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Publisher's Summary

“How long do you last in bed?” Those were her first words to me, swiftly followed up with, “And how big would you say you are?”

Cue the record scratching, what?

Persephone Alexander. Math genius. Lover of blazers. The only girl I know who can make Heidi braids look sexy as hell. And she’s on a mission. Lose her virginity by the end of the semester. 

I walked in on her interview session for potential candidates (who even does that?) and saw straight through her brave front. She’s got a list of firsts to accomplish, like she’s only got months to live. 

I’ve decided to be her guide for all her firsts, except one. Someone’s got to keep her out of trouble. I have one rule, no sex. We even shook on it.

I’ll help her find the right guy for the job. Someone like her doesn’t need someone like me and my massive...baggage for her first time. 

Drinking at a bar. Check. 

Partying all night. Double check. 

Skinny dipping. Triple check. 

She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met. The walls I’d put up around my heart are slowly crumbling with each touch that sets fire to my soul. 

I’m the first to bend the rules. One electrifying kiss changes everything, and suddenly, I don’t want to be her first, I want to be her only. But her plan was written before I came onto the scene, and now, I’m determined to get her to rewrite her future with me.
©2019 Maya Hughes (P)2020 Maya Hughes
Contemporary Sports
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What listeners say about The Perfect First

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Profile Image for Becky

The Perfect First...book to this series!

Listening to the audio version of this was a auditory delight. Jason Clarke is always a sexy, smooth listen and Emma Wilder does well especially with the voice of Reese! Their performance made this book the perfect balance of drama/angsty/romantic.
The story itself is great. I was invested in Reese and Seph from the first chapter. The few times I had to put down the book, had me thinking about it until I could pick it up again. The characters are interesting and I’m excited to read the rest of the storylines that were developing.
I received a free copy of this audiobook as an ARC, however any opinions in this review are my own.

7 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for Cristo

Funny and sweet

I loved the characters and the story was so sweet. I wish I could have known more about what how Seph grew up there was a lot missing there. And I wish they told us more of what happened with Reece the year before they met. But other than that I loved this book.

6 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for Angela Murphy

SO GOOD!

This was a sweet read! I loved it! I will surely listen to it again & again. I didn’t love the female narrator but she didn’t take away from the book.

3 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for Liz Thompson

Loved it, just loved it! Such a great read!

I was so excited to listen to the audiobook of The Perfect First by Maya Hughes. I had read the following two books in the series previously and loved them but had not had a chance to read this one until I got my hands on the audiobook. Let me tell you, I am so happy I did! Narrated by Jason Clarke and Emma Wilder, I loved, just loved this story. They did an amazing job brining this story to life for me.

Seph and Reece were just so perfect together. Friends who met when Seph was “interviewing” prospects for her first time, he was intrigued by her. Unexpected friends, they quickly connect as he decides to help her, but not without making it clear he is not a candidate. But as they spend time together, sparks fly. I truly loved listening to this book and cannot recommend it enough!

Happy listening!

2 people found this helpful

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Profile Image for Abby

love these two

I loved this book when I read it and I love it even more listening to it. The narrators were great for these 2 characters and their performance was spot on in my opinion.

Seph is a socially awkward genious with an expiration date of her freedom away from home. Reece has his eye on the prize and won't let anyone derail his plans. A chance encounter throws them both for a loop and now they can't stop thinking about the other. Neither has the perfect home life and both have expectations to live up to, but is that their true path to happiness?

I have loved all the books in this series and other works by Maya Hughes and I'm very glad this is on audible. I highly recommend this book and these narrators.

1 person found this helpful

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Profile Image for Lehia

I LOVED IT

One of the best loves stories I ever heard. A dream come true kind of love. Only in books. It’s was beautiful.

1 person found this helpful

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Profile Image for NovelMomma

One of the best sports romances out there!

I love, love, love this book!! It is the perfect combination of friends-to-lovers, opposites attract, and sports romance. I absolutely love both Persephone and Reece. They are both so much fun, and together they are perfection! They really have it all, great banter, a strong friendship, and all the chemistry. It's impossible to read this without falling completely for both of them!

Beyond their love story, I loved watching each of them develop as people. They both had such interesting backstories that they needed to confront in order to move forward. I loved watching them both overcome their struggles and move forward. They both has such fantastic characters arcs.

Maya Hughes also has an amazing ability to write side characters that add so much to the story. Not only did I fall hard for Seph and Reece, I fell hard for their whole group of friends. Seeing the way they were with Seph and Reece added a lot to this story, but it also left me so excited for the rest of this series! I want everyone to get a book, because I love them all!

The narration for this was fantastic!! Emma Wilder and Jason Clarke brought these characters to life perfectly. They had all the chemistry and emotion! I had such a hard time stopping once I started listening!

1 person found this helpful

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Profile Image for MomofManyGreggs

Amazing!

From the moment I hit play, I was transported into this story. The narration was stellar and made the characters come alive. I love this book and totally recommend it to anyone who likes amazing characters, a fantastic storyline, and a beautiful romance.

1 person found this helpful

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Profile Image for Jen Zingaro

A Complete Touchdown

I loved this story when I read it. And when I listened to it on audio, I was reminded of all of the reasons that I love it.

Seph..... She is just heroine perfection for me. The awkward, goofy girl who has no filter. I was laughing my head off. Listening to Reece try to figure out what to do with her was so much fun.

Here is my previous review and I stand by it. The narration was 100% perfect.

These characters are so darn lovable. Seph just completely broke my heart and had me cracking up. She is such an odd girl that I immediately loved her. She's never had any friends and she's awkward and blunt and learns everything by reading about it. I couldn't have loved her any more. I just wanted to befriend her and show her there are good, genuine people out there.

Reece is such a good guy. The fact that he meets a complete stranger and wants to save her from herself.... Their adventures together are hilarious and romantic!
The story itself is so complex, yet easy to read. There are so many layers with the relationships that these two have with their families. And then add in all the other football guys.... they are hilarious and you know they have their own stories to tell.

1 person found this helpful

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Profile Image for Lindsay Hartman

Loved the characters & the story

I thought this was a cute story idea and I loved most of the characters in the story. From the first interaction to the last, Reece and Seph together just made me happy. Then add in how Reece’s friends (& family) took to Seph, never seeing her quirks as a bad thing, and you have a fun uplifting story. This story, however, didn’t stop there as there were also several spicy scenes that made me look around to double check my headphones were doing their job. Lol. There were several characters I would like to get to know more and am excited to continue the series. I just wish there was a book about Dan since he was the first person who was nice to Seph.

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Profile Image for Anonymous User
  • Anonymous User
  • 07-28-20

Great performance

This is my first Maya Hughes and will definitely read more. I generally opt for more mature characters but gave this a go, even though the age group of the characters are not my norm. It was refreshing, the writing sensitive, multi dimensional, fleshed out perfectly by a wonderful performance by the narrators. The characters are well developed, their individuality distinct from their peers. I seldom read college or jock stories that keep me engaged, but M Hughes has created a wonderful, believable world at Fultun U, I feel like they'll all grow up into some amazing, intriguing people. I actually really enjoyed some side characters, Berk definitely funny.

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Profile Image for P.Wedz
  • P.Wedz
  • 07-16-20

Highly recommended.

Loved the Story. Had some real laugh out loud moments and the characters are entertaining. This book is highly recommended especially if you are travelling long distance or just need a good read no fuss kind of book with some humour.

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Profile Image for Kindle Konvert
  • Kindle Konvert
  • 05-04-20

Fab narration for a fab story!

I loved this story when I first read it and I thoroughly enjoyed the narration. Jason Clarke is fabulous as always and Emma Wilder is brilliant at doing the male voices. They really brought this story to life!

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Profile Image for Ira W.
  • Ira W.
  • 03-14-20

Great narration!

This audiobook is once again a definite proof that a good narration can make a really good book even better. I loved and enjoyed The Perfect First when I first read it but I enjoyed it, even more, when I was listening to this amazing narration. This is one of those narrations that I will definitely listen to again and again.

I loved to see Persephone blossom and learn to live life the way she wants to live it. To see her claim her life and fall in love with Reece, one "first" after the other. And Reece, well, I think he wasn't really prepared for someone like Seph but who could resist such a charming introduction?

This was a story that drew me in right from the start. The characters are wonderful, they are very authentic and likable and the whole story was very warm and sweet. I also loved the secondary characters a lot who were also well developed and authentic. Some of them we will meet again in the next books of this series that I have also read and really enjoyed. Interesting stories with a unique twist and a lot of charm and humor. I can't wait to listen to the next books in audio as well!

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Profile Image for Gillek2
  • Gillek2
  • 03-10-20

Seph and Reece!

Seph is gifted when it comes to math, but her overprotective home life has ensured that her social skills are far behind those of her peers. She is an adorable nerd who is determined to enjoy every moment of her independence before it is taken away and that means doing all the things that she has never been able to with the first item being her lack of experience when it comes to sex.

Reece is a star college football player with dreams of playing in the NFL. When he sees Seph interviewing potential candidates to be her first he is intrigued. He will help her accomplish all her firsts with one exception, but things become complicated when the thought of her with anyone else is more than he can bear.

I really enjoyed both these characters. The transformation of Seph as she tries to experience all her firsts was so much fun to watch and the way that Reece and his friends not only accepted but appreciated her for who she was made it that much better. I received a complimentary copy of the audiobook and thought that the narrators were a perfect choice for the characters.

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Profile Image for Megan Bell - The Flock🎧
  • Megan Bell - The Flock🎧
  • 03-05-20

The Perfect Narration

Seph and Reece were one of my all time favorite couples. I loved how Seph had no filter and didn't even realize it! They were annoyingly cute in all the right ways.

Persephone Alexander isn't very "socialized" to say the least, considering she's homeschooled it makes sense. She doesn't read people well and doesn't realize how awkward things can get sometimes. Which is hilariously written in this book! I loved how Seph had no filter and didn't even realize it! When she finally gets to go off to college, the experience is not what she expected... to say the least.

Reece Michaels is a receiver for Fulton U and he has always known that football was going to be his life, no matter how much his father didn't want it to be. Reece is at the top, life is great, what more could he want.. right?

When a chance encounter has these two working together to help Seph lose her virginity, they both start to question if their friendship is a good idea.

I love the way him and his friends completely accept Seph for who she is and don't think twice about adding her to their group of friends. The way they accept her and treat her as if she has always been a part of the group is exactly what Seph needed and has never been able to experience. It's so sweet and made me giddy. The way her and Reece so quickly fall into an easy friendship made my heart soar. It was everything I hoped for and more.


"You are enough" -- goodness that got me. I cried. It was perfect.


The best part for me was seeing her mom come back to life in the end. I NEEDED that! SO much! Everything came full circle and seeing the fire and wild come back was so perfect.

Jason Clarke and Emma Wilder were the perfect voices for these characters. Their narration really helped bring this story to life and made the characters and their feelings so realistic and I was completely engrossed by them.

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Profile Image for Nicola J Hardy
  • Nicola J Hardy
  • 03-04-20

so funny!

Omg loved this book! Seph (Persephone) is hilarious, she starts off as a really quiet shy kind of girl I could totally relate to but as Reece helps her out she comes out of her shell more and more , I loved how the story played out and the characters were all relatable, like you actually knew them as personal friends not just characters in your book .
I listened to the audio version and the narrators did a fantastic job of reading all the parts and drawing you in and keeping you gripped , I can't wait to read/listen to the rest of the series
A must read/listen

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Profile Image for Sara
  • Sara
  • 03-03-20

The perfect story!!!

This was seriously charming! I smiled happily and giggled a ton and even wiped several tears from my eyes!! Better than the 5 stars I gave!! Top-notch story and narration!

Well hello there you wonderful book you!! The Perfect First was just… well, perfect!! I really loved Seph. I think she’s a female character that talks to all of us. We’ve all been the shy girl, especially if you’re really into books, you’re probably a bit shy and introverted. This is Seph. Add that in to the fact that her dad is a notch above over-bearing… he’s suffocating and impossible. She’s socially awkward and has like zero firsts. She is ready to change all of that as she goes away for college. She’s foot-loose and fancy free!

Maya Hughes wrote a fun and charismatic story. Her writing, like always, is witty and fun. She pulls you in telling her story detailed and thorough. It’s a light and fun new adult book. The secondary characters are also pretty endearing and I can’t wait for more of these books to turn audio. These narrators completely KILLED this story (in a good way, in the BEST way). I couldn't get enough of Emma Wilder and Jason Clarke. They had me captivated from the start and with every wall that crumbled and first that was checked off, I feel deeper.

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 02-18-21

The Perfect First to the Fulton U Series.

This was a GREAT read and "The Perfect First" to the Fulton U series, I've read all four in the series and really enjoy Maya Hughes as an Author.
Jason Clarke was A+++++ as usual!
Persephone was an interesting Character and I found the Narration by Emma Wilder to have a sort of awkwardness which matched the personality perfectly. Sweet College Romance.

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Profile Image for Annie Cave
  • Annie Cave
  • 07-20-20

It was okay

It was a bit slow and boring in the beginning. Don’t think I will finish it. Jason Clarke fab as always, didn’t like female narration too much..

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Profile Image for Zee
  • Zee
  • 05-21-20

BEST EVER READ

I've read a lot of books but this book is my FAVOURITE out of all of them. There was not one tiny thing I disliked and wish i could give more stars.