Synopsis: All chef Nina Lyon wants is to make a name for herself in the culinary world and inspire young women everywhere to do the same. For too long, she’s been held back and underestimated by the male-dominated sphere of professional kitchens, and she's had enough. Now, as co-host of the competitive reality TV series The Next Cooking Champ!, she finally has a real shot at being top tier in the foodie scene.
Too bad her co-host happens to be Hollywood’s smarmiest jerk.
Thoughts: It had it's predictable moments. It was funny at times. It gave me enemies to lovers and fake dating. You get reality tv. You get celebrities. It all came together in a big fun romcom stew. I must say it was delish and you BUTTER believe it!

I enjoyed this rom-com from author Erin La Rosa!

A hilarious enemies to lovers novel with witty banter and fiery chemistry! Nina and Leo are so fun together, I enjoyed their bickering as they spent more and more time with each other.

I wish the side character were a little more developed, but overall this is a fun, fast enemies to lovers rom-com that will entertain!

Foodies, fake dating, AND enemies to lovers? Yes, yes, and yes!

Nina is a celebrity chef who has just about had it with her cohost. After Leo take a comment on air too far, Nina leaves the set in all her bad ass glory. With a failing restaurant and a brutal reputation, Nina’s publicist decides the only thing that can save her is a showmance with none other than Leo. Fake dating ensues, and cue the heart eyes.

The banter in this story was so crisp and I loved the awkwardness between our two love interests. The side characters were so lovely and I adored Leo’s family. Also, shoutout to the male mental health representation. I so appreciate that there are more books where male mental health is on the forefront. The food aspects of this story left my stomach grumbling and me staring at my pantry for some cooking inspiration.

Releasing on 7/26/22, foodies and rom com lovers unite!

~Special thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book is GOUDA. Y’all, this book executed enemies to lovers SO WELL! The snippy comments and the actual dislike was shown through the alternating POVs and dialogue. The build up to friendship and eventual lovers felt realistic and perfectly paced. I LOVEDDDD Leo and Nina soooo much! Their vulnerability with each other and their friends and family was everything. I loved how Erin touched on sexism in the foodie world and how important filling up your bowl is. And can we talk about tension?! Holy cow, this book is spicy and the build up delivered! If you’re into enemies to lovers, fake dating, all the puns and jokes, add this to your TBR. PS can we get a book on Gavin?!

This was a very enjoyable hate-to-love/fake dating romance. These are of my favorite tropes, and usually, they fall for each other too fast. But in this, it makes a lot more sense. They've been co-workers, and at each other's throats, for three years before everything falls apart and they are forced to spend time around each other outside work as well as fake dating, and really get to know each other. So while it's only a couple of months, it makes more sense.

This book has good rep for mental health in this book. Leo has anxiety and panic attacks, I felt it was handled in a healthy and believable way. His character is interesting, his family owns a chain of restaurants and is looked down on by his peers in the food industry. He is painted, by Nina, as this smarmy egotistical jerk. But I never really got that vibe from him. He just wants his family's business to be taken seriously by other restaurateurs. And had hoped the show would do that.

That is something that I hadn't really thought of. What really is the difference between him and Nina who also owns more than one of the same restaurant? Is it only because she was "trained", is it because her restaurants are state-local and not nationwide? She has some of her own issues that I don't think were addressed. She does have this snobbish pride about her that pegged Leo as somebody to not take seriously from the get-go. I think had she not assumed the worst about him, he wouldn't have tried to make her time on the show difficult. Granted, he did take things too far rather than behaving like an adult and talking to her when the cameras went off about her treating him like his opinion is less than hers because she was classically trained, and he was family taught.

The romance was fine. I just find it really hard to believe that they spent three years in front of the camera and never learned a thing about each other. They certainly had done interviews together or something. I did like that they didn't really come together as a couple until after they reconciled the animosity towards each other, and Leo apologized for his role in the online hate she received.

This is a personal pet peeve, and it's just something that takes me out of a story. I don't really like it when in the narrative real-world things are referenced. As I said, it takes me out of the world, even though this is "modern-day earth", the same things and people all aren't the same. It also can date the book. Using the names of the current popular social media and streaming platforms puts the book in a very particular era. An era that might not be relevant in 5-10 years.

Enemies to lovers meets fake dating in the world of celebrity cooking shows. They hated each other on the set of the cooking show they co-hosted but now that Nina and Leo are rumored to be dating the business at both of their restaurants is seeing an uptick. Wanting to save their dreams is more important than the agony of being forced to spend time with someone you loathe especially when it suddenly feels the opposite of agonizing.
As Nina learns more about his anxiety and the pressure he puts on himself and he learns about Nina’s grief and the onslaught of sexisms she faces as a female chef they gain a new appreciation for each other. Leo is clueless but his bad puns are endearing and his brother is hands down my favorite character in the entire book. Although Leo grew on me, there wasn’t any sparkle in this one for me. I found myself checking the page count more than once which is never a good sign,

I received a opt of this book in exchange for an honest review..

*I received a free ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Wow! When we say 'enemies to lovers' these two are the prime example. Nina and Leo HATE each other at the beginning, but the journey from hatred to tolerance to love is very believable and organic. The author has done a really great job of making that transformation feel really believable and by the end you truly believe they belong to together and can go the distance.

This also gets bonus points for being super funny, especially if you love a good dad joke like I do. While most of the jokes come from Leo, I have to say the funniest moment for me was when Nina let Leo do all of those photo ops with his fly down, I was CACKLING!

If you love grumpy/sunshine, this is definitely for you. CWs for anxiety, panic attacks, and death of a parent.

Thank you so much for the arc! Enemies to lovers, the banter, the storyline...I really enjoyed reading this book. This book delivered the tropes SOO WELL. I loved Nina and Leo's story and i liked the representation of male lead with mental health. I loved their romance and the spice in this book was so good!! Can't wait to read more by the author!

If you don’t already know this about me, I love food-centered romances so when I saw that this was a story between a chef and restauranteur I knew I had to read it. For Butter or Worse has fake-dating enemies, a love for food, and all of the puns (it’s right there in the title!).

For Butter or Worse is a cute, adult rom-com about two co-hosts for a reality tv food competition that must fake-date each other in order to save their reputations after one quits the show on-air, sending the media into a frenzy. This was an adorable, witty, light-hearted book, with fake-dating, enemies to lovers, and dual pov. I loved each of the characters separately, and their chemistry on the page was palpable. The romance was cute, sweet, and everything you would expect out of two people intertwined in the high society food world. The author included some heavier topics for each other characters to deal with, such as anxiety, bouts of depression, and grief over parents who had passed on, but they weren't given too much story time, and didn't have any sort of plot behind them except to exist, which them feel slightly out of place. Nonetheless, if you're in search of your next rom-com packed with banter and spice, be sure to check our For Butter or Worse.

For Butter or Worse was actually pretty cute and delivered on many fronts related to the fake dating trope. However, there were a bunch of little things that were slightly off-putting for me, which is why I think I'd give this somewhere between a 3.5 to 3.75.

The story follows two public figures in the LA food industry, Nina and Leo, who are co-stars of a baking competition reality TV show. On and off the show, Nina and Leo *hate* each other. I think the quick, and sharp banter between them was really well done (probably one of the best I've seen in a hate-to-lovers romance) and thoroughly demonstrated how much the two can't stand each other. Even though it was delivered with animosity, the "Witch"/"Devil" nicknames ended up being so adorable.

That being said, I wasn't really a fan of the fact that Leo was involved in/triggered the sexist attacks against Nina. Of course, he apologizes profusely and Nina herself says that she can't 100% forgive him, even when they are together, but I still felt really uncomfortable with the idea of a woman getting together with someone who helped instigate those attacks. I also can't stand public apologies, groveling, and declarations of love in books, and this book had many of them. It kinda makes sense considering that both Nina and Leo are public figures and the whole point of them fake dating was to convince the public of their relationship, but I think it would have meant more if Leo had kept those moments private. I did like that the two spent 3 months apart before getting back together in the final act, giving Leo a chance to go to therapy and work on speaking to someone before pursuing a relationship with Nina again.

Speaking of which, I think one of my favorite aspects of the novel is the arc of Leo's anxiety, as well as Nina's grief. I really love when romance books break stereotypes of men dealing with their mental health needs, and I loved how Leo dealt with his anxiety--even if he didn't fully open up about it to the people around him. The support systems that both Leo and Nina have around them were really well depicted and I love how supportive Gavin, Leo's mom, as well as Sophie and Jasmine were.

I also do want to mention that there is a mention of Mother Teresa really early on in the novel that paints Mother Teresa in a positive light. Mother Teresa was nowhere near a good person, especially to South Asians, something a lot of white folks don't realize :( I'm not sure if it's too late for this mention to be removed from the novel before it's published, but it's definitely something I hope the author recognizes.

Overall, if you're a fan of romance books that deal with the food industry, you'll probably enjoy this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an ARC of this book. All opinions in this review are my own.

When I saw this come up as a book I should read, I was instantly hooked. Pun as a title, cooking competition hosts, ethnically diverse characters, enemies-to-lovers, and all of the food? Sign me up. And then every time I picked up this book, I giggled at the title. I really enjoyed that this was a solid enemies-to-lovers story, where both characters truly hated each other, but over misunderstanding rather than fundamental aspects of their personality, because it meant that the transition into love made a lot more sense. Plus! Fake dating! Who doesn't love fake dating with enemies to lovers!? The banter was fun, and overall I enjoyed it. It was a cute book, and I will definitely read more books by this author.

I'd like to start off by thanking NetGalley, HQN Books as well as the author Erin La Rose for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'm certainly a sucker for an enemies to lovers trope so it's no lie that I absolutely loved this book. Not only was it an enemies to lovers, but it was also a workplace romance and who doesn't love when it gets a little spicy in the workplace? Because I certainly do ;)

This book was very easy to read as well as follow, the characters were all depicted very well and I really felt like I was part of their lives while reading this.

The only reason I'm giving this a 4 out of 5 stars is because I wish the lovers part would have come sooner than what it did. I felt robbed of having that love story ending. I'm hoping the only reasoning behind this is that there will be a second book added.

I definitely recommend this book!

I love enemies to lovers romance! I love how hilarious and romantic this book is! Plus a little steam. It's perfect for anyone who's looking for a quick, easy read. The writing is so good and I loved this book!

Thank you to the publisher for an advanced copy!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for letting me have an eARC of the book to read in advance.

Oh Leo, you little idiot giant. *sigh* Even when annoyingly obtuse, he is such love and so adorable, it's hard to stay mad at him for said foolishness. He is also so endearing he gave the story an extra sprinkle of cuteness. I spent most of the book being mad at Nina for 5 seconds like "sis you are being so mad to this poor man" and then promptly realising that "actually from her point of view, I'd fucken hate his guts and want to rip them out during every interaction", so that was one wild ride of a read! 😂

The writing was very engaging and funny - shoutout to all the delusional fans, y'all are hilarious no matter what fandom y'all hail from and I loved the rep in here 😂

One thing I didn't really like here (hence the -1 star or it would have been a 4-star review) is Dad O'Donnell's "I'm Irish but Italian in spirit" attitude. Very uncomfortable to read as a POC who gets to hear people and people in general but it mostly comes from white people who inadvertently shame us for who we are and then go pull shit like this bear this same attitude but for POC nationalities or cultures. Really didn't like that. It's like... people want the fun parts of your identity without the struggles and other implications that come with it and ??? Just no, nope, nopest. It would have read VERY differently if Donna (the mom) was Italian and then Dad O'Donnell had gone into Italian cuisine to honour her or whatever but this is just very icky to me.

That aside, I really liked the story and I just wished there hadn't been that tiny and unnecessary scene that got a whole ass fishbone stuck in my throat.

When two TV hosts team up and “fake date” to try and drum up business for their perspective failing restaurants, the reader knows pretty much immediately that’s not the only thing they drum up.

This is exactly what you hope to find with an enemies to lovers romances these days. Tons of fun, lots of sass, and a little spice on the side.

Thank you NetGalley and for the Arc!

A really fun enemies to lovers story!
This one is totally for the foodie readers who also love enemies to lovers and fake dating. Basically if you were a fan of Battle Royal by Lucy Parker you'll want to pick this up.
There's plenty of witty banter and steam throughout the book but the author doesn't leave the characters' emotional journeys behind.
This was a well rounded story and I am curious to see if the author will write another book set in this world. Nina and Leo did have siblings after all!
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

TW: grief and mentions of death of parents.

3/5

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

For Butter or Worse follows Nina and Leo who are former cohosts of a cooking competition. Nina and Leo are less than friendly to each other both on and off the camera, but when Nina quits during a live taping, both of them find themselves in a PR situation that requires the other's help. Yep, they fake date to try and salvage their reputations.

While I love anything that has to do with food and I love fake dating, this book didn't quite seal the deal with me. I'm not a huge enemies to lovers fan so the start was definitely a bit rocky as I found some of their interactions to be a little iffy. Once we got past the enemies part of the plot, it was definitely easier to read, but sometimes I think that there were moments of attraction on both ends that felt a little rushed or out of place.

I enjoyed very much this enemy-to-lovers story. The shift in Leo and Nina's relationship is expertly described and kept my eyes glued to the page. Both of the characters' anxiety is described - though at times Leo's is debilitating. Tye story had a few steamy sex scenes which were tastefully woven into the story.

I loved the premise of For Butter or Worse, and it's full of a ton of great tropes and character traits, however I just couldn't get into the author's writing style. Also, the pacing was a bit weird at times. I wouldn't put anyone off reading this book, it just wasn't for me.