Perky

By: Julia Kent

Narrated by: Erin Mallon

Length: 7 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's Summary

An all-new stand-alone from New York Times best-selling author Julia Kent

One hundred years ago when I was young and impulsive (okay, it was five, alright? Five years ago...) I let my boyfriend take, let's just say...compromising pictures of me. 

(Shut up. It made sense at the time.) 

Surprise! The sleazy back-stabbing jerk posted them on a website and, well, you can guess what happened. That’s right. 

I’m a meme. A really gross one. 

You've seen the pictures. And if you haven't - don’t ask. And don't look! 

As face recognition software online improves, I get tagged on social media whenever anyone shares my pictures. You try getting a thousand notifications a day, all of them pictures of your tatas. 

So. I’m done. 

It’s time for revenge. Let him see how it feels! But how do you get embarrassingly intimate pictures of your jerkface ex who double-crossed you five years ago? 

Especially when he’s a member of the US House of Representatives now? 

Getting sweet between the sheets with a congressman is pretty much every political roadie’s dream, right? I’m one in a crowd. 

Except to this day, he swears he didn’t do it. Pursued me for months after I dumped him five years ago. Begged me to take him back. 

And I almost did it. Almost. I was weak and stupid and in love a hundred years ago. 

Okay. Fine. Five. 

But I still have the upper hand. Second chance romance has all the emotional feels, doesn’t it? 

I can’t wait to punch him in the feels. 

All I need to do is sleep with him once, take some hot-and-sweaty pics of him in...delicate positions, and bring him down. That’s it. Nothing more. 

Pictures first. Revenge after. And then I win. 

At least, that’s how it was supposed to happen. But then I did something worse than sexting.

I fell in love with him. Again.

©2019 Julia Kent (P)2019 Prosaic Press

Hilarious, but sometimes frustrating romcom

Overall 3 stars Performance 5 stars Story 2.5 stars I laughed a ton in this second chance/enemies to lovers romance. We met Perky in the previous book Fluffy, but this story can still be enjoyed as a standalone. It will be most appreciated though if you read the books in order. Perky starts off pretty much where the previous book left off, but I don't think new listeners will have much trouble getting up to speed. There are lots of over the top and hilarious moments throughout, but the main drama was a little too drawn out for me. Perky's constant running away and refusal to talk to Parker got old pretty quickly. When any opportunity would arise for them to actually speak, they would choose to speak with their bodies, which was hot, but also frustrating. It was clear where the plot was going/what the big reveal would be early on, and I wasn't a fan of the OW drama thrown in just for drama's sake. The best part of the book for me was Parker. He was all in from the very start and his tenacity and loyalty were so endearing. He was so honest about his feelings for Perky and I can't tell you how much I appreciated that he didn't sow his wild oats during their separation. There was lots of page time with Perky's BFF's, Mallory and Fiona. I love all of their friendships. The Taco Cubed scene and discussion had me cackling! (The ratio!) Some the energy/witches talk though was a bit much and I felt like it killed some of the momentum. Erin Mallon is fantastic as usual in this romcom. Her comedic timing is perfect and I'm always impressed by her ability to voice both male and female characters so wonderfully. She narrates with so much enthusiasm and feeling. The book ended with a great set up for Feisty's story and I'm looking forward to learning more about her and Fletch next! 🎧AudiobookObsession

Stagnant

Book really didn’t progress, it felt very stagnant. There were unnecessary events and characters that did nothing for the story. Heroine and hero didn’t share a lot together until towards the end. Nothing really happened until almost the end. Overall I found it boring and shallow. The heroine is not likeable and a lot of nagging between friends . This is my first time reading this author and the last time.

Great follow up to book 1!

I usually have my audio books on while working and can follow the story more or less. This one I had to keep rewinding because the ‘wait, what did she just say?!’ moments kept on coming. This was funny and very fun to listen to!

What a dreamy and not Perky story!

Another great book by Julia Trent with stellar narration from Erin Mallon. A second chance romance that was actually just THE romance. The end all be all. IT. OTP and everything. The melding of old money and new money with a couple that doesn’t hold wealth as a weight for their worth. A dreamy guy who is 100% in it and a passionate woman who is hurt by a misunderstanding she never knew. The banter is quick and Erin is totally on top of it. This book made me laugh out loud and made me want my own 28th emotion with a man. A lovely romcom that just made my day.

Funny, Perky, and Sassy

Erin Mallon does a fantastic job delivering the no nonsense wit and sassy back talk. Perky meets the love of her life when she was arrested. Parker falls hard for Perky until their photo goes viral. Parker now a congressman travels home for a wedding only to bump into Perky 5 years later. Perky decides revenge is a meal best served cold even though Parker swears he didn't betray Perky. Perky is brutally honest, sassy and has a come back line that will give you whip lash, and Parker is up for the challenge.

Perky

I really like Perky's personality, and that Parker didn't give up on her, even 5 years later. I liked that they both readily admitted that they still loved each other. I am totally annoyed that Perky just kept shooting him down and wouldn't hear him out. I'm just as annoyed at Parker that he wasn't stronger about the picture that broke them up. He should have just put his foot down and said to her outright that he hired someone to figure out how the picture ended up on the web. This was a huge reason for only giving it 3 stars. If they would have been adults about the situation, they could have said, "ok, let's figure it out together and get to the bottom of the posting". Be reasonable, why would a person you are in a good relationship with do something like that, which is out of character of them. Revenge porn generally happens AFTER the relationship has ended, not during the relationship, especially if it was as good as they said it was. That being said, I was annoyed at Perky's infantile behavior when it came to Parker. It wasn't until the last hour or so that I truly enjoyed the book.

Love the comedy, hate exaggerated instant love.

Love that the author has a sense of humor. I hate all the unrealistic “I love you I will die without you” sex and marriage after two days. It’s so fiction it’s ridiculous fiction in this book. Please a man in his twenties pining away for one woman and does not have sex with anyone for five years!

Finally gave up trying to get through it.

Bad story line. Ridiculous dialogue. Maybe the characters save it? Nope. How old are these women? How many times do they run out of a room in a huff, mad, crying?! What man is going to persist in wooing back an old girlfriend who not only will not listen to his side of things, but over and over again tells him she doesn't believe him? That would be exactly zero. The number of stars I would have given this book.

Good narrator, shun the story

I'm usually complaining about the quality of the narration. Not this time. This whole series by Julia Kent should never have been published, let alone turned into audiobooks. TSTL heroines, contrived angst, any and all values in the toilet. The first book, Fluffy was pretty bad. This, the second in the series was so much worse that I couldn't even get through an audiobook with limited attention. The conflict here is based on the "fact" that the protag's, Perkie/Persephone, ex-boyfriend released an extremely embarrassing but funny sex video of her on the Internet. This book is set five years after the fact. It soon becomes abundantly clear that the ex is not the big bad, and if she had talked to him in the moment, there would have been no drama...and NO BOOK! So, yeah, can you say contrived???

Too flip flop for me

I loved the first book but couldn’t get past chapter 5 in this one. Perky was just too “all over the place” for my enjoyment. Make a decision already, do you believe him or not?!! Toying with another persons life, sending mixed messages, and publicly embarrassing someone because you just “aren’t sure” is no way to treat someone.

Love love love I’m in love

So this one deals with a pretty heavy topic (leaked photos) so I was a little nervous going in with how it would be dealt with. Well I’m happy to say it was really well handled and this book was just as funny as the last one. Once again the narration was spot on which just really increases my enjoyment. I love that this book can stand alone however the first book really adds a nice level of backstory which I felt increased my enjoyment

Laugh out loud romance

Julia has done it again with this hilarious romcom. Excellent narration by Erin Mallon. Get carried away with the ups and downs and misunderstandings between Parker, Perky (Persephone) and their best friends. Definitely a warning against posting anything compromising on the internet!

3.5 Stars

As much as I was looking forward to this, it wasn't as funny as Fluffy. It made me laugh, sure, but this was actually a lot more serious in tone than Fluffy. And as much as this COULD be read as a standalone, you get a lot of the back story between Persephone and Parker in Fluffy. The history is a major spoiler for both books, but needless to say this second chance hate to love romance is really funny and sweet, even though it deals with a pretty heavy topic. Perky, Feisty and Mallory are a friend group I'd love to be a part of because they have each others back and I love it. An advance copy was provided to me for review and I volunteered to leave an unbiased review.

Romantic Comedy - Second Chance Romance

Perky by Julia Kent is a romantic comedy that I listened to on audio narrated by Erin Mallon. This is the second book in The Do-Over Series but each book can be read as a standalone. However, I would recommend reading in order since it does reference characters from the previous book. Julia does an amazing job making the characters very relatable. You just can’t help but fall in love with Parker and Persephone (Perky). Erin did an amazing job on the narration. I love that she uses different voices/tones for each character it really brings the story to life. I would highly recommend this series to anyone who loves romantic comedies or second chance romances.

A laugh out loud story

5 Stars is not enough for this series. OMG, I laughed so hard. One stupid mistake can haunt you for life, and Perky is living that truth. When she sees her opportunity to take revenge, will she follow through, or fall for her old flame? This is a total second chance romance, with so much fun, I could not stop listening. I loved every word and devoured this book in a day! Julia Kent delivers a rom com like no other. Mix a scorned woman with a man who is political and let the laughs begin. Erin Mallon nailed this narration. She has such a great voice. Ms. Mallon easily keeps the characters distinct and so much fun to listen to. She gives each one personality and brings them to life. Ms. Mallon's narration enhanced the experience of this story.

So invested

I can wait for feisty! This book was so funny I enjoyed it so much, I want to be their friend. Narration was brilliant! 🎧AOR🎧

Perky

Another great story in this series with a new couple to follow. I loved listening to this book (and it’s a good thing I was home and not out since I kept laughing out of no where) and am excited to see what comes next. Great writing and great narration. #AudiobookObsessionReviewer

perk n parker

a great story of 2nd chances. they fell in love 5 years ago. a bad photo broke them up. Parker is back in town to grovel and win her back erin as always is great 🎧audiobookobsession

Five Year Grudge...

Julia Kent has outdone herself in Perky. I love a second chance love story. Parker and Perky (aka Persephone) have incredible chemistry in this listen. Mal (Fluffy), Will, Fiona (Feisty) have cameo appearances that only add to the book. Erin Mallon is magical in her narration. She gives the characters distinguishable voices. I laughed out loud so much with this book. Thank you Audiobook Obsession for suggesting such a great listen. Revenge can be so much fun!

My ribs hurt

I laughed out loud with this story so much. It is amazing. Last year I listened to Fluffy and loved it. One of my top listens and I’ve recommended it quite a few times. When I got the opportunity to listen to Perky I jumped at the chance. While I wanted to smack some sense into her, I understood where she was coming from. I loved this book and can’t wait for Feisty! What an ending and look into what’s to come! ❤️