Grin and Beard It

de Penny Reid (2016).

Présentation de l'auteur : Sienna Diaz is everyone’s favorite “fat” funny lady. The movie studio executives can’t explain it, but her films are out-grossing all the fit and trim headliners and Hollywood’s most beautiful elite. The simple truth is, everyone loves plus-sized Sienna.

But she has a problem, she can’t read maps and her sense of direction is almost as bad as her comedic timing is stellar. Therefore, when Sienna’s latest starring role takes her to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park she finds herself continually lost while trying to navigate the backroads of Green Valley, Tennessee. Much to her consternation, Sienna’s most frequent savior is a ridiculously handsome, charming, and cheeky Park Ranger by the name of Jethro Winston.

Sienna is accustomed to high levels of man-handsome, so it’s not Jethro’s chiseled features or his perfect physique that make Sienna stutter. It’s his southern charm. And gentlemanly manners. And habit of looking at her too long and too often.

Sienna has successfully navigated the labyrinth of Hollywood heart-throbs. But can she traverse the tenuous trails of Tennessee without losing her head? Or worse, her heart ?

2e opus de la série des frères Winston de Penny Reid, après Duane voici donc l'histoire de Jethro, l'aîné de la fratrie ♥.

Un beau jour, notre Park Ranger préféré va venir en aide à une demoiselle en détresse. Celle-ci est en train de réduire à néant sa carte routière en lui sautant dessus et en maudissant son mauvais karma. Sienna tombe immédiatement sur le charme de ce grand barbu au sourire ravageur, qui flirte sans vergogne et qui la considère comme une femme normale... Oui parce que Sienna a une "identité secrète" : c'est une actrice-scénariste hyper connue... Sauf de Jethro, qui se sent absolument pas concerné par les people d'Hollywood xD . Et donc ces deux-là flirtent tant qu'ils peuvent, et ça passe bien, ça passe tellement bien que Sienna a des remords de lui avoir caché qui elle est.

Vous vous dites surement que là, on aura la révélation à la fin du romance avec plein de retournements de situation... Non, point du tout, comme dans d'autres de ses romans, Penny Reid ne tombe pas dans le cliché : Jethro va apprendre qui est vraiment Sienna, et assez tôt.

L'histoire de Sienna et Jethro c'est deux personnes venant d'univers totalement différents, qui vont devenir fous l'un de l'autre et qui vont devoir se poser des questions pas simples, afin de se donner une chance. Le passé de Jethro n'est pas glorieux pour la carrière de Sienna, et celle-ci amène toute la presse people avec elle dans une petite ville tranquille du Tennessee.

Outre Jethro, on a plein de Cletus dans ce tome ♥ et quelques passages intenses avec Billy ♥ (rhaaaa vivement son tome à lui, mais ce sera le dernier grrrrr xD).

This is the second book in the Winston Brothers series by Penny Reid, after Duane here is the story of Jethro, the eldest brother ♥.

One day, our favorite Park Ranger help a damsel in distress. She is destroying her map by jumping on it and cursing her bad karma. Sienna immediately falls for this great bearded man with a killer smile, flirting shamelessly with her and who treats her like a normal woman... Because Sienna has a "secret identity" : she is a Hollywood-famous writer and actress... Except Jethro is absolutely not concerned by Hollywood xD. And so the two of them flirt as much as they can, and it works well, it goes so well that Sienna has remorse lying to him.

You probably think that we will have the revelation at the end of the bokk with lots of twists... No, not at all, as in other of her novels, Penny Reid does not fall into the cliche : Jethro will learn who is really Sienna soon enough.

Sienna and Jethro's history is about two people from completely different worlds, who will become crazy about each other and will have ask themselves hard questions in order to give them a chance. Jethro's past is not glorious for the career of Sienna, and she brings all the tabloids with her in this small quiet town of Tennessee.

In addition to Jethro, this book was full of Cletus ♥ and some intense passages with Billy ♥ (rhaaaa I can't wait for his book, but it will be the last grrrrr xD).


About Penny Reid

Penny Reid is the USA Today Best Selling Author of the Winston Brothers and Knitting in the City series. When she's not immersed in penning smart romances, Penny works in the biotech industry as a researcher. She's also a full time mom to three diminutive adults, wife, daughter, knitter, crocheter, sewer, general crafter, and thought ninja.

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The Player and the Pixie

de Penny Reid et L.H. Cosway (2016)

Présentation des auteurs : How can someone so smokin’ hot be so bad in bed? I mean, Sean Cassidy is absolute rubbish. RUBBISH. He is the epitome of walking, talking false advertising and I want a refund! Plus he’s an arsehole. So… what is wrong with me that I can’t stop thinking about him?

THE PIXIE
Lucy Fitzpatrick doesn’t like rugby.
As the little sister of Ireland’s most infamous rugby player, Lucy can’t seem to escape the championship-sized shadow cast by her big brother, or her mother’s frequent attempts to micromanage her future. Her rainbow hair is as free-spirited as her quest for inner peace, yet overbearing expectations keep bringing her down. And when she’s down, her compulsive little problem lands her in seriously big trouble.

THE PLAYER
Sean Cassidy is a cold-hearted brute… or so he’s been told. Frequently. By everyone.
His blonde locks, baby blues, and rock hard bod make ladies the world over drool with desire. As the rugby world’s second most infamous player, he should be basking in his success. But Sean has never been content settling for second place, and his frequent confrontations with Lucy’s big brother leave him cold. And when he’s cold, his compulsive little problem lands him in the lap of Lucy Fitzpatrick.

THE PLAN
Sean has a problem only Lucy can solve. Lucy has a problem only Sean can fix. The solution seems obvious: you scratch my back, and I’ll bail you out of jail. But when their business arrangement unexpectedly leaves Sean scorching hot and Lucy on the precipice of inner peace, can they convince the world—and Lucy’s big brother in particular—that this is the real deal?

Either way, both the Player and the Pixie are about to teach each other some pretty monumental lessons about family, life, but most importantly, love.

Rhoooooo ce tome 2 est tellement beaucoup plus mieux que le 1 xD

Sean et Lucy sont à l'opposé l'un de l'autre, ils n'ont aucune raison de s'apprécier et quand ils se croisent, c'est à celui qui sera le plus sarcastique. Sauf que, sauf que... et bah Sean trouve que ce petit truc coloré (Lucy a des cheveux arc-en-ciel) a une bonne répartie et Lucy découvre que Sean fait peut-être exprès d'être imbuvable avec tout le monde.

Les circonstances n'aidant pas beaucoup, ces deux-là vont être immédiatement attirés et vont se jeter dessus hihihi... Sauf que, sauf que... (et comme c'est écrit dans le résumé je peux le dire aussi) Sean est absolument nullissime au lit. Lucy se rend compte que non seulement Sean en a pleinement conscience, mais qu'aucune de ses conquêtes d'un soir n'a osé le lui dire. Ce qui avait commencé comme une simple partie de jambes en l'air devient très vite plus profond et sincère. Sean et Lucy s'ouvrent l'un à l'autre sans vraiment l'avoir prévu...

Ce livre se lit tout seul, on enchaîne les chapitres et les points de vue différents entre Lucy et Sean. Les caractères des personnages sont tout en subtilité, ils ont chacun des bons et des mauvais côtés, j'ai bien aimé les voir s'accrocher l'un à l'autre petit à petit ^^.

Lire le tome 1 est pas *forcément* obligatoire pour lire celui-ci, il y a des piqûres de rappel du 1 dans le 2 (pourquoi Sean et Ronan -le frère de Lucy- ne s'entendent pas) mais rien n'est absolument vital pour apprécier celui-ci tout seul.

Rhoooooo book 2 is so much better than the first one xD

Sean and Lucy are opposites, they have no reason to enjoy each other and when they meet it's a game of who will be more sarcastic than the other. Except, except that... Sean finds that colorful little thing (Lucy has rainbow hair) has good comebacks and Lucy discovers that Sean may purposely be unsufferable with everyone .

The circumstances are not helping much and those two are immediately attracted and will jump each other hehehe... Except, except that... (and as it says in the summary I can say it too) Sean is absolutely rubbish in bed. Lucy realizes that not only Sean is fully aware of it, but none of his ^revious conquests dared tell him about it. What began as a simple "no strings attached" quickly becomes a deep and sincere connection. Sean and Lucy open to one another without really having it planned...

We an read this book in one go, the chapters come one after another with different points of view between Lucy and Sean. The characters are very subtle, they each have good and bad sides, I enjoyed seeing them hang to each other gradually ^^.

Reading book 1 is not *necessarily* required to read book 2, there are bites of it in book 2 (why Sean and Ronan -Lucy's brother- disagree) but nothing is absolutely vital to enjoy it alone.

Happily Ever Ninja

Penny Reid (2016).

Présentation de l'éditeur : There are three things you need to know about Fiona Archer… I would tell you what they are, but then I’d have to kill you.

But I can tell you that Fiona’s husband—the always irrepressible and often cantankerous Greg Archer—is desperately in love with his wife. He aches for her when they are apart, and is insatiable when they are together. Yet as the years pass, Greg has begun to suspect that Fiona is a ninja. A ninja mom. A ninja wife. A ninja friend. After fourteen years of marriage, Greg is trying not to panic. Because Fiona’s talent for blending in is starting to resemble fading away.

However, when unexpected events mean Fiona must take center stage to keep her family safe, her response stuns everyone—Greg most of all. It seems like Greg’s wish has come true.

Except… not.

When all is said and done, can Greg handle this new version of his wife? Will his irrepressible cantankerousness push her away? Or can the couple find a way forward without either being forced to step back into the shadows?


Penny Reid sur le net : Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads

Comme toujours, la sortie d'un nouveau livre de Penny Reid est très attendu, d'autant que là il s'agit du tome de Fiona et Greg ! Quand j'ai reçu le mail avec l'ebook, j'ai fait une petite danse de la joie chez moi ^^. Ensuite, je me suis dépêchée de finir le livre que j'avais en cours pour vite commencer celui-là.

Le roman commence avec un long prologue nous racontant la rencontre de Fiona et Greg à la fac, la façon presque viscérale dont ils sont tombés amoureux l'un de l'autre, les étincelles qui se créent à chaque fois qu'ils se rapprochent, le lien indéfectible entre eux... 

15 ans, un mariage, deux enfants plus tard... La vie de famille est organisée, Greg est souvent à l'étranger pour son travail (il es consultant pour des sociétés pétrolières) et Fiona (ex-agent de la CIA quand même) s'occupe de tout le reste. La vie de couple n'est pas toute rose, il y a des hauts et des bas.

Et puis Greg se fait kidnappé (alors qu'il est dans je ne sais plus quel pays d'Afrique) et Fiona se transforme en ninja et va récupérer son Greg tout en pétant la gueule des méchants avec Quinn et Dan en renfort O_O.

On entre tout d'un coup dans un univers parallèle : d'un côté Fiona et Greg mettent à plat leurs soucis, leurs envies, leur amour, leur avenir... Et de l'autre on est en plein thriller géopolitique. C'est déroutant, ça surprend pour une romance et Penny Reid le dit elle-même : aucun de ses livres ne se ressemblent. Et je dois dire que passé le petit WTF que j'ai émis au début, j'ai beaucoup aimé, j'ai été happée par le suspense et j'ai terminé le livre en 2 jours.

Greg arrive comme une tornade et se place très haut dans mon classement des Mâles Du Knitting Group que je voudrais avoir en vrai (avec Nico, Drew et Dan ♥) (d'ailleurs on voit beaucoup Dan dans ce tome - gniii ♥). Si vous avez ses romans précédent, j'espère que celui-là vous plaira, mais je doute que vous résistiez très longtemps à Greg version fac *soupirs*.

 

As always, the release of a new book by Penny Reid is highly anticipated, especially because it's Fiona and Greg's book ! When I received the ebook, I did a little dance of joy ^^. Then I hurried to finish the book I was currently reading to quickly start this one.

The novel begins with a long prologue telling us about how Fiona and Greg met in college, the almost visceral way they fell in love with each other, the firework that sparked each time they're together, the unbreakable bond between them...

15 years, a marriage , two children later... Family life is organized, Greg is often abroad for his work (he is a consultant for oil companies) and Fiona (former CIA agent still) takes care of everything else. Married life is not perfect, there are ups and downs.

And then Greg is kidnapped (I don't remember what African country he is in) and Fiona become a ninja and go get Greg back while kicking the bad guy's asses with Quinn and Dan as backup O_O.

All of a sudden, we enter a parallel universe, on one hand we have Fiona and Greg speaking about their concerns, their desires, their love, their future... And the other hand, we are in a geopolitical thriller. It's confusing, it surprises for a romance, and Penny Reid says it herself : none of her books are alike. And I must say that, past the little WTF I had at the beginning, I loved it, I was caught by the suspense and I finished the book in two days.

Greg comes like a tornado and is very high in my ranking of Men From the Knitting Group I would like to have in real life (with Nico, Drew and Dan ♥) (we also see a lot of Dan in this book - gniii ♥). If you read her previous novels, I hope you enjoy this one, but I doubt you'll resist university-Greg very long *sighs*.