ladylothlorien's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Moderate: Grief
Minor: Mental illness, Stalking, Violence, Child abuse, and Death
There is a mentally Ill person who stalks and ends up attacking someone. It is a very small subplot and is handled with care.theladydetective's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
With grumpy/sunshine and British Bake Off vibes.
More sad and emotional than the cover and premise led me to expect.
Lot's of swoony scenes revolving around touch, which made it feel Period Drama like.
Moderate: Grief, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Car accident and Emotional abuse
katemae's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
Moderate: Grief
kylieqrada's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Grief, Sexual content, and Cancer
Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit, Car accident, and Violence
donnicakelsey's review against another edition
3.25
Sylvie Fairchild was a popular contestant on a baking competition show who captured the audience with her colorful hair and unicorns and sparkles vibe. Dominic De Vere, a judge on the show, is her opposite in every way -- traditional, stoic, and somewhat distant. Four years after he eliminates her from the show, they find themselves running rival bakeries on opposite sides of the same Notting Hill street, competing for a contract to bake the royal wedding cake, and working as judges on the show.
Battle Royale is moderately spicy, but the attraction between are main characters feels real. I would’ve rated this book higher if there weren’t so many storylines
However, I do look forward to the next book - which I believe is Pet’s story.
Moderate: Grief
barefootsong's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Death of parent, Death, and Child abuse
divine529's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
This book follows our two main protagonists Sylvie and Dominic, who met previously in a show called Operation Cake (kind of like GBBO) where Sylvie was a contestant and ended up leaving the show due to an epic disaster involving a cake and Dominic's face (he's a judge). Now four years later, Sylvie is a new judge on the show and her and Dominic have to come face to face again despite having competing bakeries across the street from each other. Throw a competition to win a bid to make a royal wedding cake, explorations of trauma and grief and complicated relationships of all kinds and you have the basic idea of what this book is.
This book both hooked me from the beginning and took me some time to settle into. Baking in books is one of my favorite things and adding royalty into the mix is a recipe for a book I will most likely love and on those fronts it didn't disappoint.
Sylvie and Dominic are both interesting characters with lots of trauma and grief and different ways of coping and managing that and exploring all of that through their relationship with intimacy (everything from glances and gentle touches to sexual intimacy) was so heartbreakingly beautiful to watch and the relationship between Rosie and Johnny was lovely to see alongside the mystery and treasure hunt plotline of figuring out what happened to one of Rosie's relatives and his life (it's complicated). The relationship with Dominic and Pet was so good and I love them both. And even though I had issues with it at times, I really liked Sylvie and Jay's relationship too (though it utilized one of my least favorite tropes in books, I thought it was handled decently for a change).
Overall, I have a lot of feelings about everything in the book and it's hard to encompass all of them here, but I really enjoyed this and I can't wait to read the second installment.
I thoroughly enjoyed this and I look forward to revisiting this in the future.
Graphic: Alcohol, Grief, Sexual content, and Vomit
Moderate: Infidelity, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Blood, Bullying, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Cursing, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Death of parent, Death, and Car accident
bansheebooks's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
e_flah's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Parker absolutely has a knack for vivid descriptions. From Sylvie's magical, over-the-top bake shop, Sugar Fair, to the set of the reality bake show Operation Cake, I felt like I was really in the story. The side characters also had rich backstories that added a lot to the overall story.
I finished Battle Royal wanting more from Sylvie and Dominic's relationship. There were so many other plot arcs happening that their happily-ever-after/happy-for-now seemed to get lost in the shuffle. We caught a glimpse of it before moving on to other, much more dramatic, storylines.
I'm not sure if I'm interested in picking up the next Palace Insiders book. I think I prefer my romances a bit more front-and-center than Parker seems to write them.
Graphic: Grief
caseythereader's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
- This is a romance novel that really digs into feelings, both past and present. I love a book where you get to watch the leads learn how to care for and support each other.
- To be honest, I didn't really feel any heat between Sylvie and Dominic, but their relationship was so tender that I was mostly okay with it. I'll still keep reading this series; I for sure want to get stories for Pet and Mabel!
Graphic: Car accident, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Sexual content, Stalking, Alcohol, and Cancer
Moderate: Medical content, Vomit, Alcoholism, and Injury/Injury detail