Codename Charming

A Novel

By: Lucy Parker

Narrated by: Anne-Marie Piazza

A New York Times Books Review Best Romances of 2023 pick

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…

©2023 Lucy Parker (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Easy enjoyment

Overall a good listen. Sometimes it was hard to understand the MMC’s parts and I wasn’t at the edge of my seat or anything, but still enjoyed it.

Greatly enjoyed

I adore Lucy Parker stories and was so glad to finally have Pet & Matthias’s book.

Not worth the time

Poor performance w one of the main characters. Not very exciting story. It is light and not worth the time.

The narrator's voice for the MMC ruined it

The narrator's voice for Matthias was so bad - like a whisper or someone sick. The story was trying to incorporate too much tropes/story arcs. The only redeeming part is Pet's family. Wish I didn't buy this title.

l got used to the reader

In the beginning I wasn't sure I could listen, the narrator got on my nerves, especially her whispered voice of Dominic. I got used to the narrator after taking a a break and I'm a fan of Lucy Parker and I the end became hooked and enjoyed listening.

Just a lovely, stress-free listen

I have really enjoyed Lucy Parker’s previous books and went into this one with high expectations that were ultimately met. I actually really liked the narrator’s work here, too, but will agree with previous commenters that the main male character’s ‘voice’ took me out of the story.

Codename Charming a fun follow up

Loved this follow up to Battle Royale and chance to revisit those characters. Pet and to a lesser extent Matthias were fun to spend time with. To me, the supporting cast were more compelling. And the narration of Matthias was atrocious. But he doesn’t talk much so it did not ruin the experience entirely.

Even a less than perfect Lucy Parker is great!

I love Lucy Parker, and I love the audible versions, I have listened to each of her books multiple times. I really liked the story of Matthias and Pet, I especially loved that we got to see a little bit more of Dominic and Sylvie. I do think that Lucy Parker tried to put too much story into one book, but overall I really enjoyed it. As far as the narration, Matthias is a very distinct character, and the voice for him is equally distinct, once I got used to it, it was fine. But it did take some getting used to.

DNF because of narrator

I will purchase this book and read myself because I am interested in the story. However, the narrator ruined it on audible for me. Besides the fact that she’s a little boring, the voice she used for Mathias is AWFUL. It’s like a whisper, but you can barely understand. It ruins the story.