Alexis Hall. Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake. (Winner Bakes All, #1). Forever/Grand Central Publishing, 2021. 368 pp. ISBN 9781538703328 $15.99

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I love watching cooking competition shows: the amazing and unique dishes, the personal stories, the drama… and also, yes, okay, the moment when the cake collapses or someone drops their pan of deliciousness right out of the oven has a healthy dose of schadenfreude. It hadn’t occurred to me I would enjoy READING about a cooking competition as much as watching, and Rosaline Palmer did not disappoint.

Amatuer cook and single (bisexual) mom Rosaline has just landed a spot on the nation’s top baking competition show. She does well in some challenges and not so well in others, interacts with a fabulous and unique cast of characters with their own agendas, and gets involved in a love triangle with a man who’s a substantial and dependable meat pasty and another who is more of a delicate souffle. Her personal growth is as important to the story as the show, and I devoured (pun intended) this sweet, funny, awkward tale which is more fiction with strong romantic elements, but features great conversations around ideals, goals, compromise and consent.

I received a free advance reader’s review copy of #RosalinePalmerTakesTheCake from #NetGalley.