I found this to be a fun easy read with lots of GBB vibes with a British/American component. The addition of the princess was a fun change.

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker is a delightful treat for readers who adore lighthearted, feel-good romances with a dash of grumpy-sunshine charm, enemies-to-lovers tension, and a sweet, sugary coating of baking and whimsy.

I love a good enemies to lovers and this was so much fun!! The dynamic between Sylvie and Dominic was so much fun and I loved the competition element!

I will always read a book with baking in it. ALWAYS!
Baking is my stress relief, and you give me a good romance that even just mentions baking. And I am picking it up.
And boy has that tactic gotten me in trouble before. But not this time haha.

Then you throw in a little attractive British hunk to the story. And man. Some of all of my favorite things haha.

Sylvie and Domonic are such opposites. But the tension builds. And I was following along page by page. I loved the competition and rivalry. I loved the romance. I loved the.... England haha.

Go pick this one up now!

I enjoy reading romcoms. I liked the realness of the build up to Dominic and Sylvies relationship. I am a sucker for anything baking so this was a hit!

What a cute premise!

Thanks to NetGalley / Edelweiss and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Sylvie and Dominic don't get off on the right foot due to Sylvie's viral cake explosion in Dominic's face. Sylvie was a contestant on a baking show Dominic is the judge for, but it has been four years since then. She now owns her own bakery, but it's across the street from none other than the grump of baking. They are complete opposites, she loves sparkles and magic while he keeps his bakes simple and classic. They end up getting tangled in another competition of sorts when they realize there is going to be a royal wedding soon. Both of them want to make the royal wedding cake and will do anything to secure the deal.

This was so much fun!! I love the fact these two own rivaling businesses and have to compete in more ways than one. But under the surface, they become fans of each other and their businesses! So cute!!
I will say there was a lot going on and it kind of gave me a whiplash at times. But overall an entertaining and memorable read! Definitely sparked my sweet tooth while reading!

About the book:
Sylvie Fairchild is the bright, playful, and fun owner of Sugar Fair, a bakery she was able to open with the residual success from her appearance on the hit baking show Operation Cake. But if you ask Dominic De Vere, the very serious baker to the Crown (who she may have accidentally covered in cake when he was judging the show) she's a pain in the behind. Now, the two not only have to judge the show together, but the Princess wants a wedding cake - and she's not sold on using Dominic as expected. In fact, she likes Sylvie's cakes so much she wants them each to present a compelling concept to her. It's not like the tension between them could get any worse... right?

TL;DR:
- 3.5 stars
- Content warnings: death of family members, death scene
- A sweet romance between two sincerely emotional opposites who find love in their shared passions. Would recommend for anyone looking for a slower lead-in or a taste of royal drama!

Loved:
- For better or worse I really enjoy sunshine + grump as a trope. Sue me! They had that in spades. I draw the line when I feel like the grump is assholey/misogynistic and Dominic was not that, to me. Just a serious dude.
- I LOVE any romance where it's clear that the author cares a lot about the field their characters work in, and shows it by doing their research or really rounding out the world they live in. I'm not a baker so I'm not sure how 100% accurate everything was but it felt real! Which counts!
- There was a ton of side-character detail and development (which isn't for everyone) but I love romances with this quality because it makes them more real to me.

Less into:
- It was a bit slow to get into the real meat of their romance, but nothing to nix the book over.
- I didn't love the conflict with Sylvie's best friend as it didn't feel necessary/to further the plot. That's all I'll say.

Overall a well written and cute romance with more bang for its buck than expected with the side stories and world building!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me a free advanced copy of this book to read and review.

Battle Royal is the first Lucy Parker book that I’ve had the chance to read and it was a treat, which seems fitting with its nod to the Great British Bake Off. Knowing it was GBBO inspired made me interested because I’m a sucker for a good baking competition.

At first glance I thought this was going to be enemies to lovers, but it is definitely closer to the vein of rivals to lovers. Four years ago Sylvie competed in a baking show competition where Dom was one of the judges–he is the “mean” judge, more or less hated by contestants and viewers alike–and she ends up being one of the contestants ousted from the show.

Four years later, she is back on Operation Cake (as a bakery owner herself, like Dom), and they must learn how to work together, for the show’s benefit, of course.

Dom very much epitomizes half of the grumpy/sunshine trope, especially early on in the story. I’ve read so many romances in the past where the characters fall flat, fitting more to the trope than seeming like fully rounded characters. I never felt like that was the case with Battle Royal. Both of the leads have these fully fleshed out histories making them feel like real people, things that make them tick and that made me really care about both of them.

The royal twist in this book (the fact that both Dom and Sylvie are independently trying to win the bid to make the royal wedding cake for Princess Rosie’s wedding) was such a good addition. It added a layer of complexity and rivalry, and gave our leads the chance to work together in a setting outside of the competition.

In Battle Royal there were several standout side characters that helped to add layers and were woven into this story seamlessly. I so loved Dom’s younger sister, Pet, as well as Princess Rosie. They hold a special place in my heart, which makes me excited for book 2 in the series as it will be centering around Pet.

There were a lot of things about this book that I really enjoyed (and a handful of things I didn’t love, but that didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment of the book). While this seems like a total light hearted romcom, there were a lot of deeper storylines and I was left feeling so many emotions throughout. All in all, a great read and I plan to continue the series!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

If you enjoy “The Great British Baking Show” and the enemies to lovers trope, this is going to be your book. It adds two bonus royal romances into the mix and a grumpy cat! Overall, it is just a really fun romp that’s only weakness is that it drags slightly in parts, but the total package is very enjoyable. I would recommend for vacation reading.

This was a cute read with the oh-so-loved enemies-to-lovers trope and a classic competition environment. I love the tension and build-up of their connection to one another. Super cute read that is easily binge-able in a single sitting!

OHMYGOSHYOUGOTTAREADTHISBOOKNOW.

That is all.

OK, OK--I suppose I can *try* and write a review, even though there's no way it will at all adequately portray the fabulousness of this book.

Sylvie and Dominic do *not* have a meet cute. Instead, there is almost an instantaneous intense dislike between the two--a dislike that is not at all alleviated when Lucy's spectacular cake fail (helpfully televised for all of Britain to see) happens, well, essentially to Dom.

(I'm not even going to attempt to describe what actually happens beyond that. You truly have to read it yourself. Have I already mentioned that you NEED to read this book?)

Fast forward a few years, and not only are Sylvie and Dominic businesses competitors who work across the street from one another, but they're both competing for the commission of the century--to create the cake that will be seen around the world at the royal wedding. Princess Rosie and her fiance have a few unusual requests, though, that will soon have Sylvie and Dom working together to solve some intriguing puzzles. The more time they spend together, the more they are forced to rethink their preconceived notions, and...

You can guess where this is going, right? ;)

Except you really can't, because even though yes, of course this is a romance and Sylvie and Dom are on their way to a (spectacular) HEA, there is so much more to this book than just a competitors-to-lovers story. One of the mysteries that they investigate--OMG, I'm getting a little teary right now just thinking about it. SO MANY FEELS. I'm not kidding. I can't even tell you how many times I got a little weepy while reading this. OK, maybe it was a bit more than "a little" at times.

This is why I wear waterproof mascara every day, clearly.

Besides that plot thread, there were others, including: another (far lesser) competitor stealing recipes from Sylvie's store, Dom trying to forge a relationship with his (OMG, so sweet) younger sister, employee and personal drama at both Dom and Sylvie's shops, and oh yeah, the excitement of the baking-themed reality show that they are both judging--the same show where they once met so memorably.

All of that's not even the best part of this book--the slow burn, absolutely delightfully layered relationship that develops between Sylvie and Dom, and Ms Parker's portrayal of it. Goodness, the depth of it, on top of the OTT steam factor? Beyond delicious. (See what I did there? #sorrynotsorry)

I closed my ereader when I finished this with a happy sigh--and maybe a little bit of a delighted cackle. You'll understand why when you get to the last page.

I can't even begin to express my delight when I went to Goodreads to see that the next book will apparently be Pet's--AND I AM HERE FOR IT.

It doesn't even have a title yet, but surely it will be out soon, yes? ;)

Rating: 4 1/2 stars / A

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.

"It actually pissed him off that she would have had to curtsy at St. Giles, because this woman needed to bow to no one."

3.5 stars. This book was super cute. The plot was interesting, the characters were likeable, the competition was great, but I thought the romance was lacking a bit, and I can't understand why. They had the communication, they were mature, they didn't have silly little fights...

If I was measuring this book against all the other new releases in 2021, it's a definite winner. However, measuring it against other Parker novels, it falls a little short of my favorites. Particularly, there are way too many story lines and threads pulling our attention away from Sylvie and Dominic's romance, and I grew impatient. I also expected the baking show to function as the primary back story, and it strangely gets relegated to a minor plot. Then there is the work sabotage of Sylvie's bakery, which felt repetitive from last year's Headliners when an employee was out to sabotage Sabrina & Nick's new daytime talk show. Then there is drama on the set of the baking show as one contestant is out to sabotage the others. Then there is an unrequited love story that threatens to harm Sylvie's and Dominic's budding new romance. The rest of the book is filled with so many characters that it felt like a novel bursting at the seams in places. I wanted to get my copy editor's red pen out and start scratching through unnecessary material. I wanted really though for Parker to focus on telling us a fabulous romance, which she can certainly do with both Sylvie and Dominic.

I'm intrigued for Pet's story next, though I already have a little fear that the palace intrigue might upstage the romance, which sounds very promising. Special mention here of Humphrey, Dominic's melodramatic fat cat with the ability to upstage most people in any given scene. His entrance in the book is alone worth the price to read it. Not Parker's best book but one I still greatly enjoyed reading.

I did enjoy Battle Royal a fair bit, especially with the baking and bit of competition/investigation that is involved with the storyline. But the novel didn't end up being as overall my cup of tea as I'd anticipated despite being a fun diversion. I still intend on picking up the next one because I'm intrigued by the directions it could potentially go...

This was a cute book that incorporated a baking show, rivalry and royalty. There was A LOT going on in this book. I think it suffered from having too much going on.

It had all the potential, but it just fell flat for me. Sylvie and Dominic are a cute couple, but their chemistry was lacking for me.

It was slow to start and slow to continue, but I pushed through at the thought it might get better. It really didn’t, but it was still a decent book nonetheless.

The banter, the witty comebacks, the pushing and pulling on one another was probably the best part of the story, and their friends to lovers trope was done decently well. Just wasn’t my favorite by any means.

Thank you for the opportunity to review!

I didn't enjoy this as much as I had hoped to, which pains me because I adore Lucy Parker's romances. I also felt the cover was a mis-match of the content. While I thoroughly enjoyed the culinary setting, I felt some of the plot choices derailed from the romance which I had hoped would remain more front and center; I was particularly uncomfortable with the stalker subplot. I'll keep reading Parker but this was disappointing.

This was a super cute read. It read a bit long or slow in some areas, but it was a cute romantic comedy in others. I loved the opposites attract set up, and I definitely want to check out some more Lucy Parker books!

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker was so cute! It was just what I was in the mood to read. I can always count on this author for a great read. Well done!!!