Lucy Parker

Beloved author Lucy Parker pens a delicious new romantic comedy that is a battle of whisks and wits. Ready... Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild charmed the world as a contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. Her ingenious, colorful creations captivated viewers and intrigued all but one of the judges, Dominic De Vere, the hottest pastry chef in London. When her glittery unicorn cake went spectacularly sideways, Dominic was quick to vote her off the show. Since then, Sylvie has managed to use her fame to help fulfill her dream of opening a bakery, Sugar Fair. The toast of Instagram, Sugar Fair has captured the attention of the Operation Cake producers...and a princess. Set... Dominic is His Majesty the King's favorite baker, the go-to for sweet-toothed A-List celebrities, and a veritable British institution. He's brilliant, talented, hard-working. And an icy, starchy grouch. Learning that the irksome Sylvie will be joining him on the Operation Cake judging panel is enough to make the famously dour baker even more grim. Her fantastical baking is only slightly more troublesome than the fact that he can't stop thinking about her pink-streaked hair and irrepressible dimple. Match... When Dominic and Sylvie learn they will be fighting for the once in a lifetime opportunity to bake a cake for the upcoming wedding of Princess Rose, the flour begins to fly as they're both determined to come out on top. The bride adores Sylvie's quirky style. The palace wants Dominic's classic perfection. In this royal battle, can there be room for two?

A Novel

Battle Royal

Lisa Weidacher

Today, part of his heart had fractured for someone else’s pain.

Charlotte 

She had finnished plaiting an entire section of blanket. He flipped the end around so she had more to do. 

"When I'm excited about anything, my first instinct is to tell Rosie. She's my best friend." 

That first touch of Dominic's mouth - why did it feel like turning the corner in the labyrinth and finally, finally seeing a glimmer of the right path? 

Once more, briefly, Dominic's eyes met Sylvie's. "Inspiration."

He stared at the business card for a long time, before he tucked it into the photo frame on his desk, next to the silhouette she'd cut, the rendition of Sylvie's profile. 

Zoe R

Faith Kitowski

okay THE PHYSICAL TOUCH AHHH RUNNING LAPS

Amanda

Cute story as advertised. I find the romance moves a little fast to be fully believable for me, and there are a lot of little side plots going on, most of which also get resolved a little too quickly. None of those extra side plots have quite the bang that they could have had at resolution, and probably should have just been left out.

But one benefit of things being resolved quickly was that the author didn't take some of the turns I thought they would and I didn't get disappointment or frustration over things being dragged out unnecessarily.

All in all, I look forward to future books

 ☆RoRo☆

Fun and sweet and made me want to eat ALL the cake. 🎂 

Megan BV

Andrea Rodriguez

**Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an arc of Battle Royal in exchange for an honest review**

Battle Royal was an absolute treat to read and it was the perfect recipe for the most enjoyable book for me. Enemies to lovers mixed with Lucy Parker's version of Great British Bakeoff?! Take. My. Money.

The story revolves around the two main characters, Sylvie and Dominic, who originally met on the competitive baking show,  Operation Cake - Sylvie as the upbeat, glitter-obsessed contestant and Dominic as the very serious, very harsh judge. Sylvie was voted off the show by Dominic after an unfortunate malfunction with one of her creations that ended with Dominic getting cake catapulted straight to his head. Cut to 4 years later, we find Sylvie running her own bakery, Sugar Fair, that just so happens to be right across the street from Dominic's bakery, De Vere's. And to top it off, they are now also competing against each other for one of the biggest contracts of their careers, a cake for an upcoming Royal Wedding. So, so good.

 What I liked: 
- The natural progression of Sylvie and Dominic's relationship. I adored the pure, wholesome moments between them and they gave me all of the heart eyes. I love how little by little they shared their most vulnerable parts with each other and how in tune Dominic's body language was with Sylvie's. Also, the give and take with allowing contact and physical intimacy was just, ugh. Beautifully done. I loved the consent with even the littlest gestures, like hand holding and so on.

- The maturity of it all. I find that in a lot of these type of romances, towards the end, some minor inconvenience happens and gets blown out of proportion and causes a huge rift between the couple all because of poor communication. It was so refreshing to read about a couple that communicated so well and were simply honest with each other. Sure, there were some hiccups, but they dealt with them like mature, emotionally intelligent adults and I really appreciated that.

- The plot. It was fun and whimsical with plenty of emotional, heart wrenching moments. It's so much more than just a romance between two rivals and I was absolutely here for it.

- The supporting characters were wonderfully written and I am so excited for the next installment in this series.

 What I didn't like:

- Every now and then, I'll have to look up words when I'm reading, but never as often as I had to with Battle Royal. Maybe I am just a complete dunce, but it was constant and it made me feel... well, like a dunce. Again, maybe it was just me, but it was something to note because it took me out of the story a few times.

- There were several parts where it was hard to follow what was going on. Partly because I wasn't sure who was saying what and partly because I just didn't understand what the author was talking about. This is not an issue that I deal with, if ever, and again, I only mention it because it took me out of the story.

Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this and I give it a solid 4 stars. This was my first Lucy Parker and I will definitely be checking out her other books!

Kristi Brockelsby

Slyvie and Dominic first met four years ago when she competed on Operation Cake. His pristine minimalism clashed with her shiny unicorns. Now, they are both judges on the show and vying for the chance to make a cake for a royal wedding. As they spend more time together, they find that the chemistry they experience could lead to more.

This was a hard one for me. I enjoyed the story overall, it was just a very slow start. It felt more like women's fiction instead of romance. There were two on-page scenes. The connection between them was very believable. It's also refreshing to see main characters in their mid to late thirties and dealing with that reality. 

This book deals a lot with loss and can be heavy at times. It was handled very well but please take care of yourself. There are also descriptions of past emotional abuse by a parent. Please take care of yourself.

Sarah Justus

Honestly this book should have a higher rating. It seemed a little long but in the end the love between them felt so realistic and I liked how the love didn’t seem as fast paced as other rom coms. The book dealt with loss and grief and how it affects people in a wonderful way, and the side characters stories were fun as well. If I could give .5 stars on this app I would’ve rated a 4.5 as there were a few cringey lines, but since I can’t… I rounded up. Seriously though, if you like a good slow burn, grumpy/sunshine, rivals to lovers romcom with a sprinkle of royal side characters you’ll love this book.

Sarah Lehmann

Great light-hearted romance with a decent amount of spice. Enemies to lovers meets GBBO (which is a win in my book). 


Heather Harrington

Oof, this wasn't what I expected at all. I liked the baking aspect, but that was about it. I'm one of those who don't like it when romances are too long because it just feels unnecessary, and this is the perfect example of that. There was no reason for this to be almost 400-pages. There was just way too much going on that it was distracting. It felt like four different plots were going on at once, and I didn't care about them. Had Parker focused on one and discarded the others, the plot and pacing would've flowed a lot better. I was hoping the romance between Sylvie and Dominic would make up for it, but it was so lackluster. It had a cute premise, and I think it had great potential, but it ultimately fell flat.

“Lucy Parker writes deliciously fun enemies-to-lovers perfection!” — Tessa Bailey, New York Times bestselling author Beloved author Lucy Parker pens a delicious new romantic comedy that is a battle of whisks and wits. Ready… Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild charmed the world as a contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. Her ingenious, creations captivated viewers and intrigued all but one of the judges, Dominic De Vere. When Sylvie's unicorn cake went spectacularly sideways, Dominic was quick to vote her off the show. Since then, Sylvie has used her fame to fulfill her dream of opening a bakery. The toast of Instagram, Sugar Fair has captured the attention of the Operation Cake producers…and a princess. Set… Dominic is His Majesty the King’s favorite baker and a veritable British institution. He’s brilliant, talented, hard-working. And an icy, starchy grouch. Learning that Sylvie will be joining him on the Operation Cake judging panel is enough to make the famously dour baker even more grim. Her fantastical baking is only slightly more troublesome than the fact that he can’t stop thinking about her pink-streaked hair and irrepressible dimple. Match… When Dominic and Sylvie learn they will be fighting for the once in a lifetime opportunity to bake a cake for the upcoming wedding of Princess Rose, the flour begins to fly as they fight to come out on top. The bride adores Sylvie’s quirky style. The palace wants Dominic’s classic perfection. In this royal battle, can there be room for two?

Becky

I wasn’t in the right mood for this when I started but I was hooked by the end. It was such a good book, but I expect nothing less from Lucy Parker. I always adore her books and she has a way of writing characters that I always find myself loving them, even if they don’t start off as likeable. 

Sim worried about this one as it wasn’t part of the London Celebrities series and it saw an alternate royal family here in the uk. It was strange to read but it actually helped me escape into the book a little more as it wasn’t our royal family even though they appeared to suffer similar issues the real family suffers. The royals weren’t the main focus but they did have a starring role and they will feature more next time around, I think. 

It was an enjoyable series with a slightly more back stabby  GBBO like show. I think those parts could have been played up more as I was totally intrigued by that show but I get that wasn’t the main focus. 

My main complaint about the book was there could have been more focus on the actual romance between Sylvie and Dominic. I could see the sparks between them, chemistry was not an issue, but I felt like we didn’t get enough of them together they were always being pulled up into their real life. I guess a few more personal moments just the two of them might have slowed the pace but I would have liked more. But I still loved it and can see me rereading time and again like I do with her other books. 

Lauren Sullivan

Content notes: (view spoiler)[Grief, death of parents (before book starts), death of beloved aunt (before book starts, but aunt’s death in the hospital is recounted on-page via a flashback), death of a grandfather (before book starts), death of a side character in car accident (before book starts), toxic family, attempted knife attack (side character is wounded), bullying (hide spoiler)]

AKA, the book where Lucy Parker rips my heart out, covers it in icing and edible glitter, and then gently replaces it. This book hauled me in and emotionally wrecked me and I loved every minute. It’s grumpy/sunshine, rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity perfection and good to the last crumb!

Sylvie first met Dominic while she was a contestant on baking show and he was a judge, made even more memorable by, well, a unicorn and glitter explosion involving him. Years later, they now own bakeries across the street from each other. Dominic’s, inherited from his grandfather, specializes in elegant and traditional designs while Sylvie’s… well, it has an enchanted forest in the basement and one of the employees makes sugar sculptures of the Golden Girls. And while they’re both signed up to judge the latest season of the baking show, their biggest source of competition? One of the royals is getting married, and both want the chance to design the cake.

“He went in for elegant minimalism. She rarely saw an object that couldn’t be improved with sequins.
She was, aesthetically, his worst nightmare.”

I usually start out my review talking about the heroine, but this time I need to talk about Dominic. He has a reputation for his cutting criticism and cold demeanor on the baking show, but from the moment we’re in his POV, we see that it’s not the whole story. He’s understanding of his employees’ personal issues, unfailing kind to Sylvie when she’s freaking out before the cooking show starts (he gives her chocolate, for goodness sakes), and an absolute dithering idiot when it comes to emotions. And if there’s one thing Sylvie understands, it’s emotions. To paraphrase from the book, if Dominic is technical perfection, then Sylvie is heart. She knows that all the unicorns and dragons that Dominic derides as childish are something that make people happy, and what’s the motivation behind baking beautiful and delicious desserts if not to make people happy? They’re both incredibly talented people who love baking, but their outlooks on life couldn’t be more different.

“Pardon me if it’s obvious when two people are into each other.”
“Is it?” Mariana murmured. And smiled at her blandly.”

It’s obvious from the outset that Dominic has a thing for Sylvie, even if he’d probably term that feeling as annoyance rather than attraction. And Sylvie? Yeah, she’s in denial, too, and thinks her flirting is just attempts to get Mr. Dour to loosen up. There’s something ridiculously fun about watching two people who interested in the other be completely oblivious about it. And the feels! It’s emotionally resonant and truly moving. There’s a scene where Sylvie impulsively grabs Dominic’s hand to comfort him and the description simply melted me into a pile of goo. The book also deals heavily with grief, as both Sylvie and Dominic are still dealing with the after effects of the deaths of important people in their lives. There’s several examples of the heart-stoppingly painful moments where, even years later, grief can swamp you. And on a happier note, it’s also about family, found and biological: Dominic’s fumbling attempts to build a relationship with his sister, Pet; Sylvie’s best-friend-practically-her-brother Jay; and, well, all the royal shenanigans you could expect. The scene where Dominic finally understands deep in his soul that he has people he can reach out to? I bawled like a baby.

As for criticisms, there’s a lot going on in this book. There’s the relationship forming between Dominic and Sylvie, investigating what to make for the royal wedding cake, a case of corporate espionage, both characters dealing with grief and family issues… oh, and the cake competition they’re judging. It’s a lot. For the most part, I felt like the various threads were handled well throughout most of the book, but it didn’t quite wrap up as well at the end.

“I’m equal parts terrified and aroused.”
“What an excellent relationship motto for us. I think I’ll embroider it on a cushion.”

Overall, this was an emotionally charged read for me, and I’m eagerly awaiting the next book. It was very obvious who the next couple will be and I am so excited to see what happens with them!

I received an advance review copy of this book from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Kerri McDonald

This was such a cute book! I loved all the descriptions of the baking and desserts, the visits to beautiful London locales, and most especially our two leads. Sylvia and Dominic are the cutest and their chemistry is just electric! The steaminess was on point, as well. Not the spiciest but definitely gets the blood pumping. This was just a fun read that had an emotional thread that brought tears to my eyes. I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Lynn Braden

Sylvia Fairchild has had to live down the embarrassment of accidentally hitting Dominic De Vere, judge on the competition show, Operation Cake, in the face with a unicorn horn, but she finally has a chance for redemption.  Not only has she become a judge on Operation Cake, but she and the team at her company, Sugar Fair, are in the running for a lucrative contract to make the wedding cake for a royal wedding.  The only thing standing in her way is Dominic and his company De Veres, which is also in the running for the same contract.  

The strongest part of Battle Royal includes the connection that Sylvia and Dominic share over the loss of a loved one who cared for each of them during their formative years, leading to some poignant moments.  Unfortunately, the romance between the two protagonists is the weakest part of the book.  Even though the competition for the royal contract should have been a huge point of contention between the characters, it never manifested itself enough to make it interesting.  External conflicts with other characters in the book were much more dynamic but did not add to the romance.  In addition, much of this book is written like literary fiction, making it difficult to connect with the characters, especially in the beginning.  Overall, Battle Royal includes some interesting elements but taken as a whole, lacks the heart to make it an enjoyable romance.

mary

Amanda J 

Sweet and Fluffy. Not much miscommunication. Writing isn't fully there yet, hard to tell which POV it was. Good chemistry but wished more interaction than thinking with the h/H.

Alexis 

3/5 Stars 

** I received this as an E-ARC from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review, Thank you!** 

I have to admit I'm a little disappointed by this book. I will say I think I personally went in with too high expectations so that contributed to my disappointment. I just wasn't a big fan in general about this book. I like the writing just fine, and the characters were okay. I think a lot of it had to do with the pace of the book. I think it moved just a bit slow for my personal preference. I'll also say that I wasn't the biggest fan of the characters. I just couldn't seem to connect to any of them so it was difficult to really feel invested. That being said I did really enjoy the baking and creativity that went into that. I think those were some of my favorite parts. It also really made me crave cake while reading. Overall it was an average read for me. If you're interested I would say give it a read.

Diego

I really like this one, it was funny, entertaining and connected with their romance.
I appreciate how the author handled the inevitable drama near the end.
If we get a book about the sister and the bodyguard I'll read it too.

b.andherbooks

Two master bakers reunite on the set of a GBBO style show where they are now both judges. Rivals still in their personal professional lives, both competing for THE client, a royal princess wedding day cake, they also stumble into feelings too.

There is so much plot in this story. So many things happen, and overall they took away from the romance for me. The author deftly incorporated the heavy themes of loss and grief for the many characters who are going through these things, but the addition of a mentally ill stalker plotline, a saboteur in the bakery, and a potentially cheating contest were all too many threads on top of already heavy themes.

The narrator was chirpy and successfully portrayed the characters, though with so many sometimes it was hard to tell who was speaking.

Parker's writing sparkles, this just didn't quite hit thematically or plot-wise for me personally.

Thank you to LibroFM and HarperAudio for the ALC

Sarah Williams

4.5/5 stars

BATTLE ROYAL was a complete surprise, and a pleasant one at that. The story took me a while to get into; it started out slowly, at least to me, and had me wondering whether I’d feel invested in this story and its characters. Then, all of a sudden, and without realizing it, I’d fallen head over heels for Sylvie and Dominic and this story. 

I loved Parker’s voice and writing style; it was beautiful and resonant while still managing to be relatable and laugh-out-loud funny. Sylvie and Dom were fantastically fleshed-out and some of the strongest characters I’ve read about in a while. One thing I’m always looking for with regard to chemistry is show, don’t tell. This is the perfect example of that; Parker perfectly captured the depth of their connection and their chemistry, and not just their physical chemistry, but also their emotional and mental chemistry. 

Some of the conflict resolution felt a bit rushed at the end—especially with regard to one of Sylvie’s employees, although I won’t say more to avoid spoilers—but I thought that given how much was going on in this book, Parker did a fantastic job at generally providing closure where necessary. 

This was my first Lucy Parker book and it won’t be my last. I’m especially excited about the continuation of this series, as Pet, Dominic’s younger sister, was one of my absolute favorite parts of this story and I’m so happy she’ll be getting her own HEA. 

TWs: grief, past loss of a family member, stalking, brief violence

I received a copy of this book from the publisher and the author in exchange for my honest review. This has not impacted or influenced my review or my opinions.

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