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divine529's review
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
I had such a good time with this book. It's full of a lot of tropes I love, had fun and interesting characters and was just a good time.
This book follows our two main protagonists Sylvie and Dominic, who met previously in a show called Operation Cake (kind of like GBBO) where Sylvie was a contestant and ended up leaving the show due to an epic disaster involving a cake and Dominic's face (he's a judge). Now four years later, Sylvie is a new judge on the show and her and Dominic have to come face to face again despite having competing bakeries across the street from each other. Throw a competition to win a bid to make a royal wedding cake, explorations of trauma and grief and complicated relationships of all kinds and you have the basic idea of what this book is.
This book both hooked me from the beginning and took me some time to settle into. Baking in books is one of my favorite things and adding royalty into the mix is a recipe for a book I will most likely love and on those fronts it didn't disappoint.
Sylvie and Dominic are both interesting characters with lots of trauma and grief and different ways of coping and managing that and exploring all of that through their relationship with intimacy (everything from glances and gentle touches to sexual intimacy) was so heartbreakingly beautiful to watch and the relationship between Rosie and Johnny was lovely to see alongside the mystery and treasure hunt plotline of figuring out what happened to one of Rosie's relatives and his life (it's complicated). The relationship with Dominic and Pet was so good and I love them both. And even though I had issues with it at times, I really liked Sylvie and Jay's relationship too (though it utilized one of my least favorite tropes in books, I thought it was handled decently for a change).
Overall, I have a lot of feelings about everything in the book and it's hard to encompass all of them here, but I really enjoyed this and I can't wait to read the second installment.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and I look forward to revisiting this in the future.
This book follows our two main protagonists Sylvie and Dominic, who met previously in a show called Operation Cake (kind of like GBBO) where Sylvie was a contestant and ended up leaving the show due to an epic disaster involving a cake and Dominic's face (he's a judge). Now four years later, Sylvie is a new judge on the show and her and Dominic have to come face to face again despite having competing bakeries across the street from each other. Throw a competition to win a bid to make a royal wedding cake, explorations of trauma and grief and complicated relationships of all kinds and you have the basic idea of what this book is.
This book both hooked me from the beginning and took me some time to settle into. Baking in books is one of my favorite things and adding royalty into the mix is a recipe for a book I will most likely love and on those fronts it didn't disappoint.
Sylvie and Dominic are both interesting characters with lots of trauma and grief and different ways of coping and managing that and exploring all of that through their relationship with intimacy (everything from glances and gentle touches to sexual intimacy) was so heartbreakingly beautiful to watch and the relationship between Rosie and Johnny was lovely to see alongside the mystery and treasure hunt plotline of figuring out what happened to one of Rosie's relatives and his life (it's complicated). The relationship with Dominic and Pet was so good and I love them both. And even though I had issues with it at times, I really liked Sylvie and Jay's relationship too (though it utilized one of my least favorite tropes in books, I thought it was handled decently for a change).
Overall, I have a lot of feelings about everything in the book and it's hard to encompass all of them here, but I really enjoyed this and I can't wait to read the second installment.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and I look forward to revisiting this in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Sexual content, and Vomit
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Car accident
coacklebee's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
God, this book made me so happy. Believable enemies to lovers, no miscommunications or lying, some of the funniest one-liners I've read in years, and a whole slew of characters I want to read whole series about.
There were some confusing moments where I had to go back a couple of paragraphs to figure out what I had missed, but man, I loved the characters and I laughed so hard. This book is a freakin' delight!
There were some confusing moments where I had to go back a couple of paragraphs to figure out what I had missed, but man, I loved the characters and I laughed so hard. This book is a freakin' delight!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content
caseythereader's review
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
- BATTLE ROYAL is totally precious. Grumpy/sunshine bakers, with a GBBO-type show, and some royal wedding intrigue, too!
- This is a romance novel that really digs into feelings, both past and present. I love a book where you get to watch the leads learn how to care for and support each other.
- To be honest, I didn't really feel any heat between Sylvie and Dominic, but their relationship was so tender that I was mostly okay with it. I'll still keep reading this series; I for sure want to get stories for Pet and Mabel!
- This is a romance novel that really digs into feelings, both past and present. I love a book where you get to watch the leads learn how to care for and support each other.
- To be honest, I didn't really feel any heat between Sylvie and Dominic, but their relationship was so tender that I was mostly okay with it. I'll still keep reading this series; I for sure want to get stories for Pet and Mabel!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Cancer
Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail
100_pages_hr's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I love Lucy Parker's writing. Her voice is one I enjoy regardless of setting or anything else.
I really enjoyed getting to know Sylvie and Dominic. I always enjoy the opposites attract tropes and this was no exception. It was quite interesting how different these two were and it was fun to see how things worked out. I really liked that while neither had a perfect childhood they both had some good memories. I loved how they began to open up to each other. I also loved how it lended well to personal growth for both characters throughout the book
Sometimes side characters don't do much for me, but I really liked Pet. I'm hoping she gets featured in a future book in this series.
Reality television and baking in general are not my favorite - but that shows you how good Parker is - because I still really enjoyed this book. The reality television parts were appropriately dramatic and the cake parts had me wishing sugar didn't have such a bad effect on me.
I look forward to more in this series and reading a new Parker book has me wanting to reread her first series.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
I really enjoyed getting to know Sylvie and Dominic. I always enjoy the opposites attract tropes and this was no exception. It was quite interesting how different these two were and it was fun to see how things worked out. I really liked that while neither had a perfect childhood they both had some good memories. I loved how they began to open up to each other. I also loved how it lended well to personal growth for both characters throughout the book
Sometimes side characters don't do much for me, but I really liked Pet. I'm hoping she gets featured in a future book in this series.
Reality television and baking in general are not my favorite - but that shows you how good Parker is - because I still really enjoyed this book. The reality television parts were appropriately dramatic and the cake parts had me wishing sugar didn't have such a bad effect on me.
I look forward to more in this series and reading a new Parker book has me wanting to reread her first series.
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley. This is my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Cursing, Vomit, Medical trauma, Grief, Car accident, Blood, and Alcohol
decklededgess's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
trigger warnings: loss of loved ones, child abuse mention, domestic abuse mention, physical harm and violence, cheating and infidelity, harassment and stalking, alcohol mention, sexual content
GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK FOR ME THIS IS PERSONALLY UNMATCHED
I will say there's a good chance I'm playing this up but I haven't read a book that's eaten me alive since the Brown Sisters series so that's really fkn saying something. And even then it's so unlike Talia Hibbert's work. The core of the two main characters' relationship is the fact that they compliemnt each other perfectly in terms of how they give and receive intimacy. This book cradles the gentlest of romances in delicate hands and delivers it to you with a warm blanket and a cup of your favourite beverage in a room bathed in soft lighting and leaves you with a lil peck on the forehead. I swear to GOD I cannot handle how soft this book is.
The third act conflict really did a number on me and I resolutely avoided reading it for a whole week because I was anxious about how it would turn out and whether or not the conflict would allow me to trust in the integrity of their relationship and probable "makeup" but I had nothing to fear becasue this was the IDEAL third act conflict, i.e. no break up only working together and facing the conflict hand in hand. UGHHHHHHHHHHH I might read it again now. I finished it three hours ago. SOB SO GOOD
GOD I LOVED THIS BOOK FOR ME THIS IS PERSONALLY UNMATCHED
I will say there's a good chance I'm playing this up but I haven't read a book that's eaten me alive since the Brown Sisters series so that's really fkn saying something. And even then it's so unlike Talia Hibbert's work. The core of the two main characters' relationship is the fact that they compliemnt each other perfectly in terms of how they give and receive intimacy. This book cradles the gentlest of romances in delicate hands and delivers it to you with a warm blanket and a cup of your favourite beverage in a room bathed in soft lighting and leaves you with a lil peck on the forehead. I swear to GOD I cannot handle how soft this book is.
The third act conflict really did a number on me and I resolutely avoided reading it for a whole week because I was anxious about how it would turn out and whether or not the conflict would allow me to trust in the integrity of their relationship and probable "makeup" but I had nothing to fear becasue this was the IDEAL third act conflict, i.e. no break up only working together and facing the conflict hand in hand. UGHHHHHHHHHHH I might read it again now. I finished it three hours ago. SOB SO GOOD
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Stalking, Sexual assault, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Violence, Grief, and Bullying
Minor: Abandonment, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Emotional abuse
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