immature. All in all, this was still a fun story and I'm interested to see what the books about Duane's other brothers are about! I'd definitely check the TW before you pick this up - I didn't and I was surprised at some of the heavy topics we got into!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
🌶️🌶️/5

This was a fun read that had me rolling with laughter.

Duane was a man after my heart! First of all, who doesn't want a tall bearded man? Especially if he is a little grumpy!
Not to mention, his impeccable manners. Him wanting to do everything right by Jessica was the sweetest thing. Of course, this made him totally unrealistic by today's standard but I am definitely not complaining.

Jessica had me dying from laughter. From the very first chapter, I knew I was going to like her.

The story was fun and lighthearted. Definitely entertaining. I did enjoy the idea of two childhood friends falling in love. I feel like a lot of people can relate to this, or at least the possibility of it.

All of the characters were diverse in personality, which was impressive given the amount of brothers Duane has lol. I specifically adored Claude. I think he brought much needed perspective to his brothers.

This book certainly had its flaws. None of them were enough to completely alter my opinion of this book, but I feel like I should still mention them.

Firstly, I wasn't really a fan of the "conflicts" in the storyline. They seemed a bit ridiculous to me. I feel like Jessica's desire to travel could definitely be a small bump in the road, but there was no reason for it to blow up like it did. Even worse, the problems with the biker gang didn't hit the mark for me. It felt like the author brought that issue completely out of left field. At the very least, I would have enjoyed it more if the build up was more intense.

Like I said, these "problems" weren't enough to make me dislike this book but I definitely wanted to bring them up in case these things may bother others.

Overall, I did enjoy the book.

I would recommend to anyone who is looking for light and hilarious read. If you are into bearded men, Duane is your guy!

I wouldn't recommend to anyone who needs a lot of heavy conflict in their stories.

Cute, sexy and an easy read. With a beard. What else do you need in life?

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I received this as an ARC review via NetGalley. All views are my own.

If you love small town romance, this is for you! The first chapter hooked me in with a bit of spice involving a twin pretending to be the other! I loved all of the quotes at the start of each chapter, loved the banter between the two main characters Jessica and Duane and overall, loved the relationship of these childhood sweat hearts! I love how their story unfolded and felt sadness whilst reading knowing that their story may potentially come to an end as Jessica leaves to go travelling. Such a light hearted, heart warming story and I highly recommend.

I can’t wait to get the paperback when it releases in the works and can’t wait to read book two to see what happens next with the Winston brothers!

This book is absolutely adorable! Jessica is hilariously in denial about her childhood nemesis, Duane Winston, who’s now all grown up—and kind of irresistible. The fast pace, charming scenarios, and engaging plot kept me hooked as these two navigate their undeniable chemistry. Penny Reid also does a great job immersing readers in small-town Appalachia - really made the setting stand out.

This is such a fun read!

You had me at chapter one when Jessica is dressed as a sexy Gandalf. Loved this book, Jess and Duane’s relationship was everything. Perfect small town romance!

Truth or Beard had me laughing out loud, it’s a fun, cute read!

⭐️: 4/5
🌶️: open door, several scenes

💭 overall thoughts:
Jessica has had a crush on Beau for years, but mistakingly ends up kissing Duane, his twin, and that changes everything.

I adored both main characters, in their abilities to always be themselves no matter what. I appreciated that they loved, supported, and respected who the other was, without wanting to change anything about them.

There was A LOT going on in this story (maybe a little too much), which was hard to follow at times.
Many characters were being introduced (since it is setting up the rest of the Winston brothers series), and that got a little confusing at some points.

read if you love:
🫣 mistaken identity
🌦 grumpy sunshine
💛 childhood friends to lovers
🧰 math teacher fmc + mechanic mmc
🤫 secret crush
🫶🏼 family + found family
🌳 small town
💞 dual 1st person pov

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I loved this book. It was unique and still hot all the great romance points without being redundant and feeling like I'm reading the same story that I have in other books. Amazing :)

Penny Reid’s new spin-off series The Winston Brothers starts with a hit! Truth or Beard is a small town unrequited love romance. Jessica has had the biggest crush on Beau Winston since she was a little girl. When she moves back to Green Valley Tennessee after college she is excited to reconnect with the affable ginger twin. Mishaps abound, local motorcycle clubs get in the way, and Jessica finds out her heart may be leading her in the wrong direction after all.... This book is hilarious and so sweet! I love Jess and Duane together and I cannot wait to read the rest of the series.

Unfortunately, this was not for me. The writing was just too immature and there were several passages that left a bad taste in my mouth.

The Winston books are such fun! I read the other but somehow managed to miss this one so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of the reprint. A fun mix of adventure and romance.

This was not my first foray into Penny Reid's books (I've previously read Bananapants), but this is one that I've had the indie version on my shelf for a long time.

Jessica is back in her small town after college to teach a higher level math class in exchange of her student loans being forgiven. While back in town, her long-time crush/adoration on Beau Winston has been re-ignited. Jessica has held Beau on a pedestal for a long time, and in addition to the high esteem she gives Beau, Jessica has extreme disdain for his twin brother Duane. When Jessica accidentally gets the two confused, she has to readjust her previous thoughts on each of them.

One thing that I think Reid does well with her writing is creating fun, quirky characters. This is something that I think I enjoyed enough in Bananapants where the title ques you into the quirky-ness of the story. I think the quirkiness of the main characters here just kind of lended themselves to instead feeling very fake. I couldn't believe the romance because Duane's attitude and actions felt so out-of-place. Jessica as well, felt kinda "not like other girls" and the insta-love that ends up happening was fairly frustrating with knowing her ultimate dreams. Plot wise, I feel like Reid is definitely hinting at something that wasn't wrapped up by the end of this book. I don't think I'm interested enough to read the full series to find out the answer to some of my questions though and I don't see any direct reason why some of the answers wouldn't have been revealed here.

Ultimately, I think this story is fine, probably not for me. I did enjoy the new Special Edition items included in this story though. Some cute art and a map, helped set up the setting a bit more!

I thought this book was so steamy and funny. It led me to reading more in the series and I can't wait to read more from this author. It made me giggle and I loved their banter.

I went into this book with high expectations; I’ve loved previous books written by Penny Reid. This is a good book, but it didn’t meet my high expectations. Jess is a calculus teacher and I love how Penny uses smart women in her novels. However, Jess didn’t come off as just being brainy or loving math so it seemed weird other than the occasional mention of someone Jess admired who worked in mathematics. Also wasn’t sure how she ended up teaching Cletus who is older? Jess is just a little too southern and has wayyyyy too much repetitive inner dialogue.
Dwayne is a nice sturdy character and seemed like the perfect man in most instances. However he feels a little one dimensional and the entire side story with the biker gang felt so unnecessary. The biker gang felt like it was added to make the Winton brothers be the perfect amount of dangerous and attractive but it all just seemed really stupid.
Overall, it was a good book (narration wasn’t my fave for audiobooks) but I’m hoping the other brothers have a better story. 4⭐️, 2🌶