A review by drizzydre
Battle Royal, by Lucy Parker
4.0
**Thank you NetGalley and Avon and Harper Voyager for an arc of Battle Royal in exchange for an honest review**
Battle Royal was an absolute treat to read and it was the perfect recipe for the most enjoyable book for me. Enemies to lovers mixed with Lucy Parker's version of Great British Bakeoff?! Take. My. Money.
The story revolves around the two main characters, Sylvie and Dominic, who originally met on the competitive baking show, Operation Cake - Sylvie as the upbeat, glitter-obsessed contestant and Dominic as the very serious, very harsh judge. Sylvie was voted off the show by Dominic after an unfortunate malfunction with one of her creations that ended with Dominic getting cake catapulted straight to his head. Cut to 4 years later, we find Sylvie running her own bakery, Sugar Fair, that just so happens to be right across the street from Dominic's bakery, De Vere's. And to top it off, they are now also competing against each other for one of the biggest contracts of their careers, a cake for an upcoming Royal Wedding. So, so good.
What I liked:
- The natural progression of Sylvie and Dominic's relationship. I adored the pure, wholesome moments between them and they gave me all of the heart eyes. I love how little by little they shared their most vulnerable parts with each other and how in tune Dominic's body language was with Sylvie's. Also, the give and take with allowing contact and physical intimacy was just, ugh. Beautifully done. I loved the consent with even the littlest gestures, like hand holding and so on.
- The maturity of it all. I find that in a lot of these type of romances, towards the end, some minor inconvenience happens and gets blown out of proportion and causes a huge rift between the couple all because of poor communication. It was so refreshing to read about a couple that communicated so well and were simply honest with each other. Sure, there were some hiccups, but they dealt with them like mature, emotionally intelligent adults and I really appreciated that.
- The plot. It was fun and whimsical with plenty of emotional, heart wrenching moments. It's so much more than just a romance between two rivals and I was absolutely here for it.
- The supporting characters were wonderfully written and I am so excited for the next installment in this series.
What I didn't like:
- Every now and then, I'll have to look up words when I'm reading, but never as often as I had to with Battle Royal. Maybe I am just a complete dunce, but it was constant and it made me feel... well, like a dunce. Again, maybe it was just me, but it was something to note because it took me out of the story a few times.
- There were several parts where it was hard to follow what was going on. Partly because I wasn't sure who was saying what and partly because I just didn't understand what the author was talking about. This is not an issue that I deal with, if ever, and again, I only mention it because it took me out of the story.
Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this and I give it a solid 4 stars. This was my first Lucy Parker and I will definitely be checking out her other books!
Battle Royal was an absolute treat to read and it was the perfect recipe for the most enjoyable book for me. Enemies to lovers mixed with Lucy Parker's version of Great British Bakeoff?! Take. My. Money.
The story revolves around the two main characters, Sylvie and Dominic, who originally met on the competitive baking show, Operation Cake - Sylvie as the upbeat, glitter-obsessed contestant and Dominic as the very serious, very harsh judge. Sylvie was voted off the show by Dominic after an unfortunate malfunction with one of her creations that ended with Dominic getting cake catapulted straight to his head. Cut to 4 years later, we find Sylvie running her own bakery, Sugar Fair, that just so happens to be right across the street from Dominic's bakery, De Vere's. And to top it off, they are now also competing against each other for one of the biggest contracts of their careers, a cake for an upcoming Royal Wedding. So, so good.
What I liked:
- The natural progression of Sylvie and Dominic's relationship. I adored the pure, wholesome moments between them and they gave me all of the heart eyes. I love how little by little they shared their most vulnerable parts with each other and how in tune Dominic's body language was with Sylvie's. Also, the give and take with allowing contact and physical intimacy was just, ugh. Beautifully done. I loved the consent with even the littlest gestures, like hand holding and so on.
- The maturity of it all. I find that in a lot of these type of romances, towards the end, some minor inconvenience happens and gets blown out of proportion and causes a huge rift between the couple all because of poor communication. It was so refreshing to read about a couple that communicated so well and were simply honest with each other. Sure, there were some hiccups, but they dealt with them like mature, emotionally intelligent adults and I really appreciated that.
- The plot. It was fun and whimsical with plenty of emotional, heart wrenching moments. It's so much more than just a romance between two rivals and I was absolutely here for it.
- The supporting characters were wonderfully written and I am so excited for the next installment in this series.
What I didn't like:
- Every now and then, I'll have to look up words when I'm reading, but never as often as I had to with Battle Royal. Maybe I am just a complete dunce, but it was constant and it made me feel... well, like a dunce. Again, maybe it was just me, but it was something to note because it took me out of the story a few times.
- There were several parts where it was hard to follow what was going on. Partly because I wasn't sure who was saying what and partly because I just didn't understand what the author was talking about. This is not an issue that I deal with, if ever, and again, I only mention it because it took me out of the story.
Overall, though, I thoroughly enjoyed this and I give it a solid 4 stars. This was my first Lucy Parker and I will definitely be checking out her other books!