Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall

(That ratio definitely worked for me, but after writing the first draft of this review, I read some of the feedback on Goodreads, and several readers complained that it was closer to women’s fiction than the romance they were expecting based on Hall’s previous books.) And I admired the way Hall managed to perfectly capture the punny, alliterative way the host-Grace Forsythe, a cross between “Bake-Off”’s Sue Perkins and Sandi Toksvig-sets up the challenges: The romance component of this book is maybe 20%, with 20% devoted to baking and the rest of the plot devoted to Rosaline’s personal growth journey, as she learns to accept herself and realizes that she has to make her own choices and not obsess over living up to anyone else’s expectations. Luckily, there’s another hot single on the show: humble electrician Harry, a big man who keeps wowing the judges with his beautiful bakes. As the Brits would say, Alain is a bit of a wanker. Once she finally comes clean, it becomes apparent that Alain, like Rosaline’s parents, feel that she should be doing something more prestigious than working a retail job (her parents, both doctors, are slightly mortified that their daughter will be appearing on reality TV). He seems interested in her, but Rosaline feels intimidated, and winds up inventing a fictional backstory for herself (she tells him she’s a medical student who spent several years working on irrigation projects in Malawi). (Here I must interject that any true fan knows that the BBC forbids cash prizes, but I’ll accept that Hall wanted to raise the stakes.) The first fellow contestant she meets is Alain, a hot landscape architect from the Cotswolds. Alexis Hall’s fictional competition is titled “Bake Expectations,” and single mom Rosaline Palmer is competing for the £10,000 prize. So when I heard there was a romance set in the “Bake-Off” world, you’d better believe I was interested.

(Some people trawl the dark corners of the web looking to score drugs or porn for me, it’s all about bootleg “Bake-Off.”) In fact, when I finished watching the original series, my husband managed to find other countries’ versions of the program, so now I’ve seen the best home bakers compete in New Zealand, Australia and Canada as well. I am a “Great British Baking Show” superfan.

Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake by Alexis Hall