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.

Cute book! I really enjoyed the banter between the characters. This was a fun read, nice break between my usual mysteries.

I loved this book and had such a good time with it! I even told my group chat “I’m in my fake dating glory right now” as I was reading it, that’s how much I loved it.

Nina Lyon and Leo O’Donnell are co-hosts of a reality TV cooking competition. Nina is a chef with her own restaurant, and Leo is the owner of his family’s chain of Italian restaurants. She’s the strict judge, and he’s the friendly one. They’ve always had a contentious relationship both on and off the air, but have managed to keep it mostly professional while filming. However, things reach a boiling point when Leo calls her “Nasty Nina” on live TV during the season three finale of their show. The nickname has plagued her for years online, and her reputation has suffered as a result. She’s even had to close two of her three restaurants. The live TV incident is the final straw—she’s had enough and announces she won’t be back next season.

Following the finale, both Nina and Leo need to repair their images and give their businesses a much-needed boost. Nina’s publicist comes up with a scheme to get them some positive press and fan attention: a fake relationship.

Enemies! In a fake relationship! I was ALL IN. Nina and Leo were great together and apart. I thought Leo’s anxiety was portrayed well, as was Nina’s grief over the loss of her mom. Speaking of moms, Leo’s Italian mother was one of my favorite characters. She cracked me up every time she was on the page.

I loved how they slowly got to know each other better and revealed some of the deepest truths about themselves. Of course, it was also a lot of fun to see these two people who can’t stand each other have pants feelings that grow into real feelings. As a fan of higher heat romances, I appreciated how steamy this book was—Nina and Leo are HOT together, and the bedroom door is wide open.

I also enjoyed the texts and tweets that come at the end of most chapters. They were a lot of fun and were a little something extra that added to the world of the story and made it seem real.

I highly recommend this one if you’re a fan of enemies to lovers, fake relationships, or romances with settings related to food or reality TV.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.5 stars

That was entertaining. I loved all the cooking stuff and the chemistry between Leo and Nina. I also liked how some of the seriousness was woven in. My one complaint is about how everything seemed to happen very quickly in the end and how all of a sudden Nina and Leo refused to communicate with each other. Seemed a tad over the top and forced. But minus that, it was a highly enjoyable, food themed book.

🍝For Butter or Worse🍝

Rating: 4.5/5 ⭐️

Thank you NetGalley, Erin La Rosa, and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Nina ( a self made chef) and Leo (owner of a inherited family owned chain of Italian restaurants) are co-hosts of a food competition and reality tv show. And they despise each other. Nina is made out to be the bad guy of the show while Leo is the comedian who everybody loves. When Leo says a rather sexist comment to Nina on live tv she quits. Leo goes to Nina to get her back on the show and they get caught in a compromising situation which leads them to fake date to save both of their businesses.

I loved Nina and Leo in this book! The banter and chemistry between these two were off the charts. I love a good enemies-to-lovers and this one was amazing. This book does cover topics like sexism and anxiety. I think the author did an amazing job covering theses topics. Nina has dealt with sexism since she is a female chef in a male dominated industry, as well as being in the public eye. Leo is the one who deals with anxiety and I love that he’s the one who suffered with it and not Nina. Men can have anxiety just as much as women can, so I’m glad that was brought up in this book.

Overall this was a really fun quick read that will make you want to go grab some Italian food! I can’t wait to see what Erin La Rosa comes up with next!

All too often enemies to lovers' can come across as bratty and immature but Erin La Rosa executed this trop sooooo well.

I appreciated the mental health representation and discussion on cyber bullying. The healthy dose of spice was fantastic, as was the fake dating. The inner dialogue was a bit repetitive but nothing that made me want to put the book down.

I recommend reading this book with a sweet treat close by as it WILL make you hungry. Great romance, I highly recommend it.

Thank you to HQN and Netgalley foran advance digital copy.

"For Butter or Worse" is a fun, banter filled and angsty true enemies to lovers story. I was instantly drawn to the title and cover of the book.

Nina and Leo are co-hosts and judges on a popular cooking show for the last 3 years. Through the years, they were at an unsaid competition with each other, and on the season finale, the angst and tension between them combusts on live TV. To help their images, the two agree to fake date. But the banter and chemistry from the last three years start to combust.

I loved these two together. Nina is smart, independent and a force to be reckoned with. Leo might seem like he doesn't care but underneath, he's a sweet guy who cares deeply for his family and for Nina as well. Nina and Leo have great chemistry and their banter was great. It was a little bit of reverse grumpy/sunshine troupe and that made me happy. The buildup to the spicy scenes were great because Leo is definitely a giver. I loved Nina's friends and Leo's brother and I hope we get some stories with them in the future.

I was shocked by this book! Leo and Nina got off to a rather rocky start. Early on, I take sides in their conflict, and despite Leo's outwardly charming demeanor, it took me some time to warm up to him.
Having said that, the author did a fantastic job at outlining his backstory, giving him character depth, and developing him. Although he made mistakes, he eventually found his way, and I adore his generous gesture. Nina is fierce. She is a successful businesswoman, a well-known chef, a devoted sister, and she will stop at nothing to guard her assets. I liked how she made room in her heart for Leo. Almost sweet and leisurely, their narrative during their fake relationship. However, it was quite warm when they put on the heat. I liked how the author included serious subjects like mental health and sexism into the lighter plot. It appeared seamless! I believed the characters were well-rounded enough for their own stories, and the plot was entertaining and simple to follow.

Thank you to Erin La Rosa and NetGalley for an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

How cute is this cover? I find myself loving these types of covers more and more especially if it fits the book. This cover is just perfect for Leo and Nina's enemies to lovers, fake dating love story.

I really enjoyed reading this book and would have given it the full 5⭐s, but there was just a little spark that kept me from pulling the trigger that last little bit. I'm not sure exactly what it was honestly, but I still really liked the book.

Characters:

Nina is a strong, independent female chef in a field dominated by men. She works hard and while she comes across as hard and unfeeling, she's really just trying to make sure everyone has constructive criticism so that they can grow. Leo is a charismatic restaurant owner, who only truly knows the business side of the food world. He's good looking and Nina's worst enemy since he constantly makes her look bad on air. What I loved about these two is that we got to see so many different sides of them. I felt the ice thaw when they began to see that there was more to one another. Fun little jokes here and there, small touches that sent tingles through both, and a respect slowly grew out of what was once absolute disdain.

Story:

I love the fake relationship and enemies to lovers tropes, throw in some food and a fierce FMC and it's a recipe for success (see what I did there 😏). The tropes were commonly used, but the story itself had a unique spin since it dealt with so many different real life problems many of us can relate to. There were discussions of parental loss, mental health, financial struggles and even past relationships that bordered on emotionally abusive. Erin La Rosa did an excellent job of tying them all in so that we were given a story with depth and substance.

Spice:

I was worried this was going to be a fade to black romance, it wasn't! It doesn't have a ton of spice, but there parts that were written in detail were done right. It didn't take away from the story, only added the sprinkles on top (man I'm on a ROLL 😜).

Overall:

I really enjoyed the book, I WILL be reading more Erin La Rosa and I would love to have more stories on some of the side characters. I highly recommend checking out this book, grab a glass of wine and tuck in for a great story.

This book is SO GOOD. I loved the characters - the main characters felt entirely three dimensional and the supporting cast was well developed. I love a dual POV! This was a dual POV done brilliantly. My favorite part about this story was that each character clung desperately to something they could they couldn’t live without - just to teach each other that that may not be true after all. Absolutely recommend this to anyone who is looking for character driven stories, sweet misguided heroes, bad as heroines, and just a bit of spice ;)