Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Perfection  By  cover art

Perfection

By: R. L. Mathewson
Narrated by: Fran Jules
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Editorial reviews

This second installment from R. L. Mathewson’s A Neighbor from Hell series is sure to keep the laughs going, as Mathewson delivers with all the wit, cleverness, and romance listeners have come to expect from her. Perfection follows Zoe, a lady who has just lost her job and decided that if there’s a chance something bad can happen it probably will, and her run-in with Trevor, one of the infamous Bradford. Fran Jules gives a lively performance in this audiobook, ramping up the tension and humor, making it impossible to pause this story until you get to its heartfelt end.

Publisher's summary

Zoe is used to taking care of herself and has long ago accepted that if anything bad was going to happen, it was going to happen to her. So when she loses her job over something most bosses would probably be happy with and her life starts going down hill from there, she doesn't expect it to get any better.

She certainly didn't expect any help from the loud jerk next door, but then again she has nothing to lose so puts her trust in him and hopes for the best. What she didn't expect was the once in a lifetime opportunity that he offers her through an arrangement where they both benefit and no one is supposed to get hurt - but she should have known better because her luck has never been that good.

Like most Bradfords, Trevor has a soft spot for food, but that's about all. He leads a pretty straightforward life and likes to keep things simple and that includes his relationships. He wants the perfect woman and knows exactly what she'll be like. So when he discovers much to his horror that he's thinking about his frumpy little neighbor he decides the best way to get his head straight is by working her out of his system. He'll keep her around, but only until he finds perfection.

©2011 R.L. Mathewson (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Perfection

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,460
  • 4 Stars
    746
  • 3 Stars
    276
  • 2 Stars
    67
  • 1 Stars
    82
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,448
  • 4 Stars
    676
  • 3 Stars
    163
  • 2 Stars
    44
  • 1 Stars
    28
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    2,254
  • 4 Stars
    676
  • 3 Stars
    271
  • 2 Stars
    80
  • 1 Stars
    83

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

 witty dialogue, crazy antics & charming love!

A delightful, crazy romp with another food obsessed, bossy, obnoxious Bradford. This book had me laughing out loud at all Trevor’s crazy antics. Zoe needs someone to be her champion and Trevor is just the man for the job. She’s his tenant and neither have ever spoken, but he still manages to annoy the HELL out of her. The first time they have a face to face encounter he insults her, over food of course, and regrets what he says the minute it comes out of his mouth.So, he tries to right the wrong by helping her out and along the way, he falls in love with her. Soon an unexpected friendship blossoms. Then one night everything changes when Zoe goes to a bar to hunt for a man. A girl has needs too! She has been on a dry spell and is in need for sex. Trevor ends up at the same bar when he spots a drunken Zoe and makes her an offer she can't refuse. Friendship becomes lust and lust turns in to love. I enjoyed this book, but I preferred the first one. Trevor's disparaging thoughts, her low self-esteem and the friends with benefits storyline lessened my enjoyment a bit. Overall, this was another fun, hilarious and delicious "light" listen from Mathewson! I like this author ability to keep your attention with the characters clever sarcasm and hysterical banter  She is good at making you laugh, gives some some good anticipation anxiety, makes you tingling with the heat she puts in her sex scenes, and I like that her epilogues gives glimpses years out about how wonderful life is with the characters.


Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

32 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good but a bit cruel

I loved the idea that a "plain Jane" gets the hot guy but I didn't like the fact that some characters kept referring to her as"fat and ugly". I also didn't like that the hot guy kept noticing other "gorgeous women" and how perfect they were. I was hoping he would have looked at them and see ordinary while looking at his girl as gorgeous. Too stereotypical!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Mean!!

I am so disgusted with this book! It was mean, belittling and sad. Trevor, the main male character is a narcissist! He is constantly talking about how Zoe was not good enough for him and how she was not his usual type and letting a man he doesn’t even like call her fat bitches, etc. and the issue was actually that Trevor was extremely lacking in self confidence about his own “status”. He was so worried about how others viewed who he was with and what he had, that he was willing to push Zoe more into the ground knowing that she was already suffering deeply with self confidence issues!! He was threatened by his cousin Jason and took his issues out on Zoe. Trevor was selfish and thoughtless through out almost the entire book and it made me cringe. It is so sad that Zoe thought so little of herself the ENTIRE book! She gave him 4 babies and still never saw herself as good enough!! Seriously!!!! That is no easy feat! I know some of the issues are the way that some people actually think but it still was hard to digest that a man could be this awful to a woman who had been nothing but nice to him from the beginning. Also that she was willing to put up with it! They both are in need of some major therapy. EVERY woman is special in some way and ALWAYS deserves to be treated as such!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Characters are fun, but o so much belittlement

I like the idea of the story, but she puts herself down and Trever puts her down so much, it makes me angry. I mean I understand it happens, but she loses weight and she still is considered below a “5”...sheesh. This book gives all the meaning to you can’t judge a book by its cover.
I really enjoy the narrator though. She always does a nice job!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

10 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Calling this a Romance is Obscene.

There are so many things wrong with this relationship, it made my stomach hurt.

Here’s the short version: Man-boy-pig “hero” [quotes deliberate] is landlord to a woman with no self esteem. At her lowest, he “gives” [quotes literal] her a job in his family’s business and part time work as his personal servant. She cleans his bathroom, washes his clothes, does his shopping, picks up after him, feeds him, etc., for $10/ hour. They decide to have secret, non-relationship sex and screw to the point of exhaustion for months. He’s hot; she’s grateful. He’s never been happier. What’s in it for her beside the sex? Couldn’t be the money, because her fall-back plan is to live in her car, which she never does have the money to fix.

This goes on for 30 chapters. Eventually she realizes it’s too good to last and decides to leave before he can dump her. For the next three chapters the hero, with his family in full support, conspires to isolate, entrap and coerce her: locking up her possessions, disabling her car, turning off her heat... As per his cousin, “It doesn’t count if a woman was pissed when she did [said] it.” In the penultimate chapter he tells her it’s love, she capitulates. Then follows an hour-long epilogue whence couple and extended family perpetuate this behavior into the next generation.

With a slight change in tone, this novel would be a perfect horror of manipulation, entrapment and abuse. A heroine could have grown, fought back and escaped. “I’m going to spank your ass for all the bullshit you’ve put me through tonight” isn’t sex play. In this story, he says it’s her fault that he lost control of his anger and his victim accepts it. Calling this novel a romance presents abuse as not just acceptable, but desirable. That’s wrong.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Really good addition to the series. :D

4-4.5 stars

This was a really good story. I really liked Zoe and Trevor and enjoyed their story. It was a really fun and entertaining story that I was drawn in to from the beginning.

Zoe is a good woman but hasn't had a good life. She grew up in foster care (she was moved around a lot with a total of 153 foster parents over the years) and has done her best to make a life for herself. She hasn't had much luck with men and has no current relationships. Zoe’s job situation went from sad to none when she ended up getting fired from her job for the travesty of finding out a partner’s wife was stealing from the company.

Trevor is a lovable jerk. He is one of those guys that isn't really a bad guy but is very uncaring about others at times. He tends to be self-centered and doesn't pay attention to things that don’t directly affect him or cause him an issue. He has an idea of his “perfect woman” and isn't willing to look at any woman that doesn't live up to his high standards.

Zoe is having a very bad day (having just gotten fired from her job for finding the theft) and gets home, only to have it get worse due to Trevor. Zoe lives in a duplex and Trevor lives on the other side from her. She doesn't realize he owns the building but instead thinks he’s just the nephew of the owner but even though he’s a pain in her butt, she doesn't complain about him because she figures it’ll do no good. That night however, Trevor does multiple things to piss her off and the straw that breaks the camel’s back is when Trevor steals her pizza delivery order. They fight and Trevor makes some really jerky comments that upsets Zoe and makes Trevor feel guilty for saying them. Due to his guilt, Trevor decides to make an effort with Zoe and find out what caused her bad day. When he finds out that Zoe lost her job, he lets her know that his uncle needs a secretary for his construction business and offers to help her get the job. He also offers her some extra money in exchange for running errands and cleaning his place for him in her spare time. Zoe gets the job and gets the full Bradford experience since there are multiple members of the family work for the company. This included Jason & Haley, from book #1, Playing for Keeps, since they’re both working for the construction company for some extra cash over summer break. Over the next few months, Zoe gets settled in to her new job(s) and things start going better. Zoe and Trevor don’t socialize much but they do have some interactions, the most interesting is the fact that Trevor got Zoe to start reading to him (the Twilight trilogy) at night before bed…through the walls since they’re so thin they can hear each other easily.

Trevor and Zoe continue on for a few months as friendly acquaintances/co-workers. Zoe decides to diet and ends up losing around 30 pounds and starts feeling better about her body. Trevor finds himself more and more attracted to Zoe, noticing himself checking her out without realizing what he’s doing. He tries to keep their interactions platonic but that comes to a halt when Trevor sees Zoe in a bar and looking to pick up a guy. Trevor decides that he’s unwilling to let her jump in to bed with a stranger and (after chasing off a few guys trying to pick her up) ends up taking her home (against her wishes but she’s pretty drunk by then so it’s for the best). Trevor and Zoe talk the next day and come to an agreement to become sex-buddies (but just sex, no emotions outside of friendship). As they start their arrangement, things go pretty well. Trevor is happy with the sex and finding Zoe to be a good companion. Zoe enjoys the arrangement as well but tries to be careful not to let herself feel any emotions for Trevor so she doesn't end up with a broken heart. Their arrangement continues this way for a few months and at first they do pretty well at keeping things light but they soon start to realize that they’re enjoying their togetherness a little too much. As Trevor starts feeling more for Zoe, he realizes he might not be able to work Zoe out of his system and maybe he wants her to be with him more permanently. Zoe would like something more as well but can’t bring herself to believe that Trevor would ever fall for her when she’s surprised that their sex-only relationship lasted as long as it has up to this point. Trevor ends up deciding to tell Zoe he wants to change their relationship but he doesn't do very well at it and instead he just pisses Zoe off. This causes some problems and Zoe tries to push Trevor away in an effort to safeguard her heart. Thankfully, this doesn't work very well but Trevor does have some work to do to get her to believe in him and his feeling for her. Thankfully (with some work) Trevor and Zoe end up happily together and starting their HEA.

This was a really good story. Zoe and Trevor were really good together and I was rooting for them to get their acts together and realize just how good they could be together. I just wish that Zoe hadn't had such a low self-opinion but was glad she finally got past it. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series. I’d recommend this book. Thumbs up. :D

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great series but poor audiobook

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I have read everything by this author and she has never disappointed me! I would definitely recommend the ebook versions but the not the audiobook. I purchased all the audibooks available by this author, since I already had the kindle versions I received a discount for the audiobooks (I love listening to them while I am cleaning.) That being said, the editing of performance is so bad, there is a lot of skipping and repeating that is very distracting. This is a recurring problem in each of the audibooks by R.L. Mathewson. If you are able I would definitely recommend reading the books and skipping the audio!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Too shallow for my taste

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

I wasn't keen on the narrator. When she was reading as the main character there was something about it I just couldn't stand...can't quite put my finger on it but I didn't even make it thru 1/4 of the book before I just couldn't take it anymore. I do like how she was able to change her voice enough so you could differentiate the cast of characters.

Would you ever listen to anything by R. L. Mathewson again?

If all of R.L. Mathewson's books are written in this fashion, NO WAY! The whole Neighbor from Hell series...have to admit, that's kind of a weird angle but it was a new concept so I jumped on board. However, Trevor is HORRENDOUS! How the author though he could be the main character of a romance story is beyond me. I couldn't find anything about this book that peaked my interest in the romance dept....I just couldn't get past Trevor and his overwhelmingly poor attitude.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Fran Jules?

Would have to spend time really previewing the story before I committed to purchasing anything else read by her. I really wish I knew what, exactly, I didn't like about her reading style but it's definitely not for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

not the greatest

Would you try another book from R. L. Mathewson and/or Fran Jules?

Story was over the top and not believable

Has Perfection turned you off from other books in this genre?

no

What does Fran Jules bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

clear and pleasant voice but story not the greatest

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

at times it was witty

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Should have ended earlier

Story was okay but it should have ended earlier. It was like the author wanted to make it longer when the story was over. The situations in this book were also a bit over the top. Most of them were unrealistic.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful