This book was so much fun to read! Both the story, about a reality show baking competition, and the characters, who were overcoming some very relatable challenges, really drew me in and kept my interest in the story. Savannah is raising her younger sister and working in a grocery store bakery, but what she really wants to do is open her own bakery. Savannah's arch-rival from culinary school, Rhett, is secretly working as a chef on a cruise ship to avoid embarrassing his rich family, but really wants to open his own restaurant. When they reconnect on the Baking Games and discover that Savannah's ex-boyfriend is also in the competition, sparks really start to fly.
Anne-Michael Smith had a lovely voice narrating the audiobook, and she did have a slightly different intonation for Rhett that fit well with his personality. But I found it difficult to distinguish when the chapters switched from Savannah to Rhett's point of view, because there is very little pause between the chapters, and the same narrator is used for both characters. I thought she was a great narrator and really appreciate that she did not use a fake male voice for Rhett, but wonder if there's another way to make it easier to follow, by adding more pauses or chapter numbers perhaps? However it was still really enjoyable to listen to!

3.5⭐
Genre ~ romance
Setting ~ Georgia
Publication date ~ August 27, 2024
Publisher ~ Dreamscape Select
Est Page Count ~ 327 (26 chapters +e)
Audio length ~ 8 hours 58 minutes
Narrator ~ Anne-Michael Smith
POV ~ dual 1st
Featuring ~ baking competition, forced proximity, fake dating, rivals to lovers, no steamage

Savannah (30) is working in a grocery store bakery and has always taken care of her younger sister since their mother died. She wants to send Sadie (20) to college, but is strapped for cash, so she enters a baking competition.

Rhett (31) is working on a cruise ship and was Savannah’s rival in culinary school. She’s not too happy when she finds out he’s in the competition, too. He’s a grump with unsupportive parents who are in a loveless marriage, so he's one of those that never wants to marry because of that.

Which one deserves the $200,000 more? It was hard to root for one or the other because both were deserving.

The camera loves these two together, so they do a bit of a fake relationship in order to gain fans. Fake dating is always tricky since we know they’ll both fall for each other, but neither knows if the other is actually being real with what they’re saying or if it’s all part of the fakeness, but it didn’t bother me too much here.

There was some repetition and awful side characters, but overall I liked it well enough. If you're a fan of cooking/baking competitions that take place in a big brother atmosphere then you might like this one.

Narration notes:
UGH UGH UGH, one narrator for dual 1st POV. Boo! She did fine, I suppose, but I really wish I had read it. While we are told whose parts are up next with a simple Savannah or Rhett it was just so quick and it still took me a minute to figure out who was talking with no distinction to her tone. That kind of stuff takes me out of the story.

I love baking competitions so this was so much fun for me. I loved the focus on the competition and the contestants as well as the “Big Brother” feel with the housing situation. I enjoyed getting to know all the characters and their motivations for being in the competition. I am used to culinary books being written by those with a background in the field and while I appreciate the research that went into this book, there were a few things that bothered me: one, it’s pastry school, not pastry chef school, and two, red bean is a traditionally accepted ingredient in some Asian cuisine, particularly desserts so for all of the contestants and the judges to be confused by the selection made me question their expertise (perhaps saying it was the wrong type of red bean would have made more sense). Also, I received an audio ARC after getting the e-ARC from the author and found that the audio didn’t distinguish well between characters and didn’t pause between changes in points of view, which confused the story. Otherwise, this was cute and I found it perfect for a rainy afternoon.

If you’re a fan of reality TV and cooking, like I am, then “The Baking Games” by Rachel Hanna is a must-read. The premise alone—a high-stakes baking competition with a dash of romance—had me hooked from the start, and I was not disappointed.

Savannah Greene is a character I connected with immediately. Thrust into adulthood after the loss of her mother, Savannah’s motivation for entering The Baking Games is clear and compelling: to win the $200,000 prize that will secure her younger sister’s future. The bonus? Escaping her mundane job at a grocery store bakery. Her journey is both heartwarming and intense, pulling you into the story from the very first page.

The competition is fierce, and the diversity of Savannah’s fellow competitors keeps things interesting. Among them are two men from her past—Connor, her untrustworthy ex-boyfriend, and Rhett, her biggest rival from culinary school. The dynamic between these three adds an extra layer of tension to the story. However, it’s Maggie, a 65-year-old contestant, who truly shines as a supporting character. Maggie’s warmth and wisdom provide Savannah with much-needed grounding in the cutthroat environment of the competition.

As the competition progresses, Savannah and Rhett realize that the audience’s involvement in judging could be a game-changer. In a strategic move, they decide to create a fake relationship to boost their popularity. Hanna’s use of this romance trope is executed with humour and charm, making the evolving relationship between Savannah and Rhett feel authentic and engaging.

The Narration:

I listened to the audiobook version narrated by Anne-Michael Smith. While I appreciated her enthusiasm and the lovely tone of her voice, I did encounter a few challenges. The lack of distinct voices for different characters sometimes made it difficult to follow who was speaking, especially when coupled with the lack of a pause when the point of view shifted within a chapter. It felt like the character’s name was just part of a sentence, which occasionally disrupted the flow of the story.

Final Thoughts:

“The Baking Games” is an immersive read that combines the excitement of a baking competition with a heartfelt romance. It’s a story about taking risks, not just in the kitchen, but in life and love. Savannah’s journey, both in the competition and in her personal growth, is one that I found both entertaining and inspiring. If you enjoy stories that mix culinary challenges with emotional depth, this book is definitely worth adding to your reading list.

I received an ARC of this audiobook from the publisher, but the thoughts and opinions expressed here are my own.

The Baking Games
Rachel Hanna
Genre: Romance Comedy
Savannah Greene childhood wasn’t pleasant. Her mother had problems with addiction. After the death of her mother Savannah gained guardianship of her twelve-year-old sister. Her sister is now in her early twenties; she would like to go to college but there just isn’t enough money. Savannah graduated from culinary school and now works in the bakery of a grocery store.
Savannah enters The Baking Games determined to win the $200,000 prize. Winning will make a difference in the young women’s life. The contestants are transported to a luxurious mansion where they are under constant surveillance. There are cameras and microphones everywhere except in the bathroom. Viewers around the world rivalry, backbiting, talents, feuds and friendships. Each contestant arrives individually so they do not know who their competitors are.
When Savannah arrives, she discovers a former boyfriend, Connor is one of the contestants and so is Rhett Jennings, a rival from culinary school and a real grouch. The audience perceives a romantic relationship between Savannah and Rhett, and they love it. Connor attempts to sabotage Savannah’s baking, but Rhett comes to her aid several times.
Savannah is a delightful character. She has a Sunny nature. Her life revolves around her sister. 65-year-old Maggie takes Savannah under her wing and offers her friendship as well as motherly advice. Not only is the prize on the line but so is Savannah’s heart. This is a fun read. I suspect it demonstrates a lot of what happens behind the scenes on reality shows.
Thank you NetGalley for the review copy.

A sweet, cozy, closed door romance.

Overall: 3
Spice: 2
Narrator: 3

Savannah is the poster child for hard work and endurance. She survived her childhood with a single, addict mom and a sister twelve years her junior whom she adopted when their mom passed away. She has always dreamed of her own bakery and when to culinary school, but now toils in a grocery story bakery. Rhett was Savannah's nemesis during culinary school. The jaded grump to her optimistic sunshine. Now they are thrown back together on a baking competition reality show and forced to live in a house with all the other contestants. Can they survive each other and the competition?

I always enjoy an enemies to lovers trope and this one did not disappoint. I greatly enjoyed the snarky banter between the two characters and was laughing out loud at their quips. The premise sometimes felt a bit forced, at some point I thought maybe Savannah's sister had written to the producers and the show was totally focused on her. The side characters add depth and provide wisdom when Savannah and Rhett need it. I would recommend this to fans of cozy, closed door romances.
narrator was good, but would have benefitted from dual narration.

Savannah and her sister are best friends. Their mother was an addict so Savannah raised her sister. Savannah has always dreamed of having her own bakery but money is tight. She also wants to send her sister to college.

Savannah has taken a pastry chef course in the evenings, while working in a dreadful job, in a grocery store bakery. When her sister finds a reality baking show, Savannah decides to enter because the prizes would be life changing for herself and her sister.

When she is selected, she finds that her ex-boyfriend, Connor, and her chief rival from pastry school, Rhett, both are contestants and she feels like she's been set up. The competition is tough and they are on cameras 24 hours a day unless they are in the bathroom.

People watching, as well as contestants and the show staff begin think that Savannah and Rhett are in love. When Rhett suggests that they act like they are in love to stay on the show longer, but Savannah wont accept that.

This is a fun, sweet, and ever so enjoyable romance. The situations the contestants are forced into cause stress as well as a little fun.

I listened to the audio and the narrator was perfect for this book.

3.5 stars
This book was good.
It's a 2 POV book, first is Savannah. She has been taking care of her sister Sadie since she was 12 and their mom died. Savannah doesn't have money to send Sadie to college but desperately wants to. When there is an option to sign up for a baking game show with a grand prize of $200,000, Savannah enters and gets on. Come to find out one of the other contestants is her ex boyfriend Connor and another is her culinary school rival Rhett. Our other POV is Rhett. His family disapproves of his career choice and he wants to prove them wrong. During the show, Rhett suggests a fake relationship to Savannah to gain more votes from the viewers. Do fake feelings turn real?
I liked the characters, but none of them really stood out to me. I did like Maggie, one of the other contestants. She was funny and was quick to make friends with Savannah. Savannah and Rhett I felt like didn't have a ton of romantic chemistry. It did feel like they clicked and I enjoyed the scenes they had together, but it didn't feel super romantic. I mean, it wasn't at first, but it felt kind of flat the whole time.
The plot was engaging enough to keep me interested, but it was kind of slow moving. I feel like there wasn't a lot of the actual game show, it was more centered on the relationships within the contestants. I wanted more of the game show.
I liked the narrator of the audiobook, but I wish there had been 2 different narrators for the 2 POVs. The narrator did well bringing Savannah to life as well as her side of the story, but I was so thrown off when she also started narrating Rhett. I think it was mostly because the switch between the characters wasn't obvious. There was no pause before or after the narrator said the name of the character indicating it was the start of their POV. Half the time I didn't even know the POV had switched and I was extremely confused. This had nothing to do with the narrator as she was great, just more of the production of it.

Thank you Netgalley and dreamscape media for the free ALC. My opinions are being left voluntarily. I was uninvited on this book o found it flat and nothing stood out i stopped and restarted a dew times to see if I could snap outta the funk.

3.25/5☆

This was a sweet, funny story with interesting characters. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did not differentiate between the main characters’ voices at all. She has a beautiful speaking voice, just not the best for a dual POV. For this one, I say skip the audio. Cute story with a little depth. Highly recommend reading this one!

The Baking Games
by Rachel Hanna
narrated by Annie-Michael Smith

Savannah Greene is a baker, well she works in a grocery store making cookie cutter cakes but she really wants to have her own shop. Her sister (who Savannah essentially raised tells her about a baking competition, The Baking Games, with a grand prize of $200k! That's the kind of money that can help Savannah send her sister to college and open her own bakery! It's a risk but Savannah decides to go for it after a bit of encouragement. Now when Savannah shows up to the competition she finds out that not only is her biggest rival from culinary school (Rhett) also in the contest but so is her JERK ex-boyfriend (Connor). The prize is still worth it though so Savannah is sticking with it.

I enjoyed this book so much! The contest, the grumpy/sunshine, the fake dating...all together for a perfect story! I was engaged from start to finish. It was classic Reality Show Drama but better.

Thank you to NetGalley, Dreamscape Select, and the author for the opportunity to listen to this story in exchange for an honest review.

#TheBakingGames #RachelHanna
#AnnieMichaelSmithNarrators #BakingShow
#BakingCompetition #CulinaryMasterpieces
#RealityTelevision #BakeryCakes
#GrumpySunshine #FakeDating
#AbsentParent #AddictParent #AbsentFather
#ALCReview #FiveStar #ReadThisBook
#ReadAllTheBooks

The Baking Games is a perfect book for me. It was a drama filled reality show with a baking competition. Two things I love, and it’s also a rom-com. There was no way I would not love this book. I was not disappointed. I loved this book.

The story is a dual POV. We follow both Savannah and Rhett. Savannah has been the legal guardian of her younger sister and she has made so many sacrifices to give her sister the best life she could. She wants to go on this reality show to win the prize money so she can pay for her sister's school. Savannah was such a good person and such an easy character to root for.

When she arrives at the competition she finds out her ex-boyfriend Connor and her school rival Rhett are also in this competition. I have never been on a reality show so I don’t know how the behind-the-scenes works but I expect it works exactly how Rachel Hanna described, down to producers caring about good TV over the contestants. I felt like I was given a peak behind the curtain and I loved every second of it.

The baking side of the reality show was just as strong as the drama side. I loved seeing their thought process and how different desserts came together.

There will be a season two of the reality show so I can only hope that means we get another book. Do yourself a favor and check out The Baking Games which is out now.

Ok , audiobook, the voice is great but I would have like Rhett voice to have just a hint any hint that it was different from Savannah. Got lost couple of time because I didn’t know who what who with the voices.
Aside from that the book is fun, fresh and full of great scenes. Enjoy it a lot and definitely a fun read

What a cozy, enemies-to-lovers, baking show rom-com! Super cute and loved the main characters. Side characters were handy and helped the story. The baking show competition added to the story.

Narrator was great!

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher.

Title: The Baking Games
Author: Rachel Hanna
Format: 🎧
Narrator: Anne-Michael Smith
Publisher: Dreamscape Select
Genre: Romance
Pub Date: August 22, 2024
My Rating: 3.4 Stars
Pages: 327

Savannah Greene is in her early thirties and has had financial struggled all her life. She has been caregiver for her twenty year old sister since she was twelve and now wants to go off to college; however due to lack of funds that may not happen.
She sees an ad for the Reality show “The Baking Game”. The constantans are all bakers and are competing for a $200.000 prize they will live in the same mansion for six weeks. (Kind of like that show ‘Big Brother’.
Savannah applies and is accepted. When she arrives at the site in Georgia and meets the other constants, she finds ex-boyfriend, Connor and Rhett Jennings, her biggest rival from culinary school.

I am a thriller fan and reality shows have been a popular plot- and someone ends up dead. Since this is a romance story, I figured no one is
going to get murdered but someone was surely going to fall in love.

This was a light enjoyable story. My only negative was the narrator. Typically the narrator acts out the voices of all the characters. In this case, it wasn’t clear if a guy or gal was speaking.
This is my first Rachel Hanna so I am not use if this narrator is a regular and readers are used to her voice and performance. In spike of a disappointing audio performance, I did like the story.

Want to thank NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for granting me this audiobook.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for August 22, 2024.

🎧🎧 Book Review 🎧🎧 What would you do with $200,000? The Baking Games stirs up a new reality show where contestants compete on camera in a mansion for one very sweet prize. This was my first Rachel Hanna book and I was absolutely blown away by her ability to share her characters like they are old friends. Their stories (and boy is there some history!) absolutely drew me in and captivated me; I was invested in their hopes and dreams. The Baking Games is beautifully written, and absolutely perfectly narrated by Anne-Michael Smith. What a heartfelt and absolutely sweet story…

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Review is on Goodreads and will be posted on instagram closer to publication date and on Amazon when published!

Absolutely delightful! I could not put this delectable rom com down. Savannah and Rhett are exactly the type of characters I love reading about. Sunshine meets grumpy in a forced proximity with baking and clean, sweet romance. There is plenty of humor, drama, and romantic moments. I enjoyed the backstory of both Savannah and Rhett. Savannah has overcome so much and determines to stay positive and see the best in people. She truly wants to provide a better life for her sister and is motivated by selfless love. Rhett has a beautiful soft side under his stiff persona and as we learn more about the why, I could not help but cheer them on. His protector and champion side were so sweet. The baking challenges were fascinating, and all the house drama was to be expected. I like the balance of characters in the house to draw out all the perspectives. Maggie is an additional bonus and tempered some of the chaos. I have not read anything by Rachel Hanna before and I was thorough impressed. I had the additional privilege of listening to an audiobook version and thought the narrator, Anne-Michael Smith, did a great job.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher via NetGalley and all opinions expressed are solely my own, freely given.

A sweet listen. All Savannah wants is to make a better life for her sister who she has been raising since their mother died. She’s a pastry school graduate working in a dead end job and her hope is to win the grand prize of a new reality show called “The Baking Games”. The money will allow her to better take care of her beloved sister, fund the opening of her own bakery and get away from her absolute horror of a lazy and abusive boss. Contestants include a prior classmate Rhett, who was a jerk of the highest order and her ex, who is a cold scheming narcissist. How did this happen? Was it all planned to create “reality gold” for ratings and can she maintain her equilibrium with all of the distractions? Rhett is not living his best life either. His parents and siblings treat him as an afterthought as he hasn’t followed the path they expected him to. It was their way or hide him away. His family is snobby and barely acknowledges his existence. When he realizes that Savannah and her endearing personality are real and that maybe he was all wrong about how he felt and treated her, The evolution of the relationships made for a wonderful, creative listen that led to terrific happily ever after.

Savannah has had a hard life- her addict mother died when she was 18 and she raised her 12 year old sister. They've survived- barely. She enters a reality baking show (like a cooking version of Big Brother) to hopefully change their lives. She enters and she finds that her recently former boyfriend and pastry school nemesis are also both contestants. This is going to be harder than she thought!

I read [book:Happy Harbor|200602964] by [author:Rachel Hanna|6461648] a few weeks ago and was not a fan. I found the FMC, Josie, intolerable.

As I began [book:The Baking Games|212053239], Rhett was pretty intolerable. I was worried I was going to end up with another [book:Happy Harbor|200602964]. But, thankfully, he came around.

I really liked Savannah and Rhett together. The way they went to rivals to supporting each other in everything was sweet.

Other than Rhett being terrible in the beginning, my other issue is with the audiobook. However, it isn't really the fault of the narrator, Anne-Michael Smith. More the producers. First, I always appreciate multiple narrators when there are multiple POVs. But that is a preference. The issue is with the switching of the POVs. A sentence would be read. Suddenly, without a breath, "Rhett" or "Savannah" would be said to switch POVs and the story continued. Not even the length of pause you'd normally find at the end of a sentence. I appreciate their names being used (otherwise I'd have really been lost), but a slight pause would have been nice. And this is coming from a person who regularly complains about pauses being too lengthy!

I received an advance audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

So fun!!! I loved this concept and story. It was the best kind of story. The characters were cute to r story was fun. Will recommend