Skip to main content

Book 12 - Codename Charming by Lucy Parker

I’m a Lucy Parker fan, and this book didn’t disappoint. Her writing style is chatty/wordy, which might aggravate me if she wasn’t so talented and funny. Petunia (Pet) is the pint-sized personal assistant to Johnny, the accident-prone husband of Rosie, a down-the-line member of the royal family. Matthias is the giant, glowering security guard. Johnny and Pet are photographed in what appears to be a romantic moment, so to steer the paparazzi away from that incorrect narrative, Pet and Matthias stage Codename Charming, acting in love to give the paparazzi a different shiny object to focus on. As Pet and Matthias realize the act comes way too natural, Pet is also trying to find out information on her father. And Matthias is working through grief from a violent loss. Despite the heavy themes there’s a lot of humor in the book, including a fun paint-ballesque scene (using wands instead of guns). The writing sounds very British to me (even though the author lives in New Zealand), with fun slang and a less-than-traditionally-gorgeous hero. (8.25)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Book 63 - Book Boyfriend by Emily Wibberley and Austin Siegemund-Broka

Jennifer and Scott are work rivals at a publishing company. He scoffs at her favorite fantasy series, so she’s shocked to see him at a week-long fantasy immersion vacation. Enemies to lovers, always fun.  I love this duo’s writing style, like the line about Princess Bride-ing it down a hill and other clever turns of phrases. I’ll read whatever they write just for that. I liked how they incorporated the fantasy world, Elytheum, into the story, even if it was a bit over-the-top and unrealistic. I’m not a big fantasy reader, and I wasn’t sure what a fae is (Google confirms my thought that it’s like a fairy), but I could appreciate how ingrained the series is into Jennifer’s life.  I liked Jennifer and Scott’s interactions, for the most part. I think the biggest flaw is that the only thing really keeping the characters apart is their suspicion and fear. Which got a little repetitive. And Jennifer’s self reflections got a bit tedious for me. All in all it was a cute read. I liked t...

Book 69 - Business Casual by B.K. Borison

This wasn’t my favorite B.K. Borison book, but it was still cute, and an easy, quick read. I’ve only read the first book in the Lovelight series, so this one is out of order for me. I’d still read book 2 and 3 if they become available. Nova is a tattoo artist who feels like she has to do everything perfectly to make her family proud. Charlie is an investment banker who lives 3-4 hours away, but goes to the farm to see his step-sister (Stella, from the first book), and to recharge. It starts as a casual hook up for them, but then moves to business casual, then to more serious. But Charlie has always felt like he doesn’t quite belong anywhere, and he fears he’s overstaying his welcome if he’s not helping to fix something. And Nova’s always been very independent and never wanted a serious partner. There’s not much more to the book. (7.5)

Book 71 - The Hook Up by Kristen Callahan

The book was fine. A sexy sporty book. Maybe a little long for the somewhat simplistic plot. I wasn’t impressed initially and found the insta-lust a turn off, but once the two characters got to know each other, and me them, it grew on me. One of my pet peeves is when the narrator directly tells the reader things are about to get worse, instead of just letting the story unfold, and the author does that a couple times in this book. It always feels lazy to me. Anna Jones was the chubby, invisible girl in high school, and finally feels like she’s hit her stride in college. But her old insecurities still pop up at unexpected times. Drew Baylor is the star quarterback of their school, and a soon-to-be rising star of the NFL. They meet in class and instantly want to jump each other’s bones. But Anna doesn’t want the attention she’d face if she dated the most popular guy on campus. So they hook up, and she tries to keep him at a distance. That goes on for what feels like a lot of pages, until ...