3.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐💫

Nina, owner and head chef of a fancy French restaurant, and Leo, restauranteur and manager of his family's chain of family-friendly Italian restaurants, have hosted a cooking reality TV show together for the past 3 years. However, as the season comes to an end, Nina announces her departure from the show. As both of their reputations and fame plummet and their restaurants struggle, the two come up with a plan: fake date in order to use their popularity to keep their restaurants afloat amidst financial troubles. However, they must figure out how to spend time together despite their previous conflict and complicated history. Will they be able to save their restaurants or will it be a complete failure?

What I liked:
- I really enjoyed the premise of this book and I liked getting to see the restaurant and cooking show aspects
- The way that the two joked around together as they got to know each other through their fake dates and the way their relationship continued to grow
- The inclusion of mental health issues and exploration of other topics like family dynamics, grief, and more

What I did not love:
- There was a major conflict at the beginning that rooted the hate between the two characters and although they sorted things out I felt like it could have been dealt with earlier - in my opinion it took him too long to acknowledge his mistakes
- This is definitely a personal preference but I don't love the miscommunication trope and that was a big part of this book

Overall this was still a fun read and I would recommend it but I do not think I would reread it - there were several parts I enjoyed and I always wanted to continue reading it though

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an eARC!

I loved this book! Recently, I've been on a 'foodie' romance kick so this was the perfect cherry on top. I loved the way that sexism in the cooking industry was handled; that was very well thought out and realistic. The banter between Leo and Nina was top notch and their romance was wonderful. Highly recommend!

DNF’d at 12%

I really feel like this review may be a tad ungenerous because I am truly not in a place where I can tolerate or excuse the hurtful behavior of whiny asshole manbabies. So, ymmv here.

This book reminded me why I hate the enemies to lovers trope. I keep trying books with this trope because I’ve read some that manage to do it well. But being attracted to someone you hate makes no sense to me. And the retaliation is just juvenile and obnoxious. Pulling on pigtails is not an acceptable way to tell someone you like them beyond age 7. I just want to yell at them to grow tf up and get in therapy. I legit considered DNF’ing at around 5% because I’m so sick of this dynamic.

Leo is a rich pretty boy who’s dad founded an Olive Garden-style restaurant chain and has learned everything he needs to know about being a person from a book. Nina is a world-renowned, award winning chef who has worked hard to get where she is. Together they host a reality cooking competition tv show.

The beginning of this is nearly identical to the beginning of The Holiday Swap with the reality cooking show and the animosity between the hosts. Only in that one, the asshole cohost wasn’t the MC’s love interest. Because he was an asshole.

It was when Leo came to Nina’s restaurant (after she’d quit and walked off set) to threaten her with doing an interview that paints her in a bad light when I decided I’d had enough. He was being selfish and manipulative. I don’t want or need to see this character redeemed and I definitely don’t want to see anyone fall in love with him. I’m out.

Some things I liked:
- Nina. She is smart and clever and competent and accomplished.
- The banter. It was pretty funny at times. When it wasn’t obnoxious.
- Nina’s friend and sous chef Jasmine. A ride or die if I’ve ever seen one.

I’m a sucker for a food-related romance so For Butter or Worse was definitely right up my alley, and the enemies-to-lovers scenario worked really well for this book.

Nina and Leo start off as bitter enemies after years working together on a cooking competition show, but things change quickly after they are forced to interact as part of a plot to save their careers. While Nina has to recover her “nasty” image, Leo needs to gain contacts and credibility in the food world to keep the show going without her. Cue fake dating.

Despite having worked together for years, Nina and Leo don’t really know much about each other until they start fake dating, and these dates were so enjoyable to read with their cute fall vibes. I loved Nina and Leo’s relationship throughout the book as they grew to know and understand each other, as well as the side-plots with their family and friends.

Nina and Leo are both well-written, likeable characters with flaws that ground them in the real world, and their relationship was both cute and steamy. What made this book even better is that they each go on their own journeys of self-care and self discovery while finding their way to each other.

For Butter or Worse manages to be exactly what I wanted from an enemies-to-lovers cooking romance with just enough of a shake-up to keep it feeling fresh and new.

*Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book combines two of my two favorite tropes: fake dating and enemies to lovers

This book follows Nina and Leo, two restauranters who are also judges on a cooking reality show. They also happen to hate each other. When Leo and Nina are caught in what looks to be a romantic moment after Nina angrily quit the show, the two form a fake relationship in order to save their careers and their restaurants.

An overall cute story, I loved the transition from enemies to lovers. I think it was done well and realistically. Nina and Leo were fun characters to root for and while I feel like the story kind of got lost at the end, I really enjoyed this book overwise.

I'm apparently a sucker for food related puns, because I have to admit that this title was what initially made me look into reading this book. Then when the synopsis mentioned fake dating between enemies, I was sold! And I'm so glad that I took an interest in this book, because ultimately I ended up really enjoying myself!

For Butter or Worse follows Nina and Leo as they co-host a cooking show. When Leo takes their rivalry a bit too far during the season's live filming of the finale, Nina quits right then and there. But things take a turn when the paparazzi think the two of them are dating and Nina and Leo realize that it might be worth their while to let the press continue to think that's what's going on. But of course, things don't stay that simple for long.

I really enjoyed this book's take on fake dating. Most of the time when I see this trope used, the two love interests are the ones who decide to keep the façade going, but in this case things get more complicated with a publicist that's planning dates and is involved as well. Having the publicist involved made sense though, given the fact that we were dealing with a very specific kind of enemies in this book.

These two have a history of animosity. They've used their platforms as hosts to continue to poke at one another and this isn't a case of misunderstanding that can be easily brushed off. These two have hurt one another and need to work through that over the course of the book. I especially enjoyed Leo's character, and how he righted his wrongs. In the beginning I was quite concerned that his behavior on the show was not going to be addressed fully. Thankfully, Leo eventually takes the time to process his behavior, to realize the harm he did, and to apologize. This made me very glad to see, since in so many books, bad behavior can be be dismissed and forgotten about once the two start liking one another.

And it's lots of fun to see Nina and Leo grow to like one another. Despite being very different, the two both have a love of food, and they treasure the way food can be used to create an experience for someone. Though they have very different restaurants, with Nina as the owner of a high end place and Leo running a chain eatery, it was clear that the two were both very passionate about what their stores could provide people.

Besides for Nina and Leo themselves and their relationship, I also loved the side characters. Nina had a sister and a best friend who were by her side, offering advice, a shoulder to cry on, and their unwavering support. Leo struggled to use his support system, although it was obvious that his twin and mother would be there for him no matter what.

This book is definitely a romance, but there were so many other aspects to this story that really helped make it more complex and interesting. Any side plot or theme that was included was utilized to its fullest and I felt that those little elements really enhanced the story. And I especially liked how there wasn't an easy or simple fix to things by the end of the story, and that the resolution to the conflict was hard won. This book grew on me the more I read it and the more I saw that care was being taken in setting up this story and making this relationship a healthy one that I could root for. So despite my initial hesitancy in the beginning of the book, I enjoyed the last third so much that I settled on a full 4 star rating.

If you're looking for a romance with depth, a focus on mental health, and quite a bit of food in it, this may be the book for you! It has a fun twist on fake dating, with some enemies to lovers thrown in as well, and is all around a good time!

When you mix oil and water in the kitchen, you might get a fire. That's exactly what happens when Leo O'Donnell, owner of a chain of family restaurants, pairs up with Nina Lyon, chef at her own restaurant, on a reality cooking show. Nina is very serious about her critiques, but Leo is more even handed and he likes to tease Nina. After three years on the show, she abruptly announces that she will not return. No Nina, no show, so their publicist decides to make them an off camera couple. How will that work out? An enjoyable romance

I enjoyed this book a lot more than I thought I would. usually I don't really like the hate to love trope as the male character does something that makes it impossible to like him. But I actually found myself drawn to Leo a lot because of his flaws and remorse for his actions. I really did wish there was more at the cooking competition since that was the reason I picked up the book. However, I am really glad I stuck around.

I was kind on waffling over what to give this one. I am a sucker for books set in a <i>Great British Baking Show</i>-esque setting, with cooking, food, and competition as the backdrop for an rivals to lovers romance. The food descriptions were great, and some of the banter was fun. But if you are not a fan of the miscommunication trope, this is not the book for you by a long shot. It sometimes felt like the two characters inhabited different planets, and refused to even consider speaking to each other. It got old very fast, and led to my annoyance with them. The romantic interest also did not endear himself to me at all (even with all his explanations of mental health and anxiety), because his privilege as a white, 'friendly' man was so overwhelmingly tone deaf, that even with the best of his intentions, I had zero patience for him after a while. To be fair, he does (sort of) come around at the end. But it's a choppy ending and arguably questionable.

Another niggling feeling I got was if you looked at the cover, to my eyes, it looks like the main MCs are people of color. The way that diversity was kind of shoe-horned in made me Google the author, who presents as a White woman. It made it even more weird and even though there were some good points raised, I just...wasn't vibing with it anymore.

It's not a bad book, and is better than a few I've read this year. I was entertained reading it, it was cute, and I enjoyed it. But if I thought too deeply about the plot, characters, and themes...I don't know if I'd come back for seconds.

<i> NetGalley gave me an ARC of this, in exchange for an honest review. </i>

This book started very abruptly. The main characters hate each other and are mean. I felt pretty uncomfortable reading it and really never got over that feeling. I usually enjoy enemies-to-lovers but not in this case.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Harlequin Trade Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Harlequin Trade Publishing.

I’m a simple person - I see a foodie/chef inspired romance and I immediately want to read it.

I thought that For Butter or Worse was incredibly cute! It was equally snarky, emotional, and laugh-out-loud funny and delivered on all of the fronts that I enjoy in a fake dating romance. This is such a fantastically executed enemies-to-lovers, idiots-to-lovers, and mutual pining story! Nina and Leo were enjoyable leads and I had a great time being immersed in their worlds! Both Leo and Nina’s mental health journeys were impactful and extremely well written. I related a lot to Leo’s anxiety and panic attacks.

One thing I really enjoyed was just how flawed both of them were. Nina is extremely quick to judgement and Leo purposefully spewed sexist comments to undermine Nina’s authority on their show. I like how these issues continued to impact their relationship as it progressed from being fake to something more real.

The only main hindrance of my enjoyment was in the 3rd act miscommunication/break-up. It felt like both of the parties completely overreacted over this situation and it just became tedious to get to the end.

In all, I really enjoyed this book and would happily read more from this author!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
I can never resist a punny title, so I just had to read For Butter or Worse. I had some second thoughts when I saw some comps to Lucy Parker (I DNFed her recent foodie enemies-to-lovers romance), and while this one took a while to grow on me, I ultimately liked it.
What made it work for me was that Nina and Leo are such real characters with real issues. While on the surface, they do seem to have a somewhat petty rivalry, they’re both dealing with a lot below the surface, including shared experiences with anxiety.
And I appreciate that their issues are tackled head-on throughout the book, and there’s no “quick fix.” Leo goes on a journey of pretending his issues are all in the past when they’re very much not, and ultimately his personal arc sees him getting help. Leo is also forced to grapple with the way things have been much tougher for Nina, having dealt with so many hate comments, many of them laced with sexism. And while it can be hard to execute an arc of a person with privilege becoming more self-aware of the damage they caused to the more disadvantaged (even inadvertently), La Rosa handles it with ease.
There are some occasional moments of cringe throughout the book, although given the title, some of it comes with the territory, and it’s more funny-cringe than anything else. There was this one section of the book that intermittently would bring up Leo’s abs, both in some of the media excerpts (which provide great context for the scrutiny the characters are under, as well as the double standards with regards to how they are treated) and a bit in dialogue. The media stuff is meant to be cringey, but I did find Nina and a friend talking about his abs when she doesn’t even like him yet a bit weird.
Overall, this is a really enjoyable, solid debut, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for what Erin La Rosa releases next. If you like steamy contemporary romances with a healthy dose of both humor and heart, I recommend picking up this one.

For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa
Rating: ★ ★
Genre: 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞
Format: 𝐄𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤
Length: 𝟑𝟔𝟖 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬
Trigger Warnings: 𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐟, 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐱𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲, 𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐢𝐬𝐦

📌Release Date: 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟔𝐭𝐡, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟐

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘦-𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸.

✨Read this book if you enjoy✨
💕 Fake dating
🔥 Enemies to lovers
🥘 Books about Food/Baking/Cooking Shows
👥 Promising side characters
🌶 Open door romance

This book follows Leo and Nina, who are co-stars on a cooking show. They can’t stand each other but the show is good publicity for their restaurants. But everything changes when Nina decides to quit the show unexpectedly in a moment of passion. How are Leo and Nina supposed to keep their restaurant businesses booming now?

This should have been an easy 5 star read for me. I am a sucker for enemies to lovers, especially with fake dating. But the execution was off for me. The buildup between Leo and Nina needed more tension. We didn’t get much time as readers to see their relationship shift from disliking each other into falling for each other. I will say that I did enjoy the spicy scenes though.

I think this book suffered the most from having too many mini plot points. There was too much going on but not enough focus on the points that mattered. For example, there were so many promising side characters in this book but their stories felt very underdeveloped or rushed. Some characters felt thrown in for no purpose at all, such as Nina’s ex-boyfriend. I still don’t even get why he was a part of this book.

I think if this book focused more on the food and the romance, it would have been a winner for me.

Enemies to lovers, fake dating, food network show - what better combination can you find in a romance novel? I saw a lot of posts about this book on Bookstagram, and I had to read it for myself! Such a great mash-up of favorite tropes and it just sounded too good to pass by.

I’m going to be real with you - I took me quite a while to get through it, I lost focus and had to keep going back to start parts over. I had troubles with it keeping my interest. A lot of parts really dragged and I found that I was thinking of other things while my eyes were glossing over the words but not taking it in. I’m rating this a 4-star, but it’s a little over a 3, rounded up. The end picks up a bit, which deserves the higher rating. There’s some really good emotion. However, quite a bit could have been taken out or re-written (I feel terrible putting this in here since this is not something I normally do, but it’s how I feel here, and when I beta read, this is the sort of feedback that they look for), and it would have been a perfect 5.

There was so much potential in the relationship between Nasty Nina and Leo, but it really did not work for me - it just wasn’t realistic the way it all came across on the page. It was all wrapped up nicely, but the middle was missing some key ingredients (sorry, foodie book pun).

I received an advance review copy from NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, HQN, and this is my honest opinion and feedback.

For Butter or Worse is yet another romance set in the world of competitive cooking TV shows (see also: Sadie on a Plate, Battle Royal, Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake and many more). Butter begins at the very end of the season of the “Top Chef”-like “The Next Cooking Champ,” as judge Nina Lyon dramatically quits the show during the live finale after enduring one too many barbs from her co-host, Leo O’Donnell.

Nina is the Simon Cowell “mean judge” on the show and Leo referred to her as “Nasty Nina,” a nickname that’s caused her no end of grief on social media. She decides to shift her focus to her fine-dining L.A. restaurant, which is losing money. Meanwhile, Leo—who is not a chef, but runs his family business, a chain of Italian restaurants which bear some resemblance to Olive Garden—is dealing with financial problems as well. Somehow, this leads to the two sworn enemies having to fake-date in order to save their respective eateries.

Just as an ordinary chocolate chip cookie recipe can be jazzed up with the addition of, say, pecans or sea salt, Erin La Rosa takes fairly standard ingredients (enemies to lovers, fake dating) and elevates them through some smart choices. There inevitably must be a Big Misunderstanding in books like these to jeopardize our protagonists’ budding relationship, and here it’s brought on by Leo’s anxiety disorder and panic attacks (yep, anxiety rears its head again!), which he’s always felt unable to disclose, even to his closest friends and family members. There’s some thoughtful commentary about the unfair treatment of women on social media, and a handful of appealing side characters, including Nina’s best friend, Jasmine, who also works at her restaurant. Mix it together and you wind up with a tasty foodie romance.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book, my thoughts are my own.

THIS WAS EXACTLY WHAT I NEEDED.

This is a pure case of right read at the right time. I was in my baking show obsessions, watching all the episodes of my favourite tv shows. And then started to read this, it was so lovely.

An enemies to lovers which is arguably one of my favourite tropes and baking !
I loved Nina the most, the author really managed to make me root for her and her ML (leo), while also rooting for their individual stories.
It was the perfect size for the story, you could feel the tension and I loved the banter.
The writing style made it a quick read and it felt like everything was moving at the right pace.
While not a new favourite book of mine, I really enjoyed my time with it.

3.75-4/5 stars
Bookarina.

FOR BUTTER OR WORSE – Erin La Rosa
HQN
ISBN: 978-1-335-50634-4
July 26, 2022
Romantic Comedy

Los Angeles, California – Present Day

For the past three years, acclaimed chef Nina Lyon has co-hosted a reality cooking show called The Next Cooking Champ alongside restaurateur Leo O’Donnell. However, her relationship with Leo is frigid, especially after he dubbed her on-air as Nasty Nina. On the finale, which is being done live instead of the usual taping, things come to a head between Nina and Leo. She announces that she is quitting the show. But in the aftermath of her announcement, public (meaning social media) opinion of her plummets and her restaurant suffers. She needs the public perception of her to change, so she and Leo are persuaded to pretend to date. It’s good business for both, but will they kill each other before their “dates” end?

Things don’t always go smoothly for Leo and Nina in FOR BUTTER OR WORSE as they start appearing in public. For starters, they still don’t exactly like each other. Yet, despite working together for three years, they don’t really know each other. Going out means not only seeing how the other lives but getting to know one another. Sometimes it is for hilarious results as Nina and Leo open up about their lives. Nina is driven to succeed in a business dominated by men, while Leo is dealing with a mother who wants to tell him what to do, whether it’s right or wrong. As they get to know each other, Nina and Leo start to have feelings for each other…and it leads to the bedroom. Can their relationship last? Will they start season four hosting the show together?

FOR BUTTER OR WORSE is a cute and funny tale that will have readers smiling. While Nina and Leo are opposites attract, they are deep down much alike. She has worked hard to build her restaurant, but it is her visibility as one of the hosts of the show that brings people to her restaurant. Of course, her feud with Leo has the interest spiking, so when she announces she is quitting, her manager panics. He also happens to be Leo’s manager and he needs them together, even if it is a fake romance. Instead of ignoring the social media brouhaha, they go along with the fake dating plan. Neither expected the sexual sparks which fly between them. The chemistry between them is palpable to readers and makes Leo and Nina likable characters and a couple that readers will want to root for.

While FOR BUTTER OR WORSE focuses on Nina and Leo, there are a few characters who stand out as they “advise” our couple. Nina has the support of her best friend, Jasmine, and her sister Sophie. Leo tolerates his brother, Gavin, while their mother’s advice is best to be ignored. Leo suffers from anxiety attacks and having something fail—whether it’s affecting his restaurant or his love life—puts a lot of pressure on him. But Nina brings out the best—and the worst—in Leo. Can they make it work?

Sit down with a cool drink and enjoy the sexy romantic hijinks of Nina and Leo in FOR BUTTER OR WORSE.

Patti Fischer

Thank you to NetGalley, HQN Books, and Ms. La Rosa for the opportunity to read an ARC of this title. An honest review was requested but not required.

I do enjoy a good enemies-to-lovers book and this was possibly one of the best starts I've come across. Nina and Leo are real enemies: filled with hostility and spite and childish bickering. They can't stand each other off-camera and can barely tolerate each other on-camera. Through a slightly questionable chain of events they're forced into a fake-dating situation (ANOTHER favorite trope) and have to pretend to be into each other. Of course, where there's smoke, there's fire, blah blah blah, and there was plenty of heat in the kitchen to start with. HA HA, cooking puns; I can see I will really have to restrain myself.

Two of the subplots I really was into, and I can see other reviewers were too, were Nina's lingering grief over losing her mom and Leo's mental health (anxiety, panic attacks) issues. Let's normalize mental health issues as just HEALTH issues! I LOVED that Nina's sister reprimanded her for being upset that Leo hadn't fully disclosed his issues to Nina by saying that his health was none of her business and equating his panic attacks to Nina's gynecological health report. YES. Health = Health. Oh, wow, I am on a real tangent here, lol.

I was also really impressed by the fully equal importance placed on Nina's and Leo's restaurants and entrepreneurship. Both of their restaurants were really important to them for many reasons, emotional, financial, and more, even though they held different working roles.

I had to subtract a half star because I don't really love extended groveling, and I felt like Leo did more than his fair share. Yes, he was responsible for Nina's unfortunate nickname AND he said it on live TV. That was reprehensible, and I get it, but Leo spent most of the book trying SO hard to make it up. Then, Nina was furious with Leo for not being fully honest with her when she wasn't fully honest with him either, about Charlie or about her own feelings. The Charlie stuff, especially, bothered me. Nina was fully aware of how hostile Charlie felt towards Leo (and herself), and how bothered Leo was by Charlie. If she really meant to have a relationship with Leo, she should've been upfront about meet ups with Charlie. Instead, that was one more thing Leo had to grovel for. Eh. That felt a little hypocritical to me.

This was a cute book overall and the Halloween/autumn excursions will really get readers in that fall spirit. The steam level, too, was pretty satisfying. The best part, though, is the extra salty one-liners between Nina and Leo at the beginning.

Read/Listen If You Like:
❤️ Celebrity Romances
❤️ Fake Dating
❤️ Dual POV
❤️ Coworkers to Enemies to Lovers
❤️ Spice🔥

Book Review:
With this one it was slow to start for me for the first half of the book and nearly lost me but seeing positive reviews kept me going and it was worth the push for the fake dating to really increase and spice to be added.

With the characters they started out with you wanting to hate Leo and feel for Nina, but as the book progressed the swapped for me and Leo became the more likable character.

I really liked the add in if the social media comments because for their roles of TV show hosts that would have been a total thing they would be looking at and considering.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC of this book! I am so grateful to obtain a copy to read in advance of its release in exchange for my honest feedback!

If you like celebrity chefs, enemies-to-lovers, and fake relationships, you'll probably like this book. Personally, I couldn't connect to the characters. Leo is so horrible to Nina in the beginning, and she's so (justifiably) angry about it, that the book wasn't fun for me. DNF at 20%.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received.