Well this was a different type of contemporary romance read for me! It had an interesting premise and excellent setting. I’m not sure I fully bought into the curse breaking/supernatural element of the story, but it was entertaining.

On to the romance part of the book: there was great banter between this couple and I love a good enemies to lovers plot. There was not just steam and spice, there was a level of kink in their romantic scenes that was not for me, but some might like it.

I was able to alternate between the audiobook and the eARC and the audiobook was really the best way for me to enjoy this book. The audiobook made it much more interesting due to the narration style and the banter scenes between the narrators. Also, the printed version threw me off a bit because of the third person POV. I think that is why the audiobook was better for me.

3.5 rounded up

4⭐, 2🌶️

"There was something amazing about looking at someone you'd once thought you loathed and realizing how wrong you could be - about other people, about yourself."

This book is so much more different than Rosie's other two books, but that's not a bad thing! Riley nd Clark have instant chemistry, but when Clark gets judgmental of Riley's career, they become enemies working unhappily together-ish. As Riley fights to rid the area of a centuries old curse, Clark might just start believing her. And then in a classic E2L trope, all the anger and frustration between these two have some HEATED moments! This had classic Rosie humor that had me kicking my feet, and opened my eyes to how much I can really enjoy a paranormal romance when its lighter!

"I need to read mote and brainstorm to figure this out."
"You're saying this curse might have antiquated ideas about what acts would qualify us as paramours?"
"I'm saying I think the ancient, horny fae magic might not be satisfied until you rail me."

Tropes:
💚Enemies to Lovers
💚 Forced Proximity
💚Paranorm-ish Romcom
💚Opposites Attract
💚Curse breaker x Archeologist

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an eARC of Do Your Worst from Rosie Danan! This is my honest and free review!

DO YOUR WORST by Rosie Danaan🪄

📆PUB DATE: Tomorrow!
➡️Swipe for synopsis
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Format: Physical book
Read if you like:
🪄Light magic
🌄Scottish castle setting
❤️‍🔥Enemies to lovers

This was such a fun book that is perfect for this time or year! I loved that the setting was in a Scottish castle, and Rosie did such a good job of making it feel like you’re there. The plot was a mix of mystery and magic and the rivalry between Riley and Clark. There was a great balance between these two plot points where it didn’t feel like I needed more of one of them over the other. Of course, the chemistry was great between the two main characters, and the pacing of their relationship was perfect; not too fast, not too slow.

Thank you so much @berkleyromance for letting me be a part of this blog tour! I highly recommend picking this up when it releases tomorrow☺️

About the Author
Rosie Danan is the award-winning, bestselling author of The Roommate and The Intimacy Experiment. The New York Times describes her work as "warmly funny and gorgeously sexy," and a film adaptation of The Roommate is currently in development from Anton Studios. When not writing, Rosie enjoys jogging slowly to fast music, petting other people’s dogs, and competing against herself in rounds of Chopped using the miscellaneous ingredients occupying her fridge. Learn more online at www.rosiedanan.com.

I always enjoy a well done enemies to lovers and forced proximity story!

Riley Rhodes is a curse breaker from the Appalachian mountains. She’s the not the first curse breaker in her family, but the first to monetize her gift. Now she’s in Scotland to break a 300 year old curse on a a Scottish castle. The company remodeling the castle hired her because people don’t want to work there.

Riley went to the local pub, where she flirted with a hot Scotsman. When she arrives at the castle she’s shocked to find him there. His name is Clark Edgeware, and he’s an Oxford archeologist working on the castle. He doesn’t believe that Riley is an actual, legitimate curse breaker, accuses her of extorting money, and unsuccessfully tries to get her removed from the project. Riley can’t stand him.

Riley can feel the curse, and she can smell it too. Clark follows her as she hones in on a scent and finds an antique dagger in the wall. They also find ancient runes, following Riley’s directions. She’s hoping the curse will drive him away until Clark starts taking her seriously. They. find their attraction and feelings for each other growing until a surprise visitor arrives.

I really enjoyed all the historical detail and descriptions of the Scottish town and the castle, and I liked the way their relationship progressed.
5 stars.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed as in this review are completely my own.

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan has a great deal of adversity and redemption, with paranormal vibes and curses needing to be broken.

This story pits Riley and Clark against each other. Riley’s from Philly and a curse breaker who learned from her grandmother, and he’s an archaeologist from England who has followed in his father and brother’s footsteps. Riley and Clark are attracted to each other when their paths cross in a pub before knowing who the other is and how they will be working together, but that morphs into hate, and we cycle back and forth through these feelings repeatedly.

The story is mainly set in Scotland at Arden Castle, where Clark is trying to redeem himself in the archeological world due to a misstep in his career. Riley was hired to break the curse on the castle that had existed for at least 300 years. There is science, magic, and mystical acts that take us on a roller coaster ride. Throughout the story, treasures are uncovered and found almost by accident as Riley follows her nose to follow the curse!

Multiple stories unfold as we read on, and the characters have depth as their layers are pulled back. The story has a good flow but is often bogged down because of all the details and nuances that were brought out. There are some steamy moments when their attraction gets the better of them, but there are several arguments and anger, too. The book is wrapped up nicely but unexpectedly, and there are a few happy people as a result.

Do Your Worst has magic and mayhem with paranormal activity and science. I look forward to the next Rosie Danan novel!

Who knew that a supernatural storyline could be so sexy! Rosie knew. She really made a super unique romance with this one. I loved the enemies to lovers aspect (so much tension!)
This story has tons of mystery and tons of steam. I was long overdue for a hot romance story and I had a fun time with this one.

Do Your Worst takes place in my dream vacation destination: Scotland, and involves an archeologist tasked with discovering relics in an old castle, and a curse breaker who specializes and ending curses...they naturally lock horns because one is grounded in science and history and the other is grounded in a more spiritual realm. It was fun to see them fight their feelings and the back and forth pull these two had going on. Their chemistry was magnetic and ultimately not easy for them to overcome.

I really enjoyed Rosie's previous novels, and although this one was a different vibe, it still was a hit for me.

It’s lust at first sight and distrust at second for Riley Rhodes and Clark Edgeware. He’s in Scotland trying to piece together the tatters of his reputation by conducting an archaeological survey at Arden Castle. She’s there to break a centuries-old curse and take her business mainstream.

For Clark, Riley’s profession and presence are a problem. How is he supposed to be taken seriously when there’s an occult expert traipsing around his site? For Riley, Clark’s by-the-book attitude feels like a hindrance. It’s a bit enemies-to-lovers in a forced proximity scenario with supernatural forces at play. What a fun premise.

When I pick up a Rosie Danan novel, I know I’m in for something a bit different mixed with banter, genuine emotional depth, and delicious spice, and she delivers all those things here. The chemistry between Clark and Riley is electric, and there are several lines that made me sit up and say, “Well, hello there.” I could see how their romance would work for the long haul, and I adored the glimpse into their life together in the epilogue.

I received an advance copy from Berkley and NetGalley. All review opinions are my own.

Do Your Worst has a steady pace and a story that is true to its trope, giving readers a romance they can depend on.

So... this was a bit of a miss for me. I don't want to rag on about it. So here's a few things I liked and a few that I didn't.

Positives:
The location. Got to love a spooky, Scottish castle. I was here for it!
I also liked Clark and that he was an archaeologist. That was unique and fun. I also really liked that he had a camper on site. Practical and convenient. There were also a few fun side characters. I was also glad there was no 3rd act break up and the way that Clark had Riley's back.

What didn't work for me:
I just didn't feel the chemistry between these two.. and the "enemies to lovers" felt completely one sided. So it left me feeling a bit salty towards the Riley. Of course he's going to be skeptical about a "curse-breaker". So would I! Why did she need to "get even with him?

I was also very unsure if this actually had some paranormal elements or what... I just felt like whatever the author was going for in that regards felt lackluster to me.

There was some interesting spice and we had a few unique scenes.. but because the chemistry was lacking, they fell flat for me also.

I have liked Rosie Danan's previous works and I would still read her again, this just happens to be a miss for me.

A centuries-long curse, a Scottish castle, a suspenseful mystery, and a brewing hate-to-love romance, Do Your Worst was the perfect mix of gothic and cozy vibes, and I was 100% here for it!

After returning to the family business of curse-breaking, Riley finds herself a new client in the form of a tall, dark, and quite haunting Scottish castle that has an infamous history and is rumored to scare off visitors. When she runs into a handsome but skeptical archaeologist, she finds she's met her match. In a battle of the wills, they scheme and plot their way to find out the truth beneath the castle’s stones, but in the process will they lose their hearts as well?

I adored this book! The quick-witted banter, the tension-filled spice, the eerie setting, and the mystery element all had me completely immersed in this story. I LOVED the take of adding a dash of adventure, mystery, and spooky to a romance novel. It made my autumnal heart so happy!

I can't wait to see what Danan writes next! All her books just steal my heart!!

*Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for an honest review.*

I loved Rosie's previous books and was very excited to read Do Your Worst. I fully own up that I went in with high expectations and that could be why I finished the book a bit disappointed.

I think the premise was clever: Riley, a curse breaker heads to Scotland to find the source of a 300+ year old curse in order to break it, and Clark, an archaeologist who is trying to rebuilt his reputation after a scandal with a previous dig.

This is an enemies-to-lovers, forced proximity, insta-attraction book, that, to me, felt more like a bunch of great scene ideas forced together to try to tell a story. It just didn't flow well for me from one big scene to the next. I also really didn't feel the attraction between the two of them.

The charm breaking/supernatural aspect was interesting, but I felt that there wasn't enough world building to really sell me on the idea. I have so many unanswered questions about what really exists in this supernatural world, how charm making occurs, etc.

I did enjoy the book, but wanted a bit more.

I read Rosie Danan's debut The Roommate when it first came out and I really enjoyed it, so when I heard that she was finally writing a new book, and that it was an paranormal romance adventure, I was pretty excited. Overall I think this was a fun, steamy adventure rom-com, so it did end up being what I was hoping it would be, but I feel like I was also hoping for it to be a little more. First the good; Riley and Clark were delightful, and I loved the dual POV. Their scrapping genuinely made me laugh out loud a few times, and the tension that Danan created was fantastic. I also really enjoyed the curse-breaking/adventure part of the story. It's not really something I see very often in a romance novel, so that was neat. Now onto the "bad" (although please note that when I say "bad" I really just mean things I felt like could have been done a little better, not things that were actually bad by any means). I'm not sure if this really matters, but I would have liked to see slightly more paranormal stuff. In the end I feel like I'm not really sure if the paranormal elements were real or just plot devices. Also, are they just in our world, or are they in a world like ours where paranormal stuff is slightly more accepted? I would have liked that to be fleshed out a bit more. There's also the fact that both of these characters end up doing some rather terrible things to each other and the fact that they just kept forgiving one another bugged me. I'm not sure that was fully believable. It kind of fed into the feel of insta-love, which perhaps was a point for the paranormal element, but again, I just wasn't sure. In the end I'll be more than happy to recommend this to customers looking for a more adventure-focused romance novel, and I'll be eager to see what Danan comes up with for her next novel as well, because for me she always manages to mix fun with steam and a handful of enjoyable characters.

I really enjoyed this. I mean it takes place in Scotland, at an abandoned and crumbled castle, with a curvy American curse breaker with a hard outer shell and a nerdy and snooty archaeologist who talks dirty in bed. She’s investing a curse and he got archeological discoveries. The enemies piece of this is so good. And so is the curse, the historical background - I want a story about Phillippa and Malcolm! The sex scenes are phenomenal. The parental relationships are deep and complex. And their growth as characters was fab. Also there’s a sex ritual so…..

I do have a few issues with some of the ways the castle is described. I was just in Scotland and a castle that’s a thousand years old, on the coast, there would not be “the skeleton of a chandelier” swaying in the breeze. It’s an abandoned castle that hasn’t had anyone do significant restoration. The castle descriptions felt like a Dunnottar or a Doune - both of which were extremely restored in would’ve preferred a Slains vibe in the descriptions.

Overall, really enjoyed.

I love enemies to lovers so that part of the book hit for me. I also enjoyed the banter between Riley and Clark. And their jobs were unique and super interesting.

It was also a bit grumpy/sunshine at times because Clark was a bit of a grump. Riley was fun.
She was independent and didn't take herself too seriously.

I wanted so badly to love this one. But honestly, at times I struggled to get into it. And I didn't fine myself anxious to get back to it, which is a sign to me I'm not fully engaged. It was just missing something.

I definitely would give this author another whirl because I loved the premise of this and enjoyed Riley, so would definitely be open to reading her again.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for an ARC in exchange for my honest review, and for allowing me to take part in this Berkley Buddy Read.

When curse breaker Riley is hired to break the chest of a Scottish castle, she meets the rugged archaeologist Clark. While her attraction to him is more than she can handle, they work together to crack an old mystery. Their opposing views of supernatural and fact obviously get in the way, but when having sex with love intertwined is what will break the curse, do they have what it takes?

Danan can write raunch like no other all the while entertaining readers with a unique premise. This had a lot of mystery in the story, which made it a fun and quick read. It left me wondering how it would all play out. Tropes: hate to love, opposites attract, forced proximity.

I loved the idea of a scientist coming face to face with someone that believes in the supernatural. While the insta lust was real, I still enjoyed that it was a bit of a slow burn and that we didn’t get any of the classic miscommunication that I don’t like

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan
Genre: Contemporary Paranormal Romance
Length: 352 pages

Thank you to Netgalley, Rosie Danan, and Berkley for an e-arc of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This book caught my attention because it sounded like a spicy good time with an interesting plot. The issue for me is that the spice was good but the plot was lacking.

The pacing for the plot was painfully slow but the romance was very instalust/instalove. I prefer my romance novels to be more of a slow burn so I just couldn’t connect with this story.

Read if you like:
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scottish Settings
🪄 Curses and Folklore
😡 Enemies to Lovers
🛌 Forced Proximity
🔀 Opposites Attract

This is my first book by Rosie Dañan and I know it won’t be my last! I loved the setting and how the story was put together as it felt very atmospheric which I’m not used to with romances.

She also used one of my favorite tropes enemies to lovers and loved the tie in of the workplace romance with the two characters that were such opposites but now have forced proximity as they both work trying to solve a mystery in very different ways.

Overall, I loved their tension and the hookup vibes but I just didn’t get the love feelings but definitely understand the hot hooking up. So with that I’d say the emotional aspects could have used more development between the two for me to enjoy it more but it’s definitely a solid romance despite this.

Thanks so much Berkley Romance for my ARC of this one in exchange for my honest review.

Do Your Worst
by Rosie Danan
Pub DATE: Nov.14, 2023
Berkely Romance
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I really enjoyed this book although you did have to suspend some beliefs.
4 stars

"They’d been in a constant power struggle since they met.
He thought she was beneath him.
She wanted to be."

"Sometimes his face made her want to punch his mouth with her mouth."

These two definitely were opposites attract; an archeologist and a curse breaker.
This was a fun mix of enemies to reluctant lovers as they tried to figure out how to break a curse on a Scottish estate/castle. Going from thinking they were a con artist to believing in her abilities.
There were a lot of open door scenes just be aware they had a lot of testing to do.
Loved the cat! There was also tension with his successful father.

Thank you berkleyromance for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.