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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
the epilogue was the best part of the whole book. slowest burn ever.
Lucy Parker is a wonderful writer and I have loved so many of her stories, but this series is not working for me. I wasn't thrilled by the first Palace Insiders book and, while I started out liking this one more, it eventually fell flat.
Pet, our heroine, is a personal assistant for Johnny, one half of the royal couple I couldn't have cared less about from the first book, and Matthias, our hero, is one of his body men. They are constantly in the press because Johnny is a walking disaster. Unfortunately, rumors have begun to spread that Pet and Johnny are having an affair. The Palace gets involved and decides that the way to squash the rumor is to put Pet even more firmly in the public eye by having her and Matthias fake date (apparently the members of the public that don't believe Pet is sleeping with Johnny are shipping her on twitter with Matthais and the Palace believes this will become the new hot story).
None of that makes sense from a PR perspective, really, but it's a romance novel and I was willing to go with it. This set up doesn't work as a catalyst for a great story though as Pet and Matthias have very little stress about the fake dating and they almost immediately start making out (so there isn't much tension about them being attracted to each other either). Thinking about it now, a better approach might have been Pet worrying about her losing her job (because she would totally be fired or reassigned in order to stop the rumors) and Matthias offering to fake date her in order to save it. Would have been far more compelling for me and far less passive for the characters.
This book relies heavily on inner monologues and on other people telling Pet and Matthias how into each other they are. This happens nonstop and was tedious and annoying. I don't want other people telling Pet that Matthias has a thing for her, I want to read examples of Matthias having a thing for her. I don't want Matthias hearing that Pet has been into him since day 1, I want to read her awkward attempts at flirting and gaining his attention and her sadness that he's not returning her interest.
Matthias is saddled with a heavy backstory that never really seems to get fully fleshed out or resolved and I also didn't like that the lesson he learns is that a woman will sort of fix/save him. He should be in therapy. Oh! And the cutesy ending on this had me seething. Actually, I'm taking away the rounding up to 3 stars I was originally giving this because that was god awful.
Finally, the size difference thing here was weirdly written. Pet is 5' I think? I can't remember if her height was ever given, but Matthias might as well be an orc with the way people talk about him. It actually started to make me uncomfortable. I think there were two scenes with two sets of different people giving advice to Pet about how to have sex with him without being hurt because he's just so huge. I don't want to worry about the heroine's vagina every time the hero approaches her. It read like she was about to be assaulted by a baseball bat, but then it turned out that he wasn't that big and there was no need for us to have read about how she'd have to cope with it.
All in all, this book suffers from the same issues the first book had- a lackluster pairing that is surrounded by too many characters and too many plot lines. On top of that there are just some plain weird things that are cartoonish and dare I say self indulgent of the author. This needed serious streamlining and a narrower focus. I don't think I'd read another book in this world.
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
https://smexybooks.com/2023/08/review-codename-charming-by-luch-parker.html
This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023. I LOVED the first book in the Palace Insiders series and was all in for this beauty and the beast-inspired, fake dating, workplace romance.
Codename Charming is Pet and Matthias’s story, you’ll remember them from Battle Royal as Dominic’s sister, and the royal bodyguard who held her hand after the assassination attempt. Now they are working together as part of Johnny and Rosie’s team. Unfortunately, Johnny is still the klutzy, accident-prone prince from the first book and it takes everything Pet has to keep him in line. Turns out that keeping him in line has also piqued the gossip magazine’s interest and there is a rumor going around of an affair between them. This leads to implementing Codename Charming… the PR team’s idea to focus the media’s attention on another couple. That couple is Matthias and Pet.
This was such a lovely romance- big, scarred, protective Matthias and short, quirky, sunshiney Pet. I guess you could say this also features the opposites attract trope. Since the events in the first book Matthias has been trying to keep his emotional distance, but Pet is determined to be his friend. The sexual tension is real y’all, but they are trying desperately to ignore it. Then comes the fake dating scheme and all that sexual tension comes roaring to the surface. They are forced to spend alone time together and it quickly becomes something that doesn’t really seem so forced.
There is a lot of backstory with both of these characters. Pet’s family history and Matthias’s time spent in the foster care system, as well as the loss of his best friend during an assignment, play a big part in their hesitancy to believe that a committed romantic relationship between them would even work. Their journey from co-workers to friends to lovers was charming. This is definitely a slow-burn romance, with a lot of heavy petting leading up to the open-door love scene toward the end. There is a really sweet declaration of love that gave me happy goosebumps and left me with a big smile on my face.
The secondary characters bring a bit of levity and brightness to the story, especially when Pet and Matthias are engaging in castle shenanigans to protect their employers. There is just so much to love about this series, and now I’m wondering who the third book will feature. Maybe a certain friend and co-bodyguard who I think needs some love in his life?
Grade- B+
This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2023. I LOVED the first book in the Palace Insiders series and was all in for this beauty and the beast-inspired, fake dating, workplace romance.
Codename Charming is Pet and Matthias’s story, you’ll remember them from Battle Royal as Dominic’s sister, and the royal bodyguard who held her hand after the assassination attempt. Now they are working together as part of Johnny and Rosie’s team. Unfortunately, Johnny is still the klutzy, accident-prone prince from the first book and it takes everything Pet has to keep him in line. Turns out that keeping him in line has also piqued the gossip magazine’s interest and there is a rumor going around of an affair between them. This leads to implementing Codename Charming… the PR team’s idea to focus the media’s attention on another couple. That couple is Matthias and Pet.
This was such a lovely romance- big, scarred, protective Matthias and short, quirky, sunshiney Pet. I guess you could say this also features the opposites attract trope. Since the events in the first book Matthias has been trying to keep his emotional distance, but Pet is determined to be his friend. The sexual tension is real y’all, but they are trying desperately to ignore it. Then comes the fake dating scheme and all that sexual tension comes roaring to the surface. They are forced to spend alone time together and it quickly becomes something that doesn’t really seem so forced.
There is a lot of backstory with both of these characters. Pet’s family history and Matthias’s time spent in the foster care system, as well as the loss of his best friend during an assignment, play a big part in their hesitancy to believe that a committed romantic relationship between them would even work. Their journey from co-workers to friends to lovers was charming. This is definitely a slow-burn romance, with a lot of heavy petting leading up to the open-door love scene toward the end. There is a really sweet declaration of love that gave me happy goosebumps and left me with a big smile on my face.
The secondary characters bring a bit of levity and brightness to the story, especially when Pet and Matthias are engaging in castle shenanigans to protect their employers. There is just so much to love about this series, and now I’m wondering who the third book will feature. Maybe a certain friend and co-bodyguard who I think needs some love in his life?
Grade- B+
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Read, what…the prologue? And then a little more? WTH. Maybe I wasn’t in good headspace…. But random girl falls on a security guard and this event of falling lasts for paaaaaagggeessss. The slowest movement of action I have ever read.
Then I get on to chapter 1 or something and the character is named Pet.
I just can’t. I’m done.
Then I get on to chapter 1 or something and the character is named Pet.
I just can’t. I’m done.
Listened to the audiobook and wasn't crazy about narration. Cute story. Very slow burn.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No