This is a contemporary romance that had me with the first classic vs. quirky interaction between our two main characters.

Sylvie was a previous contestant on a British baking show and now owns her own bakery with a heavy emphasis on glitter and magic. She is asked to come back to be a judge four years later along with the tough, straight laced Dominic.

Dominic also owns a family inherited bakery which is all about class and sophistication.

These two opposites not only have to work on set together but they are also competing for a very royal and important gig.

This enemies to lovers read is delicious and full of witty banter! It was hard to keep up with at first, but it soon become addictive a third of the way through. Sylvie is a character full of light, even in dark times. Dominic has a heartbreaking childhood, but works hard to keep the past behind him while staying calm and respectful on the outside. The characters are pure classic vs. quirky and it was a wonderful relationship to read and watch grow.

It’s the first book of a new series and I can’t wait for a taste of the books to come!

dnf @ 50% I was really hoping to like this book. I mean, enemies to lover and baking? what more could a girl want? i was really hoping the romance in the book would grab me but after reading half the book, I decided to give up on it. The tension better the characters was useless and unnatural. when the book tried to address bigger issues it felt forced and out of place. and the pop culture references were over the top and frankly annoying!

Romantic, funny, charming, emotional, Lucy Parker hits all the right notes in Battle Royal. It sets a high bar for the batch of Great British Bake Off-inspired romances hitting shelves lately. I loved that this opposites attract, rivals-to-lovers story has a major B plot outside of the baking show, and a real British sensibility about it. And while most bakes come in at 350F, Parker turns up the heat just a little bit more.

Family (for better and worse) plays a big role in Dominic and Sylvie's backstories this one, so CW for emotionally neglectful parents, death of a parental figure at a formative time.

I’m a big fan of THE GREAT BRITISH BAKE OFF, and lately I’ve been reading more and more novels that focus on baking shows – like Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake – and I’m loving it.

And although Dominic didn’t look anything like you know who from #GBBO, it was definitely him I imagined – lol. Also it didn’t hurt that both main characters were older, established and successful in their career. Their relationship started on equal footing, it was more mature and low on drama. And their interactions were SWOONWORTHY!!!

The book had much to offer, from the baking show, to the contract competition, to the royal drama – it had something for everyone. Also, the banter in BATTLE ROYAL was superb. I loved the quick witted and dry humor, and most of all the chemistry and obvious attraction between the couple.

Besides the rivals to lovers trope, I also enjoyed the patchwork/found family trope – it has always been a favorite of mine, and it’s still something that I enjoy immensely – especially with so many great characters. Hoping to see some of them in future books.

Overall the book was well written, maybe it dragged a little between the amazing dialogues, but the interaction between the characters was wonderful, and the characters themselves were memorable. I just lost steam at times, and that resulted in me reading the book in three big junks, with weeks in between each junk, and that wouldn’t have happened if the book would have hooked me 100%.

But, truly, that’s all I could complain about. Otherwise the novel had everything I love about a great romance.

This is a delightful book! Sylvie is a former contestant on Operation Cake, a top baking show. During her season, one of her very creative creations malfunctioned and ended up injuring Dominic, the taciturn judge who is known for his classic and traditional designs from his family bakery. Several years later, Sylvie now has her own bakery located across the streets from Dominic's bakery, which has been one of the most respected in London for generations. She has been invited to serve as one of the judges on the new season of Operation Cake. And Sylvie and Dominic are both competing for the biggest contract in baking -- the chance to bake the cake for a royal wedding.

As they find themselves spending more and more time together, they realize that their perceptions of each other may be flawed -- and that their feelings for each other may be more complicated than either realized.

I really enjoyed both main characters and the professional and personal journeys we go on with each of them, as they learn more about each other -- and about themselves. The premise, combining a Great British Bake Off-like setting with a royal wedding, is creative and well executed. This is a fun story that you won't want to put down.

Highly recommended!

Battle Royal is a deliciously sweet foodie romance. Two rival bakers are forced into each other’s lives when they both end up as judges on a reality baking show that’s suspiciously similar to the beloved Great British Bake Off 😍

They also are vying for the biggest commission either of them can imagine - a royal wedding cake.

Honestly this book has every element I could possibly want - enemies to lovers, royalty, GBBO, bakeries!! Thankfully it was also well written witty, heart warming, and flat out adorable. Both of the main characters had depth and revealed sides of themselves to each other that made their connection feel so genuine. I adored how they brought out new traits and feelings in each other and made the other person better.

When these bakers are tapped to design the royal wedding cake, frosting flies and lines are crossed. The question is who will win the honor – Dominic with his traditional style or the sparkly stylings of Sylvie?

A Lucy Parker book is always a good time! I loved the couple. I loved being in their bakeries. I loved the royal side plot. It all added up to a wonderful reading experience for me.

Though this was an enemies-to-lovers romance, I could tell these two were clearly made for each other. Their aesthetics may have been night and day, but their level of talent, drive, and their work ethic were perfectly matched. They both held a professional admiration for each other, and after spending a great deal of time together, their appreciation grew into something more. I especially loved peeling back those layers on Dominic and seeing Sylvie discover what was hidden beneath his gruff exterior. He truly was a hidden gem. Seeing the type of person he became despite his past just augmented my affection for him.

Parker also created some delightful supporting characters. Pet, Dominic’s sister, was a delight. And then, there was Mabel. She had no filter, but she was the type of loyal friend who would help you hide the body. I found her hilarious and a source of many great comedic moments.

Can we talk about those bakeries? Dominic’s sounded classy and filled with delectable treats, but I was dying to go to Sugar Fair, Sylvie’s bakery. In my mind, I saw something a la Willie Wonka’s factory. Cocktails in the enchanted forrest and a BIG edible castle. Sign me up! The food descriptions were incredible as well. I have been known to go on about my love for cake, and oh! So much cake in this story. I adored hearing about it all!

Being part of the royal wedding cake design process was fantastic. I loved trying to envision these cakes in my head. I also enjoyed being on the set of Operation Cake. The mishaps, the successes, the challenges – all were so much fun to read about, and Parker did a great job pulling me into the onset action.

Overall: Another delightful romance from Parker! This was a brilliant introduction to this world, and I cannot wait to return.

This book was a great grump and sunshine love story that really hit all the right notes for me. Sylvie Fairchild is an upbeat, glittery, colorful, optimistic contestant on a baking show with Dominic De Vere as a cold, emotionless, hard judge. Ultimately they have bakeries across the street from each other, and chaos and romance occurs with Sylvie becoming a fellow judge on Operation Cake and both main characters going for the same royal wedding cake contract. I loved how this story leans into a lot of lovely romance tropes: rivals to lovers, baking for royals, and even some intrigue. It simultaneously made me laugh and cry, with the dialogue and character development. This was my first read from author Lucy Parker, but I will most definitely be reading more and recommending Battle Royal to anyone who wants a fun, well written, and thoughtful romance with lots of descriptions of delicious treats.

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker is about two competing bakers who find themselves both foes and allies in their quest to bake the perfect cake for a royal wedding. They also happen to be co judges in a TV reality Bake Off show. She also happens to be all rainbows and unicorns, intricate and outrageous fantasy baked creations while he happens to be the heir to one of the most renowned bakeries in all of England and yes his family has been baking royal wedding cakes for awhile now. Meet Lucy Parker’s newest romantic couple, Sylvie Fairchild and Dominic De Vere. Battle Royal was funny, poignant, sexy, witty and will make you hunger for cakes and sweets all the time! This couple started out as contestant and judge, business competitors, co judges and of course develops into a partnership in and out of the bedroom. They both have their own personal traumas regarding relationships but the way this was woven into the story and into the romance was very well done. There is also a mini plotline with regards to the royal wedding which was a nice way of bringing our couple together at the same time intriguing enough for readers to latch on to. Battle Royal is also filled with fantastic secondary characters that definitely adds dimension to the story!

Lucy Parker does it again! I Literally screamed when I got access to this book. I am definitely obsessed with her London celebrities series.
Like her other series this book has heart, witty characters, and sexiness. With British Bake off vibes, a grumpy, supposedly unemotional hero that already is annoyed with the heroine due to a unicorn cake mishap….this is the best way to spend your beach day. With a couple other side romance stories playing out to make it even more interesting and emotional- you won’t want to put this book down. This is a fantastic start to a new series and can NOT wait for certain side characters to take center stage. Read this book - you won’t regret it.

Look there isn't a Lucy Parker book written that I haven't loved. I've read them all, I've 5 starred them all, and this one is no different.

Really, it's 3 love stories in 1:
A poignant love story with a heartbreaking, bittersweet ending between the late Prince Patrick and his beloved, the late Jessica Maple-Moore.

A equally poignant love story with a vastly less heartbreaking ending between Princess Rose and her fiancé, Johnny Marchmont.

A delightfully effervescent and charming love story between the 2 MCs, the stodgy, uptight celebrity baker Dominic De Vere and the whimsical, free-spirited baker, Sylvie Fairchild.

It's the quintessential grump/sunshine romance, which Lucy Parker has done before to great success but it doesn't feel repetitive here. She breathes new life into this trope with the 2 MCs but also a plot that is quite heavy and has a LOT going on.

For a book that is so charming and sweet and lovely, there's a recurring theme of grief and loss and the idea of balancing one's desires with one's responsibilities that runs through the book. It's poignant and heartfelt and incredibly romantic, all the little ways that Dominic shows his adoration for Sylvie and vice-versa, the way Rose and Johnny prove their devotion to each other, and also the revelation of the true depth of Patrick and Jessie's love.

And then...Humphrey the asshole cat. IDK how Lucy Parker manages to write these ridiculous cats but omg, I love them. Humphrey could give Cat Richard a run for his money.

Actually, I don't know how Lucy Parker manages to be so consistently excellent - her books are ALWAYS a winner, always puts a smile on my face and a lump in my throat. This one is no exception.

This book was so so SO cute!!! I loved how the story focused not just on Sylvie and Dominic's adorable journey from enemies to lovers (best trope ever) but also brought in other plotlines--family trouble, difficulties of fame, even corporate espionage and mental health--without becoming cluttered or overwhelmed. I, for one, cannot wait for the next book to come out!

GBBS meets enemies-to-lovers in this absolute gem of a romcom. This is my first book by Lucy Parker, and I’m glad I decided to request a copy of this through netgalley because it did not disappoint!

Sylvie meets Dominic while competing on a baking competition show called Operation Cake. After a mishap involving a unicorn cake, Dominic, one of the judges, gives Sylvie the boot and the two have been enemies ever since.

Four years later the pair own rival businesses across the street from one another, and are both judges on the show that made Sylvie famous. Things change when news breaks of an upcoming royal wedding, and they both decide to throw their names in the ring to win the contract. Soon the lines between their relationship starts blur as working and competing against each other has brought them closer together.

While S&D are polar opposites (she’s sunshine and rainbows, he’s doom and gloom), their chemistry is present from the get go. It was great to see their characters develop from throwing barbs to actually admitting how they felt, and I loved watching them work together.

Five stars for one of my favorite tropes!

Battle Royal is the first in a fun new series by Lucy Parker. Four years ago, Sylvie lost her spot on a popular British baking show when her unicorn cake hit Dominic, one of the judges, in the face on national television. Four years later, they own rival bakeries in Notting Hill and Sylvie will be joining the show as a judge. At the same time, a royal wedding has been announced and both want to win the contract for a once=in-a-lifetime event. I absolutely loved this fun romance. It contains several of my favorite things- found families, British royals (these are fictitious), food competitions, and it takes place in London. I can't wait to see where Parker goes with the next book in the series!

This one was pretty sweet!

I love a good baking show as much as the next person so I was very excited for this enemies to lovers with the backdrop of a baking competition.

I wouldn't call them enemies, it's definitely more of a frenenmies "love to hate" kind of relationship And I think my favorite part of the book was how natural their progression was from dislike to like to love. They were both vulnerable and taken off guard by their attraction and it was great to see their slow burn.

I really liked learning more about their own backgrounds and what made them the way they were. I would have loved to have learned more. Especially with the subplot involving Pet and the other one with Jay.

Be prepared to want to bake after reading this. There were so many different concoctions in this book that I was dying to try!

Check this out on August 16th!

Battle Royal is the story of a baking show rom com that is just almost perfection. Sylvie competes on one of Britains best baking shows, but gets eliminated when her cake explodes on a judge who has given her a hard time through the entire competition. When she is asked to judge on the show a few years later, their enemy status only elevates. When they unknowingly end up competing to bake the wedding cake for an upcoming royal wedding, tensions go through the roof and competition turns to something more. I loved the characters, both main and secondary. I loved the baking setting both in the show and their individual businesses. I loved their families and their friends and mostly I just loved Sylvie and Dominic.

There have been a ton of great baking/cooking competition books this year, but for me Battle Royal takes the cake.

I didn’t know what to expect with Battle Royal, but I am so glad I read this book. The two main characters are total opposites. When Sylvie and Dominic meet on a baking show, he is the staid, grouchy judge who is the King’s favorite baker. Sylvie is the glitter queen, with pastel nail polish and streaks of pink in her hair. She also seems the only contestant to not back down from Dominic, until the unicorn cake.

Fast forward four years and now Sylvie owns the Sugar Fair bakery, right across from Dominic’s De Vere bakery, and she will be the newest judge on this season’s Operation Cake, with Dominic and Mariana, a food writer, as the other judges. Sylvie and Dominic’s style and personalities couldn’t be more different. Dominic goes for elegant minimalism. Sylvie thinks the more flamboyant, the better, with glitter and colors and all sorts of, well, more. Dominic is stiff and aloof; Sylvie is so positive and alive she lights up the room.

What I liked the most was how slowly Sylvie and Dominic were drawn together, others noticed it before they did. It was tiny things, a touch, a look, the way he placed his body to protect her, just lovely. This book made me laugh and cry and in the end, I was very satisfied.

Thanks to NetGalley for sharing this eARC; this is my honest opinion.

I have read all of Lucy Parker's previous books and they have all worked brilliantly for me. This one was no different. Grumpy - sunshine is favourite trope of mine in romance, adding bakers and reality TV shows and it's almost too good to be true.

I went in expecting light-hearted and fun romance, with lots of rival bakers shenanigans. This was not the case, but it was still amazing.

This was a touching, slow burn romance with two MCs who are opposites on the surface but deep down both are fiercely loyal to the people they love, both have suffered serious trauma in their past which they have taken a different approach to dealing with. He is distant, straight-lacd, keeping his emotions in check, following the rules and avoiding making human connections. She is the opposite - flamboyant, rule breaker, wearing her heart on her sleeve. In fact they both crave a deep connection, but are scared to give in to their feelings.

This story is not s romcom despite cover suggesting otherwise. Grief and loss and neglect take up a central place in it. It's heaertbreaking, very vivid and moving. The focus for me on how people who have been hurt in the past learn and dare to let people in again. There is a lot of happening here, both involving the MCs and the secondary characters. It's overwhelming at times but still the romance, the journey of the MCs towards each other shines through for me.

I felt the presentation of the hero's struggle with touch and spontaneity was well done, it felt real and relatable. The consent was brilliant, and just with respect to sex, but to touch in general. The romance was dreamy with great sexual tension. I loved how they worked as a couple, there was a strong sense of partnership despite the professional competition. I loved how their rivalry progressed with no dirty tricks and backstabbing between them.

There is plenty of dirty tricks on the reality show the MCs judge though. It showed the backstage rather than the glamour and success of reality TV cooking shows. It came close to Masterchef than GBBO in my opinion but it was still entertaining to see.

I am still not a fan of romances based of real life royal families. There were made up elements that made it feel distant though I still prefer

Don't like real royals, fake titles are used but still it was too close to reality.

Overall, this is an engaging romance, with some fun elements but mostly dealing with serious/heavy topics. I had some issues here and there but in end I really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next book in the series already.

CW: grief, parental neglect, loss of a parent/guardian, stabbing attack, stalking

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!

I was really vibing with this one in the beginning. Sure, it was hard to feel like it wasn't ripping off of the great British bakeoff - but the characters were appealing, and I'm a sucker for enemies to lovers tropes.
I would've said it was the perfect book for me, and I was happy to read the last 10% of the book until it finished... but then I saw that I was only about 30-ish% of the way into the book. Alas, it started to drag for me and I couldn't finish it in the end.

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this advanced readers copy.