Battle Royal: A Novel Paperback – 30 Sept. 2021

Four and a half stars.Four years ago Sylvie Fairchild was a contestant on baking reality show Operation Cake. Now she has her own cake shop and she's been invited to be a judge on the show, alongside her nemesis Dominic De Vere. Never have there been two such opposites. Sylvie's designs are whimsical, unicorns and fairies, rainbows and glitter (literally) whereas Dominic's designs are austere, shades of white and ivory, cream if he is feeling totally out-of-the-box, flawlessly executed with exquisite flavours and beautiful decoration, but (whisper) a bit boring. To add extra piquancy, Sylvie's shop Sugar Fair is immediately opposite Dominic's shop, which has been in his family for generations.Then rumour has it that Princess Rosie is getting engaged to a nobody. The goth princess has a unique style, nothing like the rest of the royal family, and being invited to make the wedding cake would bring fame, fortune and many new orders to the lucky baker.I love Lucy Parker's theatrical romances and this looks like it could be a great new series (I have high hopes for Dominic's sister Pet and X). Filled with Lucy's trademark lovable characters, charming settings and multi-layered plots it was a joy to read, and I devoured it in less than 24 hours!Another sparkling winner from an auto-buy author. Loved it.

Loved the writing style, the descriptions of all detailsr, and the story. A thoroughly enjoyable read that I may even come back to read again.

Perfect garden reading in a heatwave, and left me feeling rather hungry too.For there is a lot of cake, and there is two rival bakers who have a bit of history both vying to win the Royal Wedding commission.In addition they are now colleagues on the baking programme that Sylvie was a contestant on a few previous, where there may have been an incident with a glittery unicorn hoof.I loved seeing all the antics from this years series of the show where they are both now judges.There are numerous situations where they are thrown together, and this is a great cake filled example of a really good enemy's to lovers romance.I loved everything that Sylvie was achieving. But I was also hooked on Dominic's story and especially the dynamic with his family.Make sure to have snacks on hand while you read this very entertaining story. It may be my first book from this author but it won't be the last.

Anyone who knows me knows I love The Great British Bake Off, and to have another book set in a similar world I just knew I had to read it. Sadly, I found myself disappointed. While the characters and the concept of this story were good, I found myself not enjoying the story as much as I hoped. I think it has to do with this author's writing style, I just couldn't get on board.

Excellent specialist sources. Very maligned character in history needing more publicity from libraries. Could not find anything on Simon de Montfort before I connected to Amazon. Well bound second hand hardback from 1965 in good condition - why didn't I find it earlier. No genealogical tables.

Battle Royal is one I’d been saving for a rainy day because I just knew I’d love it!Sylvie, former contestant on Operation Cake, now runs the bakery Sugar Fair. Dominic, judge on Operation Cake who voted Sylvie off the show, runs prestigious bakery DeVere’s across the street from Sugar Fair. The pair are both judges on the latest season of Operation Cake (basically Bake-off) and neither one of them is happy about it. When a royal engagement is announced Dominic and Sylvie soon find themselves in competition to be chosen to bake the wedding cake.While Sylvie and Dominic are the main love story in Battle Royal there are two other relationships that are equally important to the book. As well as all the fun you’d expect from a romcom there was also a lot of depth which came from the main characters’ difficult backstories. On top of all that there’s also a little dollop of steam.Read for:• Multiple love stories ❤️• Enemies to lovers (Sylvie & Dominic)• London setting 🇬🇧• Reality TV shenanigans• Royal drama 👑• All the baking things 🍰• Found family & siblings reunited• TW for mention of death of a family member and emotionally abusive family members.Overall Rating: 5/5🌟Steam Level: 2.5/5🔥

I loved this book so much I willingly gave up precious sleep time just to see how the story ended. Cake, a baking show, enemies to lovers, a royal wedding, corporate espionage and plenty of twists and turns made for a thoroughly enjoyable read. Loved Sylvia (fluffy, amazing unicorn) and Dominic (moody, gorgeous, marshmallow centred man) so much. Individually they were both such relatable, well crafted lead characters. The author handled their journey really well and each developing emotion between them was beautiful and felt earned. Some really great supporting characters in Mariana, Jay, Mabel, Johnnie and Rosie. Pet was such a sweetheart and I especially loved her relationship with Dominic and their attempts to rebuild that familial bond. I hope we get more of Pet’s story at some point. An excellent start to the series.

Lucy Parker does another smashing job of bringing all types of human emotion to her characters and her readers with this funny, often poignant, tear-inducing, swoony romance between two rival bakers. First having met as judge (Dominic) and contestant (Sylvie) in a 'Great British Bake-Off' type show, 4 years later Sylvie has started her own whimsical bakery (across the street from Dominic's well established respectable business) but has also been given the chance to become a judge for a season on the show that launched her career. Of course, she'll have to work WITH Dominic instead of having to hear his acerbic critique of her own work. It's a classic enemies to lovers trope that this author does so well.And then as luck (and a little sneaky trick) would have it, they both end up vying for a contract to bake a cake for the upcoming royal wedding of a Princess who strains at the bonds of royal etiquette and her very unsuitable (to her family at least) choice of a non-royal groom. Add to that mixture a best friend with secrets, a sister trying to find her way into her estranged brother's life, a plagiarizing competitor, grief from losses that still hurt, and delicious sounding cakes and chocolates and confectioneries, AND a reality baking show with all its drama and you have in a nutshell, a terrific read that will keep you turning the pages and wishing at the end that book 2 in the series was already out! There's no doubt this one will be on my reread shelf.

The setting, characters and underlying premise of this story is wonderful. Characters who could have been written as cliched side bits were given a chance to make the story richer and more rewarding overall. This read was exactly what I needed and I have never watched a baking show in my life.

Battle Royal, a grumpy x sunshine rivals-to-lovers romance, stole my heart. I loved it. It was funny, interesting, and heartwarming.I loved the main characters. The supporting characters were well fleshed out. We got proper rivalry scenes and the hilariousness and cuteness when the romance progresses. We even have a minor romance relationship to root for. The concept of the book was executed just right.The relationship development was so good. The two characters get off on the wrong foot in a baking show and end up as heads of rival bakeries across the street. When they are called to judge the same baking show together, it puts them in proximity. And! They’re both competing to bake the wedding cake for a royal wedding, the wedding of the decade. They’re tripping over each other all the time and fell in love in the best way.It will be a book that I reread for comfort. That’s how much I loved it.

The drama was real and not overly done. If you're familiar with other works from Lucy Parker, you might be jolted a bit because this book feels heavier but if you don't let that put you off (and you shouldn't!) then you'll find the characters are just as quirky and just Nas grouchy as the Headliners, only this time the romance is covered somewhat with a bit more realism. Lucy touches on everything that has bothered me about the Press surrounding "Megxit" without bashing the Moral of that very real story over our heads.I've been a fan since day one and she didn't lose me with this one! Loved. It.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were interesting and likeable. A sweet, charming read with a decent amount of humor. It made me want to go find my own grumpy baker!