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…
Release Date: Aug 15, 2023
Series: Palace Insiders
Book: 2
Heat Level: Hot
Publisher: HarperCollins
Imprint: Avon
Price: $11.99
This book made me cry.
Parker has a talent for creating characters that you want to love or love to hate. Petunia and Matthias fall in the first category. I love, love, loved them. From Petunia’s voice, to her love for vintage clothing, to Matthias’s protective nature and talent of whittling wood into animals or objects. There is so much to appreciate in these two, who often butt heads on the job, but quickly discover, when forced, that their physical attraction is very very real.
Add in a cast of secondary folks that are equally adorable, and it’s not hard to enjoy the story. Note: The story works fine as a standalone, but it’s much more enjoyable if you’ve read the first book and provides more context.
This one took longer to hook me in, which delayed my reading experience a bit as I was able to walk away. The walk away factor highly plays into my review rating structure. The more you can make me not want to go back to real life the better. What had me willing to leave, some of the transitions were confusing. To better explain it was difficult at times to be sure what was happening between the characters on the page, the setting, and where they were within the world. What made me cry? Matthias’s backstory was very personal to me at the moment due to some aspects of my personal life. Though not often does a book bring me to tears, I was surprised.
Other elements of this story I loved; the disparities between the main characters seem enormous, but only to outsiders looking at them. In reality, these two are more alike than they realize. Matthias’s nickname for Petunia is absolutely adorable, and when I heard it, the realization clicked into place. The story itself is full of wackadoo moments, the nature of working for royals, I guess, and don’t get me started on the parrot with a Scottish accent.
If you like a good read that can inspire a gamut of emotions, then Codename Charming is the book for you. Lucy Parker is what Tessa Dare books would be like if they were contemporary instead of historical romance.
~ Landra
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