I loved A Lady for a Duke so I was thrilled to get to read this one. I’m not sure how to rate this. It doesn’t feel like a romance and that’s what I went in expecting. It’s more of a look at living with undiagnosed anxiety. I wanted Paris to work on himself sooner than he did and most of his inner thoughts were a slog to read.

We see Paris’s worrisome thoughts before AND during an experience, and both are riddled with anxiety. It was a lot. It’s probably accurate rep for someone with debilitating anxiety, but from a storytelling perspective it was exhausting.

I always like to see underrepresented groups be main characters. But Paris’s long streams of worrying—especially during the bakes when there wasn’t much conversation—and self-absorbed outlook wasn’t a storytelling style I could enjoy for the length of an entire book.

It’s more of a personal growth story than a romance, and I wish Paris’s arc had started at a lot sooner than it did.

This book hits close to home for me as someone with Generalized Anxiety Disorder. I really identified with Paris as he spiraled and talked down on himself, without realizing that there was anything wrong with his behavior. The accuracy of it all really hurt (in a good way, I promise). It can be frustrating watching someone with such potential just flail about, and I often found myself frustrated with the book. However it's realistic to my (and many others') experiences. And for me, baking shows tend to be my anti-anxiety happy place of television so it was fitting that we see Paris thrive in such a place.

This book is definitely more of a contemporary than a romance, though I did enjoy the flashes of it that we do see. I recommend this for people who love baking shows and enjoy reading about mental health in books.

*Thank you to Forever and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advanced copy. While I really enjoyed the premise of Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble, like Paris, I am a highly anxious person and his constant inner anxiety monologue made it slightly difficult for me to enjoy. The whole time I was reading I couldn't stop thinking "please get help, you need help" and was happy that it was eventually a plot point but for me, it came too late. While I didn't read the first book in the series, this won't stop me from giving it a try. I really enjoyed the ending and the tone shift, but I just wish it had happened earlier in the novel. 2.5 stars.

I am a huge Alexis Hall fan, and this cover made me even more excited to get my hands on Paris Daillencourt.

As always, Hall brings us witty banter, drool-worthy food descriptions, and fun-to-read baking challenge scenes. The dialogue in Hall’s books never fails to crack me up. I liked that this book was a nod to Rosaline Palmer without being the exact same structure–there were a lot more scenes outside and after the baking show.

Another hallmark of Hall’s writing (ha) is how realistically he writes about anxiety. It was exhausting to be in Paris’s head for a whole book, which I assume was Hall’s intent–to show how tiring and frustrating it must be to constantly be at battle with your own brain. Paris had an incredible character arc, and I loved the support his friends gave him in encouraging him to seek help for his mental illness.

It sucked that Paris was so unfair to Tariq, even though I see its purpose. Tariq definitely was way more patient with Paris than most people would have been!

I wish we got to see more of what Tariq was thinking. Tariq was a sweetie who really knew himself and wasn’t afraid to be who he wanted to be, despite everyone else’s judgment. I loved his family, too! I would have loved to see a dual perspective, but I’m not sure what I would have taken out to make room for one.

Overall, I think I liked Rosaline more just because the baking show theme was so new at the time, but I still loved this book and its message.

This is an excellent book that hit me harder than I expected. It's funny as heck -- I laughed out loud much more than I do with most romcoms -- but it also goes deep into Paris's anxieties and insecurities. Some of them are so much like my own that it felt almost like reading about myself; consequently, it shook me up and I needed to follow it up with some heartwarming, fluffy books to get myself back on an even keel. It was a lot like reading The Heart Principle. THP captured the process of trying to figure out how to be appropriate in every situation and how exhausting it can be and left me with a major book hangover. Similarly, PDIATC captures fears and insecurities and the brain's endless creative ability with "what if" scenarios.

The first book in the Winner Bakes All series, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, was about Rosaline coming to terms with how to figure out what she personally wants out of life as much as it was about Rosaline's feelings for and interactions with the two handsome competitors who have caught her eye. Similarly, PDIATC is a story of Paris struggling with and ultimately working through his own issues as much as his romance with Tariq. I found Tariq with his glittery fingernails, his kindness, and his take-no-shit attitude to be an absolute delight. I do wish he'd been allowed a bit more in the way of personal flaws rather than just being this (almost always) perfectly supportive sweet guy.

As always, the side characters are a delight, from Tariq's flatmates to Morag the Glaswegian sex goddess to Jane Grey, who is John Bull femmed up and wearing an apron.

Highly recommended, but do mind the content warnings if reading about anxiety may be triggering for you.f

This was a cute story, fun story, but it wasn't all lighthearted. Set in a show similar to the Great British Bake Off, this story features sweet foods (with handy recipes in the back) and serious discussions of mental health, panic attacks, family issues, racism, and homophobia. While I enjoyed reading the romance aspects of the book, I really loved the friendships between Paris and Morag and between Tariq and the Daves. I wish we'd gotten to see more of Tariq's family, too, because they were really fun!

3.5 rounded up to 4 stars

This books is the second book in Alexis Hall’s “Winner Bakes All” series. It follows Paris, who joins a baking show (similar to the Great British Bake Off) after his roommate signs him up for it.

I appreciated the anxiety representation in this book although at some points it was a bit difficult to get through. I didn't really get into this book until a few chapters in. I enjoyed the setting of a baking competition tv show and the representation.

There were some main characters I really didn't like and some language I didn't like as well.

I have so many thoughts. The first thing I should say is that I went from almost DNF'ing at 60% and now I am giving it 2 stars so it definitely redeemed itself in a lot of ways.

Im struggling to decide if I didn't like it because I didn't like the story or characters, or if it was just genuinely triggering to read as a person with anxiety and being in Paris's mind was unbearable. I'm pretty sure it's the second thing. And I want to be very careful not to paint this as "People with untreated anxiety are annoying AF" because there are real people who think just like Paris and probably relate to him a lot. My personal experience with anxiety is no where close to what Paris goes through but maybe could have been, if I had not started meds and therapy in my teenage years. I could relate to his insecurities, etc, however it was just A LOT.

Something I (usually) love about Hall's books is that they are a personal growth journey for the MC as much as they are a romance novel. And I love how they have to overcome their mental health shit or hang ups on their own before they can come back and be a good partner. The reason I think it didn't work here is because it was out of balance. Usually the personal growth/mental health rep/etc is beautifully balanced with the romance, IMO. They compliment each other and you genuinely want the two MC's to work it out.

In this book, it was heavy on the Paris-has-crippling-anxiety and lacking in the beautiful romance bit. I was actually relieved when they had their big break up. I felt they shouldn't be together. Paris needed to get his shit together more than he needed anything else. When they finally get together at the end it is sweet, but I still didn't get that feeling like I need them to be together.

After the break up, things get much better. Hence the two stars. The two stars aren't for the romance part though. It's for Paris's growth and Hall's writing. If this wasn't billed as a romance and/or was dual POV so you could have a break from Paris' inner thoughts for a little bit this book could have been great.

I'm glad I finished it. And I can see what Hall is doing mostly because I've read his other work multiple times. But it didn't work for me this time.

This book started off so strong. I loved the premise, the GBBO feel and I loved that Paris’ friend entered him in the competition. But outside of that, this book was a rough read. As someone with anxiety and frequent panic attacks, I loved seeing the representation in this book, however, being inside Paris’ head the whole time was so exhausting. I wish the author would have done another POV to give us a break from his overthinking. Because he overthought EVERYTHING. Like every little thing. And I get he was written like that on purpose, but it just became so frustrating and very old, very fast. I skimmed through the last 15% because I couldn’t handle his narration anymore.

- The romance in this book also fell flat. I wasn’t sold on Paris and Tariq at all and I wish they would have just been friends. Their chemistry wasn’t there.
- I also wish we wouldn’t have gotten so much fade to black moments with the actual competition. That’s the main thing that made me interested in this book because I love GBBO so much.
- I am glad Paris got help and therapy in the end. I’m so glad he got better, but I almost wish that would have happened sooner so we could have enjoyed that side of Paris more.
- & the whole parent thing is never even cleared up? They just fuck off somewhere and ignore their kid. I was hoping we would have gotten some clarity on that & we didn’t at all.


My notes while reading:

- Paris is very self-conscious and self-deprecating
- GBBO vibe and I’m HERE for it.
- I get he doesn’t believe in himself, but I do feel like he goes way too far and jumps to conclusions a BIT too much. It’s a little over the top at times.
- This dude has SEVERE anxiety, like top-notch, non-stop, brain-numbing anxiety.
- P&P reference. They literally never get old.
- What is up with his parents? They’re mentioned and he texts them but there’s something weird with them.
- Paris is kind of a sheltered asshole?
- He’s the cringiest main character I’ve ever read and I don’t think I like him (27% in)
- I wish he would stop second guessing himself 100% of the time.
- Paris is the definition of over-thinking
- It’s exhausting being in his head.

* Received copy for review. *
Somehow, Alexis Hall manages to take very complicated characters and put them into a seemingly lighthearted situation and maintain balance. This was a tough read for me because Paris’ anxiety is so clear & present. It felt like I was overwhelmed with him and unraveling with him.
Tariq was interesting. I love a complicated character because we are all complicated. He is very sure of who he is. I love that he is not perfect and that he has some realizations of his own.
I will say that this book is a lot more serious than the setting implies.

This book was not at all what I had expected and and simply is not my cup of tea. I'm sadly abandoning this book at 20%. I have enjoyed most of what I have read but certain aspects I can't get through. I do appreciate the opportunity to read this.

I like how this book really departed from the first. The characters and relationships were so different and really brought a new look at the competition. The portrayal of the main character's anxiety was important to the story; and I feel that it was handled well. I would like to have seen the love interest be a little bit more compassionate at the end but alls well that ends well.

|| 2.5 rounded down ||

This book has a glaring problem — the protagonist.

Unfortunately this is also an issue I had with the first book of this series. Rosaline got on my nerves, but somehow Paris is even worse?

I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember, I still do. I appreciate the representation. BUT, I can also say from experience that if you have to at least TRY to treat your illness, for yourself and loved ones. If not you will be absolutely exhausting to deal with. You will have struggle days and be exhausting anyway, I sure as hell do/am. That isn’t your fault. but you have to TRY. If you won’t try, that is your fault.

Paris doesn’t try until the very end. 75% or so mark. Until that point, it’s just constant self-sabotage, being incredibly and repeatedly rude and disrespectful to Tariq (his love interest), his badass room mate Morag, and quite frankly everyone around him. He constantly says sorry but is never sorry. He acts selfishly and somehow always manages to play the victim.

It’s just beyond exhausting and frustrating. He was funny and relatable at first, but it goes down hill so quickly I got whiplash. The romance…meh. It’s hard to support a romance where one of them is inadvertently problematic and does the other dirty over and over.

If you can manage to ignore Paris and his crap, everything and everyone else in the world is a joy. Honestly.

The baking show concept is very well done. Alexis is great at banter and wit. Representation is seamless.

I love some of the other characters — Grace and Jennifer from the crew are really crude and funny characters that I genuinely enjoy.

Tariq is a gay Bangladeshi Muslim who slays at baking and honestly, he should have been the protagonist. Forget Paris. Tariq has more depth, he has a well portrayed internal struggle with his sexuality and religion, and he’s just so kind and open minded. I really liked him.

Morag is a body positive, sex positive babe that cracked me up. She is Paris’s room mate and she frequently called him on his bullshit, which I love. She was such a refreshing addition to the book and I appreciated her.

I love the cover. I love the title. I love the bake show concept. But I do not love Paris Daillencourt. This book would have been light years better without him.

Thank you NetGalley & Grand Central Publishing for the ARC.

DNF @ 15%

This book needed an editor, it also needed exponentially less N*zi and antisemitism casual conversations included for something publishing in 2022. Paris' anxiety representation was almost a caricaturization with how surface level "overthink everything" he was, with not much else included. If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be exhausting. We're also hit with the Hall specialty of extremely pretentious name and pop-culture dropping throughout the book - it's not as much fun when you need to bring a dictionary along while trying to read a romance. We also have the Hall special of his inability to write women in his books.


Included are some of my least favorite quotes:

Anyway, the point is that I wasn't going to let some lanky Sassenach scare me off with his oh I'm so aloof routine so I pinned him down after lectures one day and asked if he wanted to fuck me hard in the toilets. And he said actually I'm gay, and I said okay do you want to be coffee then. And we've been friends ever since.

- Morag, Paris' roommate explaining how she met him at university.


"... so I entered him - I mean I entered him into the competition, not with one of my many strap-ons - and out of thousands of contestants he's been selected as one of Britain's ten best amateur bakers."

- Morag, explaining how she entered him into the baking competition without his consent.


"Well, I'd say that's because I'm a fat Glaswegian sex goddess, but mostly it's because I fucking ask them if they want to have sex with me."

-Morag responding to Paris telling her that everyone is attracted to her.


It was the Cuban Missile Crisis in biscuit form. And for just a moment, Paris entertained the real possibility that he could be a Kennedy.

-Paris thinking to himself while making biscuits in the competition.


But I more sort of meant you have a" - Tariq framed him in a finger square - "classical vibe."
"Doesn't that just mean 'tiny penis'?"
Tariq's eyes widened. "Um...I...how did you get there? Because I really didn't mean to suggest anything about your penis at all. I'm sure your penis is, um, fine. Lovely even. But none of my business."

-Casual conversation between Paris and Tariq, where penises were discussed for another extra page.



And then the N*zi stuff that doesn't need to be repeated again and again. And Paris' catastrophizing about the fact that he might be secretly antisemitic and/or racist. For not knowing a type of dessert in the bake off competition. Again - exhausting.


I received an ARC copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

You know when you read a book about a character struggling with their mental health and your heart goes out them throughout the entire story? Well, Paris was an asshole most of the time, and I really appreciated it. This is the second book I’ve read, very recently actually, where the main character was pretty much unloveable but also relatable as hell (hi Art Barbara). Dealing with my own mental health, I too, am an asshole a lot of the time and unjustifiably mess up a lot of the time. While it kinda hurts to have this in your face while reading, it’s refreshing not to have these issues sugarcoated with delicacy, and to be called out on them.

I went into this expecting a romcom and got a mirror of my own struggles and insecurities (actually kind of like when I read Honey Girl) that delved way deeper than I expected. And once again, Hall handled it with that perfect amount of care that’s not too much to seem fake and preachy and not too little that it’s lacking empathy. It’s a fine line and I’m not sure how he’s able to balance it so well, but it is definitely something I see in all of his work.

In Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble, Alexis Hall again tackles subjects many authors shy away from, and does so with sensitivity and skill. I thoroughly enjoyed a Lady for a Duke and found Paris and Tariq’s story just as compelling. Framing it through a GBBO style baking program kept it a light read even when dealing with difficult subjects - and the laser tag scene was a real highlight! I loved Tariq’s family and would have liked to have spent more time with them. I really appreciated Paris’s mental health journey, which made me reflect on my own issues with anxiety from an outside perspective.

This book might be new favorite Alexis Hall book!! I couldn't put it down and read the entire book in a day. I love the way Alexis Hall writes. He has such a unique writing style that creates such complex characters. The sarcasm and he writes with never fail to make me laugh out loud multiple times throughout the books

The characters were a bit younger than some of Hall's other books (20/21) but I really enjoyed this aspect and found the way Hall wrote the uncertainties of this age to be so authentic. Paris went through so much growth in this book and I loved reading about his journey. He's an anxious disaster and I was always rooting for him. Tariq is such a complementary love interest for Paris's and while me romance storyline was a bit more background at times all the little moments (the honeys!!) had me screaming !I wasn’t the biggest fan of Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake but I love Alexis Hall's writing so much I decided to give the second book of the series a chance and I'm so glad I did.

In this season of Winner Bakes All, Alexis weaves humor and human-ness in the typical manner I’ve come to expect from all his writing—this time touching on anxiety and loneliness, religion and identity and healthy boundaries with careful kindness and intention. (I underlined so many things.)

Paris is a mess and I want to adopt him. Tariq carries himself with inspiring confidence, and I just want to BE him. And I wouldn’t turn down a cookie from either of them.

Another exquisite read from Alexis Hall. I loved Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake (the 1st in this series), and, of course, Boyfriend Material. This series is a perfect parody of a certain baking show and its associated personalities -- the comedian host and the perpetually sweary producer are just fantastically hilarious and the array of contestants is just spot on also. (Does any one else feel like he's taken Rahul, from 2018's GBBO and kind of split Rahul's ridiculously cute, depressed, insecure, baking genius personality into 2 characters, given them both his heart of gold & built on from there?) 

One of my favorite things about a good romance is intelligent banter and this book has it - there are witty jokes, references and allusions to all kinds of things from classical art to Pride & Prejudice to the political leanings of the BBC, British culture, and a well placed jab at Piers Morgan that are hilarious and clever. 

A description of one of the bakes as 
"like the Cuban Missile Crisis in biscuit form."

On seeing Paris' flat, Tariq says:
"I didn't mean to go all Elizabeth Bennet at you. Remember, I agreed to this date before I saw your magnificent grounds at Pemberley." 

A definition of memes by a character as:
"It's what people my age have instead of well-paying jobs in a stable economy."

And soooo many more. You have to read it all in context to get the full experience. 

As in Rosaline Palmer, some really important social, cultural and mental health issues come to the fore & are dealt with in kind and understanding ways that maybe help break through some historic social norms. The portrayal of Paris's severe anxiety is well illustrated with his speaking in hesitant sentence fragments and the well-worn internal monologue of self-destructive paths his mind forces him to re-tread until they are deep ruts -- I get that that is part of what he's dealing with, the relentlessness of these thought patterns & their effect on his life, but my only complaint is that as the book goes on, this becomes too repetitive at times when reading. 

Even the book club questions at the end are hilarious - e.g. "Do lemon shortbread and vanilla shortbread count as two different kind of biscuit? If so why?" (treading into Jaffa Cake territory there...) and "Favourite '80s movie? Favourite '80s band?"

Over all, really enjoyed it, can't wait for the next installment in the Winner Bakes All series. Luckily, we have Husband Material coming out in a few days' time to tide us over.

The second book in Alexis Hall’s “Winner Bakes All” series takes place in the same world as Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, and is set on the same Bake Expectations competition show with the same hosts & judges (Jennifer is still my favorite), but it has very different themes and a different story structure to Rosaline. It wasn’t cookie-cutter and it felt fresh.

I wouldn’t consider this to be as much of a romcom as Rosaline. Yes it’s very funny and sweet at times, but Paris has severe anxiety which reminded me of The Charm Offensive with its mental health rep. It’s intense at moments, with anxiety spirals and an on-page panic attack, so please go in gently if you find reading about anxiety issues triggering. There is way more off-camera and post-filming life instead of every show detail, which I loved. Now that we know this baking world, Hall decided to take a turn and talk about other things instead: how anxiety affects you and the people around you, being Muslim and queer, being white and privileged, but not happy. Being diagnosed and learning coping mechanisms. It is deftly blended together.

Paris falls for Tariq, a fellow contestant who is a queer Muslim man with strong religious beliefs. They are both 20 and still figuring themselves out, and although there is no sex in this book, I found it refreshing for a romance novel and right for the story as it shows that a romantic connection can exist without it. But there is lots of kissing, talking and banter! Tariq is the cutest thing ever with his nicknames “Honey” and “Angel Cake”, his personal style of mixing patterns and his shimmery nail varnish. Tariq’s own self-worth becomes a safe space for Paris and helps to calm him down. And Paris’s roommate and best friend Morag, the self-titled Glaswegian sex goddess, is one of the best side characters I’ve read lately.

From their very first encounter The BanterTM is so good. Hall writes some of the best banter I’ve ever read and it’s in this book as a way to break up the intensity. It filled me with such joy I had a smile on my face as I was reading it and had me cry laughing at moments. Why are there so many euphemisms and puns in baking terminology? It’s endlessly funny.

Hall writes about anxiety and depression in such a relatable way and it’s shown up in a few of his books. Paris has anxiety in a different way than Ash (Glitterland) or Luc (Boyfriend Material). His anxiety spirals are spoken out loud, while Ash and Luc keep it inside (for the reader to know) and cover it up with sarcastic jokes instead. Because the spirals are so well-written, they felt more intense and it was challenging to read at times. But the growth and discovery they both go on apart and together is very satisfying.

If you are a fan of Rosaline or The Charm Offensive or The Heart Principle where a delightful story is wrapped in depicting mental health issues, I would recommend this book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ 4.5 Stars

I was delighted to receive this ARC. Thanks so much to NetGalley and Forever!!