The first 2/3rds of this book was a frustrating read. They start of with immature bickering, abruptly switched to self-deprecating introspection, to the typical “if they just talked” trope. It finally evened out and got some traction so I enjoyed the end. The side characters were great. I would happily read a book about Leo’s brother!

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

An underwhelming enemies to lovers romance. The book doesn't take long to read which is nice but the male love interest isn't an enemy, he's just manipulative and abusive.

For Butter or Worse follows Nina Lyon, a celebrated female chef in LA. She's a judge on a cooking show, and absolutely despises her co-host Leo O'Donnell. When snide comments, online hate, and a miscommunication between them and the press causes Nina and Leo to pretend date to save their restaurants, and their reputation - how long until one kills the other?

To start - I found this book extremely putdownable. However, when I did pick it up and read, the writing was smooth and I flew through the book. Compared to other Romance books I've read this year, I really did enjoy most of La Rosa's writing. There were a couple of cringy commentaries from the MMC that gave me "men writing women" vibes when he was thinking about the FMC's breasts. The food references were also a little much for me. I understand this book is extremely food centred, so I'm not really holding it against it, but food metaphors for everything the FMC felt got a little tiresome.

I really enjoyed the first 50% of the book. The banter between both characters was good, and I really enjoyed the tension. I also liked the pace at which their relationship progressed, it definitely felt quite authentic to me. However, in the second 50% I found that suddenly the themes of sexism, online hate, and the MMC's treatment of the FMC during the cooking show filming was suddenly the main point. Whereas, in the first 50% I found that the themes of sexism and "women in a mans world" took a backseat. I'm not really sure how to explain it, it just felt like the author suddenly remembered that the FMC was meant to think that the MMC was a sexist, mean man, rather than a multi-layered family man.

The whole book has themes of miscommunication - but I found it to negatively effect the storyline in the last 50% of the book. It felt like there was miscommunications, just to have miscommunications. The main crescendo, the fallout, was lacklustre in my opinion. The reasoning behind both MCs behaviour really didn't make sense to me, and felt quite surface level. The whole book they'd been learning these things about each other, and I just felt that the fallout didn't hit as hard as I thought it could've.

The first 50% of this book definitely saved everything for me. Overall, I enjoyed this book, and I would recommend it to other readers. The food descriptions will make you hungry, and the tensioning spice scenes will definitely satiate you. This was a very quick, easy read, and Erin La Rosa's writing is smooth like butter. I know I said I disliked the food references, but I couldn't not put one in.

Thank you for providing me with an eARC of this title.

Erin La Rosa's For Butter or Worse was a pleasant read although it does have its faults and flaws. I wasn't always a fan of the dialogue, especially during certain scenes... Speaking of scenes, there was one in particular that I would've loved to have had spent more time with.

Overall, For Butter or Worse was a breeze and yields a solid 3.5/5

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the arc.

4/5 -

This was such a good book that fits all my favorite tropes: Enemies to Lovers, Fake Relationship (to repair their professional careers).

Brief Plot: Nina and Leo have hated each other through three seasons of their cooking completion show. When Leo continues to paint Nina as the villain, she ha enough and ends up quitting the show. But this decision leads to Leo losing his job too. To try to repair both of their careers, and save their restaraunts, they enter into a fake dating relationship for publicity sakes. But as they grow closer together, their feelings become real, but Nina is always left struggling on whether she can get over her villain persona.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This was so cute! I loved the banter and chemistry between Nina and Leo - I am such a sucker for an *not so* enemies to lovers. The dual POV in this book made such a difference in their characters. I really enjoyed the celebrity chef storyline and how each of them had their own reasons for opening their restaurants. I am excited to see what other books we get in the future from Erin La Rosa!

Thank you to Harlequin for this advanced copy!

My favorite romance trope is enemies to lovers. The banter cannot be beat and neither can all the 🔥🔥🔥. So it’s no surprise that I enjoyed FOR BUTTER OR WORSE!
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About the book: 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.

Restaurateur Leo O’Donnell never means to get under Nina’s skin. It just seems to happen, especially when the cameras are rolling. It's part of the anxiety and stress he has come to know all too well in this line of work. So nothing prepares him for the fallout after he takes one joke a smidge too far and Nina up and quits—on live TV.

To make matters worse, the two are caught in what looks like a compromising situation by the paparazzi…and fans of the show go absolutely nuts. Turns out, a “secret romance” between Nina and Leo may just be what their careers need most.
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I’m a sucker for any book that talks about food, and I got so hungry reading this book! This book had me laughing, but also had some very steamy parts (you are warmed!). Loved reading both POVs and their banter was funny, but also very witty! I cannot wait to see what Erin La Rosa writes next!

This book had a little bit of my two favorite tropes; enemies to lovers and fake relationship. Nina and Leo have great chemistry that seemed to jump off the page and was palpable. Their smart banter kept thing in testing and made this a quick read.

Nina and Leo are the hosts of the popular cooking contest, ‘The Next Cooking Champ!’, and behind the scenes are brutal to each other. Nina resents how easily charming Leo can be, and Leo is intimidated by Nina’s skill as a chef and often feels out of place on the show. Both accepted the gig to bring more patrons to their respective restaurants; Nina to the restaurant she built from the ground up, and Leo to his family’s chain restaurant legacy.

During the last episode of their third season, Leo steps over the line in his banter with Nina during the live season finale and Nina addresses the cameras and quits the show. Without Nina, the show doesn’t want to use Leo and would prefer to get two totally different hosts. With both of their restaurants falling on hard times, they try to rectify the damage done by staging a fake relationship between them. But will it be enough to save what they’ve both worked so hard to create?

This book was a dream for this enemies to lovers fan! The chemistry between the two is super charged. Each secretly enjoy pressing the others’ buttons, but come to understand where the other is coming from, and why their critiques are often so hurtful. Leo has panic attacks and isn’t taking care of his mental health. Nina struggles as a woman in a male dominated career and has issues with critical and hurtful comments on social media that are sexist in nature.

There is so much more to this book than simply a love story. There are so many mistakes made by each character in making assumptions about the other, and so many missteps that come about unintentionally. It was a joy to watch them learn more about themselves, and to admit their failings and their own mistakes in their treatment of each other. Add in some amazing supporting characters, and I was immediately hooked on this book.

Thanks to Harlequin Publishing for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Not for me. As much as I like the idea the overall execution wasn't my favorite. I didn't like Leo as a character and the entire plot dragged. I wouldn't be opposed to reading something else by Erin La Rose, perhaps this particular story wasn't for me.

3.5 stars

The thing that drew me to this book was the concept. I mean, two co-stars on a cooking reality show that hate each other that now must pretend to be dating? Sounds absolutely up my alley. Overall, I would say I did enjoy this book but there was something missing for me that made it hard to stay engaged in the story.

I like how both Nina and Leo are not perfect and both have to do a lot of growing throughout the book. I found Nina's "no second chances" sort of attitude really relatable and I could understand why she was the way she was considering the way the media has treated her (unfairly so). I liked getting to know Leo, who had a lot more happening under the surface and at the same time, doesn't always fully understand how his words or actions can affect the people around him. While I liked both of them together and thought they had great chemistry together, I just didn't care as much about their individual life or friendships outside of each other. Which is a strange thing to say considering side characters are usually the characters I pay the most attention to and always want more. I found myself wanting to skim multiple times while reading just to get to a scene where Nina and Leo were together and I could get more romance. As the story progressed I definitely got more of the romance and found myself eagerly flipping the page but it took a little too long for me to get there to fully be in love with this book.

All in all, I'm glad I read this book and I'd definitely be interested in future books by this author!

This story was not for me. I wanted to love it. I really did, but it fell flat. This was supposed to be an enemies to lovers, fake dating story but none of it was believable.

The saddest part for me was that there was some serious potential here.

This book has all the best tropes: enemies to lovers, fake dating, and cooking! Loved everything about it! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This book has all the elements I generally love: enemies to lovers, fake dating, a cooking competition and it's set in my adopted city. However, I found myself DNF-ing at 13%.

The pacing didn't work for me and the foundation of Leo calling Nina "Nasty Nina" on live TV was a real turn-off. I am so over men who belittle women, even in fiction.

I would consider trying this again sometime but this wasn't the right time for me and this book.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

When Nina and Leo need to figure out a way to put their differences aside and trick the media into thinking they're in love, they find that their relationship goes beyond the snarky comments and bitter stares they're used to. But what will they do about it? For Butter or Worse has all the best tropes wrapped in the cutest romance ever. Workplace rivals-to-lovers with fake-dating and plenty of comedy means I couldn't put this one down. Thank you so much to NetGalley and Erin La Rosa's team for the perfect summer ARC!

I am a sucker for food/cooking romances! Add in fake dating, enemies-to-lovers, and food puns and I am in love. I love how these two had a history and weren’t just thrown into a fake dating scheme. I love how despite their best intentions they slowly opened up to each other in real ways. The banter and food talk was amazing. What I really loved was talking about the issue women have in male-dominated fields and how hard it is to work through sexist remarks and behavior. Both of them grew and I loved it!

For Butter or Worse features Chef Nina Lyon and a chain restaurant owner, Leo O'Donnell. Nina dreams of cooking her way to culinary stardom and becoming a household name. She thought she would achieve this by hosting The Next Cooking Champ! but she and her co-host Leo O'Donnell go together like water and oil. Nina has enough of his remarks and obnoxious behaviour, and quits on live TV so she can focus on keeping her restaurant open. Leo approaches her to apologize, knowing he has overstepped, but he trips and falls into her, and a photo is taken of what looks like a passionate kiss. The next thing they know, they are an internet sensation and everyone thinks they are in a secret relationship. A plan is hatched to help both of their businesses. They will pretend to be a couple in order to help each other.

This book has two of my favourite tropes: enemies to lovers, fake dating. When there is as much emotions between two people as there was with Nina and Leo, you know it will sizzle when changed from hate to attraction. As this book began, I really didn't like either of the main characters. They were both a bit obnoxious and closed up. As they get to know each other, they begin to open up and share things from their pasts and feelings and emotions they are dealing with. This made them relatable and much more likable. There is some humour in this book and a lot of witty banter, but there are also more serious issues. Themes include sexism in the world of cooking and chefs, mental health issues, parental issues (interference, expectations, not letting family down), hardships for business owners, as well as friendship, romance and cooking. The food in the book sounds amazing, so I recommend you not read this when you are hungry. My one issue (it is a personal one) were the rather descriptive bedroom scenes. I did skip them, and it didn't diminish the story at all for me. If you enjoy women's fiction, with some romance and steamy scenes, then I definitely recommend you pick this one up!

3.5 stars I want to start off by saying this is a good book. I appreciated the anxiety and panic attack representation and Leo's honesty and openness about it. I think the problem for me is that I had different expectations for what the story would be. I guess I didn't read the synopsis thoroughly or I thought Nina only quit as a threat. I thought the setting would be the cooking show and that these two would be bickering throughout the entire book. I felt the enemies part ended early and mainly became faking dating. I really liked all the characters but I found the miscommunication to be a little frustrating and easily resolved with one conversation. Overall, it was a good read despite how my review may sound. I will read more by this author in the future.

Another enemies to lovers romance👀 it’s started off cute and the aggression was a fun read but then it became to melodramatic for me. It had a lot of promise but didn’t really work for me and I ended up skimming some of it.

Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing for the early reading copy via Netgalley. Review contains my own thoughts & opinions.

For Butter or Worse is a fantastic foodie romance with lots of heart and reality! Nina and Leo are co-hosts on a cooking show and h-a-t-e each other. To help their careers, they start fake dating and find out that maybe they really don't hate each other so much...

I loved that the romance dove into real-life issues, too, such as grief related to past parental loss and anxiety. Nina and Leo's chemistry was off-the-charts fantastic and it's a bit of a slow burn! They had great family and friends to round out the book, too.

I recommend this one if you love an enemies-to-lovers, workplace, foodie, or fake dating trope and chemistry that leaps off the page.