4.5 stars ( )

[b:Dr. Strange Beard|30315676|Dr. Strange Beard (Winston Brothers, #5)|Penny Reid|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1528200187l/30315676._SY75_.jpg|50803831]

My goodness! Penny Reid has taken Green Valley fans on one hell of a roller coaster ride with this penultimate installment of the Winston Brothers clan. I felt both like I was coming home again to a cozy, comfortable place in my heart, and at the same time discovering new hidden depths to characters I thought I already knew.

What is masterful about this book is whether you are a fan of the series or picking this one up on a whim, the story is easily read as a standalone but it also advances an ongoing storyline that has been developing since book one in this series. The story highlights the difficult and unfair reality many, many individuals in this county face every day while at the same time weaving a powerful and compelling work of fiction.

Dr. Strange Beard follows the youngest brother Roscoe, now a practicing veterinarian and age 26, but we still get lots of glimpses of many familiar townsfolk, a few new ones, and of course all the Winston siblings and their significant others. This story takes place nearly 5 years after the end of book 4. We get a satisfying summary of what has been keeping the Winston’s busy over the last half-decade.

We also get glimpses further into the past. Roscoe and Simone were best friends when they were kids but it has been a decade since they have spoken.
Simone is a delightful character. She is strong, smart, and unwaveringly pragmatic. I would love to read book after book of Simone’s musings. Roscoe...oh Roscoe, he is at once charming when he wants to be and his depth of feeling is heartbreaking. All this without really being angsty. It is quite an impressive feat to read.
What I would also love to see at some point no rush is a book about their parents. Claps. The next book comes out September 16th can’t come soon enough.
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Didn’t love it didn’t hate it. The author made much of Roscoe’s eidetic memory but ultimately failed to use it as fully as it could have been. I wasn’t fond of the heroine at all. Looking forward to Billy’s story. ( )

So excited to get to read Simone and Roscoe’s book! Will have to put most of this review in spoilers to not ruin it for anyone, but super exciting and great plotting in Simone and Roscoe’s story.

Simone as an undercover FBI agent was AWESOME, especially with the piece of her being back in Green Valley to figure out who was behind murders, and pick up Daryl Winston. Kick some butt, lady! Roscoe is a brother we haven’t seen a whole bunch of, and it was nice to get some time with him here. They fit well together. Having things time-jump forward 5 years worked well, I thought, as it gave an opportunity for the Winstons to be in different places in their lives and change things up a bit.

And now I’m that much more excited for Billy and Claire’s book!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader.
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Roscoe and Simone.
I would strongly recommend that the earlier books in the series are read first. One couple per book but there is an enemy/mystery thread that runs through the series and small pieces of it are resolved each book.
Plus previous couples relationships continue and grow in each book.
In this book the previous couples feature plus Billy turns up briefly and Claire is mentioned in passing, though they do not interact with each other.
I found Simone needed warming up to, I'm not sure why.
I think the Winston boys are such sweethearts you feel protective and defensive in his behalf and he and Simone had a falling out of sorts years ago.
In previous books it was mentioned they were bffs then something happened and they went their separate ways.
There are some very serious racial issues touched on.
Roscoe has an interesting memory capacity which gives a different slant on how he views things and interacts.
Roscoe is a flirt, this was eluded to in previous books but no ex drama for either he or Simone.
No intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.
No cheating or interest in anyone else discussed in this book, Simone hasn't been involved with anyone in some time.
Breadcrumbs dropped for future book in series, esp regarding Billy and Claire.
It's left with the feeling that the family will push them to sort out their history once and for all.
At the start of the book, it seems a bit odd as we jump in the timeline around 5 years after the previous book.
This means in the first few chapters we have information overload catching up with all the progress of different characters.
It's easy to miss important comments as there is so much.
There is also information about secondary characters, like Jennifer's mum and brother, Isaac.
The book has great emotional scenes but also is really funny esp Cletus.
HEA for the couple though HFN as they will no doubt turn up in the next book.

This was my least anticipated book in the series, it's not one you can skip as it has a lot going on esp in preparation for Billy and Claire's book but as for the romance of Roscoe and Simone it was okay but if it was just about them I'm not in a rush to re-read.

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