every romcom has some level of cringe and secondhand embarrassment but at some point it gets too much. this book surpassed that point. it also called taylor swift a “wanker” and i refuse to let that slide.

This felt like a warm hug and it was fantastic. It was also great to see content guidance. Quite simply adored this one more than the first one. Alexis Hall just writes books that make me feel warm and fuzzy on the inside. I had a great time reading this one.

I honestly think I would read Alexis' shopping lists if they were available! This was a fantastic read with amazing MH representation and such relatable characters that at times I forgot that they weren't my friends. Highly recommend!

Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble is a marvelous read!

The content warnings at the start of the book are super!

I don't know how they did it, but Alexis Hall was inside my head, mining my thoughts, and Paris' inner dialogue is the result! I thought I was the only human who has random thoughts about unlocking and opening the door of a moving car! I asked my partner about it once and he was like, no, I never wonder that. He doesn't have Anxiety and ADHD.

Paris has undiagnosed and untreated Anxiety, and the first part of the book he is really anxious which culminates in a panic attack, hospital stay, and diagnosis. There were parts of the book where I honestly had to remember I was reading a book, and there was no need for my own anxiety to ramp up because the main character is so anxious. If you have Anxiety, take care, it's just a book!

Paris is adorable! Tariq is fabulous! I love Tariq's family too! The baking competition is such a fun story line. I know this review talks about it a lot, but the thing that stuck with me the most was the honest portrayal of anxiety and mental health. Absolutely spectacular!

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I have so many feelings about Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble and I can’t make sense of any of those thoughts in my head.

Paris is picked to be on Bake Expectations. Paris also doesn’t know why he was picked to be on this show because he is convinced that he is just. not. good. Paris meets Tariq and they become friendly & form a relationship. However, things turn sour (baking or cooking pun anyone??) because Tariq just can’t handle Paris’s issues…

While I knew that Paris was struggling with a lot of anxiety - enough to the point to have a serious mental illness - I really struggled with his character. Enough to the point that I severely disliked his character. He pissed me off. He made me so angry. But I connected with what he was feeling and I just wanted him to get better.

It wasn’t until the last 25% of the book when I really noticed some character development and mainly because of the therapy and him accepting when you have a mental illness, you need help. As someone who also struggles with depression & anxiety, I struggled with the fact that I didn’t like this character for so much of the book. But he hit his downfall and sometimes you have to hit the rocks before you can understand what you need to do to get better.

Overall, I give the book a solid 3. I can’t give higher because of my struggles with the character. Also, I am majorly struggling with the fact that we don’t get closure about his parents. Are they in a coma and no one at the hospital thought to find their family? Did they truly abandon him? Have they been on a 4 month holiday and just don’t have cell service? Are they dead and he can’t accept their passing?

Huge thank you to NetGalley & Forever - Grand Central Publishing for this ARC for my 100% honest (seriously) review!

I really enjoyed the references and nods to GBBO. I could really visualize the show as described-I felt like I was there!

While I appreciated the realistic and relatable mental health representation the book provided, the whole thing felt rather anti-climactic. I enjoyed reading about the contestants and their time on the show, but everything else about the book was a bit boring to be honest.

Paris’s battle with depression and anxiety was extremely relatable, but I just didn’t care for him in general. It was hard to root for a character you didn’t like.
Thanks to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I thought I was going to enjoy this book more (the cover is so cute and the blurb sounded wonderful) but it fell a little flat for me. I did enjoy the writing style, and I connected with the main characters and the anxiety shown, but it just didn't wow me. A lot of romcoms have been feeling a little bland lately, so perhaps I'm just burnt out.

I love Alexis hall! She have so many great books out there!
This book was so amazing. I love the concept of everything!
Some of the writing was too much especially with all the crying and some other things.
Truly I love this book! It’s a great read and it might start off slow for some people but it’s amazing!

I love, love, love alexis hall as an author! truly one of the best! with that being said, I really wanted to love this book. I thought the concept was great and the characters had potential but there’s one issue: the anxiety representation.

while I always appreciate the anxiety representation so much and some of his anxiety and stress triggers were relatable, the sheer amount of them was a bit much. the crying, the what-ifs and persistent denial of other characters got exhausting after awhile…

truly, paris could’ve been a fantastic character with absolutely perfect anxiety rep IF this book was written with dual POVs. with dual perspectives, we would’ve had the ability to have more of a connection to the romance and a bit of a break from paris. honestly, he was just too much, 100% of the time.

I enjoyed this book! After reading Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, I was so excited to read another book in the same setting of Bake Expectations. This book followed a different structure from the first book, and we got to see a lot after the show finished and was airing. I think that helped with development of the characters and their relationships a lot.

Our main character, Paris, is dealing with a lot and he doesn't quite know how to manage it. He has undiagnosed general anxiety disorder, was essentially abandoned by his rich and famous parents, and is an excellent baker but cannot get out of his head (ya know, because of the anxiety). He spends most of the novel working through his self esteem and personal issues while on a reality TV baking competition his roommate entered him in. On Bake Expectations, he meets fellow contestant Tariq Hassan — after smacking him in the face with a fridge door — and they really hit it off (pun intended). Their relationship is very young and sweet, while also dealing with a lot of personal issues with each other. Tariq is Muslim and takes his religion and being gay very seriously and doesn't want to minimize either part of himself for anyone.

When reviewing Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, I said it read more like women's fiction than a romcom; I would say the same about this book. It focused way more on Paris' anxiety and troubles and having him work through them until he finally gets a diagnosis, therapy and medicine to manage his anxiety. The relationship with Tariq was very cute and important, but to me, didn't feel like the central theme of the story.

Overall, I loved the characters still and thought the bakes and pacing were fantastic. I do think having Tariq's point of view would've been beneficial to the story so we could get a break from all the Parisian thinking — at times it was very overwhelming (and I have anxiety!).

Alexis Hall really does write great representation and characters full of depth. He is an auto-read author for me and I'm excited to see what the third installment of the series will be. Thank you to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This is Book Two in the Winner Bakes All series but could be read as a standalone. There's slight mention of the action from Rosalie Palmer Takes the Cake and there's characters who carryover from the Bake Expectations (TV show) world. What I like about this story a little more is that there is a lot that happens outside of the cooking show structure and I appreciated that.

We follow Paris Daillencourt who suffers from undiagnosed anxiety. And he is really suffering. The mental health journey was painful to read at times, frequently funny and endearing, and as the child of a parent with anxiety, I do feel like I learned a lot about what it can be like to experiencing your brain lying to you. I will say, and I think this is on purpose, that some of the stammering and cut off sentences and the manifestations of Paris' anxiety started to grate on my nerves near the last third of the book. And I think that's completely meant to mirror how those in Paris' life feel.

I love Tariq. He's probably my favorite character and I adored the relationship with Paris because it was so unlike anything I'd ever read.

The only thing I wished had been resolved was what's going on with Paris' family? Honestly, I kept wondering if something had happened to them and Paris had blocked the trauma and that's when his anxiety began spiking but it's just unresolved. And I get that life is like that but I wished I had some insight on why they never responded to his texts or checked in on him.

Really great addition to Hall's previous work. I loved this couple and really wanted to hug Paris most of the time.

I'm choosing to DNF for now at 30%. Being in Paris's head the entire book (it's told entirely from his perspective, third-person) is a LOT. He's a very anxious person, and I am also an anxious person, so it's too much. And I say this as someone who usually likes characters with anxiety in books (for instance, Misha Horne and Erin McLellan do this really well), but I'm not sure what it is here with this particular book. The way Paris's anxiety is written just feels like a drag to read and kind of feels like it keeps the reader at a distance.

Considering the lack of romance in the first book, I wasn't expecting much on that front, but there IS more romance development in this book than Rosaline Palmer? And I'm the weird one who wants more baking and Bake Expectations drama than try to see Paris figure out his feelings with Tariq because all their interactions so far have me cringing more than rooting for them.

Paris is a rich, (tall) white gay guy with parents in fashion. Tariq describes himself as "short gay British Bangladeshi Muslim" and is solidly middle class. And I can't really speak for the rep here for Tariq, but there's moments between Tariq and Paris that has me side-eyeing the book a bit, like their relationship is starting out with Tariq having to school Paris on his ignorance and there's a lot already by the 30% mark where the burden seems to be on Tariq to teach Paris about himself and it gets my hackles up while reading? Because outside of these educational moments, Tariq READS more like he's white. There's just a lot of very in-your-face scenes that LETS the reader know that Tariq isn't supposed to be white, and the whole thing is just very awkward to me and I think perhaps Alexis Hall is not the best person to write a BIPOC character when he himself is not. So, maybe this book will appeal more to white people than those of us who are not.

Like my issues with Husband Material, this book also goes out of its way to address social issues in a way that does not feel organically put into the book, but more like it tries to hammer viewpoints on the reader's head with it. And the thing is, I do agree with the viewpoints in the book, but the way it's presented is just...way over the top? It's too much.

My favorite parts of this book so far have definitely been the actual baking itself on the show, and of course my favorite secondary characters from the first book - Jennifer (the foul-mouthed producer) and Colin (Jennifer's assistant). Jennifer and Colin are great and provide the appropriate amount of entertainment I expected from them. I'm surprised there's no plans for Colin to get his own HEA? I think that could be fun to read about, and seeing Jennifer deal with that if Colin falls in love with a contestant could be interesting.

I should mention that this book is hinting at being very low steam. Rosaline Palmer had some sexy scenes, but based on the conversation between Paris and Tariq in this book, it doesn't seem likely that their relationship will go further than kissing. So, this book won't even be closed door or fade-to-black, unless something major changes. Tariq mentions strongly to Paris that he believes firmly in sex only after marriage. This does cause a misunderstanding and a fight of sorts between them because (since we're only seeing the story from Paris's perspective) Paris doesn't know how to make a relationship work if he doesn't offer the guy he's dating sex. It's messy.

Will I continue this book when it comes out in audio? I don't know. Depends on who's narrating the book, and depends on whether I'll be in the mood for it. Because coming off of reading and being so disappointed in Husband Material, I don't feel as inclined to finish this book when even getting to the 30% mark has felt like a chore.

***Thanks to the publisher for providing me this e-ARC on NetGalley***

Overall, there’s lots to love in Paris. Here are my three takeaways:

1. Readers of Alexis Hall, particularly fans of Boyfriend Material, will love this next iteration of the bake-off series, which started with Rosaline (2021). And readers that didn’t like Rosaline may still like this one (I am one of these). And readers of Rosaline will love this, as it again features elements of what made Rosaline a hit. Auto Buy readers of Alexis Hall (I am also one of these) will enjoy this book, as this book features so much Hall-mark (haha) Alexis Hall brilliance. But they may be disappointed depending on their favorite Hall books (Sigh, this is also me) because of #2 below.

OF NOTE: you can definitely read this book without reading Rosaline, as the setting and a few baking competition-related characters are the only points of continuity.

2. I’d call this more of a Com w/some Rom, than a Rom Com. It’s quite funny, in the quirky and delightful ways Alexis Hall is funny. But it’s much less of a Romance (big “R” genre) with a Happily Ever After, and more of a Personal Journey with Romantic Elements that has a Happy For Now.

This isn’t unusual for Hall’s work – there’s a lot of heartfelt snippets and gentle lovely scenes that remind me of Glitterland (his spectacular debut, one of my faves). And parts remind me of the above-mentioned Boyfriend Material. But unlike Glitterland, Paris has very little – almost zero? – heat. Even less than Boyfriend Material, which I didn’t think was possible since it’s Closed Door. There’s not even A Door in Paris. This book, though, is very very much about Paris and his personal journey. The plot of How Paris and Tariq Are Going to Get Together is very secondary. Again, it works and it's lovely, but it’s best to know this going in, especially if you are looking for/expecting a certain kind of romance. Also, Paris is single POV, like Boyfriend Material, which I know can be divisive in certain Romance reading circles.

3. Mental health, most specifically anxiety and all its manifestations, play a key role in the plot. It’s basically a third MC. CWs are right in the beginning and Hall handles these issues realistically and well, but readers should keep that in mind. The text also makes these issues very accessible and understandable, even when they start to overwhelm the plot. It’s set up well, as readers we begin to feel This Is Just Too Much Mr. Daillencourt just as all the supporting characters are like, “hey Paris this is just too much.” But we get through it, just like Paris + rest of the cast does, and it’s lovely on the other side.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

"I got lucky last week, but what if it goes wrong this time?"
"Then it goes wrong. Things do, you know, people still get by."


1 Sentence Summary: When Paris Daillencourt’s best friend enters him into the popular baking show Bake Expectations he’s positive he’s going to do awful and be sent home, but he actually does well and even starts to become friends (and maybe more?) with cute and sweet fellow contestant Tariq, and yet his constant self-doubt, self-hatred, and fear of failure won’t leave him alone, threatening his relationship, friendships, and even his baking.

My Thoughts: AMAZING AHHH I’M STILL SCREAMING

So the first half of the book was HILARIOUS I was legit laughing out loud like every other page. I have never actively enjoyed secondhand embarrassment but somehow Alexis Hall made it possible.

And then the second half hit me with all the emotions and I teared up multiple times and my chest kept clenching ‘cause of the feels (or is that just heartburn…?). Jokes aside, the emotion was so deep and so realistic and I related/empathized with Paris so much.

I thought this was such a fantastic portrayal of anxiety. Paris’s journey was simultaneously heartbreaking and heartwarming.

Also, I really loved how Tariq was muslim and it was important to him to wait until marriage to have sex. That is seriously so rare to see represented in the media especially in the adult contemporary romance genre.

Basically I LOVED this book and everything about it was amazing and the fact that it’s all set during a reality TV baking competition made it even a thousand times better.

Recommend to: People who enjoy baking shows, character growth, and great representation of mental illness.

(Warnings: swearing; panic attacks; nudity)

***

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for providing me an eARC in exchange for an honest review



Also I just love this excerpt:
"Okay, but how you know? What if you're just wrong? And God's not real and you're living your life like this and it's...I don't know. Pointless?"

"Then it was pointless," Tariq told him, apparently unperturbed by this possibility. "But I'll still have lived my life well, in a way that made me feel loved and free, and part of something beautiful."

For a second, Paris felt an unexpected sting of envy. From inside his world of what-ifs and second guesses, the whole concept of saying this is who I am and I defy anybody to tell me not to celebrate it was unthinkable. But he had no idea how to tell any of that to Tariq. So instead he sat up, took Tariq by the hand, and drew him into a long, lingering kiss.

And right then, for as long as it lasted, for as long as they were touching, Paris, too, felt loved and free, and part of something beautiful.

Alexis Hall’s writing is such a joy to read. I loved this book and appreciated the anxiety rep as someone who has anxiety. This was a really beautiful story and I’m so excited to read anything Alexis Hall writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Another Alexis Hall delight. Fun (and funny), with the same sense of absurdity that made Boyfriend Material and Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake so readable. It's not as serious as my favorite of Hall's books (For Real comes to mind), but is filled with humor (and good recipes).

Fun and sweet... tw: on page panic attack, hospitalization, G.A.D


What's both brilliant and challenging about this novel is that the protagonist has an undiagnosed -- and then eventually diagnosed -- anxiety disorder, and we're in his head the whole time, and that's a hard place to be. Alexis Hall captures so well what it's like to have your brain turning against you. So if, like me, you too have challenges with anxiety, this will all feel very familiar and real and hard.

I Haven't read the first book yet and would like too.

CW: Racism, on page panic attack, cyberbullying

Okay. It was really good. Despite it being the second in the Winner Bakes All series it felt completely different to Rosaline. Like, it had the same Bake Expectations characters, and similar structure, but also not. There was a lot more post-show than what was in Rosaline, and I really enjoyed that. I don’t think the book would have worked if it had followed exactly the same structure.

Gah, I’m having such a hard time writing this because I kind of just want to say all the things, but I also don’t want to give anything away and don’t want to stick this behind spoilers.

I think that Paris’ anxiety was really well described/explored. As someone who suffers from anxiety (though not to the extent that Paris does), I completely understood how his brain was working and what he was going through. I really appreciated his mental health journey, it felt very accurate, and I also really loved the realizations that his friends come to over the course of the book, in relation to his mental health.

I also really loved Paris’ relationship with Tariq. It was a bit different and included something I didn’t think I would like in a romance, but that really really worked in this story. I just really loved Paris and Tariq, for different reasons, and my feelings shifted a bit over the course of the book, but overall, really love them.

Very much enjoyed this and am so grateful to have gotten an early copy! I will likely come back when this is out and write a more in depth review, flailing about all the things.

This second installment of the Bake Expectations series does not disappoint! Alexis Hall is a master at writing funny, deep, and emotionally gripping books with characters that are ready to leap off of the page fully formed, and I am always blown away.

This book is a romance at heart, but it's also a deeply insightful story about how mental health affects individuals and the people they love. Paris is anxious - perpetually and all-consumingly. He doesn't really understand that the way he sees the world isn't how other people experience the world and really doesn't understand just how much it affects his own life. Tariq, our delightful out-and-proud queer Muslim man with the best sparkly nail polish, is a perfect foil for Paris. Their story together is tough and full of difficult realizations and hard truths, but ultimately, this kind of representation is so SO important, and I'm beyond delighted to see it handled with such grace and love.

So on the sentence level, this book is through-and-through Alexis Hall - witty, funny, full of joy. But the experience of the entire book is something else. There's just so much in this book that is REAL, and honestly, that's what also made it a challenging read for me. By the time Tariq finally gets that Paris' anxiety is maybe more than a normal case of jitters, we've spent about 70% of the book exclusively in Paris' head, seeing how hard it is for him to live life with his anxiety. Tariq's confusion on how to handle Paris' issues is reminiscent of so many people's reactions to dealing with their loved one's mental health issues in the real world. Which is to say, imperfectly and with good intentions.

As someone who also has anxiety and anxious tendencies, this was a challenging read. Hall's characterization is so on point and so real that I was finding myself also getting anxious while reading. I hasten to add that this is not a criticism of this book - rather, only a truly skilled author could have handled it so deftly, while also balancing the humor and light-heartedness of a charming British baking competition.

As always, I would have liked a little more time at the end of the book to see Paris and Tariq together, but that is not the Alexis Hall way. Final recommendation? A must-read, but with caution for those who have similar mental health struggles. Give yourself some breathing room, and perhaps read it in smaller chunks!

2.5 rounded down

I ended up not finishing the first book in this series, largely because I realized soon after starting it that the genre was just really not for me. I was hopeful that this second installment might be a better fit but, unfortunately, I think it's essentially more of the same, just with a male protagonist instead of a woman.

As always, Hall's writing is charming and the banter witty, though I will admit, I did sometimes find it a little exhausting. There was something almost... Gilmore Girls-y about it at times, which, I loved that show! But it was a lot, and can feel a little unrealistic. And, speaking of exhausting... I'm with most of the reviewers here, and I found it quite a lot to be in Paris's head for most of the book. As somebody with anxiety, I do appreciate the rep and felt like the author did a great job with it, but it's pretty fucking stressful to read and didn't make for a super enjoyable experience. As many have suggested, I think it might have helped if we had a dual POV here, partially to break up the anxiety, and partially because I did find myself wanting to know a bit more of what Tariq was thinking.

But I think my biggest sort of gripe here, is that I was reading this for the romance, and I just... didn't think this was a romance, nor do I really even think the characters should end up together. I'll admit this is partly skewed expectations on my part (which, to be fair, were partly influenced by the blurb & marketing of the book) but also, given the age of Rosaline in the last book, I hadn't realized when I got this one that the characters are so young--like 21ish. And given everything they're going through--fame, competition, mental health crisis--I just didn't buy that they should be together and frankly imagine them splitting up eventually, which isn't exactly the feeling I want upon finishing a romance. I did appreciate the approach of mental health here and that ultimately you are responsible for the way you treat people even if there are mitigating circumstances, but I also found myself super frustrated with Tariq's handling of the situation. Which, thankfully, *was* eventually addressed, but due to the nature of Paris's self-deprecation (even after he starts addressing his anxiety) I personally never really felt it was satisfyingly handled.

As always, there's some great and thoughtful rep here on a number of levels, and while, again, I'm not personally super interested in reading a romance book where one of the characters wants to wait until marriage to have sex, I can appreciate its existence in the world. But given the above factors, even with some of the stuff I thought was well done and important, I just didn't particularly enjoy reading this book. It wasn't a fun experience. And for me, leaving a book feeling anxious and like the two characters who got together at the end probably will be split up within the year is not exactly a ringing endorsement.