This was spicy hot!! A perfectly executed enemies to lovers that was actually two characters who genuinely disliked one another and fake dating! *chef’s kiss* well done, perfection!!

Fake dating 𝘢𝘯𝘥 enemies-to-lovers trope in one?
You bet I'm here for it.

𝘍𝘰𝘳 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘖𝘳 𝘞𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 centers Nina Lyon and Leo O'Donnell. Both are are sworn enemies but they have more in common than they realise - both their respective businesses are waning, they enjoy their banter more than they care to admit and the accidental touch sends them both into a state of frenzy. So when a fake dating arrangement is added to the mix to improve their public reputations, things are bound to explode except their feelings weren't supposed to? Right!?

- ~ -

While I'd argue that most often rom-coms feature rivals-to-lovers trope in place of enemies-to-lovers, this book actually had characters who acted like they wanted nothing more than to throttle each other. Even their initial insult hurling period was intense. Some insults were direct, others off-handed but they were all creative and I found them hilarious.

These two were stewing with tension right from the beginning so it's safe to assume the ending was just as satisfying.
I don't usually acknowledge this but the spice here was better than most (I mean it is a book about the food world duh).
Their banter was without a doubt the best part of the book.

Ps. The proposal was so cute and on brand for them! I'm so glad the author crafted it perfectly to fit them.

- ~ -

3.54 / 5✩

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘯 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘱𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 & 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘸𝘯.

I love a good enemies to lovers book especially one that incorporates food. It entertains me and gets me ready for my next meal! The characters have great chemistry and I found myself laughing quite a bit! Solid read

DNF

I Couldn’t continue after about 30%. I tried but it was not holding my interest after trying for over four weeks. At some point as a reader you have to let some books go.

Honestly, I think it comes down to marketing because this book seemed great on paper for this romance-lover but wasn’t executed well In my opinion.

This was okay, but not great, and I sort of slogged my way through most of it. It has all the components that I usually love in a book, enemies to lovers and foodies, with fake dating. Unfortunately I had issues with all of them.

The enemies lasted way too long for me, with the ‘banter’ being mean comments back and forth, because these characters really being out the worst in each other. Not a great foundation for a relationship. Leo has anxiety, which is touted as the reason for his rude comments to Nina, but we never really get to dive into that in the moment. We are told about it, rather than feeling it alongside him. That’s actually the root of all of my issues with the book. Telling, not showing.

I never believed the characters attraction or relationship, mostly because they didn’t seem to have many redeeming qualities beyond the superficial. I never really warmed up to either of them, and never felt like they were better together than apart. And I never really understood why they liked each other, except that we were told they did.

Overall, I was disappointed in this one, but they can’t all be winners.

It was stated that this was an enemies to lovers romance...I just didn't get the romance. I got the enemies part - boy did I!! I thought the hero was a little passive aggressive and not in a good way. I couldn't see this relationship lasting or having a HEA. Seriously, you just can't have a downright mean hero and from reading other reviews - I'm glad I'm not the only one that thought that.

This definitely fit the enemies-to-lovers trope but the negative comments from Leo when he was upset were pretty aggressive and it made it more challenging for me to see the relationship progress. Enemies to lovers needs to have a more playful feel. You can't fix mean.

4.5 starts for the book For Butter or Worse

I thoroughly enjoyed myself with this read. Romance is obviously the focus, but the book also deals with some pretty serious topics. These discussions and sue of some unpleasant situations really elevated the book from three to four and a half stars.

Nina is an inspirational character. She doesn't try to fake who she is, in fact, even while being trolled for not being the "ideal" female and being too headstrong, she stays herself. This is simply amazing too me because I am generally a people pleaser. I seriously would have never forgiven Leo for all that he did to her. The grudge would stay for life if I was Nina. But alas, she is better than me. Leo wasn't a bad character, but he made Nina's situation worse with the public.

This book had a great plot. It was fast-moving, but also allowed for great development, plot and character wise. The ending was satisfyingly also.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I had a hard time connecting with the couple. We got dropped into the action and didn’t know why they hated each other or their history. And the premise for fake dating-one of my favorite tropes, fell flat for me. As they got to know each other, I didn’t feel as though Nina and Leo had much in the way of chemistry. Unfortunately, the book fell flat for me.

This was one of my most anticipated of the year and sadly, I think my expectation were a bit too high. I think this book definitely has an audience that will love it but I’m not part of it, unfortunately.

My main issues were the pacing and I found Leo to be really annoying at times. There were parts of the book that felt like it could have been edited down or just felt entirely unneeded.

The parts I did like were the chemistry between the two main characters and the complexity of the characters as individuals. I also thought the headline portions of the news stories about them were a cute touch.

This was a great story! really enjoyed the plot and characters. I look forward to picking up a copy to read once this is released!

I just wasn't feeling this at all. I didn't get any chemistry between Nina and Leo and we just got to their fake dating plotline before I ended up giving up on the book. This is primarily a fake dating story, with a dash of foodie goodness sprinkled in. It felt like it was taking too long to get the plot moving and actually have the characters talking and at this point, I've read so many cooking related romances, this one just faded into the background.

I do enjoy a good Enemies-to Lovers with a fake dating storyline. 😍 Especially where characters are saddled with the possibility of losing something if they don't put their differences aside to work together.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 Stars

The heat between Leo and Nina was heavy, full of animosity and misunderstandings right off the bat. This heat transferred well into their fake dating situation and made for some interesting banter.

🌶🌶🌶🌶/5 Steam Rating

I absolutely loved the emails, text messages, tabloid headlines, and social media commentary throughout the book. It added a little something extra and was fun to read through.

And the food! 🥰 Hoping there are some recipes in the final print!!!

I'm also a sucker for punny humor - it will make me laugh every time. 😏

On a more serious note, I appreciate that this book takes an honest look at how everyone handles their mental health differently. More importantly, it depicts how vital it is to care for your mental well-being and how neglecting it affects the people around you.

Can't wait to read more from Erin La Rosa!

Thank you, NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Erin La Rosa, for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

Rounding up from 2.5. This book was… all right. I like the tropes of fake dating and enemies to lovers, but the author didn’t set them up as enemies well enough before they started getting super emotionally intimate. I love found family vibes, but Jasmine’s personal arc was much stronger than the FMC and MMC—seriously, both mains had about one chapter where their whole arc was crammed in and this side character had growth oops the whole book. I loved the grand romantic gesture and discussion of sexism in the food industry, but overall felt like for 370+ pages, there was too much filler and not enough of what I wanted. Honest review exchanged for ARC

For Butter or Worse: 3.5 stars

The romance plot line was cute, enemies to dating always has some interesting aspects. The dates they went on would definitely be some that I would enjoy, and seeing Nina and Leo in those scenarios was entertaining. But despite that, I think the way that mental health and grieving over a parent were represented well within the book and it really stood out to me. Having dealt with both of these myself, seeing it in a book and fairly similar ways to my life made it seem more normal rather than be being an outsider when it comes to these things.

As well as the cute relationship and what I feel are amazing representations of some heavy topics, For Butter or Worse also had some other amazing plot points. A large aspect of the book was following Nina as a woman chef, and how she was breaking through the small windows that she has within that role, which is always something I enjoy to see. And also Halloween! Although it was not integral to the plot, it takes place around Halloween and we get some cute scenes which I loved.

Although I enjoyed so many aspects to this book, a large part of this is enemies to lovers, which normally I can be on board with. But in For Butter or Worse, the way that Nina was treated by Leo initially was something that continued to bug me. I know there is a large transformation in their relationship (as there is in all enemies to lovers), but still I found the change quite staggering in my opinion.

Overall, For Butter or Worse is cute, and it tackles tough and important topics, but personally I could not entirely ignore the way that Nina was treated prior to the fake dating arrangement.

What a fun book! This enemies to lovers book really sold me on the joy that is enemies to lovers. There’s miscommunication and forced proximity and all the goodness you need from and enemies to lovers trope that makes it good.

There was humor written in it along with a dual POV that helped up the yearning of “I feel it… do they?” on both sides which I just adore!

Nina was such a great character because although she seem closed off and stuck up in Leo’s point of view, she was actually kind and misunderstood, as a strong woman in a competitive field is. Leo was also such a sweet, hunky lead and him being such a romantic was just a huge plus!

I enjoyed this one lots and please ignore how long it took me to read this, I fell in a brief reading slump in the month of May. This was a fun read especially for people who enjoy fake dating, enemies to lovers and celeb chef aspects! Thank you netgalley and the publisher for sending me an ARC in return of an honest review!

First, I have to say, as soon as I saw this title, I knew I needed to read the book. I love a catchy title, and knowing the book had a culinary element made me even more eager to dive in. For Butter or Worse didn’t disappoint. It’s an entertaining enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance with a lot of tropes I love.

This is a great story for readers who enjoy enemies-to-lovers, miscommunication, fake dating, or a grumpy-sunshine relationship. Leo and Nina are rivals and enemies who antagonize each other constantly. Their banter is fantastic, and even though they are constantly hurling insults at each other, their chemistry is off the charts! Nina comes across as a bit of a snob, and Leo appears to be a carefree ladies’ man. However, both are very different from what they originally seemed.

The premise of the story is pretty entertaining. Leo and Nina are co-hosts and enemies when Nina reaches her breaking point live on the season finale of the show and quits on air. A social media frenzy ensues, and Nina and Leo enter a fake relationship after receiving a ton of bad press. Both want to enhance their reputation and keep their fledgling restaurants afloat, but neither expected their fake romance to start to feel not so fake.

Nina and Leo have a complicated relationship, and they have to confront their misunderstandings, hurtful comments, and sabotage-like behavior before they can move forward. I was a bit put off by Leo considering he was the one who perpetuated a particularly degrading and sexist nickname that went viral, but I appreciate his regret and his steps to change. They both change a lot as they realize that their antagonistic behavior might actually be hiding their true feelings for each other. I like that, as they go on fake dates, they start to not only understand each other but respect each other. Both have great character arcs, and their romance is tumultuous, funny, frustrating, sexy, and steamy!

I also really liked Leo’s family. They remind me so much of my own family in the way they tease and banter with each other. There’s a lot of love there, even though they can be a bit meddlesome and overbearing. There are also some great messages about sexism, mental health, work-life balance, and online bullying, which I think most readers can relate to. I thought the story realistically portrayed anxiety and panic attacks and liked the messages about the benefits of therapy and self-care.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Harlequin for providing me with an advanced copy of the book. All thoughts are my own.

DNF at 66%

The premise of this was fun. I love a good food based romance, but there just wasn't anything fresh or original about any of it. Everything was very predictable and the writing was basic and too many things were overexplained.

I liked the anxiety rep in Leo and liked seeing a male character showing his vulnerabilities in that way. The one smut scene I read was good, but overall it wasn't holding my attention.

YES. YES. YES. It was in fact sizzling. UGH. UGH. UGH.

I love a good enemies to lovers, rivals, cooking romcom.

This was a very trope-tastic read – you’ve got it all here… fake dating, enemies-to-lovers, miscommunication, grump x sunshine and a cinnamon roll love interest, plus throw in the culinary/foodie angle and it’s a great read. The two MC’s have chemistry and the book delivers on the steamy sex, whew! In addition, there’s a nice balance of humor and the heavier elements discussed like sexism in celebrity media & the culinary world and mental health topics. In the end, for me, the miscommunication stuff went on a bit too long (I have a very limited amount of patience for this trope.) I will say the ending… so swoony! Overall, if you enjoy watching and reading anything cooking related be sure to pick up this book.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and HQN – Harlequin Books in exchange for an honest review.