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Beards Kindle Edition

by Serena J. Bishop (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 47 ratings
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Four people. Two fake marriages. One epic love story.

Roni loves Gina.
Gina loves Roni.
Problem: Gina’s married to Early.
Solution: Roni marries Early’s secret boyfriend, Steven.

It’s the 1990s and Roni, Gina, Early, and Steven decide the most logical way their chosen family can live happily ever after is through a dual marriage arrangement. They buy a large home, live in harmony, and become the supportive family none of them ever had. It’s everything they could have dreamed…until life happened.

Relatives. Children. Careers. And, through the next two decades, a society that gradually starts to become more accepting of homosexuality.

How does a family based in secrecy stay together when the freedom to be who they really are is at their fingertips? Can they even stay together?

Beards is a high-angst dramedy about chosen family.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    337 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    April 12, 2023
  5. File size
    1511 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Serena J. Bishop is a daydreamer who comes from a long line of storytellers. When she's not writing fiction she enjoys being a nerd, surprising others with her pop culture knowledge, or finding a new wine or craft beer she loves. She currently resides in Maryland with her lovely wife and chihuahua. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram @SerenaJBishop or go to her webpage at www.serenajbishop.com. --This text refers to an alternate kindle_edition edition.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0C2G7CSTF
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ ; 3rd edition (April 12, 2023)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 12, 2023
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1511 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 337 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 47 ratings

About the author

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Serena J. Bishop

Serena J. Bishop

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Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Serena J. Bishop writes stories with humor, heart, and heroines. She is a daydreamer who comes from a long line of storytellers. When she’s not writing fiction she enjoys being a nerd, surprising others with her pop culture knowledge, or finding a new wine or craft beer she loves. She currently resides in Maryland with her lovely wife and chihuahua. You can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @SerenaJBishop or go to her webpage at www.serenajbishop.com.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
47 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Amenable One
5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitive and poignant read
Reviewed in the United States on January 26, 2021
Verified Purchase
Serena Bishop has successfully managed to weave the hostility and prejudice the LGBTQ faced in the nineties into a beautiful love story. I have yet to read a story that was able to bring up so many important social issues into one novel without a preaching tone. This book is so much more than a love story. It is a slice of our social history as seen through the eyes of its four main characters.
Keep up the great work!
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KD Rye
4.0 out of 5 stars Beards
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2019
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This book explores the Familia relationship between four adults who choose to live together as mock heterosexual couples. Early is married to Gina, but is in a relationship with her police partner, Steven who is married to Roni- Gina’s boo. The story goes back and forth from present-ish day (2014) and the past when this whole charade started in the 90’s. For those not old enough to remember, homosexuality was a social taboo that could lead to serious discrimination just 20 odd years ago. I know that some discrimination is still legal today, but you can’t deny that the social climate is far more accepting. Beards, for the most part, are thankfully not needed. If you don’t know what a beard is-

a person who carries out a transaction, typically a bet, for someone else in order to conceal the other’s identity.
In other words, and in this case, the characters are each other’s beards to cover up their homosexuality. If this concept sounds depressing, it is. The tone of the books isn’t too heavy, but the background social elements of the necessity of this scheme is and is felt throughout, at least from this reader.

So these two couples live together in one house and function as one unit. The narrative follows with the start of Gina and Roni meeting and though Steven and Early are also main characters, we get a more in depth look at the lesbian relationship, which I have no complaints about. The story follows the couples as they age, go through job promotions and turbulence, and eventually through the upbringing of a shared child. I would also say that Gina and Roni’s characters are the most developed by the end. Though Steve and Early do show their own growth, they don’t come across any relationship conflict that pushes them into change like Gina and Roni experience. I thought the conflict for them was relatable and understandable.

The most interesting part of this book to me was the constant tension between society and the characters. Everyone is living a lie, but the reader can’t blame them and comes to understand the decisions they make relating to hiding their true nature, despite how exhausting the scheme seems. I do wish we saw more discussion on the possible conflicts of their setup. With marriage comes a bunch of legal perks and I kept thinking about the “could-bes,” but that’s not what this story was about. Each character was mostly outcasted by their own families and all they had was each other, so a lot could be explained by this fact alone.

When the story opens it seems like it will be told by Stevie, the child raised by the two couples, who is explaining his family situation to his girlfriend. Although Stevie is simultaneously telling the story, he isn’t the narrator (it’s third party omniscient). We cut back and forth from his present life as a young man, to his parents’ past. I wish this aspect was a bit smoother. Stevie seems to be telling her everything we’re reading, including fights and sex- the fights I imagine him hearing about later on, the sex… I reason that was left out of his version, but this split narration did give me pause.

Overall, this books was thought-provoking and humorous with a dose of sad reality, leaving with the uplifting message “it gets better.” Bishop did a great job painting a picture of what society, as a whole, used to be like, and how things have changed now. All the pop culture references from the 90s and early 2000s was also a plus.
One person found this helpful
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aunt e ya
5.0 out of 5 stars Great romance and social commentary
Reviewed in the United States on November 22, 2017
Verified Purchase
First, Ms. Bishop has created a story with believable characters that I just couldn't get enough of! I kept wanting to know what happened next. I loved the relationships both romantic and platonic. These were a group of people who truly cared about each other. Second, I think I got a taste of what it meant to not be straight during the 90s. How seemingly nice "friends" could be judgemental and the consistent messages sent which led these characters to make some pretty drastic choices. A very good read.
Oh and did I mention the fun pop culture references!
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty Good
Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2023
Verified Purchase
This was a pleasant read. I liked the characters and the storyline. Sometimes it felt like parts of the plot were skipped over, but nothing too major. Good going!
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read... Insightful, funny and provocative
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2018
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed the book. It was recommended by a friend and I liked it so much I chose it for bookclub. The book was rich in character development, pop culture and local references. It provided great insight into the challenges of the LBGT community but also hope for a future where all individuals will be treated fairly, without bias, anger or discrimination. Well done Serena J. Bishop! I look forward to reading other books by this talented and gifted author.
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Carl N.
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and Original
Reviewed in the United States on April 18, 2018
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Beards is a clever, fun novel that follows two gay couples who find a novel approach to dealing with a culture that does not accept them for who they are. As the years pass, the couples face challenges associated with cultural shifts, stressful family dynamics and changing personal needs and priorities. The author balances conflict and humor with ease, and her characters are lovable even at their worst. Come for the laugh-out-loud book club meet-cute, stay for the out-of-nowhere sick Nickelback burn!
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W.J.
4.0 out of 5 stars Great book club selection
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2018
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Our book club read this for our latest get together. Honestly, I'm generally not a fan of this type of women's literature/romantic fiction. But that's the joy of belonging to a book club I suppose - you get introduced to books outside of your normal reading genre. I only rated it 4 stars because this is still not my favorite style of writing. That being said I've been known to start a book and if I don't like it by the end of the first chapter, I won't read the rest. I completed this book, and I liked it very much. I enjoyed the way the book was laid out, the characters she created (I couldn't help picking a side... Team Gina!), and the manner in which Ms. Bishop let the story unfold. As I mentioned this was a book club selection; our group (there were 12 present at this meeting) had quite a lively discussion. I highly recommend this for your book club. Helpfully, the author provides a list of discussion questions to get you started, but we barely got to any of them. The author is a young woman who is just starting out in the writing world and self published this book. I'm impressed with her first effort. I wish her well, and will be very interested to see what she comes up with next.
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Jessica L Pach
5.0 out of 5 stars I very much enjoyed reading this book
Reviewed in the United States on April 14, 2018
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I very much enjoyed reading this book. I found myself audibly yelling at characters, laughing harder than expected, and overall fascinated with a version of the 90's that I hadn't been aware of when living them. I am thrilled this book has given me a different perspective all the while having me feel as though I have become good friends with the characters. I would recommend this book.
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