But when Bethany falls ill, Ashley returns home to figure out what is going on, and ends up staying to take care of her. They had frequent visits, and spoke on the phone daily. Ashley still had a very close relationship with her mother, Bethany. She left her small Tennessee town to attend college, and happy to escape her horrible father, and delinquent brothers, she stayed away. Ashley has pretty much been estranged from her brothers for the past eight years. Whether you read them in order or not, you need to read them all! So when I read Ashley’s story, I was already familiar with the Winston family. My first Reid book was Truth or Beard, which is a spin-off of Beauty and the Mustache, and tells the story of Ashley’s brother Duane Winston and his lady love.

As a late discoverer of Reid’s work, I read the Knitting in the City Series out of order.

This is the story of Ashley, her family, and a deeply sensitive, extremely well-read, gentle man named Drew. If you like poetry wielding Vikings, then hold on to your horses because this book will make you swoooooooooooon. It can also be considered a prequel to the Winston Brother series, being the. This is a full-length novel, can be read as a standalone, and is the fourth book in the ‘Knitting in the City’ series. Pretty soon the girl who wanted nothing more than the escape of the big city finds she’s lost her heart in small town Tennessee. Drew’s irksome philosophizing in particular makes Ashley want to run for the skyscrapers, especially since he can’t seem to keep his exasperating opinions- or his soulful poetry, steadfast support, and delightful hands- to himself.

However, when a family tragedy forces her to return home, Ashley can’t escape the notice of Drew Runous- local Game Warden, reclusive mountain man, bear wrestler, philosopher, and everyone’s favorite guy.

Now she escapes life daily via her Amazon kindle one-click addiction. She escaped her Tennessee small town, loathsome father, and six brothers eight years ago. There are three things you need to know about Ashley Winston: 1) She has six brothers and they all have beards, 2) She is a reader, and 3) She knows how to knit.įormer beauty queen, Ashley Winston’s preferred coping strategy is escapism.

Beauty and the mustache by penny reid