It was really fun to see Penny Reid bring this family of characters to life on the page. This book is focused on Duane and Jessica, but I knew the moment Cletus was on the page that he was going to be my favorite. To think how much stress the twins could have saved themselves if they had just asked Cletus for help from the start. He’s a character that even his brother’s underestimate, but he’s a force to be reckoned with. Listening to Jessica be in denial of how much she liked Duane was really fun to see, even though I’m glad she conceded to seeing Duane after a bit of coaxing even if it was only a temporary relationship according to the two of them. Duane isn’t very good at communicating, but as his relationship with Jessica develops he becomes better at opening up with those around him. Jessica is also not super self aware at the beginning of the story when it comes to her own feelings and by the end of the story really learns to accept what she feels and balance out what she wants from life with her happiness. Watching them argue was also very fun because they have such great chemistry.

My favorite part of the book, though, is the relationships Duane has within his family. His brothers drive him nuts, but they are all fun to be around and tease him because they all love each other. Cletus talking to Jessica about his sausage and Jethro kissing her under the mistletoe and getting a glare from Duane were some of my favorite scenes in the book. The side characters, despite the brief time we spend with them, each stand out on their own, which is difficult to do when there are so many of them, so I am very happy with this. As much as I enjoyed this book, it’s probably in the bottom three of the series, not by any fault of its own, but simply because a lot of the other ones were more enjoyable for me to read for different reasons. Still a really cute contemporary romance, though. I will be gradually be putting up reviews for the rest of the series.