Beard in Hiding

By: Penny Reid

Narrated by: Joy Nash, Chris Brinkley

Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

Propositioning the Iron Wraiths’ money man seemed like a good idea at the time….

Diane Donner - recently divorced pillar of polite society - is craving danger. She’s tired of playing it safe, and she knows just the sexy criminal motorcycle man to proposition for a good time. Problem is, she doesn’t actually know his name.

Jason “Repo” Doe never takes risks. So when the queen of local commerce walks into his club, looking to get risky and frisky, Jason knows the smartest thing to do is save himself a headache while saving the new divorcee from her worst impulses.

But then one thing leads to another, and the memory of just-one-night doesn’t feel like enough.

Theirs is a story with no future, because how can a dangerous criminal win (and keep) a queen?

Beard in Hiding is book 4.5 in the Winston Brothers series, is a full length contemporary romantic comedy about two lost souls in their 40s, and is a companion novel to the Winston Brothers and Solving for Pie series.

If you want to get the full immersive Green Valley world experience, I recommend listening to Truth or Beard, Beard Science, Engagement and Espionage, and Marriage and Murder beforehand. Beard in Hiding contains spoilers for these four books (in specific).

©2021 Cipher-Naught (P)2022 Cipher-Naught

Freaking great!

Narrators Joy Nash and Chris Brinkley always a treat. This is probably my favorite story out of all the Winston brothers books. This has been the only book I could find so far with a survivor of DV finding love again. It’s a mature grown up, self assured love.
Only thing about it is you do really need to get through 3 books before it (“Beard Science”, “espionage and engagement” and “murder and marriage”) but all three of those books are great too so worth it.

Not my favorite

It was basically a retelling of marriage and murder but from another prospective. I was kind of hoping it would have more of them after that book left off.

Together forever

A wonderful love story that grew out of many twists and turns. I can only believe there story will continue to grow.

Can’t believe I almost skipped this!

Seriously: can’t believe I almost skipped past this book thinking I wouldn’t care about Repo and Diane. This might be my fave in the whole series - if not, it’s close! The opposites attract story is phenomenal, and I loved seeing both of their growth. For those who don’t like explicit scenes: this is NOT the book for you… but if you’re good with a little “beg for it”/“good girl” then this is a can’t miss 😅

Some of my fave lines:

In retrospect, given all the facts, I should have realized his abhorrence for good food was the first sign that’s his soul was black as midnight.
…

We’d lasted for just three months, and the whole thing had been one giant clusterfuck. It had been a valuable lesson - the only kind of loneliness worse than being alone was being with someone who felt more for me than I did for her.
…
Kip, my ex, may have been as skilled as a handless, tongueless eunuch, and as motivated as a sloth in a zoo, but I knew for a fact - for a fact - that not all men were terrible between the sheets.

In fact, some men were very, very good between the sheets. Or on top of the sheets. Or on top of a dresser. Or on a floor.
…
“Believe it or not, it’s the first time I’ve broken a promise. The very first time. But I have no regrets. If I knew then what I know now, I would have broken it sooner. I would have told you to go to hell and done what I wanted over a year ago. Because she’s the best thing that has ever happened to me. She’s so much light, she blinds me. And I love her. I need her more than I need to breathe.”

It was alright

It was pretty good, not as good as some of the Winston brothers stories where I laugh and really get into it, but it was good.

I wasn't sure why this was part of the series!!!

I must say, it left me with mixed emotions. The story revolves around Diane Donner, a divorced woman seeking adventure, and Jason "Repo" Doe, a cautious biker with a criminal past. The idea of a one-night stand between them intrigued me, but I wasn't sure how their story would fit into the Winston Brothers series since they aren't part of the Winston family.

As I delved into their tale, I found myself both curious and skeptical. The plot follows Diane and Repo's unexpected reunion and subsequent dating, but it takes a surprising turn when Diane faces false accusations of a crime. It was interesting to see how their relationship developed amid these challenges, but I couldn't help feeling that their characters were somewhat detached from the core series.

The fact that Repo is a villain in the series made it hard for me to fully embrace their love story. I personally struggle with romanticizing bad boy characters, and I wasn't entirely comfortable with that aspect of the novel. However, I admire Penny Reid's writing, and her storytelling abilities still kept me engaged.

Joy Nash and Chris Brinkly their performances brought the characters to life, even though I listened at an accelerated speed due to my mixed feelings about the story.

Overall, "Beard in Hiding" left me conflicted. While I appreciate the author's writing and will continue with the series to find out more about the Winston Brothers, this particular installment wasn't entirely my cup of tea. However, every reader's taste differs, and fans of romantic comedies with a touch of danger might find this book more to their liking.

Still Fantastic

As I have said before I am a patron, and definitely not a writer. I enjoy these books just as much as the first time as the third or fourth time I may listen to them. The diversity of Whitt, humor, pearls of wisdom, and the authenticity, the vulnerability, the unhealed, wounds, as well as the gifts, and uniqueness and pearls of wisdom, that makes each character their own unique human being. Thank goodness there’s a lot of positive insightful characters as role models and I never tire of them to lift me up. I just don’t see how one person can come up with so many diverse characters with different personalities, and that make me laugh, as well as find insights and hope into my world. I hope everyone enjoys reading these books, and Penny enjoys writing them as much as I enjoy reading them, well, listening to them. ❤️. And yes, the same goes for the series as I can’t say which one I like more, the knitting in the city, or the Winston brothers. I’ve also enjoyed her other shorter series of rugby, the philosophers, and the king ones, as well as all of her, emerging and encouragement of new authors, to write spinoffs from some of the series. I also thought I would mention when someone says they don’t like the narrators, I respect Penny’s choices, and just go with the flow. I can see how maybe someone’s voice is a little more feminine, fast or slow than what we might think a character would be or what we want it to be, but we’re all unique and maybe that’s a life lesson. We need to look a little deeper, so we don’t overlook who someone is on the inside and what and why they’re triggering something in ourselves. If I’m wrong, never mind said w kindness.

what a surprise!

I didn't want to listen to this story at first, but I listened to the rest of the series and OMG! I freaking loved it!!!!!!!!!! definitely worth the credit

Fabulous fun!

Loved the Winston Brothers series and this offering was very entertaining as well. Here’s hoping other tangential characters keep the fun coming.

I still can't get enough!

I love this story /series. I wish I knew what happened next for these two and if they caught that stupid farmer!