Genres: Contemporary Romance
Source: ARC
Narrator: Mason Lloyd, Kendall Taylor
Also by this author: Execution Style, Charlie Foxtrot, Coup de Grace, Right to my Wrong, Shock Advised, Hail No, Lights To My Siren, Fear the Beard, I Like Big Dragons and I Cannot Lie , I'm Only Here for the Beard, Dragons Need Love, Too , Oh, My Dragon, Kevlar To My Vest , Keys To My Cuffs, Life To My Flight , Hissy Fit, Talkin' Trash, Lord Have Mercy, Hide Your Crazy, How About No, I'd Rather Not, Make Me, Sinners are Winners, If You Say So, Just Kidding, Herd That, Fries Before Guys, Crazy Heifer, Maybe Swearing Will Help, Keep it Classy, Chute Yeah, Get Bucked, May Contain Wine, Jokes on You, Somethin' About That Boy, Join the Club, Any Day Now, Say It Ain't So, Officially Over It, Nobody Knows, Depends on Who's Asking, Repeat Offender, Conjugal Visits, Jailbait, Quit Bein' Ugly, Doin' a Dime, Kitty Kitty, No Rep, Gen Pop, Jerk It, Inmate of the Month , Chalk Dirty to Me, Shakedown , Always Someone's Monster, Make Me Your Villain , Rattle Some Cages , Get Tragic , Strange and Unusual, Suck This, Never Trust the Living, Nobody Cares Unless You're Pretty, Good Trouble, Cute But Psycho, Annoyed At First Sight, The Voices Are Back, Special Kind of Twisted, I'll Just Date Myself, Fun House, Freak Show, Show Off, Clown Motel, Big Nick Energy, Sold to the Circus, Killing Booth, The Fool, No Cap, I Can't Even, Thirst Trap, Clap Back, Rent Free, Time To Bounce, Yolo
Goodreads
Aaron ‘don’t ever call me Fatbaby’ Sims is lucky to be alive. Or at least that is what everyone keeps telling him. He doesn’t feel lucky, though. He’s scarred, has more than a little bit of a bad attitude, and there isn’t a single day that goes by that he doesn’t wish his wife would’ve just finished off the job.
After being denied his old position at the fire department, he leaves, and doesn’t look back. He heads straight to Alabama and into the semi-welcoming arms of The Dixie Wardens MC. There he becomes a part of a brotherhood that forces him to get back in the land of the living. --- Imogen is a smart girl. A girl who doesn’t always make the best decisions.
Her heart is in the right place when she walks into that prison, but it doesn’t take long for her to realize that her heart shouldn’t have had any say so in the matter. Especially when one wrong move lands her in the arms of a scarred man that looks frightening enough to scare any sane woman away. Immediately enthralled by the angry man, she tries to get closer to him. But the harder she tries to get to know him, the further he pushes her away. --- The only thing Aaron wanted to do after his now ex-wife was sent to jail was escape. Escape the awful memories. The pity-filled eyes. The curious glances.
He does a damn fine job at ensuring he draws as little as attention as possible, but then that annoying woman with her startling blue eyes starts hammering away at his resolve. Makes him feel when he doesn’t want to feel.
Imogen comes into his life and carves out a place for herself, obliterating his defenses one heated kiss at a time.
Story Review of Beard Mode:
Beard Mode is difficult for me to classify. Its the story about a woman who is a mechanic and has a really weird family and a man who was in a terrible marriage, lost his job in fire department, and moved to a new state. Here is my issue: the entire book seemed like a conglomerate of random events. You’ve got this hero, Aaron, who was married to a horrible woman who nearly killed him. Then he moves and is a corrections officer. Then he is a fire fighter. Then he ends up being a cop. Now, don’t get me wrong, all of that is explained, but it doesn’t really have anything to do with the ultimate plot of the story. Then Imogen is a mechanic who used to be a Marine and is kind of helping raise her nephew while her sister is deployed. She lives with her mom and her other sister in a crappy part of town. Her family is WEIRD. Her mom and her sister are both involved in STRANGE relationships. Then Aaron brings a car to her garage to restore, then there is a murder, then Imogen and Aaron go on a trip to Texas and bring back his truck, and then, at the very end, you have the gang violence. Imogen is kidnapped, Aaron is in a wreck, there is an undercover guy, and then its over.
Don’t get me wrong, like I said, all these events are explained, but it makes the story feel like a choppy series of experiences more than an actual story. Beard Mode just felt disjointed and abrupt.
Audio Review:
At first, I was a little jarred by Kendall Taylor’s voice because she has an accent (its appropriate for the story for sure!). However, it isn’t fake sounding and soon just seemed perfect. Mason Lloyd’s narration was pleasant as well! These two made what was a choppy story enjoyable overall. I certainly plan to listen to more books by these two.
- POV: dual 1st
- Tears: no
- Trope: MC club, cops
- Triggers: none
- Series/Standalone: stand alone
- Cliffhanger: View Spoiler »
- HEA: View Spoiler »
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Something Bad by Cat Mason, Gabe by Maryann Jordan, Drunk on You by Harper Sloan…then you will probably like Beard Mode!
[…] by Lani Lynn Vale, …then you will probably like […]