A review by onthesamepage
Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

emotional hopeful lighthearted 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? Yes

5.0

His gaze went to her hair and locked there. He wanted to touch it. In that instant of time, he obviously desired nothing more than to slide his long fingers into the fine strands, cup her head with that huge palm, tug her forward, take a slow breath . . . and sling her out the window by her ponytail like the Trunchbull.

I believe I was on page 3 when I first had an inkling that I was going to really enjoy this book, and I'm so glad that proved true because I think I would've been gutted otherwise. This has the perfect blend of tropes I enjoy, characters I grew to love, a setting I really like (baking + royalty? heck yeah), great pacing and character development, and, of course, the exact kind of humor and banter that can absolutely make a book for me. I haven't read many romances that are this spot on and conforming to my tastes. I absolutely loved it.

“He once called you the pretty, annoying one,” Mariana added, clearing up that little mind-boggler of a moment. With intense dryness, Sylvie said, “I don’t think he intended you to insert a comma into that sentence.”

It starts with our main characters and how the relationship develops between them. Whether it's enemies to lovers, hate to love, rivals to lovers or whatever other variations there are, this is a trope I really, really like when it's executed well, and by that I mean, the characters don't just start lusting after one another secretly right from the start. By necessity, that means the relationship is more of a slow build, otherwise it doesn't feel believable for me. But I believed it here. Sylvie and Dominic are such a precious couple, and their romance felt so heart-warming and tender. There was definitely plenty of steam too, but it's honestly the quiet, simple moments that got to me and made me root for them so hard. The way Sylvie managed to worm her way through the wall Dominic puts up for the world, and the way Dominic became her support when she needed it, was just *chef's kiss*.

But there's a lot more to this story than just the romance, and those other elements were all amazing too. The book actually deals with some heavier themes like grief from losing a loved one, and the pressures that come with being in the public eye. There are also a lot of very loveable side characters, from Pet, Dominic's sister, to Jay, Sylvie's partner and best friend, to the royal couple, and they're all worth rooting for in their own way. I found the subplots to be just as interesting, and I was super invested in everything the author was trying to sell me. It doesn't hurt that this is a book about two bakers, and romances that have something to do with food always earn extra brownie points.

There is also no dramatic conflict to break the couple apart briefly before they get back together again, because they are adults who communicate, and even when they're going through a tough time, they deal with it and don't run off. That alone would bump it up a star.

Maybe it's too early to say after reading one book by the author, but I have a feeling Lucy Parker might become my comfort contemporary romance author, the way Courtney Milan is for historical romances. Can't wait to dive into her backlist. 
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