Cover Image: Battle Royal

Battle Royal

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Member Reviews

Excellent enemies to loves trope. Royalty, Delicious sweets, hilarious banter, and complicated feelings. Sylvie and Dominic are a cute couple. I love the cake descriptions. Battle Royal was vulnerable, and real, and the characters were much more vivid.

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This has been one of my favorite reads of the year, I'm so sad that it took me so long to get to it!! The found family, the relationships, pretty much everything was so so amazing!! The fact that I could kinda guess what was going to happen but also be surprised all throughout was pretty cool, and I'm so excited to read the next one when it comes out this summer! Definitely recommend! Can't wait for Pet and Matthias story :)

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I really struggled with the authorial voice on this one. I couldn't quite get into the book by 25% and decided to put it down. The characters weren't well defined for me nor was their rivalry. I wanted more on that front. The location jumps were not working either. I wanted to love the show set up as a big GBBO fan.

I wanted to love it so much but something about the writing and set up was not working for me. I think it just lacked the usual things I love from Lucy Parkers books. I may revisit it eventually but for now it just didn't work for me.

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Enemies to lovers, throw in a baking competition and a royal wedding, I’m sold.

Much of this book made me laugh out loud. Some of it at the beginning was wordy and bounced around, but as soon as I got the hang of it, I fell in love with the style.

As a long-time single woman and a romantic, this book truly touched me. It made it feel so easy, while acknowledging it’s hard. It spoke of loss and heartbreak on multiple levels, while proving you can find solace in love - that you find in a partner or the family you choose for yourself. And as they say, it’s always worth it.

I’d give it 10 stars if I could.

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As a huge fan of baking shows and Lucy Parker, I was so ready for this book. I adored it. While it dealt with grief, I don't think that overwhelmed the love story. And the set up for the next book has me wanting more.

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I fun romcom that made my day and sweet as the dishes they prepare. This little rivalry was a damn good time.

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I really took my time with this one and I am so glad I did. I love a romance featuring a baking storyline but throw in a grief storyline and I am a sucker. I didn't ant this one to end. Loved it

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This book unfortunately was a DNF. i tried it as an audio as well as printed but it felt too slow. Thank you for letting me read and review this book.

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This book was a cute romance read. We have a dash of enemies to lovers trope going on with a side of competition between the two. What can go wrong? Sike, everything when you involve love and chemistry while you complete with each other. It's the typically rom-com read.

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Sweet and spicy like the yummy treats sprinkled throughout the plot. I appreciate the GBBO-if-P-Hollywood-was-not-a-prat vibe, as well as the great mystery and competition for baking the royal wedding cake. Lots of great notes and I can't wait to read more!

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Lucy Parker's books never let me down and this was no exception. I loved it! Sylvie and Dominic were the perfect grumpy/sunshine pair and their story was so much fun. Can't wait for the next in the series!

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🍩💗Happy National Donut Day 🍩💗⁣

What are your weekend plans ? I’m staying home & reading all weekend :) I’ve been in a bit of a slump this week, I started 3 books that aren’t peaking my interest so I think I’m going to start this really cute romcom: Battle Royal because it involves a baking competition, romance & some enemies to lovers goodness 😍⁣

Thank you @avonbooks for sending me this gorgeous arc 🥰😍 #partner

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It has taken me quite some time to get to this read and for that I apologize. Being a mood reader can be difficult.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

This book is fun and exciting, but also cute. I enjoyed the competition and royalty bits so much. Their banter was on point and hit some serious swoon.
I think loads of people can dive right into this and enjoy it. Sylvie and Dom are well rounded characters with big personalities that you grip right on to.

I did find parts of the plot all over the place and yet somehow slow in places. I think it is very good for what it is and would recommend. Think GBBO with royalty and romance!

3.5**

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Battle Royal is the first book I've read by this author, but it certainly won't be the last, I really enjoyed her witty and easy to read writing style.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it's just the thing needed to escape this unsettled world, I thought it started off a little on the slow side for my liking and it was until a good third of the way through that the pacing started picking up speed, once it did it's an absolute blast.

I love watching GBBO (I even watch the re-runs) so this was right up my street and I definitely wasn't disappointed, I loved the plot, it's funny and delightful, a heart-warming enemies to lovers/opposites attract romance with two wonderfully charming and complex characters who are in need to love.

I love the characters, Sylive and Dominic are the perfect couple, each with their own thoughts and opinions, the chemistry between them is off the charts; it's sizzling and sexy, they banter, bicker and flirt at times it's a will-they-won't they relationship an then other times you know that they are for keeps.

The story is a real winner, it's ticks all the boxes any romance lover looks for in a rom-com, a definite must read!

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Thank you so much @williammorrowbooks and @avonbooks for sending me a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

This might be my new favorite romance. This just felt so real. The chemistry between Sylvie and Dominic is so good and nothing like I've read in a romance before! I loved the baking competition show they were judges on, the little competition they we in for the wedding cake for Rosie and Johnny, the moments of intimacy, the beautiful and cute moments they had together when comforting each others, so many funny moments of laughter, the great moments in their bakeries with their employees and family. Everything about this book was just phenomenal!

--> Recommended if you like:
• Baking
• Family
• Competition
• Royalty
• Weddings
• Business Ownership
• Steam
• The Great British Baking Show
• Banter
• Humor

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This was a quick read. I really enjoyed the enemies to lovers trope with Dominic and Sylvie. It was a nice slow-burn, which is hard to execute properly and Lucy Parker nailed it. I am excited to visit this universe again with Pet and Matthias's story!

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This book is sweet (ha, pun unintended) and though it takes a little bit to get into it, is a quick read. It has a lot of Lucy Parker staples that I enjoy -- wonderful dialogue, excellent character relationships, excellent building of relationships especailly, investment in character nuances -- but for some reason, I just didn't vibe with the romance. I believed it, but it didn't pull me in. It just felt kind of... bland. There. It was a much more quiet romance than I think I was expecting going into it, which is not the author's fault, but it definitely contributed to the not-catching-me-thing. I'm not particularly interested in the next book at this moment (though I do love Pet) because see pet peeve #1 below, but we'll see!

Also, two pet peeves were committed:
1. WHY ARE AUTHORS OBSESSED WITH BIG MEN/SMALL WOMEN PAIRINGS AND WHY DO THEY HAVE TO MENTION IT ALL THE TIME? WE GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!
2. last minute dramatic scene that literally didn't need to happen? lmao

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Everything about this book was made for me. Both people are bakers? YES! They hate each other? YES! One is a big giant grump and the other throws glitter everywhere? HELL YES!! From the start I loved this romcom about an upstart baker competing against a legacy baker after meeting four years ago on a Great British Baking Show-esque competition where he was a judge and she was a contestant. Everything is delightful and sweet. The romance aspect goes from bickering to friendship to lover slowly enough that it feels natural for these two people. There was a lot more damage in both their pasts that I was crying pretty heavily at least three times, but in the end, it all works out (of course, it's a romance novel!).

My only real complaint is how hard the author leans on making Dominic into a younger stand-in for Paul Hollywood. He's going grey early, he's tall with broad shoulders, and constantly grumpy. Sylvie convinces him to start giving out handshakes when contestants impress him. It's an aspect of the character that is pushed VERY HARD, and as I find Paul Hollywood to be terrible, it really skewed up my internal movie when Dominic kept turning into him in my head. Ugh...

Still, this book was written for me!

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Please believe me when I tell you this is one of the most delightful books I have ever read. Funny, cute, unexpected, and adorably romantic, BATTLE ROYAL by Lucy Parker exceeded all my rom-com hopes and dreams!

If you don’t know by now, a starchy, uptight character paired with a fun-loving, chaos demon love interest is my kryptonite. It’s like grumpy/sunshine and opposites attract to the max! This book plays this trope to perfection AND adds cake!

Dominic is an uptight judge on a Great British Bake Off-like show and our heroine, Sylvie, is the woman he kicked off the show years before. They have shops down the street from each other. Sylvie is all unicorns and glitter and Dominic is stately, elegant minimalism.

Parker does a great job of showing the undeniable pull between our two main characters. The quiet moments and small touches are just as poignant as the drama of sexy scenes. The whole book is perfectly paced and an absolute delight to read.

Reading this book sent me on a spiral of reading Lucy Parker’s entire backlist in one glorious weekend. It was SO FUN. Highly recommend!

**I received a free copy of this book in order to provide an honest review**

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Oh how badly I wanted to love this one. And even more I felt like it was written with so many things I love, enemies to lovers and food related romances being two big ones. However no matter how much I tried I just couldn't get into this book. Our love interest was just not appealing to me which would make it really hard for me to hope for the romance and be excited about it. But not only that but I also wasn't fully invested in our main character either. Unfortunately it just ended up not being the book for me.

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