Two rival bakers. The wedding of the century. Reality TV. And one unfortunate incident involving a unicorn hoof...

Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild refused to squirm under the eye of critical and moody Dominic De Vere, grandson and heir of the famous baker Sebastian De Vere, on "Operation Cake", a reality TV baking show. Did she win? No. (See above regarding an unfortunate incident) But did she let that kill her baking dreams? Absolutely not. Instead, she set up shop right across the street from De Vere's, starting a rivalry that even the Montagues and Capulets would have been frightened of.

On one side of the street, De Vere's specializes in classic elegance. Lots of whites and neutral tones. And then there's Sugar Fair, bold and bright and a fantasyland.

Sylvie and Dominic have not spoken in person in four years, but now Sylvie has been asked to return to "Operation Cake" as a judge, putting the two in close proximity. And when royal wedding bells begin to ring, Sylvie and Dominic find themselves in the running to be selected to make the cake of the century.

Who will win in this battle royal? And what will Sylvie and Dominic do when they realize that there's not just a contract at stake, but their hearts as well?

Brilliant, funny, witty, emotional, and sweet (pun intended) "Battle Royal" is perfect for fans of the Great British Bake Off, rom-coms, and cake!

This book was sugary sweet!

Enemies-to-lovers ✔️
Baking show ✔️
Royal Wedding ✔️

Battle Royal had me laughing from the very first chapter with iconic unicorn scene! It pits ice-cold Dominic against eternally optimistic Sylvia.

The two meet when Sylvia is a contestant on Operation Cake, where Dominic is the judge. Fast forward four years, and these two have opposing bakeries across the street. They’re not only competing store fronts: they are currently co-hosting Operation Cake and competing for a contract to make Princess Rose’s wedding cake.

Sylvie and Dominic may be the stars of the show, but there are other lovable characters throughout. We get to see more of Pet and the royal couple as Sylvie and Dom grow closer. There’s definitely more than meets the eye with all the characters and it was fun getting to see the multi-faceted sides of them all!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've really liked other Lucy Parker rom com's before but I'm not sure this one is her best.
Two bakers with very different styles who end up being reality baking show judges love to hate each other. This of course turns into love (think Shop Around the Corner or You've Got Mail.) I liked the setting and the main characters but got so tired of the repetitive description of just how important their friends and staff were to them. Throw in an utterly ridiculous storyline about a royal wedding and the competition for baking the wedding cake, see-it-a-mile-away sabotage, and overly brooding relationships, and this one wasn't a win for me.

If you like enemies to lovers, open door romances (with some very descriptive sex scenes), then maybe this book is more for you than me. However, I still like Lucy Parker and will continue to catch up on her backlist.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy for review.

Reading this book was like eating a fresh out of the oven baked good - a pure delight! I think I gained 10lbs trying to satisfy my cravings after reading this one. I hope it’s the start of a delicious new series!

When I started reading this book, I was unsure what a romantic take on the Great British Baking Show would look like. It looks great! I really enjoyed this book, it’s concept, it’s characters, and it’s general feel-goodness. I guess you could say this was an “enemies to lovers” trope, but I definitely don’t think they thought of each other as enemies. More like competition. They definitely respected each other, even if they didn’t have the same aesthetic.

This book also gives me grumpy hero/sunshine heroine vibes. Dominic is your typical grumpy hero. You think he’s full of himself and he can be rude. Sylvie is bright, sunshiny, and loves glitter and color. They each own rival bakeries across the street from each other and are in competition to win the bid for the royal wedding cake. They also have to be coworkers on “Operation Cake” - a very close look alike to the Great British Baking Show.

I enjoyed all of the relationships from the main romantic one, to siblings, coworkers, and friendships. All of it was well written, believable, and sincere. A very cute romance with a few low/medium steam scenes.

I suppose I can stop sighing and hugging this book to my chest to throw together a few sentences that proclaim my love for it. I loved this book! I loved Dominic the borderline grumpy hero. I loved his fully grumpy cat and not grumpy at all sister. I loved Sylvie, the heroine, and the way she is creative and joyful and damn good at what she does. I love that they met when she was contestant on the baking show where he is the harsh but truthful judge. I love that they are being reunited four years after not clicking on that show when she is returning as a judge, I love that they end up in their own competition for a contact to bake a cake for a royal wedding. I love the way all of the relationships in this book are developed. I love that I lost track of many times I giggled while reading and how many times I swooned. I love that the only thing about this book I didn't love was the fact it had to end.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker was not your typical enemies-to-lovers story. It was more of a rivals-to-lovers story, because although the protagonists were certainly in competition with one another, it was obvious that they respected each other.

In Battle Royal, bakers Sylvie and Dominic, are competing for the contract of a lifetime, designing the wedding cake for the upcoming royal wedding. They are also judges on Operation Cake, a highly popular baking show. Sylvie and Dominic have a notorious rivalry stemming from Sylvie's time on the show as a contestant.

Sylvie was an absolutely delightful character full of sunshine and kindness and Dominic's tough exterior hid the sweetest and softest man. I loved watching these two fall in love. I also loved the supporting characters, especially, Dominic's sister, Pet. I really hope she gets her own story, too.

Lucy Parker is a new author to me and I cannot wait to read more of her work and the wonderful characters and stories she creates.

Sylvie Fairchild gained fame and a following after appearing on a popular British baking show called Operation Cake four years ago. Looking like a fairy realized in the flesh, the imaginative Sylvie’s fanciful creations and superb sugar work charmed viewers and most of the judges but one for important exception: Dominic De Vere. Sylvie’s creativity came crashing down when a unicorn cake blew off a hoof right into the face of Dominic, who was not amused…at all.

Sylvie was able to parlay her fame into opening her dream bakery, Sugar Fair, with her childhood best friend right across the street for Dominic De Vere’s well-known and respected bakery which counts the Royal Family as patrons. Dominic is the very opposite of Sylvie not only in terms of baking, but personality: she is whimsical and cheerful where he is wooden and a confirmed grouch. Known for his icy demeanor and death stare on the baking show, Dominic does not suffer fools or the likes of Sylvie gladly.

When they have the to opportunity to submit plans for a royal wedding cake for a favorite but controversial princess, Dom and Sylvie realize this would be a pinnacle of success for the winner's career and a financial boost which their respective bakeries need. Both of them have family background issues causing Sylvie and Dom to guard their hearts where relationships are concerned. Initially enemy combatants, they began to work together to fulfill the very complicated flavor requests that the betrothed couple has for their over the top wedding cake.

This fun enemies to lovers tale is very entertaining especially for fans of the Great British Baking Show, British Royal Family aficionados, as well as those who enjoy the British stiff upper lip persona. There are some unsurprising aspects of intrigue including someone who is ripping off Sylvie’s recipes at a competing bakery, and some other predictable moments; however, this story will please fans of Ms. Parker who enjoy her clever slow burn romances

Grumpy/sunshine with a healthy dose of communication and touches. All the touches. They literally cannot be in a room without connecting with one another. I did wish to see a tad more of the ‘enemy’ aspect of the relationship which got swallowed by plot. I felt they softened toward each other a bit too fast. Still enjoyed it. I really liked that the competition stayed fierce between them and they didn’t get wishy-washy from falling in love. No sign of competition martyrdom, thank god.

🦄🧁❤️ “However, the feeling of absolute faith that when the cracks started to appear, someone else would be crouching at your side, helping to bail out the water, and that you could do the same for them. Pretty indescribable.” - Lucy Parker, Battle Royal

How cute! Oh my goodness. It’s enemies to lovers y’all! And I love Sylvie so much! She makes me laugh out loud. So beautiful! ❤️ and it’s the first in a series! I cannot wait for the rest of the books! 😍 I loved it so much.

I loved this book so much!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a solid read and kept me engaged for the entirety of the novel. I loved Sylvie and Dominic. This is definitely an enemy to lover's trope. I loved that from the very beginning you could tell that Dominic had a thing for Sylvie. I loved the baking element and I loved both of their unique baking styles. I loved the royals and I can't wait to read the second book in the series. Everyone should give this book a read. SO GOOD.

Two rival bake shops. One who loves color and all things glitter, the other who sticks to neutral palettes and despises anything not simple and elegant. When the two bakers find out that they are both competing with each other to win the opportunity to make a cake for a royal wedding, things get crazy. I loved how Dominic reminded me of Paul Hollywood from GBBO. Sylvie is the kind of person I would be if I was a baker.

The relationship in this story is both unexpected and perfect. I loved how both characters butt heads with each other, but at the same time, cannot get enough of each other. This story was an addicting read.

I received an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

More of a 2.5 rounded up. The set-up, judges on a Bake-Off-esque television show in an opposites-attract romance, is decidedly winning, but the execution is a bit of a soggy bottom. The main characters are appealing but they're not served by overstuffed side plots and slips into melodrama that distract and drag things out. Parker's London Celebrities series is a favorite of mine, and this hasn't removed her from my automatic read list, but it doesn't live up to the warmth and sparkle and genuine depth of her other titles.

I was so excited to see that Lucy Parker is writing a new series! I adored Parker’s London Celebrities series (if you haven’t read it yet, run, don’t walk to snag a copy of ACT LIKE IT for a delightful romp in the West End), and was stoked to meet a new cast of a characters.

A few years ago, Sylvie was the creative fan favorite of Operation Cake, a Great British Bake Off style reality show, until a baking disaster resulted in her elimination before the final. Undaunted, Sylvie has worked tirelessly to realize her baking dreams by establishing Sugar Fair, her whimsical Notting Hill bakery. One small problem: Sugar Fair is right across the street from Dominic De Vere’s very serious and traditional bakery. Dominic De Vere is of course the pastry chef and Operation Cake judge who was never charmed by Sylvie’s creations, and was the deciding factor in voting Sylvie out of the baking competition. When Sylvie agrees to be a co-judge on Operation Cake with Dominic, she dreads working with her nemesis. What starts as reluctant teamwork between Sylvie and Dominic evolves into a deliciously slow burning romance full of twists and turns that will keep you swooning to the end.

I just love how Parker crafts such dynamic, realistic characters.. Even supporting characters are fully realized, and play important roles in the nuances of Sylvie and Dominic’s growing attraction. BATTLE ROYAL is an awesome choice for anyone who loves baking, celebrity adjacent stories, and enemies-to-lovers romances.

Review posted on Goodreads (June 22, 2021)
Review Linked

3/5 stars!

A huge thank you to NetGalley and Avon for sending me an E-ARC of this book for an honest review!

This book was super cute. I really liked both of our main characters and I loved the premise. I am a huge fan of The Great British Bakeoff and so it was fun to see a romance that was loosely based off of that show. I did find myself liking this book more in the second half of the story. The first half was a bit slow for me, and I found myself not really falling for either character until the last half.

If you love baking and romance, then I recommend this book!

Thanks for reading!
Caden

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker was a really sweet romance! It was a rivals to lovers, opposites attract, romance between bright, charming Sylvie Fairchild and, grouchy, stoic Dominic De Vere. Four years ago, Sylvie was a contestant on the baking show Operation Cake, on which Dominic was a judge. Her elaborate and sparkly creations made her a fan favorite and won over everybody but Dominic. In the penultimate episode, when her unicorn cake malfunctions in a major way and literally blows up in Dominic's face, she is booted off the show. But her skills and her popularity give birth to her own store, Sugar Fair which she just happens to open directly across the street from De Vere's.

In the present, Sugar Fair has established itself as a popular store. Its magical fairytale-esque atmosphere is the exact opposite of De Vere's elegant designs. To describe it like cakes, Sugar Fair is like a rainbow cake with sprinkles and glitter, while De Vere's is like a rich chocolate or classic vanilla cake with simple but delicious icing on top. Their clientele is vastly different and they don't always clash on their orders until, a royal wedding is announced. The tender for the royal wedding cake is the biggest they've seen in recent times and both bakeries are vying for it. At the same time, Sylvie heads back to the screen as a judge on Operation Cake along with Dominic himself.

It's been a while since I've read a contemporary romance, and it took me a little while to get used to the writing. The book had a unique way of starting each chapter with the location and a tiny anecdote/quote about the location. At first I wasn't a big fan, but it grew on me and towards the end, I was actually looking forward to these introductions.

The book was dual POV, which always makes me enjoy a book more. Getting to see the book in both Sylvie and Dominic's perspectives really helped me understand each character better. It also really highlighted their duality and differences. But it also made the moments where they came together that much more intense and special.

The book runs on strong emotions, especially painful ones like grief and loss. The characters truly connect in these moments and while there were some heartbreaking moments, it was written in such a way that it didn't feel out of place in a book as sweet as this one. The flow was really good and I loved the parallel's between the various couples in the story.

This book wasn't just about Sylvie and Dominic, but also about Princess Rose and her fiancé, and also her uncle Prince Patrick and his relationship. All of these love stories came together really well and I really liked the way the author incorporated these stories into the main relationship.

There was a side element of a little mystery which was a little predictable but enjoyable nonetheless. I really liked the secondary characters of the book, specifically Dom's sister Pet and I can't wait to read her story next!

I'd definitely recommend this book if you're looking for a slow burn, contemporary enemies to lovers romance, with some wonderful cakes and equally sweet moments throughout the book!

Went into this very much in the mindset of “oh this looks super cute and fun - a nice light read”. Left it having cried multiple times and absolutely fully in love with it.

It is cute and fun but it’s also heartwarming and has emotional twists that hit you out of nowhere and leave you crying. With everything happening in the story - the various singular character dramas plus the relationships and the bakery dramas - one would worry that it’s almost too much but it’s not. They’re all so finely woven together into the story and they build off of each other and it’s so great - so well done.

I absolutely loved this and I CANNOT wait for the next one. Can definitely see myself rereading this for the cutesy comfort potentially and highly recommend it.

Lucy is an auto-buy author for me, and this book was was funny sweet romp that did not disappoint. I loved the MCs and was thrilled to watch them banter.

A pretty traditional and old fashioned romantic comedy with some fun dressing laid over the basic structure.

Sylvie and Dominic are both high end bakers but his style is elegant and reserved whereas her’s is all about the unicorns and glitter. They’re both competing to supply the cake for a royal wedding and they’re both judges on Operation Cake, a Bake Off style TV show.

We know pretty much from the first page how this chalk and cheese relationship will develop and it does so with a few minor bumps along the way. Both Sylvie and Dominic have challenging family backgrounds (albeit in different ways) and are building their own away from their biological ones. We also see the romance of Princess Rose and her fiancé, the floppy-haired dimwitted Johnny Marchmont (this fictional royal family is not related to the actual one) as well as a long ago one of Rose’s uncle.

There’s some baking shenanigans but not as much food interest as I was hoping for and the Operation Cake subplot sort of fizzles out. The royal romances give some oomph to the plot though I was really hoping for the uncle to be gay, but this is just not that sort of book.

Sylvie and Dom are pretty predictable. He has a severe, uptight, bluntly honest front which, of course, hides a heart (and other parts - this is a modern romance in that sense, at least) of gold. She’s all girly and fluffy on the outside but, well actually she’s also that on the inside too. In a nod to the 21st century, she has her own business though the businessy stuff is done by her partner, a man.

The support characters keep the novel bubbling along: Petunia, Dom’s previously estranged sister, is the token young person who knows about social media, there are some snooty royals though Rosie and Johnny are down to earth real people even if they appear to change personalities over the course of the book, the staff at the respective bakeries are quirky and offer opportunities for the lead characters to show their true compassionate selves.

Having said all that, I enjoyed my time in this fantasy sugary world and, while I wouldn’t seek out future romances from Ms Parker, I’d be happy to read one if it fell into my lap.

Thanks to Avon and Netgalley for the digital review copy

CW: [discussion of grief (death of family members, including a vivid memory of a death scene in a hospital), parental neglect of child (memory), attempted knife attack (hide spoiler)]

“Are you going after the royal wedding contract? Literally the cake of the year?” He hauled Sylvie’s chair around and leaned close. She widened her eyes at him innocently, and he clapped his hands together, a booming slap that made her jump. “Oh, hells yeah. Judge versus judge. Neighbor pitted against neighbor. The kitten taking on the lion.”

I adore Lucy Parker's contemporary romances, but I can't help but unfairly grade her romances on a slight curve. While I enjoyed myself, BATTLE ROYALE isn't my favorite of the author's work. Standard LP trademarks make the book wonderfully familiar with acerbic snark, grumpy/sunshine repartee, and meltingly-gooey feels. Still, there are enough irritants that make me downgrade to four stars. I definitely think the author's fans will love it and I recommend that they purchase/devour the book (devour in more than one sense of the word. You must have desserts on hand or the text will cause severe hunger pangs).

A few disorganized thoughts:

1) I was cautious to see how the royal storyline would be handled, and I'm glad to report that I liked it! It's a tricky situation; UK royals yield VERY strong opinions amongst folks. I went into the story with an open mind. No, the book didn't tackle the institution's history with colonialism and racism, but I didn't expect that, lol. I'm not a stickler/expert in royal wedding cake protocol, so take my word with a grain of salt. Obviously some things are made up to add flair, but everything seemed plausible in a fantastical way.

BATTLE ROYAL is smart to invent a set of British royals that isn't comparable to the real-life family tree. The bride is Princess Rose, second child to the second son of the king. Her father is the Duke of Albany (wiki says this title used to exist, but no one's held it since 1918) and that family branch lives in St. Giles Palace (invented, I presume it's a Kensington Palace equivalent). So Rose, eldest granddaughter to the king, is important enough to merit a high-profile wedding with tabloid attention, but isn't the heir to the throne or anything. The Archbishop of Canterbury still officiates the wedding, Rose's uncle is still the Prince of Wales, the traditional wedding cake is still fruitcake, etc. But enough details have been changed and I think the AU mostly works if you accept the fantasy. There's some discussion about obligation and what the spotlight does to royal family ties, but it's pretty basic (I think the truth is less optimistic and a lot more fucked up, lolsob).

2) Love, love, love the repeated theme of found family importance and how biological ties are meaningless without affection. Can't say more without spoiling.

3) I hate to say this, but I think there's too much plot. The royal cake competition, the reality TV competition, Dominic's relationship with his sister Pet, Sylvie's annoyance with the enemy café stealing her ideas, the spoilery royal-related storyline (there's TWO of them!). Not to mention, you know, the romance.

For most of the book, I think the balancing act worked. But it hurtles toward a very bouncy/all-0ver-the-place final act because everything had to be resolved. Compared to the other storylines, I think the reality TV competition needed more attention (and I was pissed about how the show ended). Plus, there was a last-minute reveal at the 80% mark that I did NOT like (it needed more resolution if this complication had to be introduced! And I maintain that it did not! Dislike!). The last couple chapters did resolve the romance very nicely, but I was super tense/dissatisfied during the process. There was a lot of plot that needed to be resolved, and the attempts to do so were not compatible with my brain.

One-sentence summary: excellent romance, quibbles with too much plot resolution during final act, everyone should read it anyway.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.