The Belle and the Beard by Kate Canterbary is now live!
The Belle and the Beard by Kate Canterbary
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“Into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.” – John Muir – Preface
What you need to know about “The Belle and The Beard”:
✔ Opposites Attract
✔ Dual Point of View
✔ Romantic Comedy
✔ Jasper-Anne Cleary, 35, out of work, newly single, campaign strategist
✔ Linden Santillian, 36, arborist, bearded grumpy neighbor
✔ Enemies to Lovers
✔ Can be read as a Complete Standalone
✔ Adventures in Dating #3
Jasper and Linden meet when he and his brother, Ash (Boss in the Bedsheets) notice her trying to break into the rundown house next to his. It was once owned by Midge Miseelbush who passed away two year prior. The author, from Linden’s perspective, describes Jasper’s walk as likely being able to open a “chasm deep enough to fully digest those who got in her way.” She is dressed in a 1950’s vintage style and speaks in a voice that is warm and Southern while also having a “destroy you like a kraken” vibe.
Then Linden notices that Jasper is gorgeous: “she reminded me of summer – screen doors banging in the breeze, ripe strawberries, and the kind of oppressive heat that sent sweat rolling down your back.”
Jasper describes Linden as a bear and a brute and his hands as paws. He’s “thick as a redwood and nearly as tall”, he has a “wolfish grin”, he’s beastly and more so than anything else he’s a wolf to her. She must face him head on as he’s a threat, like a wolf, to counter any attack.
The reader gets such rich descriptive impressions of the characters by Kate Canterbary in a few sentences. I really admire this about her writing.
Jasper is at the end of her rope after a difficult week. “I was all out of sweet and fight and the only card I had up my sleeve was the belief that I had this under control.” She is the queen of powering through problems. She’s been fired and is “radioactive” in terms of finding a new job after a slip up on live TV and is hiding out. She is determined to clean her way through all the guano in Midge’s house, the painting, the porch problems and everything else in order to survive.
For some reason, her presence and her insistence on doing everything herself sets Linden off. Their relationship gets more and more out of control. Gradually after a breaking point this makes way for a growing and mutual attraction and soon they can’t keep their hands off of each other.
They are both somewhat messes: Jasper is professionally and personally and Linden is personally.
I loved revisiting the Santillian family and Ash and Zelda (Boss in the Bedsheets) and Magnolia and Rob (The Magnolia Chronicles). Their warmth and own brand of crazy was exactly what Jasper needed to find her balance and the sense of family that she’d been missing out on.
Linden’s “lumberbear” of a man is so multi-faceted, vulnerable, quiet and strong, angry and empathetic. I absolutely loved him.
Jasper and Linden’s relationship is many walks in the woods and slowly figuring each other out and themselves. It’s also a lot of terrible baked goods, fancy toast, an immortal cat and the wonderfulness of a crazy family. I highly recommend this lovely book and the entire series.
WRITING STYLE: 5/5
PLOT: 5/5
WORLD-BUILDING: 5/5
PACING: 5/5
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT: 5/5
ROMANCE: 5/5
HEAT: 5/5
View all my reviews
Jasper-Anne Cleary’s guide to salvaging your life when you find yourself publicly humiliated, out of work, and unemployable at 35—not to mention newly single:
1. Run away. Seriously, there’s no shame in disappearing. Go to that rustic old cottage your aunt left you. Look out for the colony of bats and the leaky roof. Oh, and the barrel-chested neighbor with shoulders like the broad side of a barn. Definitely look out for him.
2. Stop wallowing and stay busy. It doesn’t matter whether you know how to bake or fix things around the house. Do it anyway. Dust off your southern hospitality and feed that burly, bearded neighbor some pecan pie.
3. Meet new people. Chat up the grumpy man-bear, pretend to be his girlfriend when his mother puts you two on the spot, agree to go as his date to a big family party. Don’t worry—it’s only temporary.
4. Cry it out. Screwing up your life entitles you to wine, broody-moody music, and uninterrupted sobbing.
5. Get over it all by getting under someone. Count on your fake boyfriend to deliver some very real action between the sheets.
6. Move on. The disappearing act, the cottage, the faux beau—none of it can last forever.
Linden Santillian’s guide to surviving the invasion when a hell-in-heels campaign strategist moves in next door:
1. Do not engage. There is no good reason you should chop her wood, haul her boxes, or pick her apples.
2. Do not accept gifts, especially not the homemade ones. Disconnect the doorbell, toss your phone over a bridge, hide in the basement if you must, but do not eat her pie.
3. Do not introduce her to your friends and family. They’ll favor her over you and never let you forget it.
4. Do not intervene when she’s crying on the back porch. Ignore every desire to fix the entire world for her. By no means should you take her into your arms and memorize her peach-sweet curves.
5. Do not take her to bed, even if it’s just to get her out of your system.
6. Do not, under any circumstances, fall in love with her.
Download today or read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited!
Goodreads: http://bit.ly/2YQv5Lj
Meet Kate
USA Today Bestseller Kate Canterbary writes smart, steamy contemporary romances loaded with heat, heart, and happy ever afters. Kate lives on the New England coast with her husband and daughter.
Connect with Kate
Website | www.katecanterbary.com
Goodreads | https://bit.ly/38egGxI
Amazon | https://amzn.to/3kL9fDi
Facebook | www.facebook.com/kcanterbary
Facebook Group | https://bit.ly/3edupsg
Instagram | www.instagram.com/katecanterbary
Twitter | https://bit.ly/38dyGIA
Bookbub | www.bookbub.com/authors/kate-canterbary
Pinterest | https://bit.ly/38acizB
Newsletter |https://bit.ly/3bk8PRh
Now that The Belle and The Beard is now live I hope you’ll be running out to read it! If you haven’t read the other books in Adventures in Dating you can read my review of Boss in the Bedsheets here.