Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Is your brother really such a surly bastard, they ask. Of course not; inside, he’s a teddy bear, say I . . . and then he opens his mouth.”

Battle Royal (Palace Insiders, #1) by Lucy Parker

by 2 Comments

A rom-com set in the dual baking worlds of a televised baking competition, and a competition for a bakery to earn the chance to make the cake for a Royal Wedding. Sylvie and Dominic clashed instantly when they met four years earlier on Operation Cake. Her glitter and color infused creations rubbed him the wrong way, a baker who prefers to bake in varying shades of cream. He’s a famously cranky judge, and she was a contestant. Their rivalry culminated in one of Sylvie’s bakes […]

Another delectable romance from Lucy Parker

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

by 1 Comment

CBR13 Bingo: Self Care Sylvie Fairchild rose to moderate fame four years ago as a popular contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. The moment she both ended her time on the show and immortalised herself on the internet forever was when her sparkly unicorn cake went horribly wrong and hit icy and arrogant baking judge Dominic De Vere got a sparkly hoof straight in the forehead. Now Sylvie has fulfilled her dream of running a bakery, Sugar Fair, in one of the hottest […]

Great British Bake Off warm and fuzzies, now in fiction

Battle Royale by Lucy Parker

by Leave a Comment

This book has delicious food, a believable enemies to lovers plot and emotional maturity. What else do you need? Plot: Sylvie is a charming 30-something who loves creating imaginative desserts. When she competes on Operation Cake, she butts heads with legacy dessert legend Dominic, who is the queen’s favourite baker and a stickler for tradition and elegant design. She’s sent home after her unicorn cake blows up in his face. The story picks up four years later when her bakery, Sugar Fair, located conveniently across […]

“Pardon me if it’s obvious when two people are into each other.”

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

by Leave a Comment

CBR13Bingo: Libations AKA, the book where Lucy Parker rips my heart out, covers it in icing and edible glitter, and then gently replaces it. This book hauled me in and emotionally wrecked me and I loved every minute. It’s grumpy/sunshine, rivals-to-lovers, forced proximity perfection and good to the last crumb! Sylvie first met Dominic while she was a contestant on baking show and he was a judge, made even more memorable by, well, a unicorn and glitter explosion involving him. Years later, they now own bakeries […]

I really want to go to the Dark Forest at Sugar Fair – why does it have to be fictional?

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

by 1 Comment

I absolutely adored Lucy Parker’s London Celebrities series and was excited to get my hands on the first book in her next series, Battle Royal. How could I not be excited for a book where the introduction to our protagonists involves a confectionary unicorn hoof hitting one of them on the forehead mid-judging of a televised baking competition? After that first meeting four years ago Sylvie Fairchild has gone on to open her own bakery, Sugar Fair, across the street from Dominic De Vere’s eponymous […]

Okay, but absinthe in a cupcake? Skeptical.

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

by 3 Comments

On a fictional British baking show with three judges, Sylvie Fairchild works her magic with cake and frosting. At least, until the week one of her fanciful cakes assaults one of the judges, Dominic De Vere, and the two fall madly in love. Sort of. There’s a little bit of story between the beginning and the end. Sylvie and Dominic are not quite enemies. Though their rival bake shops are across the street from one another, they aren’t competing for the same customers. Dominic is […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo