I really really loved Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, and was a little disappointed by Paris Daillencourt. But that seems to be the theme with Alexis Hall sequels. Parts of it were really really good, parts of it were really really funny, parts of it were really really touching, and parts of it were really really disappointing. So it averages out to three stars.

Alexis Hall doesn't write traditional romance, and PD, like RP and BfM, are very much relationship fiction, as opposed to romance novels. Knowing that going in makes the book better, as you don't spend half the book trying to figure out how, exactly, it's a romance novel.

Like RP, I found some of the sections very hard to read, because the person in charge of the filming is, frankly, an abusive bully to her charges. Which is not a good thing at all, but is an especially bad thing when the main character has an undiagnosed anxiety disorder. I also found the last section, the one with the tweets way way too over the top and very much unnecessarily harsh. I was also disappointed in the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for the eARC!

Alexis Hall writes about the pain of anxiety with grace in the coming of age contemporary book about competitive baking, social media and the trials of being young and on camera.

Woo. Ok, so I need to start by saying I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that shows, on the page, the cycles of anxiety so well. As someone who is constantly in battle with her own anxiety, this book made me tear up at times because it was so powerful in how it displayed the trials and struggles of anxiety on the page. Paris is a hard character to love, partially because of how he is unable to manage this illness through the first two thirds of this book. His experiences resonated with me and I can see myself recommending this book to people to help them understand how I can see the world sometimes.

I don’t know that I would call this book a straight romance. It’s certainly not a romcom as it’s packaged to be. Rather it’s more of a New Adult Contemporary Fiction story about Paris Daillencourt learning to deal with his anxiety with a soft romantic secondary plot line. Paris, and his friends and romantic love interest are all young. They are 20 and are selfish, self-focused and unaware of so much in life. Which is how they should be at 20! However, I struggled to like or empathize with many of the secondary characters. Paris is a privileged young man who’s parent’s success and fame as a model and fashion designer has set him up for a life of wealth. However, his parents have utterly abandoned him. They won’t even respond to his text messages, which is an absolutely heartbreaking part of the book that I wish got some resolution. Paris is really naive about his wealth and privilege which is sometimes jarring because it seems slightly out of character for someone who’s anxiety makes him so hyper focused and aware. Paris, and his romantic interest, Tariq, a gay muslim man who is a ray of sunshine have a fascinating relationship. Sex is off the table from the beginning as Tariq is open about wanting to save himself for marriage. There is some interesting conversations and dynamics about sex, religion, homosexuality and the tension between those three areas that I wish was more fully developed by the end. The characters do have a HFN, but I couldn't help but feel like there was a lot still needed to be discussed left on the table for me to believe the HFN. However, I did remind myself that at 20, perhaps that was the best ending you could hope for.

Let’s talk about the secondary characters. Tariq’s family is frankly a delight and is a darling juxtaposition to Paris’ completely absent family. However, the rest of the characters were not great: especially Morag, Paris’ roommate who calls herself a “fat Glasgowian Sex Goddess” but who seemed to be cruel and self obsessed. Tariq’s roommates, all called Dave, were kind of funny, but in the way that you would expect a flat full of young men living together to be.

During the actual baking competition, I really enjoyed the different characters competing against Paris and Tariq. The baking scenes, aside from Paris’ constant tears and whining, were some of my favourites in the book. Paris loves baking but doesn’t think he’s good at it (which is totally the anxiety talking) but his constant rejection of his skill gets annoying, which I’m pretty sure was Alexis’ goal. I did feel, however, during those scenes like I was watching an episode of The Great British Bake Off, which was a delight. Although this is the second in the Winner Bakes All series (first was Rosalind Palmer Takes the Cake) they read as standalones.

All in all this was a fascinating read about one man’s struggle with anxiety and his growth and development through taking accountability for his actions and seeking treatment. It is not, however, a core romantic story.

Thank you to Forever for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Oh this book. I liked how Paris had anxiety rep, this is so important for readers to encounter. However, as someone with anxiety, it was hard to spend a lot of time with this character. Also, I’m not a fan of this being called romance when the romance wasn’t the focus of the book and, honestly, with some major differences and disrespect of Tariq’s beliefs, I wonder if they’ll last.
Also, the nazi comments did not land well with me at all.

Paris Daillencourt hates himself a lot and i scared of everything. Somehow, his best friend thought it'd be a good idea for him to be on TV, on a baking competition. So here he is. That's where he meets Tariq. Paris can't believe this cute guy is flirting with him. He can't, right? He's so terrible at everything no one could ever be interested, right? Right?

Look, I have anxiety and I hate myself but, like, this was taken to an extreme and being in Paris's head was hell for me. I still don't know if I wanted to shake him or kill him. I'm sorry but I really couldn't stand him and that was hard for me to care about anything throughout.
Also, I definitely wouldn't call this a romance. For me, this was mostly about anxiety and mental health, not about the romance; it really was something extra and not the main plot.
Basically, this was impossible for me to enjoy but other people probably will. It was an interesting pov of someone with GAD, I just couldn't... And the fact that I expected a romance also didn't help...

4.5 stars Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble is Alexis Hall at his prime. Laugh out loud funny, witty banter, with an amazing bunch of side characters, this book can make you snort with laughter one minute and then relate to your emotional side the next. Second in the series featuring the hit British show “Bake Expectations” (after Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake) Paris’s roommate Morag (self described as a fat Glaswegian sex goddess) has entered him into the baking competition. A nervous wreck at every turn, Paris’s insecurities just might prevent him from being able to perform in the competition, let alone make friends. But he doesn’t expect “sparkly” Tariq to befriend him, whom effortlessly makes Paris feel special and understood. This book gave me all the same feelings as Boyfriend Material with the whip smart dialogue, lovable but flawed hero, and a fabulous cast of characters. I loved Tariq and how he seemed to be the yin to Paris’s yang, but without changing himself for anyone. He sets boundaries and keeps to them, while still being wonderfully Tariq. I also adored Paris and loved being on the journey with him as he comes to terms with his anxiety, absentee parents, self-doubt and insecurities (Tariq goes as far to tax him every time he says the word “sorry”). This book is so much more than a romance, but a look at culture, living and coping with an anxiety disorder, and learning how to enjoy the people around us. The social commentary and Tweets interspersed throughout are literary gold for advancing the narrative and keying the reader in to Paris’s emotional rollercoaster. And the side scenes away from Bake Expectations filming, i.e. Laser Tag and meeting the Daves are *chef’s kiss* perfection. If you’re looking for a story that’s enjoyable to read without being too light and fluffy, you might find it here with Paris. I can’t wait for the next season of Bake Expectations in 2024! Thank you to NetGalley and Forever for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Read this book if you like: Baking shows, rivals in competition, LGBTQ representation, anxiety disorder representation, Muslim representation

Paris Daillencourt is a recipe for disaster. Despite his passion for baking, his cat, and his classics degree he is constantly anxious and doubt himself. His roommate enters him in Bake Expectations, the nation’s favourite baking show, Paris is sure he’ll be the first one sent home. However, he win week one’s challenge and meets fellow contestant Tariq Hassan.

Tariq is the competition, but he’s also cute, kind, and confident. Still, neither his growing romance with Tariq nor his own impressive bakes can keep Paris’s fear of failure from spoiling his happiness. The show’s vicious fanbase confirms his worst anxieties, Paris’s confidence is torn apart.
 
I liked this book. I loved Tariq. I love how he spoke about his culture, religion, etc. I never stopped liking him. I learned from him, for sure. Paris was a bit unlikeable. This was tough for me because the book was only in his POV. It would have been more rounded as dual. A few times he was almost a caricature of someone with anxiety. I related to some of the stuff about Paris as I have anxiety disorder. This book was heartwarming and hilarious in some parts. I enjoyed the competitors and characters in this one much more than the previous book. The judges are so ridiculous and funny.

However, there were racist jokes that were absolutely not needed in the story. No matter how high my anxiety is I never wonder if I'm racist for not knowing what a bread is. 🤣 I also wanted more romance. The romance that was there wasn't super believable to me. The previous book was similar in the romance being almost a subplot of a general fiction story. Overall, I enjoyed it.

Thank you to the author and Forever for the gifted book! ❤️

Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble by Alexis Hall is the second book in the Winner Bakes All series. This can be read as a stand alone although there are one or two references to Rosalind Palmer Takes the Cake but you won’t be lost in this story. We are back for another season of Baked Expectations,, with different contestants.

Don’t let the cover fool you this is not a cute rom-com. Paris is a contestant on the show and has severe anxiety. We spend most of the book inside Paris’ head which is full of worry and stress about almost everything. On the show, he meets Tariq, who is sparkly and secure in who he is, and they start dating. As the show continues, so does his spiral towards a mental breakdown. The last quarter or so of the book is Paris getting the help he needs….thankfully!

As I was reading this, I could relate to Paris being in his head and dealing with the self doubt, although my anxiety isn’t as severe as his. This is something I continue to work on - being kind to myself and getting out of my head to be present.

Other things I enjoyed that added the lighter moments that we needed to balance being in Paris’ head:
🍰 Paris’ roommate and friend Mortag. She is so bold.
🍰 The four Daves - Tariq’s roommates and friends
🍰 The baking show and the competition.

Like I mentioned this is not a light rom-com and does deal with heavier issues even though this is a romance and there is a HEA/HFN ending. I recommend this for readers that enjoy:
🍰 reality show setting
🍰 baked goods
🍰 m/m romance - kissing only

Thanks to NetGalley and Forever Pub for the advance readers copy. All thoughts are my own.

I really enjoyed the humor in Paris Daillencourt is about to crumble. The characters flew off the page.

I don't think Alexis Hall and I and contemporary books are a good mix. Love the historicals but the contemporaries and I aren't friends. I believe this has been changed since I read an early copy but the Nazi jokes were confusing and out of place (as they always are) and I hated the way anxiety was portrayed in this. It almost seemed like a caricature of anxiety at times and I don't understand why no one ever told Paris that he might need to see someone until it all came out in a rage. It actually made my anxiety worse and I had a super super hard time with this one. I think I'll stick to historical romance from this author and leave the contemporaries to others.

I really like Alexis’ writing style. It’s quirky, funny, and really engaging. I will admit I don’t love single-person perspective stories. I like really knowing both characters, that being said, Alexis crafts a really good story.

Paris has anxiety. And there is no hiding from it in a single POV story. Through the wild antics of Paris going on a baking show, coping with dealing with people, his own insecurities, and the world of internet people, you cannot escape his anxious thoughts and self-doubts. It actually borders on uncomfortable. And though you feel for him, at times you can’t help but sympathize with Tariq when he at times is frustrated with Paris. But let me say this…it makes the 2nd half of the story extremely satisfying. And the ending, more so.

The self-growth both characters go through is very gratifying and really makes you really believe these two will go the distance.

I loved that this brought me back into the GBBO like show. The anxiety rep was very real and painful to get through at times. In the end I appreciated Paris's growth but I felt as though a few things were unresolved

“It was slowly dawning on him that maybe he wouldn’t go home. Which was good. Except it was also bad, because it meant he would have to come back.”

Listen, the way that I love Alexis Hall is borderline out of control. I have not read a book of his that I haven’t thoroughly enjoyed. His sense of humor is right up my alley and he has this incredible ability to write characters that I just adore.

We’re back with Bake Expectations with a brand new cast. Paris is a bit neurotic and a chronic over-thinker, and when his roommate signs him up for the show, he’s a bit terrified. He starts strong, but is convinced it’s just a fluke. He’s constantly apologizing and unable to interact well with the other contestants.

He meets Tariq, who’s confident in himself and has a clear understand of who he is. Tariq and Paris have several really beautiful conversations throughout the book, and these always surprise me in Alexis Hall’s books because I’ll be laughing one minute and feeling my heart ache the next. Their relationship feels realistic and they need to put in the work on themselves before they can be with each other. I think the way they discuss their world views, and specifically Tariq’s feelings on being gay and Muslim is incredibly important. They have his beautiful conversation about how these two huge facets of his life intersect and I think it helps make Paris overall more understanding.

Paris has incredible character growth throughout the book. He realizes what’s important and that he needs to get help to deal with the trauma of his absent parents. He’s such a sweet person, but has put up mental blocks that prevent him from reaching his true potential. Tariq is pivotal in how Paris realizes his need for therapy and help. And by the end, Paris is just where he needs to be.

As always, the supporting characters are outstanding and always add so much chaos. I laughed so much reading this, and while some scenes felt like they went on a bit too long, it didn’t take away from the overall story. It’s as fun as it is heartwarming, and I expect nothing less from Alexis Hall.

I do normally love a book from Alexis Hall, but have to admit to not loving Rosaline Palmer. I re-listened to it again immediately before reading the ARC of Paris Daillencourt (I know, same series but 100% standalone - more so than most times when a series says that!), to see if the year+ since my last read would change my opinion or in case there was anything I’d pick up to help with book 2. It didn’t help in either case… Rosaline Palmer still remains very problematic (plot and the Alain character just makes me so angry), and nothing to help prep for this one.

Paris Daillencourt was a breath of fresh air after book 1! Yes, he’s a ball of undiagnosed anxiety, with his internal voice constantly trying to sabotage his entire life, but he does OK with doing the odd thing out of his comfort zone - like going on Bake Expectations when his roommate Morag signed him up because he once said he might like to try. When he meets Tariq in the worst meet-cute imaginable, on the show (fridge door, bloody nose), they sort of hit it off, until the anxiety monster rears her ugly head.

Like many of Alexis Hall’s books, this is a clean romance (there’s some kissing), and does focus a lot on Paris and his anxiety, as well as the baking competition - much like in Rosaline Palmer it focused on the baking and her relationships with the jerk Alain, and navigating through his betrayal and her friendship with Harry and her being bi as a huge focus. Although, whoa - for a clean one, the male anatomy is mentioned a few hundred times … so I suppose not completely clean!

It’s significantly a better story (IMHO), and I can definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys an anxiety, cross-culture, LGBTQ romance that has no more than kissing! And, cute nicknames like Angel Cake, endlessly patient partners, cute Egyptian named cats, and mouthwatering recipes.

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing), and this is my honest feedback.

TW: actually this book contains amazing TWs in the beginning!
Rep: general anxiety disorder, gay MC, gay bangladeshi muslim LI, lesbian SCs

Alexis Hall is a complete hit or miss for me.
This one definitely was a super hit!
I loved everything about this, starting with the amazing style of writing, the humour of it, the amazing characters and the amazing anxiety rep.

Paris is an incredible baker and cook, so his roommate decides to enrol him for his favourite TV baking show.
As fate (and his skills) have it, he actually gets a spot and now has to take part in a baking competition every weekend.
The thing is, Paris is not good with people. He’s extremely awkward, strange and unknown places freak him out. So maybe being on TV in a stressful situation, baking unknown dishes surrounded by strangers in a time limit isn’t the best idea?!
But Paris hasn’t always been like that, so he can definitely do this! Or can he?

I hated seeing how Paris was getting worse and worse the more pressure he felt. I just wanted to go hug him and look for a nice therapy place for this poor guy.
It all felt uncomfortably relatable from time to time.
The situation with his parents and his inability to stop imagining more and more horrible scenarios making him unable to participate in any kind of relationship made me hurt so badly for him.
All the attention and the social media stuff on top were just the last drop.
What this book especially made me realise: maybe the people crying on TV shows all the time and the people being mega stressed and crying over a test and getting an A in the end aren’t actually annoying asshats. Maybe they’re just under a lot of stress and their mind is telling themselves horrible things. Maybe we should be a little more understanding.

While I hated everything happening to and with him, it was all done in such a realistic way and still with so much humour I loved reading about it. Simply because it was extremely well done.
Paris was a complete mess, yes. And it’s just the way how you feel and think and in the end act with a disorder like that.
Realising you need help and actually finding the will and motivation to seek it are no easy tasks! Being told you’re mentally ill is no fun I’m telling you out of experience!
Also being able to find help so quickly is not normal. Paris was in an extremely privileged position, please mind this!
Sometimes it takes months to get a place in therapy!

We need books like this! Especially romance books. Being mentally ill and finding love aren’t exclusive.
I loved Tariq. And while I can’t say anything about how well his rep was, I loved reading about his culture and his family.
I liked how realistic their relationship was portrayed, the ups and downs and the open talking.
I loved how Tariq wasn’t the perfect curer of Paris’ ills. He made huge mistakes and he admitted to them.


In the end this book was simply hilarious, heartwarming and still hit you right in the feels.
It was a very realistic portrait of how it looks and feels to have a mental health issue and live with it.
I loved everything about this and can’t wait to read the other books in this series now.

Seemingly sold as a m/m romance but was more the meandering thoughts and discovery of Paris Daillencourt’s self while in the midst of a baking show.

What I liked:

As always Hall brings fun banter, that induces laugh out loud moments in this case the MC wasn’t the one making me laugh but the side characters, particularly Paris’ roommate Mortag.

Mental health rep surrounding anxiety was great and easy to relate to.

I enjoyed the baking show premise.

What didn’t work:

Editing, editing, editing, there was only so much of Paris’ POV I could take, this could stand to have a dual POV or some serious editing back, it felt very repetitive at times. The book didn’t really excel until Paris began doing the work on himself.

The romance was an after thought, which was too bad because I liked Tariq a lot and this book is advertised as such.

I love mental health rep in books but at times this felt like it became too much of an excuse for some really awful behaviour, there needed to be a line between anxiety and just being a bad person and it became really blurry.

I love Alexis Hall as a writer and will continue to read his books this one sadly was just a miss for me.

2.5 rounded down.

Thank you NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review, all opinions are my own.

This was one of my highly anticipated reads for the last half of 2022 and ultimately I'm not sure what to say about it. I liked it just fine but the reading of it was stressful. Paris is a very anxious and awkward main character and many of his interactions with other people are painful to read. The majority of his relationship with Tariq is spent apologizing for inconsequential things and not apologizing for for important things. There's also very casual islamophobia, which is addressed in the author's content guidance note at the beginning of the book. It's marked as 'challenged' and even though it was in a way, I don't think it really needed to be in the story. Overall, it was fine but I didn't really enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake but after almost half this one, I'm afraid it's not for me.

While I love the Bake Expectations setup and queer romance, I'd say the focus here is on Paris' personal journey with anxiety. PARIS DAILLENCOURT IS ABOUT TO CRUMBLE certainly isn't a romantic comedy.

I also didn't realize from the synopsis how young Paris and Tariq are -- college students implied to be 20 or 21 years old. I found Paris' intrusive thoughts to be an important representation of how anxiety can manifest, but I didn't love how either character communicated with the other. I didn't see any chemistry or connection between them, besides Tariq calling Paris pretty a lot, which made me wonder why they're saying they're in a relationship (after one date) in the first place?

Not to mention I think I'm just not reading what's supposed to be fun banter the way it's intended -- it seems not nice or boring to me. Additionally there's some casual bigotry on display and I think I'm supposed to be like, "oh haha this character thinks that messed up thing," but instead it just feels like, "yikes, do more to contradict this message if you're putting it in your book."

Overall I think PARIS DAILLENCOURT IS ABOUT TO CRUMBLE will be a better fit for those more interested in young 20something coming-of-age stories. You'll also probably enjoy it more if you jive better with Alexis Hall's humor and go in not expecting a romantic comedy.

DNF at 42%

I love Alexis Hall books, after reading so many, I thought that I would fall in love with this one too.
Don't get me wrong, it was good in its own right, and nothing should be changed about it. Romance and cooking are an awesome pairing. The bake-off is a great idea and the paring is okay. But there are a few concerning factors with this one.

I noticed that I did not care for the characters too much and could not get into the book as much as I wanted. While I loved reading about Paris, I wanted to skip chapters to get to the end of the book. There were so many moments where I felt embarrased and I knew the story wasn't about me.

Maybe it was just about the constant worries of his that rendered me annoyed. Maybe it was the anxiety that he showed, that I am way to accostumed to myself. But I really felt that this was not a romance, I really do not think it should have been labled as one.

It was a hard read to get though. I did it, but I think after this one, I am going to pay more attention to book summaries.

Alexis Hall has done it again! I have been hooked on these books since reading boyfriend material. This book was a page turner from the start. I really liked the main character!

I DNF'd at 37%. I found Paris exhausting. There was no acknowledgement of his anxiety, let alone any attempt to improve. The other side characters (at Bake Expectations) were fun, but not nearly so to make me want to push through. I'll try more of Hall's writing down the road but this was rough.