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.

2.75 stars.

A hilarious and adorable enemies to lovers romance. Nina and Leo are undoubtedly the food world’s power couple. It’s exciting to follow how initially both main characters started off hating each other but as the story progressed, they slowly realize that they harbor intense romantic feelings towards one another.

I didn’t really enjoy the storyline all that much and kind of felt like it was dragged out a bit. Additionally, I didn’t appreciate the miscommunication between Nina and Leo towards the last 100 or so pages. But there were some aspects I relished which boosted up the overall rating for this novel.

All in all, it was an alright book and I felt like it could’ve had more potential. Then again, this is just my opinion and it shouldn’t discourage anyone from reading the book and experiencing the characters for themselves.

*** Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This premise was stellar - because, duh, I love the Food Network - but the execution left a lot to be desired, especially the first 1/3rd of the story. The characters of Nina and Leo were actually well-written and I did like the progression from enemies to lovers through fake dating. What muddied the story for me though was the large amount of side plot with side characters that distracted from the romance, as well as the fact that so many chapters felt very staccato and not connected at all. It was like one chapter this happens, then this happens, then this happens... over and over again. Basically, the writing itself felt very first/second draft-ish and not "ready to be published", at least not without some tightening up.

*Didn't dock my rating because of it, BUT this ARC had awful formatting that made it slightly unreadable at times, and that certainly effected my reading

For Butter or Worse was the perfect balance of heartwarming and light-hearted. While heavier topics were dealt with (anxiety, the mental effect of sexism, grief, etc) they were done so gracefully and did not feel out of place with the book. I loved the growth that Leo showed throughout the book. While for the first half I was frustrated over his apathy and sometimes use of sexism towards Nina, I felt he really grew in this area and I'm glad it was brought up as a major point. I think there were times Nina was too forgiving of him and too hard on herself but she also grew in this regard.
My favorite thing about this book and something that sets it apart from the other romcoms out there is how healthy the relationship was in the end. The fact that the love interests took a break to better themselves before getting together was a huge win for me. I think it was such a great addition to the book and to the character's to have them grow in the areas they needed and to make sure they were in a headspace for a relationship after everything they both went through seperately and together. This is a very important lesson in all relationships and I'm glad it was promoted so well in this one.

Overall, this is definitely a book I will be recommending to everyone and one that I can't wait to buy a physical copy of upon publication date.

This was about two co hosts that didn’t work well together on a cooking reality show. Nina quits and it swiftly turned into damage control over the whole situation. Which I thought was a bit pointless. Anything posted online was either bad or good publicity. So fake dating was ordered! This didn’t work for me. Nina and Leo were very career driven individuals that didn’t enjoy any down time nor were they empathetic characters. I thought the author tried to redeem Leo’s character too well so soon in the story. And of course threw in the evil ex for a bit that was pretty much disappointing. The story itself dragged along in the middle, and yes there were some funny moments. That being said, I didn’t enjoy this book. I wish I did.

I received this ARC from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I love an enemies-to-lovers romcom and For Butter or Worse delivered! Readers of romantic comedies will be delighted by this one and will have a hard time putting it down!

I've finally given up! If you've seen my progress while reading this, you will know I struggled with these characters from the start. However, I continued on to see if things would improve. They were both just so unlikable and boring though. There were some improvements and moments where I felt for them, but they weren't exciting to read. I stuck around until a little more than halfway to see if the chemistry could salvage anything. Because if anything could make me continue reading uninteresting characters, it's uninteresting characters who have good chemistry. Sadly, this did not have that. They were even worse when together, actually, so I could no longer force myself to continue to the end.

For Butter or Worse was a fun read! Nina and Leo are cohosts of a popular cooking show, and that is where their relationship ends. Off camera, they are at each other's throats. Everything blows up when Leo makes a snarky comment about Nina on the live season finale. To salvage their images and their respective restaurants, Leo and Nina begin documenting a fake dating relationship to improve public perception and bring in more business to their floundering restaurants. A series of miscommunications and mishaps ensue. Surprising to them, they end up discovering they have more in common. Their relationship begins to change and grow. Without giving too many spoilers away, Nina and Leo begin to soften towards each other and they become friends and then more. I enjoyed the foodie aspect and the storyline lots! Thank you to NetGalley and HQN for the ARC!

What's better than an enemy to lover novel than one that's meets cooking reality. An amazing story that I couldn't put down.

Nina and Leo are co-hosts on a reality cooking show, but while their banter seems playful after editing, things get ugly when they have to film live. To save their restaurants, they decide to (pretend) date and show their lovable sides. As expected, feelings develop as they go on dates to stay in the public eye.

This was a cute idea, and as a foodie, I always appreciate a romance novel that involves the kitchen. I liked that the author has a curvy heroine without continually harping on body positivity.

Unfortunately, the negatives outweigh the positives in this one. Both characters are so insecure that I don’t feel much when the actual romance happens because it feels like mutual licking of wounds rather than a developed love interest consummating their love. Also, the love scenes are a bit overboard for my taste. I don’t mind a little open door, but when “69” is mentioned, I gotta go (at this point I removed the download from my kindle) cause that’s gross...

The final strike was the political checklist. I can’t handle speak of “the patriarchy” or a painful attempt at inclusion of every possible minority. Let’s not forget the jab at Christians by having a username like burningforjesus22 (or something) saying something terrible and a righteous liberal swooping in to proclaim hypocrisy.

I’m sad that it had so many negatives because it had such potential! Thank you NetGalley and HQN for giving me the opportunity to read this!

Thank you to NetGalley and HQN for this earc

And nope nope nope and NOPE again.

Where do I start? First I feel like we didn’t get enough of the beginning of this story. We only saw Leo and Nina during the show for a chapter which didn’t set up their hatred for each other enough. I am a huge fan of enemies to lovers but only if the characters are enemies because of sexual tension and not actually being super mean to each other and messing with each other’s mental health and businesses. Like what the heck?

Next, the Leo we saw in the first chapter was most definitely not the same character we saw later in the story and I wasn’t a fan of him at all. He was being written as this “hot cinnamon roll” with being super good looking but also watching rom coms with his brother but ended up sounding like a totally joke.

Nina was a little better and I think it was important to show a woman in men’s world but somehow her character was just as boring as the others.

And don’t get me started on the “her ex wants her back after he sees her with a new guys.” It’s probably one of my list favorite story lines and it was hair awful.

Oh yeah and Leo and Nina had zero emotional connection. Just none.

If you like cinnamon roll heroes and puns, THIS IS YOUR BOOK

This was a super fun read. Leo, while snarky at first, and who hurt the heroine early on, was a perfectly flawed hero that made this reader just want him to get his girl and his acceptance.
Nina is a prickly pear - with good reason, and it's easy to understand and support her.
Do not read while hungry - the food descriptions are almost as good as the puns.
And the media headlines at different points of their relationship are simply hilarious. I loved it!
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review..

I am completely obsessed with Nina and Leo!! This book was a perfect enemies-to-lovers, grumpy/sunshine, where the GIRL IS THE GRUMP!! Leo and Nina's journey was a long one, but there were so many funny moments between the two! The banter was AMAZING! I also loved how the author touched on the subject of anxiety, and I really felt Leo's struggles while reading. If you love food and romance, this book is for you!