Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake

i've realised that if a book has a main character whose relationships with their parents are fraught, in a way that makes me relate to my own abusive upbringing, i'm probably gonna love it. TRAUMATIZED BITCHES UNITE.

Girlie missed just a few red flags

Great British Bake-Off + single mama of a hilarious eight-year-old + love triangle + bi representation = love? Mostly?

Things I loved:
• Amelie, Rosaline's kid. She was very curious, and I hate to use the word precocious because that doesn't feel quite right. But rather, her mom was trying to figure out her life, and Amelie was pushing at some minor boundaries in a way that felt just a teensy bit exasperating, but in that way that parenthood is sometimes, rather than in an obnoxious look-how-cute-this-kid-is way.
• That Rosaline stands up for herself as a bisexual woman even when people are jerks about it, and that she seems to have mostly good boundaries around herself.
• Rosaline grows a lot in this book, and I always like growth arcs
• GBBS! It's such a delightful show IRL, and Hall really captures what one can imagine as the behind-the-scenes stuff of the fictitious version, Bake Expectations.
• The Bake Expectations cast. Most everyone was lovely and fun, and I especially loved Anvita. (She is “excellent and sexy!”)
• The dialogue was fantastic.
• Even that of the potty-mouthed-is-too-clean-a-word-to-use producer who never stopped cussing at people to stop ruining her wonderful show. It made me chuckle.
• I did laugh out loud a lot.

Things I hated:
• OK hate is kind of a strong word, but it bothered me that I never knew how to pronounce Rosaline's name. She said to someone that she was named after a Shakespearean nun, and I don't remember having read whatever play that was, but I do remember a Rosalind from a different play, so then I couldn't figure out if it was “rose-a-leen” or “roz-a-lyn” and I drove myself crazy using them interchangeably in my head the whole time.
• Rosaline's parents. I get it, you put all these expectations on your kid based on your own life experiences, but despite their love for their granddaughter, they treated Rosaline mostly like shit. They were rude and cruel to Rosaline's friends, discounted her sexuality, and never listened to what she really wanted in life. And of course, I have complicated feelings about that because they were also bankrolling Rosaline's life, since our heroine only worked part time, and it seemed like she just had never gotten onto her feet in the eight years since she'd had a child? Which doesn't make any of the parents' behavior better, but at least I ... understand? I hate that!

Things I liked until I hated them:
• Alain. Alain Alain Alain. They had such great banter in the beginning, and he seemed like a great guy if a bit pretentious, until he turned into a colossal douche-a-saur. And their mediocre relationship went on WAYYYYYY too long.
• I was prepared to give Liv the benefit of the doubt even though I got weird feelings about her and Alain the whole time. I should have trusted those feelings.

CW: biphobia, sexual assault, gaslighting, language

Didn't quite live up to [b:Boyfriend Material 50225678 Boyfriend Material (Boyfriend Material, #1) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575987260l/50225678.SX50.jpg 73590298], but it would be hard for almost anything to live up to that, since it's one of my recent favorites. Really enjoyed Rosaline and her journey in this book - probably would call this rom-com instead of romance per se, since it's all from Rosaline's POV and focuses to a large extent (though not exclusively) on her journey through the competition and to the truest version of herself. Loved Amelie so much, even though I don't usually love kids in romance; she was weird and hilarious in the way real kids are (though maybe the tiniest bit precocious). No pun intended, but I devoured this one. (2021 Summer Romance Bingo: “protagonist smells like freshly baked bread,” would also work for reality TV, friends to lovers, or tattoos.)

I absolutely loved Boyfriend Material so this was one of my most anticipated summer reads. I was a bit disappointed. I had a difficult time getting into the story and I wasn't sure who the love interest was supposed to be until about 20% in. Even then, the main character, Rosaline, is with someone else for the majority of the book. I wish the author hadn't focused so much on that relationship. I did enjoy the baking show aspect of the story though and am looking forward to the next book in this series.

I didn't think it was possible for Alexis Hall to improve upon last summer's [b:Boyfriend Material 50225678 Boyfriend Material Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575987260l/50225678.SX50.jpg 73590298], but this book might be even better. And I say that as someone who has never watched an episode of The Great British Baking Show, which is obviously the inspiration for the baking competition that the titular Rosaline enters, so I'm not here for the recipes. Rosaline Palmer is the single mother of a (slightly too precocious) eight year old daughter. Both of her parents are successful physicians and ever since she dropped out of medical school to raise her child she has felt like an aimless disappointment. Will winning Bake Expectations finally make her more successful in their eyes? Or are there different ways to define success? And can she afford the distraction of several potential suitors? Of course the book is funny; almost all books by this author have that wondrously wry British sense of humor. But it's also warmer and sweeter than much of his previous work. And I'm impressed that Hall does such a good job at crafting a queer female narrator; other than his Kate Kane series ([b:Iron & Velvet 53102606 Iron & Velvet (Kate Kane, Paranormal Investigator, #1) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560489416l/53102606.SX50_SY75.jpg 25492234], etc.), his MCs have primarily identified as male. Rosaline's bisexuality plays an important role in the plot, and Hall clearly understands the potential damage of bisexual stereotypes, despite the fact that both of his heroine's love interests are male.This book is so good that it even made me not completely hate love triangles. It's pretty easy to identify the right guy for Rosaline vs. the dickwad, but there are enough lovely, charged, and sweet interactions between Rosaline and Mr. Right that I didn't mind she was sleeping with Mr. Wrong for most of the book. Plus even though I know nothing about GBBS, I loved the reality show competition. Week by week, Rosaline's wins and near-losses are dramatically contrasted to the fates of the other contestants, some of whom I couldn't wait to get rid of, and others whose departure I mourned. Bonus points for the cheerfully profane producer who livens up the page every time she finds new ways to terrorize anyone who annoys her (and that's everyone). The book is worth the price just for the hilarious Discussion Questions which Hall helpfully provides. And for those who care, there are a few recipes, written very much in the style of the contestants who provide them. I've been reading Alexis Hall ever since his 2013 debut novel, [b:Glitterland 39332293 Glitterland (Spires, #1) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1521574094l/39332293.SY75.jpg 24797122], and he just keeps getting better and better. I'm so glad he has found mainstream publisher success without having to change his voice or style.