**You can see this full review and more at Book Briefs: http://bookbriefs.net**I first discovered Penny Reid in her excerpt of a new adult story called Bunsen Burner Bingo in a new adult anthology. As soon as I was done with the story, I knew I wanted more! (that story got such a great reception that it is being made into a full length novel to be released in 2015!) And after reading Beauty and the Mustache, books #1-3 from the knitting in the city series are going straight on my wishlist! I loved Beauty and the Mustache. It is an adult contemporary so called "smart" romance. It is witty and adorable, and so, so well done. I know you will fall in love with Penny's writing just like I did. And her characters.

Beauty and the Mustache can be read as a standalone. I never felt lost or confused. The other stories were about her friends in Chicago in her knitting group. We got to see a good bit of them in this book, even though almost all of the story took place outside of Chicago. It was cool to see glimpses into their relationships. It not only made me want to read their stories, but I want all of Ashley's dynamic brothers to get their own stories as well. I loved their family dynamic. And there were so many of them. At first, I was worried that I wouldn't be able to keep them all straight. But my fear was completely unfounded. Penny Reid did a fantastic job giving each of the hunky brothers a distinct personality. I want to read their stories!

But Beauty and the Mustache was the story of their only sister, Ashley and Drew, a really good friend of the family. It is told entirely in Ash's point of view. Throughout the book, I longed to get inside Drew's head as well. This guy has one heck of a poker face. Even though I knew he had feelings for Ashley, even I didn't know what he was thinking some of the time. We did get one glimpse into his head in the epilogue of the story. And I was really surprised. He is a poet, but even his thought process was very prose like and lyrical. Watching him dance around Ash was so perfectly done throughout the story. Ash was home because her mother was dying. There was an undertone of sadness throughout the story, but not as much as you would think, because their mother had such a good attitude about everything. She was so sweet and funny. I loved getting to know her too throughout the story.

It was so funny. Drew was so reserved around Ashley. He had a lot of personal reasons for his reservations, but once he got past those reasons, he was not reserved at all. He did not hold back and he wouldn't let her pull back either. I loved how he said he was no good at playing pretend. He was a pretty straight shooter. His journal was also one of the most beautiful things ever. I am so glad that we got a glimpse into it. Beauty and the Mustache is a great read. As I am sure all of her books are. You don't have 2 out of 2 books being this consistently wonderful by a fluke. If you have not read a Penny Reid book, you need to...now. Seriously, just pick a book and read it! Start with book 1. Start with book 4. Just pick one. And mark your calendars for Elements of Chemistry (that full length novel I was telling you about earlier) I CANNOT WAIT FOR IT!This review was originally posted on Book Briefs