Audrey Lane Stirs the Pot

Hall’s dramatic third and final installment of his Winner Bakes All series (after Paris Daillencourt Is About to Crumble) juxtaposes two toxic yet still endearing lesbian romances. Struggling small-town reporter Audrey Lane impulsively applied to the reality show competition Bake Expectations partly to prove herself to her judgmental ex-girlfriend. Now that she’s on set, she can’t turn off her reporter’s curiosity, and solicits a melancholy story from elderly fellow contestant Doris, who lived at the estate where the show is filmed as service staff in the 1940s and ’50s and became the friend and romantic plaything of the young mistress of the house. Meanwhile, Audrey locks horns over the story, and everything else, with Jennifer Hallet, the show’s bristly producer—until their crackling antagonistic energy pivots into fast, no-strings-attached hookups. Though the food descriptions are mouthwatering, readers looking for the romantic tweeness that is a staple of baking romances won’t find it here, and, unfortunately, Audrey and Jennifer’s angry sex doesn’t have quite the spark it needs to convince. Still, Hall’s characters are full of sharp humor and over-the-top charisma, and the plot skips some of the expected beats to offer surprises right through to the end. It may not be a high note for the series, but fans will still be satisfied. (Dec.)