A review by theaccidentalromanceblogger
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

funny lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild was a contestant in a Great British Bake-Off (Baking Show for the Americans) type of show. Dominic De Vere was a judge in said show. Sylvie always wowed everyone with her whimsical creations, but those never impressed the more traditionalist De Vere. She was rapidly moving ahead in the competition, when a cake gimmick run amok has her shooting a unicorn hoof smack dab in the forehead of the grumpy judge...
Fast-forward to today and Sylvie is an accomplished baker, with her own fairytale-like bakery/eatery/bar located literally across from De Vere's very classy and traditional one. And, through a series of fortunate events, she ends up being the new judge in the same TV show, much to De Vere's dismay.
When rumors of the new royal wedding  pop up, Sylvie knows her competitor will be in the short list and she manages to find herself a way to get invited to show her proposal for the wedding cake.
Let the competition begin!
When they get asked some very hard to achieve and very specific requests from the couple, they end up joining forces in the research. Sylvie figures out that Dominic is not as grumpy as he seems and Dominic, well, Dominic always knew that Sylvie was a fairy in disguise. ;) 
If you love GBBO and baking, this one is definitely for you! I loved how the Paul Hollywood/Simon Cowell grumpy Dominic turns into the sweetest cinnamon hero. When Sylvie gets food poisoning after one of their research trips and he takes care of her...*SWOON*. 
We get the expected conflicts: Dominic is dealing with his estranged sister who's back into his life like a hurricane and Sylvie runs her bakery with her best friend Jay. There are the expected royal shenanigans and uppity characters but they make it all the more fun to read. 
It's light-hearted, low-angsty and a little predictable, but completely adorable. Yeah, the ending is kinda obvious, but it's a romance novel! You WANT it to end exactly like that! 
Loved it! 
Possible triggers: death of loved ones, toxic relationships with parents, a secondary character gets assaulted with a knife and hurt
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