I'm not a huge fan of the fake relationship story lines, but love the marriage of convenience trope. I'm a true contradiction. I reviewed the first book in this series, Battle Royal, and absolutely adored it. The second novel, Codename Charming by Lucy Parker, opens a few years after the events of the previous one. Petunia (Pet) De Vere has been brought on as a PA to the husband of the royal princess, Johnny Marchmont.

Matthias Vaughn, is the hard-nosed rule enforcing bodyguard to HRH. Orphaned as a young child and with no one to care for, he pours himself into his work. Noticing and secretly loving Pet, he figures she'd never give him the time of day, let alone pursue a relationship. When fate steps in and with one unfortunately timed photo, Pet and Matthias are forced to fake a love affair in order to save her reputation. Will this fake relationship transition to a picture perfect connection?

While I'm not sure I enjoyed this as much as I did Battle Royal (it's E2L, guys...come on), this is absolutely lovely. I think 'Charming' is the perfect word to describe it. It didn't knock me off my feet, per se, but it is undeniably enjoyable.

The low points for me are the back stories for both characters. I think a lot of time is spent describing very minute and inconsequential moments when we could rather be delving into Matthias time in foster care or Pet's relationship with her step-father. We are told that she has a spotty track record when it comes to relationships, but we don't see this nor do we get enough backstory to really diagnose why.

Matthias is wonderful though. He's a book boyfriend that everyone will love. Cinnamon Roll hero with pockets as deep as Hermione Grangers beaded bag.

There is no 3rd act break up nor is there really a huge conflict. So if you are looking at low stakes, this is your book.

A fun, witty retelling of beauty and the beast and while it is a sequel, it can be read as a standalone (I did--and I'll be going back to read book 1!)

The writing was much more descriptive and flowery than your typical rom-com so the style took a little bit of getting used to, but once I did, I really enjoyed it!

This book is top notch humor, so many truly laugh out loud funny scenes with the characters caught in absolutely ridiculous circumstances!

The romance is a slow burn, but the interactions are very authentic and the chemistry is adorable. I also appreciated the unexpected emotional depth throughout the romance and how the characters use that depth to grow together.

This book was so boring. The romance was cute but I didn't feel a connection to the characters at all. I think the writing style just isn't my taste.

I received an arc through netgalley.

⚠️Please be aware that this review contains spoilers⚠️

I waited two years for this book to come out and the wait was absolutely worth it. I don’t think I could have loved it anymore.

Pet and Matthias had such a soft and sweet slow burn story.

I love how Pet defends him. She is always getting so offended on his behalf if someone says anything about his appearance.

Matthias was such a cinnamon roll and would do anything for Pet.

In terms of steamy scenes this was a very slow burn.

I loved the mystery that Pet and Matthias were trying to solve about her past.

The end of this book (last chapter and the epilogue) was just so sweet. I absolutely loved that there was no 3rd act breakup and their declaration of love to each other made me swoon. The epilogue was just the cutest and I can’t get over how much I love these two.

Thank you to the publisher for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

CW: Rough childhood, death of loved ones, mugging.

A funny, fake dating romcom featuring a stoic bodyguard and a bubbly assistant to the Duke, Johnny. Pet (short for Petunia) has been working for Johnny, who constantly finds himself in trouble due to his clumsiness and Pet is the one who tries to fix it all. After Johnny stumbles and falls against Pet, a tabloid photo starts gossip that they are having an affair. The royal couple and their team decide that Pet and Matthias should fake date to stop the rumors.

This is a slow burn romance that starts to get a little middling. I wanted more “action.” I enjoyed the grumpy/sunshine relationship and it was cute overall.

Thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for this eARC. Codename Charming is out now.

Bubbly Petunia enjoys her job as PA for a shy but affable royal spouse. Stern bodyguard Matthias seems her opposite in every way, but she senses he has a softer side. When the paparazzi invent a story that Pet and her boss are having a fling, the palace devises a story that Pet is actually involved with Matthias. Will their staged romance turn real?

This is a strongly character-driven romance with pratfalls added for comedy. The plot feels like a series of vignettes. If you like highly emotional romance with heavy themes and physical comedy, this book is for you.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

A delightful addition to the world Parker has created.

A romance full of grumpy/ sunshine and glorious fake dating was an absolute hit.

I love, love, love Lucy Parker novels. Set in England and written by an Australian, they just feel different than romance novels written by American authors. You can’t help but use descriptive words like cheeky, brilliant, and gobsmacked when faced with this well-written romance. OK, I’m over that moment of British humor, but really I did really enjoy Codename Charming. Pet was a favorite side character of mine in the previous novel and she and Matthias’s romance was set-up with the gift of a charming little teddy bear.

Once she and Matthias were fake-dating, you really got to see inside of his surly exterior. He was just a big ol’ teddy bear, just like the little one he gave her. A little dusty and mangled, but he had a heart of gold. That was truly when this novel shone, those sweet quiet moments between the two of them. However, I did love the crazy slapstick comedy that Johnny added to the mix.

I have to mention that if you’re a fan of Battle Royal as I am, you will get your fix of Sylvie and Dominic with a couple of wonderful chapters. I love seeing a glimpse into the future of past favorites, and theirs is rainbow bright. Dominic and Pet also have some great brother-sister moments that provide that family insight that one of the subplots in this novel really needed to round out Pet’s character.

Codename Charming was aptly named. This novel was charming, fun, and romantic. Surprisingly it also had a lot of depth. Pet had insecurities that were addressed in this book as did Matthias. Their support of each other through these moments also helped cement them as a couple in my eyes. It can’t all be rainbows and butterflies can it? Life happens, and you need someone strong by your side. They both got that in the other in Codename Charming. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review and it was honest!

This is everything I love about a romance novel.

Set at the Palace, Pet (Petal) is a personal assistant to the Duke, Johnny, who is constantly getting himself into trouble. Matthias runs security for his wife, Rosie, the Duchess.

Grumpy-sunshine, bodyguard trope, fake-dating, just all of my favorites. I didn’t read Battle Royal, and I will now be going back to do so but I don’t think it takes away from this story - Pet and Matthias are perfectly imperfect together and have a lot of ground to cover. Both come from less than ideal backgrounds and helping each other heal, even if the relationship started as a divergence for the press, was a really sweet part of this story.

Petunia works as the personal assistant to Johnny, a member of the royal family, which means she has to spend a lot of time with Matthias, Johnny’s grumpy bodyguard. When a tabloid starts a rumor of an affair between Johnny and Pet, she starts fake dating Matthias to get the press to leave Johnny alone. But the more time Pet and Matthais spend together, a real attraction begins to build.

I love a good royal themed romance so I was very excited for this book. Unfortunately the story and the characters never quite caught my attention and the many subplots were challenging to keep track of.

Thanks to Avon Books and NetGalley for the advance copy.

4.0 ⭐️/5
1.5 🌶️/5

- grumpy/sunshine
- opposites attract
- coworker
- dual POV
- found family
- size difference
- fake relationship

Petunia “Pet” De Vere is the sunshine to Matthias Vaughn‘s grumpy. Mathias literally thinks of Pet as a “human sunbeam” . On the outside they look like an unlikely duo; Pet is barely 5ft and petite and Mathias might closely resemble a 7ft wall of muscle. Pet is go with the flow and Mathias is stick to the plan. Pet has tried to befriend Mathias since she started working for the royal family member, bumbling Johnny Marchmont, husband to Princess Rose, least favorite granddaughter of the king. And Mathias, due to tragic backstory, refuses to let anyone close to him. He is strictly business all of the time, no fun diversions, please and thank you.

I love how the friendship and relationship between the two slowly evolve as Mathias lets down his exterior walls. Pet is so very protective over not only Mathias’s physical person (she’s thwarted two of his attackers; once getting stabbed!!) but is in tune with any emotional or personal insults that are flung his way. And of course they’re secretly but mutually pining after each other, but think there is no way the other person could ever feel the same way.

The first 10-15% of the book was slow for me, and I had a hard time getting into the story because there was so much information to sift through. I felt this had more to do with the fact I did not read Battle Royal. I think those who did read Battle Royal would enjoy the continuation of Sylvie and Dominic’s story. Once the foundation of Pet and Mathias was laid I was hooked and invested.

Lucy Parker has such a sly humorous writing style, and some funny moments or one liners just snuck up on me. Romance-wise the kisses between Pet and Mathias gave me some butterflies. While not super steamy there is definitely some spice that these two get into. One thing I loved was how forthright Pet was about sex. It’s such a relief for me to finally not read a virgin trope or someone who has hang ups surrounding sex.

Recommend if you want to read about a fake relationship full of chemistry that turns into friendship and into a relationship. Enjoy a lovely group of characters, including a jealous parrot, an eccentric, oracle-like duchess, and black cat/golden retriever relationship.

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the advanced e-copy. This review is provided voluntarily and is my honest opinion.

#CodenameCharming:⁣
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Thank you @avonbooks partner for my gifted copy.⁣
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Y’all remember when The Killers sang, “how did we end up like this? It was a only a kiss.” Well, now I know how they ended up like that thanks to Codename Charming. ⁣
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I LOVED Battle Royal last year and basically vowed to read anything by Lucy Parker. Queue today as Codename Charming affirms my choice in the matter. I cackled out loud for several minutes (I haven’t done that in quite some time) at the banter. Pet was the best. I just adored her. Matthias was the brooding type we all know and love. He gave me Luther from Umbrella Academy vibes. I had high expectations and they were knocked out of the park. The banter, the small details, the steam.. it was another perfect read. ⁣
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Lucy Parker, I don’t know what you put in your romcoms, but these two are absolutely some of my favorites I have EVER read. If anyone takes a rec from me this year in the romance department, it’s to grab Battle Royal and Codename Charming. (Out tomorrow 8/15)

Lucy Parker is one of my favorite contemporary romance novelists and I enjoyed the previous book in this series, but for whatever reason Codename Charming didn't really hit for me. I did appreciate that the hero was so insecure about his looks; it was kind of like an inversion of the heroine of Pretty Face, and it was interesting to see this explored in a man whose successful career is built on the opposite requirements of Lily's in that book--but who, despite that, and despite having every other traditional measure of alpha masculine appeal, still struggles with not being handsome on a social and personal level to the point where it affects his self esteem and makes finding a relationship difficult. However, even with the appealing ensemble of characters and the lure of a family mystery reveal, the pacing of both the plot and the relationship development here just felt too slow, and I ultimately stalled out about 60% of the way through. It's also very possible that after reading Spare earlier this year, I may have cooled on the "palace insider" concept, so maybe I'll go back and finish this one when I'm more in the mood for that sort of thing (like after watching the Red, White and Royal Blue movie, perhaps). In the meantime, I'm excited for the new London Celebrities!

This was a cute read! It’s about a woman in the Palace in England named Petunia (Pet) who works for the Royal couple Princess Rosie and her new husband, Johnny. He’s sweet but nervous and clumsy, and he’s accidentally put Pet into “interesting” situation. The tabloids are convinced that Pet and Johnny are an item.

To prove to the tabloids that this is untrue, Princess Rosie asks Pet to enter into a fake relationship, called Codename Charming, with one of the bodyguards, Matthias. He’s enormous and not particularly good looking. As their fake relationship progresses, people around them in the palace just how fake it really is.

This is a well written and amusing book that I recommend, 4 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

I love the fake dating trope. That with a smattering of behinds the scenes of royal life, this was a solid read. I thought that it was a bit wordy in parts that seemed to slow the story. But the ending was so lovely. It brought a tear to my eye. I will admit I haven't read the first book in this series, Battle Royal. I think for the most part it's ok. The references to earlier stories a mentioned in enough detail that you have an understanding of what has happened. At the same time you feel like you are missing a little something. That is nothing negative on this book. If anything I am inspired to go back and read the first and get to know all of the characters a little better.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This rom-com is full of fluff, downright hilarity, and so much Tension! I ate this book up, I read it in about 5 hours; I stayed up incredibly too late because I simply could not put this book down! It has the perfect blend of comedy, romance, and serious situations, and I'm absolutely obsessed! Pet and Matthias are too cute, and all of their interactions filled me with joy. I also sincerely appreciate that there wasn't a third-act breakup, that happens way too frequently in fake dating romances, and it's always for stupid reasons.
The one thing I didn't love about this book was how quickly everything happened. The plot, I think, takes place over about a week, and I just assumed it would take longer for them to fall like they did. I understand that as far as the press goes, it sort of had to move quickly, and the mentions of feelings already existing before the start of the book was a nice touch, but it still felt very quick. Although there was tension and longing, part of me wanted it to be more drawn out so that they could really feel the full force of their feelings, but that's really just a personal thing. And hey, I still ate this book up like nobody's business. Also, him calling her Button is the cutest thing in this world, I will take no comments.

I loved Pet and Matthias! It was such a sweet, funny, and even wacky slow burn.

Pet is assistant to his Royal highness Johnny, and Matthias is his bodyguard. When rumors spread about Pet and Johnny having an affair, Matthias and Pet start fake dating to put a stop to those rumors.

These two and their sweet tension had me impatiently rooting for them throughout this slow, slow burn.

Sweet, sweet Matthias is a bodyguard and his nature is to keep those he cares about safe, and boy does he care about Pet!

And Pet is soo protective of Matthias too, his feelings, his heart, his everything. Swoon!

Both Matthias and Pet have been hurt by others and are hesitant to give love a chance, but their pull, connection, attraction, and affection are just undeniable.

I enjoyed this so much. It felt a bit wordy at times, but it was filled with funny shenanigans, sweet moments, and lots of longing between our two leads.

Happy Monday y’all! I hope everyone had a great weekend- I was sick all weekend, which meant lots of time for reading! One of the books I read this weekend was Codename Charming by Lucy Parker which comes out tomorrow and is the sequel to Battle Royal. I really enjoyed Battle Royal and loved Pet as a character, so I was super excited to read Codename Charming! Thank you so much to Avon and Netgalley for letting me read an eARC of this one! Make sure you grab a copy when it comes out tomorrow, August 15th!

Codename Charming 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads: Following Battle Royal, beloved author Lucy Parker pens another delicious romantic comedy about a fake relationship between a grumpy royal bodyguard and the charming, sunny assistant who melts his cold, hard exterior.

Petunia De Vere enjoys being the personal assistant to lovable, bumbling Johnny Marchmont. But the job has its share of challenges, including the royal’s giant, intimidating bodyguard, Matthias. Pet and Matthias are polar opposites–she’s spontaneous and enthusiastic, he’s rigid and stoic–but she can sense there’s something softer underneath that tough exterior…

For Matthias Vaughn, protecting others is the name of the game. But keeping his royal charge out of trouble is more difficult than he imagined because everywhere Johnny goes, calamity ensues, and his petite, bubbly assistant is often caught in the fray. Matthias hates the idea of Pet getting hurt and he’s determined to keep everyone safe, even if it means clashing with his adorable new coworker.

When a clumsy moment leads to a questionable tabloid photo, the press begins to speculate that Pet is romantically involved with Johnny. To put an end to the rumors, the royal PR team asks Pet and Matthias to stage a fake relationship and the two reluctantly agree. But as they spend more time together outside of work, they begin to wonder what real emotions this pretend connection might uncover. Especially when a passionate kiss leaves both of their heads spinning…

Codename Charming was such a fun, cute read! I loved Pet and Matthias as main characters, and it was so nice to see some of the characters from Battle Royal back again. Johnny and Rosie were the cutest- I loved how much of a disaster Johnny always was, but he had so many great people in his corner, that he was always able to get back from anything. The whole fake dating plan was so out there, but at the same time made so much sense, and of course, I love fake dating, so I was so excited about it. Pet and Matthias didn’t seem as though they should be compatible, but they were so incredibly cute together! They’re both so considerate and think about each other before they think of themselves. Watching them fall in love with each other and act on that love was an amazing way to spend a Sunday. I really liked Codename Charming and I highly recommend picking it up when it comes out tomorrow!

Pet is the personal assistant to clumsy Johnny, who is married to Princess Rosie. Pet loves her job, even if she occasionally clashes with Johnny's no-nonsense bodyguard, Matthias. But when the princess asks Pet and Matthias to fake a romance to put an end to some scandalous rumors, fake feelings turn into real ones rather quickly.
I loved this romance, especially since both characters had childhoods that were rather lacking when it comes to affection. My only objection is to some rather crude language.

Cute but not great. Good lead characters and a sweet romance. The plot is scattered and a little over-written. Some scenes lacked flow and readability. Not a bad book, but also not an author I would seek out again.

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.