A fun steamy and humorous paranormal romance that will make you laugh out loud! I had so much fun read this book!

I thought this was super cute, super steamy! It was a great enemies to enemies who screw to lovers, hate sex time. I greatly appreciate Rosie Danan working a bit of kink into her spice and normalize it!

My only big critique is they both really did some deep, emotional cuts that were forgiven wayyy too easily. Kink, yes. Toxic relationships and accepting less than you deserve, no.

This was a fun romp, but it really lost steam in the middle and ultimately was very forgettable. Despite a unique premise, this felt very paint by numbers.

This was so different! I loved the sort of enemies to lovers, but because they're against each other. Not just hate for hate

I loved the premise of this book - give me any book set in Scotland. And, you add in Danan's signature wit and sizzle, and it's one to read for sure.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for sharing this book with me.

I don’t think this Rosie’s best work — I will never not absolutely love “The Intimacy Experiment” — but I will say what “Do Your Worst” has is something often missing in books: penis AND plot.

The heat? The pining? The spice? It’s all here.
There’s a B plot that is written flawlessly into the romance. It doesn’t drag the story down.

A whole both characters have layered arcs and that’s always a plus for me, I was missing something between Riley and Clark, which for me was a big part in way I rated this one a middle of the road kind of read — not awful but not great.

Danan delivered in many ways for me in this one, but not enough to earn those extra stars!

Thank you to @netgalley @berkleypub and @berkleyromance for a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you to @prhaudio for a free download of the audiobook.

A Mixed Bag of Fantasy and Romance

While Do Your Worst offers an intriguing premise, the execution falls a bit short of expectations. The author's signature style, characterized by witty banter and social commentary, is less prominent in this novel.

The characters, while interesting, lack the depth and complexity of previous works. The romance, though steamy, could have benefited from a stronger emotional connection between the protagonists. The rapid progression of their relationship, while fitting the fast-paced nature of the plot, may feel rushed for some readers.

Despite these shortcomings, the book is still an enjoyable read for fans of fantasy romance. The unique blend of archaeology and magic offers a fresh perspective, and the world-building is imaginative.

3 stars

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Well… it’s been saving this book for so long and it was so, so worth it. I LOVED IT!! It was fun, funny and the enemies to lovers was executed to perfection. I can honestly say I’ve never read a book about a curse breaker before, but it was absolutely fascinating. I listened to the audiobook for this one and the narration was incredible. Definitely one of those books that, as soon as I finished it, I instantly wished I could go back and read it for the first time. Rosie Danan never misses.

Thank you Berkley and NetGalley for the review copy! All opinions are my own.

This was the definition of a good time. It was fun, playful, infused with Rosie's signature tenderness for her characters and their emotions; it felt fun and safe and playful. A giddy romp in Scotland with magic and healing and a sweet happily ever after.

This wasn't my favorite, but the story was definitely interesting. I think there was just a lot of information about curse breaking and archeology and that's not really what I was looking for necessarily.

Okay, I didn't get the chance to read this when I requested but am now 78% thru and absolutely loving it. This is not my first Rosie Danan and certainly will not be my last. This is fun, spooky and sexy perfect for the season.

I had alot of fun with this romcom. We follow Riley a professional cursebreaker who is trying to break a curse on a castle in the Scottish Highlands. Only trouble is this same castle is being surveyed by an uptight archaeologist, Clark, who doesn't believe in curses or magic. The two clash of course in a very typical work place enemies to lovers way. Despite how familiar the dynamic felt to many other romcoms it was very funny, and their chemistry was so fire. The little bits of steaminess in this story were so great and it just felt like the perfect fall romance. There was angst, but not too angsty, spice but it was not overpowering, a supernatural mystery but it was fun and not at all scary. It hit all the right notes for me personally. The only thing that stopped it from being a perfect read is it felt a little too insta lovey and I felt like the setting and historical subplots were underutilized. Regardless, I still had tons of fun and would recommend it for a fall romance fix.

You know it’s bad when workplace arguments between the professional curse breaker and disgraced archeologist are tense enough to tempt a cursed Scottish castle to retaliate. American curse breaker Riley Rhodes has a matrilineal talent she is looking to professionalize. Breaking an infamous curse will put her on the map—as long as the stubbornly rational and attractive archeologist, Clark Edgeware, doesn’t get in her way. Clark needs this job to go well if he ever wants to redeem his doomed career and he won’t let a charlatan ruin it. But as increasingly dangerous accidents occur on the property, the two realize they might just have to get along if they want to survive long enough to finish their jobs.

Unfortunately, it seems like Rosie HAS done her worst, & it was writing this book. As someone that LOVED her first two books, this was such a let down.

Do Your Worst has a great premise and an interesting setup, but never really hooked me like other works by Danan have. I've definitely been conditioned by the X-Files to long for supernatural detective romances, but this one just didn't scratch that itch.

LOVED. Oh my gosh the dynamic in this book is so good. I have not read Rosie Danan before and am excited to pick up her other books.

While I liked this book, I wanted more. More about the history of the location, more with the townspeople, more about how curse-breaking works. The spice was decent if a little unbelievable (I'm looking at you, abandoned building). The premise was really fun and I enjoyed the journey this book took me on. The idea of a curse breaker was not one I'd encountered before in paranormal/fantasy romance. It was done really well and I could see this being a series about various curses the FMC breaks.

3.5 stars

This was fun, but it doesn't stand out in my memory or in the sea of romcoms. This also doesn't have the high sexual tension I've come to expect from Danan.

I struggled a lot with this one. The premise really interested me (and still does), but I found the execution was not my style. It felt wordy and repetitive at times, like it was just trying to fill space before getting to the inevitable. It also didn't feel like true enemies-to-lovers, because they don't start off as enemies at all, and the enemies aspect feels very forced after Riley and Clark's first encounter. I just couldn't get myself to buy in, and it felt like there was too much focus on both of them talking themselves into believing they hated each other. It also just seemed unbelievable that neither of them would understand what "an end to enemies" could mean other than literally 'ending' an enemy. They're supposedly in their 30s, so their ignorance just felt unrealistic and clearly a way to keep them 'enemies' longer. It also never felt like there was a build to 'lovers', because them disliking each other was so forced. It wasn't a terrible read, but not necessarily something I'd jump to recommend to people.

Loved this book! think that this book did a fun job at throwing Riley and Clark together. I like their dynamic, it was fun and light and entertaining to read about. It's also the true strangers to lovers that I am always in favor of. I also thought that it incorporated the paranormal/supernatural/spiritual element of Riley being a curse breaker without ever feeling like it was going to veer into full-on fantasy romance territory. It felt like it made sense to be grounded in a contemporary setting.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this!