5 Smooches
Synopsis
All’s fair in love and auto maintenance.
Beau Winston is the nicest, most accommodating guy in the world. Usually.
Handsome as the devil and twice as charismatic, Beau lives a charmed life as everyone’s favorite Winston Brother. But since his twin decided to leave town, and his other brother hired a stunning human-porcupine hybrid as a replacement mechanic for their auto shop, Beau Winston’s charmed life has gone to hell in a handbasket.
Shelly Sullivan is not nice and is never accommodating. Ever.
She mumbles to herself, but won’t respond when asked a question. She glares at everyone, especially babies. She won’t shake hands with or touch another person, but has no problems cuddling with a dog. And her damn parrot speaks only in curse words.
Beau wants her gone. He wants her out of his auto shop, out of Tennessee, and out of his life.
The only problem is, learning why this porcupine wears her coat of spikes opens a Pandora’s box of complexity—exquisite, tempting, heartbreaking complexity—and Beau Winston soon discovers being nice and accommodating might mean missing out on what matters most.
Review
WOW! Penny Reid has once again blown my mind with her absolutely amazing storytelling abilities. For some reason I had it in my head that Beau and Shelly’s book was not gonna affect my heart like some of the others did. Teach me to doubt Penny, not only did it meet any expectation I had it blew it out of the park.
Beau is a good guy, He is sweet, kind, generous with him time, and loyal. I think I was worried he would be too good, does that make sense? But all that he is is needed to balance Shelly. Not that she is bad or trouble, but she is misunderstood. She is brutally honest, socially inaept, and at times difficult to be around. And yet Beau is drawn to her. She frustrated him to no end, but he wouldn’t change her if he could.
Shelly’s struggles broke my heart. Mental disorders run in my family and this all hit close to home. I could relate to her and her standoff-ness. I ached for her pain because I know there is no quick fix, this is a lifetime issue. I loved how Beau holds her up and never pulls her down. The story is perfection. Thank you Penny for giving us the story we all need and not what we all ask for.
~miranda
