Both Paris and Tariq are in their 20s and act like it - with all the dreams and confusion and mistakes of youth. I appreciate the focus on kindness and the realistic presentation of mental illness throughout the story. A story like this isn’t for everyone. Paris is a mess and very whiny at times. He causes many cringe-worthy situations, and some might find the story, or Paris in particular, over the top or exhausting. Not me, though. These comments divide up the sections of the book. Please reply to the relevant section to talk with people who have read to the same part of the novel. (New top-level comments will be removed.) You don't have to mark spoilers within those threads. Just reply to the relevant section to avoid spoiling people! Even the book club questions at the end are hilarious - e.g. "Do lemon shortbread and vanilla shortbread count as two different kind of biscuit? If so why?" (treading into Jaffa Cake territory there...) and "Favourite '80s movie? Favourite '80s band?" Tariq's eyes widened. "Um...I...how did you get there? Because I really didn't mean to suggest anything about your penis at all. I'm sure your penis is, um, fine. Lovely even. But none of my business."

Despite his passion for baking, constant self-doubt has 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. Despite his passion for baking, constant self-doubt has 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.This is not a romcom! I repeat this is not a romcom! Think of a gay Bridget Jones like Henry Fry’s First Time for Everything. The books have the same kind of vibes. The thing is, Paris is not good with people. He’s extremely awkward, strange and unknown places freak him out. So maybe being on TV in a stressful situation, baking unknown dishes surrounded by strangers in a time limit isn’t the best idea?!

I also really loved Paris’ relationship with Tariq. It was a bit different and included something I didn’t think I would like in a romance, but that really really worked in this story. I just really loved Paris and Tariq, for different reasons, and my feelings shifted a bit over the course of the book, but overall, really love them. I'm going to air a theory I've been ruminating on for awhile: I think Alexis Hall secretly hates romance. I've noticed a trend in a bunch of his books recently where he seems to like making things almost impossible for his MCs, not like a hard-fought HEA but like a HEA that doesn't seem likely or even plausible. Again with this book- it is not a romance, nor does it deserve to be a romance. These two guys are a horrible match, mismatched in so many ways that it's actually hard to articulate.

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Thanks so much to NetGalley and Forever (Grand Central Publishing) for providing a free digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. I ended up not finishing the first book in this series, largely because I realized soon after starting it that the genre was just really not for me. I was hopeful that this second installment might be a better fit but, unfortunately, I think it's essentially more of the same, just with a male protagonist instead of a woman. If the one Bangladeshi in the competition goes out because a white guy hit him in the face with a fridge I will be... completely unsurprised. #bakeexpectations