Review: Beard in Mind by Penny Reid

Beard in Mind by Penny Reid
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've been anxiously awaiting Beau's story since I read Duane and Jessica's book a while back, and I've been wanting to get to know Shelly since reading Cletus' book. I was not disappointed.

You can always expect that Penny will tackle the subject matter within each of her books with care and a ton of research. Shelly suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder, and while that term is thrown around without much thought by most people each day it is a very real disorder that many people deal with and has very real consequences. It is not just wanting your kitchen to be sparkling clean and your closet and pantry to be extremely organized. Shelly's character has a hard time functioning in basic daily tasks because of her disorder and her social skills suffer because of it. Penny goes on to mention in her author's notes at the end of the book that each person suffering with true OCD suffers from different symptoms and no two cases are alike. I really feel like Shelly was handled very well and she didn't let her disorder conquer her. She went to therapy, said she needed more time when she wasn't ready to move on to the next step, and called out for help when she needed it. Her character was so well developed and I loved that her character and her struggles were used to discuss Beau's character flaws and the things that he kept bottled up inside and never dealt with. Shelly offered to be his shoulder to lean on if he was hers. I loved that most about her and their relationship.

Beau is the charismatic Winston brother. He's always got a smile on his face and everyone likes him. He's said to be one of the biggest players in town, but his big secret is just wants that one special lady to love. He really isn't a player at all and he he's feeling a bit lost lately. Duane his twin has found his soulmate and is leaving to travel the world. The entire Winston clan seems be be finding love and settling down, but Beau hasn't found his someone yet. Enter Shelly, the latest addition to the auto shop Beau runs with his brothers. Shelly and Beau do not get along at first. Shelly is abrupt and appears very rude at first. She is a brilliant mechanic, but not good with the customers. Beau doesn't understand why Cletus would hire her, he does understand why Cletus likes her though. She's beautiful and odd, kind of like Cletus. As Beau gets to know her, he begins to understand her a bit better, and he can't deny that there may be a spark of attraction between them. As Cletus becomes distracted by his own lady love, Beau decides to give in to the attraction he's feeling. He also learns more about Shelly's OCD diagnosis and decides to help her with her therapy. This brings up lots of feelings that Beau has keep deep down inside after years of abuse from his father. Both of them have issues they need to work out, and they need to figure out a way to cope with and without each other.

Overall I loved this installment of the Winston saga. I did feel like there were some plot holes. Shelly is Quinn (from the Knitting in the City series) sister, and she was supposed to admit her OCD diagnosis to her family and I don't think we ever know if she did or not. She did admit some of her misdeeds to Quinn and Janie when the visited her, but I don't think she ever told her parents or ever told Quinn she had OCD. I just wanted a little more closure on that part of the plot. Maybe I missed it or there is a novella coming. That's pretty much my only complaint. Another excellent addition to the series.

This book also fulfilled my book about mental health for the Popsugar Reading Challenge.  While it wasn't non-fiction, I know Penny did a ton of research to do OCD justice.  She always makes sure to pay respect to the subject matter of her characters and plot lines.

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