This is a charming and heartwarming romantic comedy that takes you on an emotional rollercoaster of awkward moments, secret crushes, and undeniable chemistry. I listened to this as an audiobook, and it beautifully captured the tension and playful energy between Penelope Quinn, an assistant to a pop sensation, and Everett Kingman, the brooding yet lovable younger brother of a football star.
Narrated with a perfect balance of humor and emotion, the audiobook’s voice acting was great. The narrators bring Penelope and Everett's personalities to life, making the characters’ interactions feel authentic and engaging. Penelope’s self-doubt, paired with Everett's quiet yearning, creates an undeniable chemistry that is hard to ignore, even as they navigate their complicated friendship.
Penelope's journey of self-discovery and confidence, paired with Everett's sweet, protective nature, makes for a heartwarming experience. The “Love Guru” lessons, which start off as humorous and awkward, evolve into moments of deep connection, making this audiobook a feel-good listen from start to finish.
Overall, I found this to be a light, enjoyable listen that had me rooting for Penelope and Everett to finally get together.
I received a complimentary copy from NetGalley and Dreamscape Media and am voluntarily leaving my review.

Thank you NetGalley for this review copy.
This audiobook was even better than when I read it as an ebook because the narrators' voices are smooth and really draw you into the characters.

This was a nice book, positives were body confidence for plus size fmc and gorgeous men who adored every last bit of them.
It was a light story on the back of some of the darker things I read, and I think we all need that sometimes. It did exactly what it was supposed to do, a pleasant feel good story.

Narration was great! Aaron Shedlock is ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥

I love a man that falls first and hard🤍

I love this series and this one is a great addition🤍

My only but is his reasons to not pursue her. They are both adults and he wont pursue her because his brother is protective of her (because shes his girls bff) mmmmmk. 😅 other than that easy 4stars!!

This book was fabulous. I might be a little bias however since I LOVE THIS SERIES.
Where can i find me a Cocky Kingman??
This is the story of Penelope and Everett. Penelope's best friend is engaged to Everett's older brother. They have been dancing around the attraction for a minute. I was so glad to see them finally get together. All of the men in the Kingman family are great and totally swoon worthy. The best thing about them, to me, is that they love their curvy women so much, you can’t help but smile while you read the books.

Penelope is all about body positivity, but sometimes the nagging feelings and bad thoughts rear their ugly head. Penelope is best friends and assistant to Kelsey Best, the queen of Body Positivity. Penelope is also the voice behind Kelsey's fan page for the Besties.

Everett is the one all the Kingman boys go to for love advice. He is known to be somewhat of a ladies man. Deep down though he just wants to a love of his own.

This was a very cute story and the body positivity in this book, makes it so wonderful. As a plus size girl myself I makes me walk and stand just a bit taller, and it makes me feel wonderful about myself.

This book is definitely a must read and recommend to all.
Someone asked me if I would re-read this book. The answer is a definite HELL YES!!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape media for the chance to read and review this book.

We love a lady’s man who suddenly becomes a fumbling mess around HER! Penelope is so sassy and strong, and I loved every moment! As always, I came for the plus-size representation, and I stayed for the beautiful love (both family, friends, and lovers) and the fabulous family dynamic.

I love how Amy Award writes fat women. We are complex, and she does such a wonderful job of capturing that we are all different. Everything about this book was perfection. I laughed, cried, and of course wanted more. Just perfect!

3.5⭐, 2.75🌶️

This book had its strengths and weaknesses - I wasn't a major fan of the romance (I just didn't get swoony or giddy or any lovey vibes) but I thought the body positivity plot was nice, if not a little excessive. Overall the book was sweet but nothing extraordinary. The spoof on sooooo many pop culture/ real life things was cute but became a bit excessive for me.

Okay - so I read book one of the series, then tried to pick up this book, but had to put it down cause clearly I was missing character details from Across the Way and Next Door. And Im so glad I went back. This book has a few overlapping scenes with Next Door and I loved getting Everett's POV. (However, I think reading the three books back to back to back may have burnt me out to all the cute/ kitschy vibes).

Thank you NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for an ALC of this book in exchange for my honest review!

I really enjoyed this book. This entire series is captivating, but I was very excited to get Everett and Penelope’s story. Their chemistry has been visible in previous books and was as inevitable as it is undeniable. I could have done with waaaay less snakes though.

The audio was very entertaining and brought to life the characters and storyline.

I love the Kingmans, but after the Pussy Next Door, I wasn't sure I could keep going. And then I got this great early audio and realized that yes, I can keep going. Poppy and Everett are a great match, and I enjoyed that the storyline included the fact that men also have body image issues. It broadened the very general running theme of body positivity to include more people.

Another 5 star for Amy Award and the Kingman family!!! I can't stop myself from reading these books as soon as I get my hands on them. The voice actors were casted perfectly and I truly couldn't get enough of them. Unlike the other girls, Pen has more body issues then we're used to seeing in these books. But I feel that added a new level of comfort in these. The way she comes out the other side stronger, and Everett supports her the entire time, I hope to find my Kingman boy soon. <3.

This one didn’t quite hit like these usually do- perhaps it was just parts and characterizations didn’t always feel consistent (particularly our heroine), the body positivity while I adore and appreciate it, at times it felt a bit performative. The chemistry is great and there are parts that are really funny, though, and the audio was an enjoyable listen.. I really enjoyed the dual narration, with Juniper Young voicing Penelope's perspective and Aaron Shedlock bringing Everett's point of view to life. Both narrators expertly brought the narrative to life with great emotional range and nuanced tonal performances. Aaron isn’t quite how I envisioned Everett, but I adore his performances usually and after a few chapters I settled into that voice with my perception of the character.

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
-Football Romance
- Friends to Lovers
-Forbidden
- Dating Coach/Lessons
-Influencer x Footballer/celebrity
-Plus Size Rep/body positivity
- Banterific
-Found Family

I adore this series and really enjoyed this book. I love how reflective the men are - they are thinking on a deeper level than most give men credit for. And the fact that in each book, the men are looking for marriage and long term commitment. Even Everett, who starts out as a sexually explorative man boy falls hard for the "larger bodied" (but really, she's normal bodied) Penn.

I enjoyed how Penn (sorry if spelling wrong - listened to the audio so unsure) was brought into the circle of the brothers/family and how quickly they loved and accepted her. It was also nice to see a gamer girl in the series shown. I don't come across that often in what I've been reading currently.

I also enjoy how each book has a different female lead and her own lived experiences with dating/sex. Some have been virgins, some have been very experienced and some, just a little. I appreciated Penn because she hasn't dated a lot and is working on her self esteem with dating and I'm a sucker for a fake dating trope so this was right up my alley!

The narrators did an amazing job and was an easy voice to listen to. Aaron and Juniper have wonderful voices and I always enjoy when they do the "other person in the relationship" voice acting. Makes me smile and enjoy the sweetness of the story.

I have recommended this book and the series to many of my Bridgerton loving friends as something similar but also current and fresh. I enjoy each addition to the series and really love the brothers and how their stories intersect with one another but you can also read the books as a stand alone if you want.

Hilarious audiobook, really enjoyed the narrators. If you have a spare day or so, this is a quick listen!

I absolutely adored this book. I connected with Penelope the most out of all of the Kingsmen heroines. And I loved that it was like an contemporary version of Romancing Mr.Bridgerton. From our main FMV being named Penelope and being a redhead to the plot device of teaching her how to flirt. The body positivity message was great and some of the scenes in the third act conflict had me in tears. It brought a lot stuff up that I myself am working on.

3 Bananaconda Stars ⭐️
Spicy Level: 🌶️🌶️/5

Okay, I wanted to love this, but it tried to be a little too “woke,” and I just got irritated because the wokeness never stopped.

𝙎𝙮𝙣𝙤𝙥𝙨𝙞𝙨:
This follows Penelope Quinn, who is an assistant to a super-mega-popular singer named Kelsey Best, (basically our version of Taylor Swift). Kelsey is dating a football player, which means Penelope often ends up in situations around Declan and his family and becomes very close friends with Everett Kingman, Declan's younger brother. The issue is Declan sees Penelope as a little sister, and that means she is VERY off-limits for Everett, even though he has secretly been in love with her for ages. Secretly Penelope has the biggest crush on Everett but believes a professional star athlete like him will never look at a bigger girl like her. One day, Penelope needs a date for the Grampys (yes, insert eye-roll emoji here… everything’s a bloody pun in this book), so she enlists Everett, "The Love Guru", to teach her how to date so she can find someone to bring with her. And we all know how dating lessons go when both people are irrevocably in love.

Penelope actually frustrated me. And it wasn't the narration because that was fantastic... but HOW she is written. A lot of her actions happen in Everett's POV so we only see the outcome and not her internal reasoning. I wanted more insight into her thought process but most times when this happened we were in Everett's POV watching him react to how she behaved, which seemed very disconnected.

Penelope is incredibly self-conscious, hard on herself, and fixated on her self-image. Where this would get weird is Pen’s internal dialogue feels shy and apprehensive, so it threw me off when, in Everett’s POV, she would suddenly flip into doing something bold. Luckily Everett felt consistent no matter whose POV I was in as he stayed true to the character.

Everett is such a sweetheart, though he’s hard on himself because of how the world sees him. He believes that the public perception of him being the "love guru" and helping others find love, means he can’t be happy, can’t find love, and can’t be the man Penelope deserves. He has to work through that emotional journey, eventually admitting that she rocks his world.

NOW... what frustrated me is the tongue-in-cheek, satirical, “woke” elements referencing social media and pop culture. I couldn’t take it seriously when they mentioned “the Grampys” and “flip-flop” for real-life equivalents. I would’ve preferred they just use “the Grammys” or “TikTok” or “Instagram,” unless there’s some legal reason they couldn’t. Every time they said “Grampy,” I rolled my eyes because we know they mean the Grammys and I HAVE TOTALLY HEARD OTHER BOOKS CALL IT THE REAL NAMES.

Also, I read books to escape reality, especially as a bigger girl myself with insecurities. I want to be whisked away by a hot NFL player making googly eyes at me, not be reminded over and over about body positivity. A big part of the book is about accepting who you are and what you look like, regardless of shape, form, or weight. It sometimes felt like a self-help message layered into the story, and while I get it’s important, and many people will love that aspect, I felt it was hammered in too heavily. I just wanted the plot to move on... I was READING A ROMANCE... NOT A SELF HELP BOOK!

It did also take me a bit to figure out who was who in the side characters, but that’s on me. This is the first book I’ve read in the series, so I wasn’t familiar with all the side characters who already had their own stories and their role in the universe...

𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▶ Sports Romance (Football)
▶ Friends to Lovers
▶ Forbidden Romance
▶ Dating Coach
▶ It's Always Been You
▶ Celebrity Romance
▶ Plus Size Rep
▶ Banter
▶ Band of Brothers (Literally)

and 𝙈𝙞𝙘𝙧𝙤 𝙏𝙧𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙨:
▷ Nicknames
▷ Dirty Talk
▷ Car Sex
▷ Squirting...

Overall, the voice acting was excellent. If you want a book with these tropes mentioned above maybe you’ll enjoy it more than I did. You might find more joy in the body-positivity angle than I did.

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and Amy Award for the gifted copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own
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The first 5 mins into this and I am thinking.... what a COCKY man... and that is not a comment about the snake in his pants...

This title was enjoyable but unlikely to be my favorite from the series. I do appreciate the personalities of the brothers and their protective instincts. So far, the Kingmans have all made pretty excellent book boyfriends. It was a fun read, although a little slow to get me intrigued by the story and characters. The narrator was great with the pacing and delivery, especially the dialogue between the characters.

Okay, let me start by stating I started this series with this book and I loved it! Will I go back and read the previous ones? I have already requested them from the library! Penelope (love the name) is a big girl who has all the body issues and has been bullied since she was young and dropped out of college because of it. She now works as a personal assistant for a pop star who is a big girl who radiates positive body image. This brings her into the Kingman family since her "boss" is engaged to one of the Kingmans. When she needs a little help with finding a date or some help with finding her way she asks Everett who she secretly has a crush on. The Kingmans are all pro football players, big, fit, and they definitely don't have a problem with the big girls in the group. Ev is all for helping Pen but he does not want to help her find a date since he really wants her for himself. When she starts to get bullied for her positive posts that a spurned speed date turned against the family and especially Everett are definitely in her corner. This was spectacular! Since I'm a bigger girl and can totally relate with all of this, this really hit home. I would have been part of the slay team!

I am reviewing the audio book version. It is narrated by Aaron Shedlock and Juniper Young. This is a sports romance with a curvier female lead named Penelope. Everette is a super hot football player who's known for being a lady's man. Love em and leave em type of guy. Penelope is close friends with Everette and his family and needs a date to a popular awards show. She asks Everett to give her dating lessons so she can feel more confident and comfortable in her own skin. I really enjoyed the way the audiobook narrators brought the story to life. They added a lot of feeling to the story that I might not have gotten, had I just read the story. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook.

Funny, sweet, romantic... an all around feel great comedy and love affair - Amy Award won me over with The Anaconda Downstairs. I haven't read any of the previous books in her Cocky Kingmans series, and I had no trouble. Award does a great job explaining the relationships between the characters.

I also enjoyed the positive messages in this story.

The audio version of The Anaconda Downstairs is nicely performed by Aaron Shedlock and Juniper Young.