4 stars!

This book did a lot of things right. the enemies to lovers was ACTUALLY enemies to lovers and it was a nice slow burn with lots of tension. Where it lacked, for me, was the last 30% of the book. It felt like it didn’t have a lot of substance and it just didn’t work for me.

Overall, really good, and I’m glad someone finally got enemies to lovers advertised right.

To say I loved this from start to end would be an understatement. This book has everything: smoldering chemistry between the leads, a peacock named Reginald, enemies to lovers, fake dating, and food references that are descriptive without being too much. Nina and Leo were easy to root for together and separately. I appreciated that this book took me on an adventure and I wasn’t sure exactly where the story would end up, but I so loved the originality! The banter was top notch. I laughed out loud multiple times and wished the author was my best friend in real life. My copy is preordered because I need this on my shelf ASAP. I can’t wait to read it again! I was gifted a free copy on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Things I will always be on board for: food and fake dating.

Unfortunately, neither were enough to keep me invested in Erin La Rosa's fictional debut, For Butter or Worse.

For Butter or Worse isn't the worst book I've read, but it also wasn't particularly memorable. It's unoriginal in the worst way possible. I don't mind overused tropes as long as they're done well. Unfortunately, For Butter or Worse brings nothing to the table. It feels like Erin La Rosa is going through the motions and checking items off a list instead of telling a story.

Enemies to lovers? ✔
Fake dating? ✔
Miscommunication as a trope? ✔
Friends-with-benefits? ✔
Grumpy and sunshine? ✔
Guy falls first? ✔
Kissing in the rain? ✔

There's nothing wrong with any of these elements (except for miscommunication as a trope, that one needs to go,) but they need to actually contribute to the story instead of being some kind of sad excuse for the actual story. I'm trying really hard to think of some redeemable quality about For Better or Worse, but the story itself is boring and bland. If you ask me a month from now, I don't think I'll be able to tell you anything about this book; it's just that forgettable. From the token diversity to the weak attempts at banter, it seems like La Rosa was more focused on trying to hit all the elements she thought she needed for a popular book instead of writing a story that readers could enjoy. The premise is shaky, the plot is all over the place, and the whole thing is just lackluster.

From the token diversity to the weak attempts at banter, it seems like La Rosa was more focused on trying to hit all the elements she thought she needed for a popular book instead of writing a story that readers could enjoy. The inclusion of mental health issues and grief attempt to give more dimension to a story that's sorely lacking substance, but its impact is about as substantial as air gives those inflatable men outside car dealerships. Could all these ingredients make a good story? Absolutely. But La Rosa just kind of dumps them all together, stirs them around for a bit and thinks her work is done.

The writing is amateurish. La Rosa overexplains EVERYTHING. It's like she doesn't trust her readers to figure anything out and feels a compulsive need to spell out everything. That or she got the axiom mixed up and thought she was supposed to tell not show. The overuse of food analogies feel forced (Nina is a Chef!!!!), and there is just so much cringe.

The fake dating is a horrendous disappointment. Nina and Leo are the blandest, most one-dimensional characters ever and have zero chemistry. They don't have any distinguishing characteristics and feel like caricatures of Ambitious/Driven Heroine and Mama's Boy Disguised as a Playboy. Their romance is uninspired. I love a hate-to-love romance, but this is not it. (Also, the Witch/Devil nicknames are not cute.) Nina and Leo's supposed hatred for each other isn't really established, but as soon as they start fake dating, they suddenly find themselves telling the other person stuff no one else knows even though they're supposedly emotionally scarred. The story isn't actually that bad, but it's written in such a lazy way, it's hard to take seriously. And then the rest of their relationship is this pseudo-friends-with-benefit arrangement that no one asked for (I see a lot of 4-5 star reviews, so maybe I'm the only one who didn't ask for this.) and miscommunication as a trope which La Rosa just uses to prolong the unnecessary drama and lead her readers around in circles until she reads the end of the book. The drama is painfully repetitive and definitely downgraded For Butter or Worse from 2 stars to 1 in my opinion.

4 STARS

First things first, I was given a copy of this book as an ARC, in exchange for an honest review. A big thank-you to NetGalley, HQN Books, and Erin La Rosa for allowing me to be an early reader!

Nina Lyon is a chef who owns her own restaurant. She is also a co-host of a reality TV cooking show. Lately, Nina has been in a rut since all of her restaurant locations have been shut down, except for one. She is working really hard to keep her restaurant open and to ensure that she doesn’t disappoint her workers and colleagues.

Leo O’Donnell co-hosts the cooking show with Nina. He is a business man that has a chain of family restaurants. Similar to Nina, his restaurants are also shutting down, and he is looking for a quick fix to ensure that his last few locations don’t close.

Nina constantly experiences sexism and discrimination as she is a woman, in a profession that is dominated by males. After being fed up of everybody’s antics, Nina quits the show and walks off stage during a live casting.

Since Nina has quit, Leo is also about to lose his job. Now the two of them must work together to save their restaurants and careers. And what better way to do that than fake dating?!

This book touches on grief and also mental health which are important concepts that need to be talked about often. I liked the representation in this book and it was done in a way that I, personally, have not seen done before!

Overall, this was an enjoyable read. I think there were some parts that were a bit dragged out, which lost my attention. Fortunately, I was able to look past that and I would still recommend this book!

For Butter or Worse is set to release on July 26th, 2022 — definitely keep a look out for it! x

This was definitely one of those romance books I just couldn't put down, from the moment I started it until I finished it. The premise of the book itself is sugar and spice, and everything nice! You get to explore the world with two complex and amazing main characters who have so much between them it's nearly impossible to fall in love with them. Their love story is one I'll read over and over again. Plus who doesn't love a cute little baker romance!

Such a fun and easy read ! This book has one of my tropes— fake dating! I loved Nina and Leo ughhhhh; their chemistry, banter, just everything was executed amazingly! Would definitely recommend! *Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*

(4.25/5) This book was such a fun read! It has all the tropes I love combined: enemies to fake dating/relationship of convenience to friends to slow-burn lovers along with characters that actually have depth to them. I not only loved the two main characters, but I also loved Nina's best friend Jasmine (to whom I DEEPLY relate) and Leo's brother Gavin. I want them to both have their own books!! This book has great character development and deals with mental health, social media, and sexism really well; you can see the characters grow and learn from their mistakes in a way that feels really genuine. The dual POV did this book FAVORS and you can also definitely see how Leo and Nina's relationship shifts over time (this isn't your usual "enemies but not really enemies" romance book - they really are enemies and you can feel that at the beginning of the book). The pacing of the book was good and super easy to read with lots of humor, wit, and some juicy romance scenes. My only negative comment is that I'm not a huge fan of the miscommunication trope, and I usually find that it's hit or miss. Overall, this book exceeded my expectations, and I will definitely read more books by Erin La Rosa!

Erin La Rosa is going to be an auto-buy author for me now. I can already tell. This book was surprisingly and pleasantly fantastic. I wasn’t expecting it to be so cute! Love the characters development throughout.

The only thing I was really not vibing with was all of the oral sex going on. Back to back to back chapters of it for just too much. (Also the use of the word “lapping”…. ick)

There were a couple of unanswered questions as well… did Nina ever realize that Leo visited her restaurant on his own volition and not because of Tom? Who won the bidding war and got the cooking classes from Nina?

Other than that, I have zero issues with this book and will be reading her future books as well!

I loved this book, the story of Nina and Leo, who work together on a TV show until his comments force her to quit. This leads to issues with both of their businesses, and a paparazzi photo leads to them fake dating. Can they admit how they really feel?
I loved how Leo watched all the Rom coms!

This enemies to lovers book was one that I could not put down. The banter between Nina and Leo was hilarious. The hatred between them was A+ and I enjoyed that the plot moved very quickly from the initial hate that made you hate Leo a little bit. The forced faked dating to save their businesses made this a delicious read. Seeing them both be in such denial over their love for each other was the gift that kept giving. A couple steamy scenes that were HOT. I really hope we get to read more books in this world. Nina and Leo's siblings deserve books!! I appreciated the light shed on women in the culinary world and the issues they face.

An author I will definitely want to read more of!

A fun, food based, enemies to lovers. It was giving the great British bake off vibes along with hilarious Twitter feeds that really made me enjoy the book that much more.

The writing style of For Butter or worse was the best part of it along with the social media comments. I quite enjoyed the social media interactions in books a lot and this book delivered.

Erin La Rosa did an incredible job for a debut novel and the fake dating aspect always serves.

I loved the family interactions and it was just a delight.

Some of the MC's interactions were told instead of shown and I would have liked them taking on page but I wasn't too bothered because I always LIVE for the outsiders pov on something's the main characters do

This was potentially more of a case of a "not for me" style of the book. This humourous and food-themed book is just a bit too fast-paced for my liking and I found I didn't have time to really engage with the characters or the plot

This was cute! I wish we had been shown rather than told about their interactions in the show. That would've fleshed out more their eventual relationship growth.

This book had everything I thought I loved in a novel. Food motifs. Culinary setting. Enemies to lovers. Strong female character with a concrete goal.

HOWEVER

I could not get behind Leo. His POV chapters did nothing to make me think any of his behavior (which he does not apologize for, at least at the point of the book I DNFed) was excusable, nor did I believe that Nina would have constant thoughts about this man even after quitting the show or going through her day to day routine. I didn't get the feeling there was any chemistry between them other than the author *telling* us there was through the plot.

Sadly, I was disappointed with this read. DNFed @ 50%.

As a big fan of shows like the great British bake off and Masterchef, I was so excited to read For Butter or Worse.

For Butter or Worse is truly a romance book for foodies and a nod to LA food scene and Erin De La Rosa nailed it!

Two rivals and co-stars find themselves having to fake a relationship to save themselves and help each other but the more time that they spend together and get to know each other, they start to fall. I think Nina is such a great character because she knows she is, she stands her ground and she doesn’t let anyone walk all over her. She is confident, assured and talented and I think that in such a male dominated world like culinary, Nina is the woman we need! She is tough but she is caring and passionate about what she does and it really shows in her love for cooking. I think Leo getting to understand and know her was great because he always took a more antagonistic role in her life and him getting to see her really showed him how amazing of a person she is. Leo is one of those characters you love and you hate because you gotta shake him a little to get it right but I did like that the book brought anxiety rep in a male character and how he is charming and smooth but also vulnerable and unsure of himself and to see him build his confidence and in what he wants to do.

I think for a debut romance novel, Erin did an amazing job bringing both fun and more serious elements and bringing them together.

This was a absolutely fantastic story, I am really impressed. The writing style is not what people come to this genre for, but it is always a delight to see such refined writing that really makes everything come alive while still staying true to the story and the genre. I loved the character work as well, amazing

When reviewing a book, I try my best to keep personal situations out of it. In this case, however, it's impossible, considering that my constantly growing dislike for romance novels are fueled by books such as this. For Butter or Worse isn't the worse novel I've ever read, far from it, but it does add to my pile of unoriginal, bland and uncreative stories that I've been reading this year. There's nothing particularly wrong with it. There's just nothing to redeem its mediocrity. Everything in it has been done a hundred times before, the characters have no chemistry, and the situation they find themselves in is repetitive and boring to read about. Again, there's nothing wrong with a good trope. It's just that tropes have to be worked on, and authors seem to have stopped caring about creativity and innovative storylines, and I want no part in it.

Firstly, I’d like to say how much I adore this cover! It’s so lovely and I couldn’t stop staring at it while reading the book.

Secondly—this book! I was nervous because this has been an anticipated read of mine but I had no reason to be. I enjoyed Nina and Leo’s banter and their relationship. The author does such a beautiful job curating these endearing and wonderful characters with seemingly real personalities and ambitions. I absolutely busted out laughing so many times! This book was so fun, witty and honest!

Any who, I AM SO HONORED I GOT THE CHANCE TO READ THIS NOVEL. It hooked me immediately and I love how much we focus on the fake dating trope. GO FAKE DATING. The characters were wonderful and Leo. Leo was the absolute cutest. I really enjoyed the storyline and wow my heart melted so many times.

I think this one even topped (other books), and I can't wait to tell everyone to buy it when it's in stores or be annoyingly persistent about it when I’m at the library.

I adored all the characters and the atmosphere so much and I hope the author continues putting out more books like this!

Swoony and fantastically fun, Nina and Leo were the perfect characters in this wonderfully written enemies-to-lovers story.

This had so much of what I love in a romance: enemies to lovers, cooking, fake relationships - add in some fully relatable flaws in each of the main characters, and you’ve got something that really is just wonderful to read.

I also really appreciated the realistic timeline of enemies to lovers here. It was progressive, not instant, and that worked well for me.

I adored For Butter or Worse and am already looking forward to the author’s next book.