Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake (Winner Bakes All, 1)

I mean it's just a scrummy book! I was outwardly chuckling for like 80% of the book, I got a therapy session, and the leads are insanely hot. Wins all across the board. Hall does a really excellent job with pacing, everything is whip smart and witty, especially our MC Rosaline. She's honestly a badass (I will never understand how people have the energy to do anything on top of being a parent, it's such involved and hard work) but she's also so genuine. She's balanced, both flawed and fleshed out enough to feel human, like I could pop down the street and she'd greet me with a cup of tea. Harry, our burly cinnamon roll love interest, is a man of few words who really goes all out with acts of service for those he cares about. There are so many times in this book that I highlighted and my comment is just "😭😭" because he's such a gentle and kind man. Also, Amelie is the love of my life, and I hope one day she becomes a marine biologist who focuses on deep sea exploration.

I wasn't exactly expecting this from Alexis Hall, the author of m/m books such as rom-com BOYFRIEND MATERIAL and the more serious Spires series. Although the heroine of this new rom-com by Hall is bisexual, the romance turns out to be of the m/f variety here and, in addition, I'd say the romance takes a back seat to Rosaline's journey to self awareness, self realization, and self actualization. Not only that, but, to a large extent, it's another kind of love story, that between single mom Rosaline and her young, precocious daughter Amelie. I just recently finished reading another contemporary romance with a reality cooking competition backdrop: RECIPE FOR PERSUASION by Sonali Dev. Hall's similarly plotted novel here runs rings around that one. Hall's sense of humor is intelligent and delightful, his dialogue smart and sassy, his characters much better drawn than that of most other contemporary romance writers I've read. If you read the book blurb, you'll know what the story's about. 27-year-old Rosaline, who had to drop out of medical school when she found herself pregnant at 18 or 19, is now working low-pay jobs but has an interest in and talent for baking. So she enters the Bake Expectations competition, hoping for the grand prize which will be a boost to her bank account and also to her future. Incidentally, there'll be two men (fellow competitors) who will figure as love interests: Alain, who's upper-class, sophisticated, and well educated, and Harry, a lower class…

If you enjoy watching cooking competitions, and are generally familiar with the format of this type of show, this book was thoroughly enjoyable. While someone less familiar with the format may have been initially confused by the Bake Expectations competition format, the way the chapters were structured into weekends/episodes was quite clever. The main character was multifaceted and the representation was great (especially as it was presented in a matter of fact, unquestionably accepted facet but not her entire personality or a problem to solve in the story). In that area at least, she knew who she was and was confident in it. The quiet and almost passively micro-aggressive conflict with her best friend and parents over it, were it was accepted but still slightly and unspokenly gently disapproved of was not the main focus of the story, but just "part of life", and the troubles she ran into with others about it were their problems, not hers. The conflict over her future and the direction she wanted to go and her self-determination was something she had to confront and question and defend. I really enjoyed how one facet of who she was, while it impacted her daily life, it didn't turn into her whole story. She was a more complex (but not complicated) character as a result of these layers. And I loved that she didnt let other people dictate what her HEA looked like, even if it surprised her. I loved her found family and how she did have the support she needed when and where it…

Giving this book a 3.5. I was really looking forward to reading this book as I loved Boyfriend Material. If you go in thinking this book will be similar then you will be disappointed, but if you go in with the though that this book is entirely separate then it will surprise you. This book is the story of a bisexual single mom named Rosaline Palmer who makes it onto a TV show similar to Great British Bake Off (GBBO). Her biggest support system is her ex-girlfriend Lauren and her parents are typical doctors pushing her to want more out of her life. She meets two eligible men while on the show, Alain: a landscape architect who seems charming and Harry: an electrician who is shy. Rosaline continues trying to decide which guy is right for her and what she wants out of her life as she moves along week after week on the British baking show. First BRAVO to Alexis Hall because there are many many characters in this book but she wrote them all in so well, you definitely learn and know them all without any one of them feeling left out. She really succeeds in writing characters with mental illness so authentically and realistically. Alain is controlling, possessive and overall using Rosaline. I really enjoyed the GBBO vibes this book put off! They are fun and endearing and how we see Rosaline grow and be more confident was wonderful. I mostly liked Rosaline as a character full of doubt for herself and what she wants for her life now that her daughter is older. She can get a bit…

I really liked this one. It was a lot of fun, especially since I like watching baking shows with my bestie. I liked seeing the characters come together. I liked seeing Rosaline find her way. This was a lot of fun.