Spotlight & Giveaway: Codename Charming by Lucy Parker

Today it is my pleasure to Welcome author Lucy Parker to HJ!

Hi Lucy and welcome to HJ! We’re so excited to chat with you about your new release, Codename Charming!

 
Hi! Thank you for having me here today.
 

Please summarize the book for the readers here:

CODENAME CHARMING is the story of Pet De Vere—the very capable, very sunny assistant to the newest member of Britain’s (fictional) royal family—and Matthias Vaughn, the huge, silent, serious bodyguard who heads the royal’s protection team. The story follows on from a previous book, BATTLE ROYAL, but can be read as a stand-alone. The couple very briefly met as secondary characters in Battle Royal, in fairly dramatic circumstances, but have now become colleagues and moved centre-stage in Codename Charming. They’re both devoted to their well-meaning but disaster-prone boss, but approach their work duties in different ways. Pet is the go-to problem-solver, but thinks it’s important that everyone maintains a healthy balance between work and fun, even if that sometimes means bending the rules a little; while Matthias is very much by-the-book and rather fond of the protocol manual. They’ve clashed on the job, but still have a great deal of respect for each other; however, Pet is a bit discouraged that Matthias seems to avoid her whenever possible.

After an unfortunate tabloid photograph fuels rumours that Pet and their royal boss are having an affair, the palace asks Pet and Matthias to pretend to be in a relationship, to divert attention from the false stories. People are already shipping the tiny assistant and giant bodyguard on social media, so it ought to be simple to just play up to it for a few weeks. No harm, no feelings involved, and definitely no falling in love for real, of course!
 

Please share your favorite line(s) or quote from this book:

She had her palm on the left door when Mabel murmured with complete indifference, “I used to flat with a fellow shorty, who dated a heavyweight boxer. Much taller than she was. The size difference was never an issue.”

Pet hesitated, very aware of the silent, watchful man behind her. Her skin was still prickling with awareness, and they weren’t even touching now. “No?”

Mabs changed brushes and applied a tiny fleck of detail to her lollipop. “She just spent most of the day sitting on his face.”

Pet was not looking at Matthias.

Possibly ever again.

Pushing open the door with more force than necessary, she hooked a finger in the neckline of her dress and peeked down her chest. Apparently, a person could blush all the way to their nipples.

Life: a never-ending education.

Please share a few Fun facts about this book…

• There’s a scene in the book involving a little mouse carving that was partly inspired by a gorgeous, tiny carved mouse I found in an antique store, and which is now my wee buddy on my bookshelf.
• Pet, the heroine, is the younger sister of the hero in Battle Royal. She became a favourite character for me while I was writing that book, and I knew from the moment the royals’ enormous, intimidating, stern bodyguard appeared on the page that Matthias and Pet were meant for each other.

What first attracts your Hero to the Heroine and vice versa?

Matthias, the hero, had a difficult childhood and has often been ostracised for his appearance as an adult—he’s not conventionally handsome, to the say the least, and has a large and intimidating build, so is frequently the subject of judgmental comments and behaviour. He’s used to being alone and being rejected, and very much has his guard up physically and emotionally—yet, for the first time in his life, he was struck into complete stillness when he first saw Pet.

The following quote sums up how he sees her, as basically the human embodiment of light in the dark:

“…anyone who walked into a packed ballroom of shining wealth and seemed to glow from within, as if they’d caught all the true light inside, would draw love and attention like a warm, flickering flame.”

While Pet, despite being outwardly vivacious and popular, also had a painful upbringing and struggles with confidence and feeling…enough; and unlike many others, she never looks Matthias and sees uneven features or an intimidating build. She sees his kindness and gentleness, and is very protective of him and his happiness from the beginning.

Did any scene have you blushing, crying or laughing while writing it? And Why?

There is a scene I had a lot of fun with, when—thanks to their trouble-magnet boss—Pet and Matthias find themselves sneaking around the royal palace at night, trying to return a stolen and very foul-mouthed parrot to its rightful owner. As you do.

“Pet swallowed again as he carefully lowered her back to the ground, with that painstaking gentleness he always used with her—until they got completely lost to their surroundings and each other. The silence around them suddenly seemed echoing. Her hands were still resting against his abdomen, her fingers lightly curled, feeling the slightly-too-fast rhythm of his breathing; and despite the tension in his jaw, he hadn’t stepped back, as if he were reluctant to part from her.

“Matthias,” she said, and his darkened gaze returned to hers.

Right before something smacked her in the face, hitting her under her left eye.

She continued to stare at him for a second—two . . . three—before her head lowered to study the small, mangled green object that had landed near her foot.

When this month had begun, she hadn’t even been casually dating one person. Now, she appeared to be involved in an intense love triangle.

And the other woman had just tried to blind her with a half-chewed grape.

When she turned a narrowed glance on Ailsa, the parrot had a piece of straw in her mouth. She tried to hurl it in Pet’s direction, as well, and looked frosty when it barely moved.”

Readers should read this book….

If you love reading about two people who are meant for each other, recognise the strength in each other, and realise that they’re actually doing okay—and that they both deserve happiness—but will be even happier together.

What are you currently working on? What other releases do you have in the works?

I have an audio exclusive coming up that I’m very excited about, and will also be returning to my London Celebrities series. And I hope to have news about another new series soon!
 

Thanks for blogging at HJ!

Giveaway: (3) Three paperback copies of CODENAME CHARMING by Lucy Parker —US only.

To enter Giveaway: Please complete the Rafflecopter form and Post a comment to this Q: In Codename Charming, Pet and Matthias visit a part of London where she’s always found relaxation and solace (which includes a floating bookshop on a canal boat). Is there a particular place, whether it’s the city or country or a bookstore or library, where you always feel at home and comforted?

 
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Excerpt from Codename Charming:

The evening reception to welcome the king and queen of Spain and visiting international dignitaries was being held in the Princess Anna ballroom, named after one of Rosie’s eighteenth-century ancestors and still decorated in Anna’s favored shades of pink and gold. It was one of Pet’s favorite rooms in the palace, but there were few opportunities to have a really good wander and peer at its contents. She’d just passed a cabinet full of gorgeous little antique mechanical toys—a perfect miniature carousel, a stretching cat, a bell tower with a swinging, tinkling bell in its belfry. In usual circumstances, she’d have paid an extortionate sum for the key to that cabinet and ten minutes to hold things and have a play.

Especially when she glanced into the next display and saw a huge bowl of vintage buttons, many of them encrusted with semi-fine jewels.

Pet loved buttons.

Some people might consider it an obsession and those people would be wrong. She just liked to collect them, always noticed them on people’s clothing, and had once stolen one directly from a stranger’s coat at the age of six, by crawling under a train seat with a pair of scissors.

“If you’re planning a button heist,” Benji said behind her, “I’m afraid we’ll be duty-bound to apprehend you.”

The skirts of her fanciest dress flared out and resettled around her legs as she turned around, her heart giving that shivery little jump when Matthias also moved through the crowd, stopping at Benji’s shoulder. Both men were in full security evening dress, their posture military straight, game faces on—although she looked for and saw the flare of heat in his green eyes as they swept over her favorite pink evening dress and the swing of her hair.

She also saw the way his lips firmed, the muscle in his cheek twitching.

He was still trying very hard to keep some professional boundaries between them. Which was the smart, sensible thing to do.

The safe thing to do.

And increasingly futile.

Like her, he was continually betrayed by his body. For such a closed-off man, he couldn’t seem to stop touching her. Holding her hand, tucking her hair behind her ears, spreading his fingers against the small of her back.

Meanwhile, she’d found another clue to her past—to her beginnings—that could lead to something she’d never have even dreamed possible; yet, when she’d got home from the theater, her mind racing and nerves jumping, all she’d wanted was to curl up on the lap of her fake boyfriend.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
 
 

Book Info:

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…
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Meet the Author:

Lucy Parker is an award-winning romance author who lives in New Zealand. A romance reader from a young age, she loves to write about people pursuing their dreams and falling hopelessly in love along the way—often with the last person they would expect! Her previous titles have been featured in Entertainment Weekly, Cosmopolitan, and Oprah Daily, and were included in NPR’s Book Concierge for four consecutive years.
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