Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble-Review
Paris Daillencourt is About to Crumble
By Alexis Hall
Genre: Contemporary, LGBTQIA Romance
Series: Winners Bake All #2
Publication Date: November 1, 2022
Publisher: Forever
Source: Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Description:
From the bestselling author of Boyfriend Material comes a sweet and scrumptious romantic comedy about facing your insecurities, finding love, and baking it off, no matter what people say.
Paris Daillencourt is a recipe for disaster. Despite his passion for baking, his cat, and his classics degree, constant self-doubt and second-guessing have left him a curdled, directionless mess. So when his roommate enters him in Bake Expectations, the nation’s favourite baking show, Paris is sure he’ll be the first one sent home.
But not only does he win week one’s challenge—he meets fellow contestant Tariq Hassan. Sure, he’s the competition, but he’s also cute and kind, with more confidence than Paris could ever hope to have. Still, neither his growing romance with Tariq nor his own impressive bakes can keep Paris’s fear of failure from spoiling his happiness. And when the show’s vicious fanbase confirms his worst anxieties, Paris’s confidence is torn apart quicker than tear-and-share bread.
But if Paris can find the strength to face his past, his future, and the chorus of hecklers that live in his brain, he’ll realize it’s the sweet things in life that he really deserves.
Review:
This book was a tough read for someone with anxiety and weirdly at the same time made me feel better about my anxiety. Paris’ anxiety is acute and controls his life and yet he still finds the courage to go on Bake Expectations. As much as fear controls his life, he still finds a way and there he meets Tariq who I just love. I think my biggest complaint about this book is that I wanted more Tariq. Which is tough because it’s really Paris’ book. His mind is overwhelming to be in a times and I really really wanted him to see he needed help. Tariq tried to provide that help but you can’t heal others when they haven’t recognized that they need help. By the time that Paris does get that help, it felt a bit rushed and seemed like Paris was almost miraculously “fixed” instead of a work in progress like we all are.
The baking and the mental health rep really dominated this book and were so well done. In contrast, I felt like the romance between Paris and Tariq needed to be stronger. The real romance of the love was Paris learning to love himself. Which I did enjoy but I just wanted more Paris/Tariq time and a chance to see them grow as a couple. The Britishness and the cast of other characters were delightful and helped break up how overwhelming it was at times to be in Paris’ head. I go back and through on how much I liked this book because of the stress I felt reading it but it is an important book and really hits the nail on the head with mental health.
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