Title : Beard Necessities (Winston Brothers #7)
Author : Penny Reid
Release date : November 4th 2019

Date Read : November 2nd 2019
Rating : ★★★★★

“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.”

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

Beard Necessities, the final standalone in the bestselling romantic comedy Winston Brothers series from New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Penny Reid, is available now!

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.

MY REVIEW :

Honestly, where do I start? i have no idea! but i'll wing it!

If I could give this book infinite stars, I would.

Everyone who knows me, knows three main things about me : how excited i was for this book, how much i love angst and how the second chance romance trope is my favorite trope ever. so it goes without saying that this book was THE book for me. Combine that with the mastermind that is Penny Reid and there was no way for me not to fall head-over heels, no point of return in love with this book. Which I did, and then some!

I started this series at the beginning of the year, and I immediately was taken and intrigued by Billy and Claire, there was just something about them... something that made me KNOW, made me SURE, they would end up being my favorites, and they were. They are. As separate characters and as a couple.

I fell for Scarlet in beard with me, and I knew then and there I was a goner. If I fell for her 14 year old self, there was no way for me to love her any less as an adult. And I was right. Scarlet is my absolute favorite female character in the entire series, and now one of my top 5 favorites ever. She is one of the strongest, funniest, releast characters I've had the pleasure to read about. She is always putting everyone first, and herself last. Giving everyone smiles left and right when she feels like anything but smiling, because she just wants everyone to be happy and doesn't wanna burden anyone. She hides her hurt behind jokes but never lets said hurt define her, or tries her heardest not to. I loved her development between Beard With Me and this book. How she realized she needed profesional helf and didn't recoil at the thought, how she was strong enough to realize so much of what she blamed herself for wasn't her fault. My love for her just grew to unbelievable and undescribable amounts in this final instalement in this series. And I truly believe it will stay with me for a very long time, because not only I loved her for who she was, is and will be, but she's also one of those characters you can't help but learn from. And Scarlet St Claire/Claire McClure/Scarlet Claire Winston teaches you a LOT!

“And to beat myself up for the rest of my life about something I did, for decisions I made when I was running away from my abusive father, decisions made in fear, well, I’m not going to do that anymore.”

Now, onto Billy. Oh Billy.
I've had a soft spot for Billy pretty fast into the series, I didn't know much about him other than what we learned from other characters, but my love for him was immediate. He is, just like Scarlet, one of those people who doesn't mind sacrificing his own happiness for others, he gives and gives and never asks for anything back. He basically raised his brothers, and had a definite hand in what they became today. The fact that his story was last made so much sense to this series and to his characters, because there was no way Billy would've been able to accept happiness without being sure everyone he cared about found it first. He had to grow up pretty fast, had to shoulder so much responsability at a very young age and never resented any of his brothers for it. Billy is one of the most selfless, honorable characters ever. And I love him so much every time we get to see more into his character, and I know, just like I suspected at first, he is definitely one of my favorite characters ever.

“I swore to God, I was so fucking tired of hearing about Ben McClure’s hurt when all he did from day one was take advantage of her being fourteen and homeless, scared, alone. As far as I was concerned, what he did to her made him a predator. Worst of all, he believed all his own bullshit, which made it easy for other folks to believe it too.”

If goes without saying that my favorite thing about this book was Billy and Claire's relationship. Everyone who knows me knows they're my favorites, so to finally get to see them and understand their full story, was one of the highlights of this book, and Penny did them all the justice they deserved and then some.

I loved every single thing in this book and I genuinely do feel like it had it all :

Angst that left you at the edge of your seat? Check.
Funny moments? Check.
Shennanigans? Check.
Heartwarming moments? Check.
Answers to everything ever? Check.
Family moments? Check.
Incredible romance that just made you fall in love not only with the couple but with love as well? Check.
Steaminess fest? Check check check!

Honestly, this book HAD IT ALL!!!!

I'm very particular with my angst, I don't quite enjoy it when it's overdone or just there for the sake of it, so it takes a really good one for me to enjoy it and even ask for more. And I knew if someone could deliver a perfect one, it was Penny. Especially after reading her Laws Of Physics series.

Billy and Scarlet's relationship takes you away with them, you feel it all deep within. Their sadness, their happiness, their frustration, their years and years of yearning and how tired they are of fighting this thing they have... all of it. They love each other so fiercely and so intensely that every feeling is felt tenfold and like a punch in the stomach. And it hurts so bad but feels so good. Which is what I imagine their relationship all these years has been like and which makes their reunion and very much earned happy ending all the more authentic, powerful and gratifying.

“But in this moment, more than anything, more than taking my next breath or seeing another sunrise, I wanted to dance with Scarlet. Just once. I wanted to hold her while she moved, I wanted my hands on her body and her beaming smile in my face and her joyful eyes on mine. I wanted her to teach me how to dance.”

Another thing I adored about this book is how the Ben situation was handled. I loved seeing Scarlet slowly but surely realize that Saint Ben was NOT a good guy. I loved seing her realize that her guilt and her misplaced gratitude for him was very much what he was counting on to keep her next to him and manipulate her. And I loved seeing her realize how better she was without him, how stronger she was after her therapy and how most of her relationship with him and everything she ever felt with was just due to what her childhood trauma led her to believe about love.

This book is truly a masterpiece. I feel like this book is peak Winston culture. I loved seeing everyone meddle to get Billy and Scarlet back together, especially Cletus. But if I get into details about that, I fear I am never going to shup up and this review is already long enough and getting out of my hands.

Saying goodbye is always bittersweet, especially when you fall for characters you never wanna say goodbye to. But saying goodbye is also very inevitable, and I do feel like this was the perfect conclusion to this masterpiece of a series, so eventhough saying goodbye is hard, I am glad I had something I loved as much that makes saying goodbye unbearable.

Honestly, no one does it like Penny Reid. Absolutely no one. Her writing, her characters, the relationships she creates between them... she is truly one of a kind. And she's now officially my favorite romance author ever.

BEARD NECESSITIES is a full-length contemporary romantic comedy, and can be read as a stand-alone, but it’s probably best read after books 0.5, 2, 3, 5, and 6 of the Winston Brothers series.

Download your copy today!

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