Beard in Mind

Beau Winston is the friendliest of the Winston brothers, and life has been easy for him. Then his twin leaves town, and the family auto shop hires a replacement mechanic. Shelly Sullivan is excellent at the job, blunt, and not interested in being liked.

Their first meeting goes badly and the dislike runs both ways. Beau's irritation turns into curiosity he cannot shake. He wants to know why she keeps everyone at a distance.

The answer is severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. Shelly has lived with it for years and has moved away from her family to get treatment. A fear of being touched isolates her from nearly everyone, and her compulsions include self-harm. The condition sits at the centre of the story, and her therapy sessions get as much room as the romance.

Penny Reid's Winston Brothers series reaches its fourth full-length novel here, a contemporary romantic comedy about brothers in small-town Tennessee. It pairs a grumpy heroine with a sunny hero, builds slowly from enemies to lovers, and reads fine on its own. It was a Goodreads Choice Award semi-finalist for Best Romance.

The question is whether Beau can get close to a woman who cannot bear to be touched.