3.5
I was surprised by this one overall. It delivered on the premise for me overall but didn't deliver in other elements.

I liked our MCs and the rivalry they had going. The pay off of their banter was deligthful.

I loved The Roommate when I read it so I knew I had to pick this one up and read it as well.

I just love Rosie's couples they are so cute. My bisexual heart loves both characters so much.

I loved the little bit of magic in this one as well with the curses. Also that this was set in Europe (I want to go there so badly.)

Though I felt like this couple may have said I love you a little to fast it all circling around an old love story was cute and brought it together.

The spice scenes.just like in the roommate were just 🥵.

A paranormal romcom isn't usually up my alley but I will read anything Rosie Danan writes. This opposites attract romance was funny and also had great tension and chemistry. I loved the growth throughout the novel and the ending was really satifsying.

thank you to netgalley for the advanced reading copy. I really enjoyed this and will be getting copies for my shop.

The location of the story, a cursed Scottish castle, was awesome, but the story was just okay. While banter was cute, the characters just didn’t hit with me.  You’ve got a scholar, Clark Edgeware, who does everything by the book and Riley Rhodes, who is a self-proclaimed “curse breaker”.  As a professional, Clark is very precise and calculating.  Riley, she’s grasping at straws and throwing things in the air hoping it’ll stick.  I just couldn’t really connect with either one of them.

Overall, the book was entertaining and there were some pretty spicy scenes but the story-line itself missed the mark.

I really love the way Rosie Danan tells a story.

1) Her premise is always really unique. In this one Riley Rhodes is a curse breaker. Just like her grandmother before her, she's building a legitimate business of breaking curses. Her latest job takes her to a castle in Scotland. When she meets a stranger in the pub her first night there, sparks fly.

2) The banter is top notch. Clark Edgeware is an archaeologist also working at the castle and to say that he thinks Riley is a charlatan is an understatement. He's trying to rebuild his career after a scandal, and earn back his famous (Indiana Jones type) father's respect.

3) SPICE

4) She doesn't always rely on a third-act breakup which is such a refreshing change.

This one was funny, entertaining, with Scottish folklore and legends interwoven throughout to make the story interesting. I loved it so much I read it in a day.

I LOVED the paranormal mix-in with the enemies to lovers. I definitely need more of this type of book and I really hope Danan writes more like this. I'll read anything she writes, regardless, though.

Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan

In this romance, Riley Rhodes is hired to break a curse on an infamous Scottish castle. She meets a handsome stranger, Clark Edgeware, who is desperate to avoid her. Riley expects the curse to drive Clark away, but they find themselves in close proximity. They find themselves fooling around, and if they're not careful, the castle will end up in ruins. The story highlights the dangers, or rather benefits, of letting a self-proclaimed "curse breaker" threaten the redemption of Clark and the importance of being cautious in their pursuit of revenge.

The writing, dialogue, plot—everything in this was good. I liked how they knew theirs was an enemies to lovers story and called themselves out in the book. My only a bit confusing point was where Riley, being a pro, was at times taking stupid decisions. This book was fun, and the banter was amazing. Their pairing was great and unique.

The detailing, setting, and writing were good, interesting, and smooth. A contemporary romance with smut is a plus. It was cute and simple, with Clark being the logical one and Riley being the one to feel and fix things. I definitely want to read another book with this couple.

I enjoyed reading this with the thrill I feel as if being on an amazing adventure. I recommend this to everyone who loves romance books, with the enemies to lovers trope and curse breakers with historical significance added to the mix.

Thank you, Netgalley, the author, and Berkley Publishing for the gifted e-book! ❤️ #gifted. My review is comprised of my honest thoughts.

Read this book if you like: Dual POV, enemies to lovers, forced proximity, Scotland setting, steamy 🔥

This was so unique. I love the plot and characters. It was funny, cute, and I couldn't put it down. It's enemies to lovers but lusty immediately. I don't love insta love. I wanted a little more build to the relationship. It rushed at times. I still highly recommend this.

4/5 Stars

I had a lot of fun with this book. I loved the occult and archeologist vibes. Enemies to lovers was great. I loved the banter and the tension between Riley and Clark. The English accent that Clark had in my head was everything. This was just a great time overall. I would've liked to see more banter and more built-up chemistry between these two. I do feel like everything felt a little rushed and would've liked the book to be a little longer than it was to account for more time building their relationship. Overall though I really did have a great time and would recommend giving this a read.

One of my favorite romcoms EVER, and somehow the only one centered around hexing and curses that isn't trying to be too cute for its cauldron (what is with that particular literary trend?). Definitely worth reading as a legit enemies to lovers and a believable, loveable, worthwhile character development process for both leads.

I LOVE Rosie Danan so I was so excited to learn she was writing a paranormal romance!

Do Your Worst follows Riley, a curse breaker and Clark, an archeologist. Riley and Clark cross paths as they do their separate jobs in a cursed Scottish castle that has a complicated history. Clark thinks Riley is scamming this small Scottish town and promising something she can't truly fulfill so he tries to get her fired, but as the two work around the castle, their relationship goes from enemies to something more.

I really enjoyed this paranormal romance! Riley and Clark are fully fleshed out characters with complicated family dynamics. Both Riley and Clark have to face many personal fears and challenges as they work together, and eventually decide to pursue their relationship. The Scottish castle setting is so fun. Danan is able to create a setting that feels real and convincing without it feeling too try hard, meaning the setting feels more true to life and not like the author is throwing stereotypes at the reader to convince them that book takes place in Scotland. The only slight critique I have is that the timeline felt a bit off. It is implied that Riley and Clark are at the castle for months, doing their work and building their relationship, but it doesn't really feel like that. So when Riley and Clark start confessing their deep love for one another it kind of felt like it was out of no where. Again, this is just a slight critique as their romance is very sweet and believable.

Danan is one of my favorite romance authors so I will always recommend her work. If an enemies to lovers romance with slight magical elements sounds up your alley, pick Do Your Worse up!

I just loved this book!! I don't think Rosie Danan can do wrong. I can't wait to read other books by her as she is becoming one of my favorite authors. I love her characters and the banter they have. Highly recommend.

This sounded like a fun twist on a romance with a light paranormal element. I enjoyed some aspects of this story, and the fun banter. Unfortunately, the enemies part of the enemies to lovers trope was too exaggerated for my preference and I did not particularly enjoy the power differential.

Y'all, Do Your Worst is bananas. Riley Rhodes is a curse breaker hired to investigate and cleanse a Scottish castle, which would be hard enough without an extremely hot archeologist following her around who thinks she's a scam artist. Clark Edgeware has to salvage his disgraced career, and this castle could be his redemption if Riley's paranormal bullshit doesn't disrupt his dig.

A lot of romances market themselves as enemies-to-lovers stories but don't fulfill that premise. That is not the case here. Y'all, Riley and Clark hate each other. They hurt each other and lie to each other and sabotage each other's investigations, and then they have wild kinky hate sex. I cannot wait to see how Danan brings these two together at the end, because right now they couldn't be farther apart.

Throw in some notes of The Mummy (1999) and Indiana Jones, and it's perfect. I love it.

Do Your Worst is a book I couldn't put down once I started! The banter, steamy moments, and them researching the curse had me hooked to this book. If you're looking for a new book I definitely recommend this one.

Both Riley and Clark have their reasons for needing the job at the infamous Scottish castle. Clark doesn't believe in all of the curse nonsense and tries getting Riley fired. When that doesn't work, they're forced to work in the same place. The forced proximity gives us quite a bit of fun banter. It's clear there's an attraction and the curse wants them together more than not.

Riley just wants someone to believe in her work and she needs to believe in herself. Clark's career suffered after someone he was working with made up finding a lot of things and setting a scene. Both are trying to prove what they're worth and that's something they end up helping each other with without even knowing it.

The only thing I would've loved a bit more of in Do Your Worst is the curse. We got bits and pieces of it, but I needed a little bit more at the end. The curse did add some fun elements though. Forcing them together and even locking them together with old manacles. Also, there is a sex ritual that gets very steamy when they try and break the curse.

All in all, Do Your Worst was a lot of fun. Even if the cat who loves bananas was my favorite character. Riley and Clark have a special place in my heart now and I definitely want to visit a Scottish castle after that, haha.

My full review will also be published on https://thebookdutchesses.com on February 15th.

🌶️🌶️🌶️

I love a good enemies to lovers. Add in magic, ancient fae meddling in current events, and breaking curses in Scotland? That is a total no brainer for me. Oh. And the spice? On point. and listening to this with Shane East growling in my ear in a Scottish accent? Whew. Even my husband liked me listening to this one. The story was great and I enjoyed the growth of the main characters. I loved the sparks between them when they were enemies and the flames between them when they became lovers. Overall, a winner!

❤️Tropes ❤️
💋Enemies to lovers
💋Opposites attract
💋Grumpy vs Sunshine
💋Forced Proximity

Riley Rhodes is looking to turn her family's talent for cursebreaking into a career. Shes even got an official website and business cards. Sure she is still working as a bartender, because honestly, it's hard to get the word out about your skills without people looking at you like you're crazy. But that's all about to change. She's being flown over to break a curse at an old castle in Scotland so that it can be restored. Several have tried and quit because of the curse. Only one thing stands in her way: Clark, the guy she met her first night here and had a great night with is the one and only archaelogist that tried to get her fired before she even showed up on the first day. Will she ever be able to prove to a science only mindset that curses are not only real, but that she can break them?

The insta love romance in the first 3 chapters took me immediately out of this book. When done well, I can get behind insta-lust, if there is still some "will they or won't they" aspect to keep me interested. But since the reader knows they are already attracted to each other, my interest in seeing the enemies turn to lovers play out was completely gone. I loved Danan's other books but this was a miss for me.

4.5/5 stars

I really liked this book. I’ve read a lot of paranormal romances, but never one specifically about curses, so that was a really interesting concept.

I would totally read another book about these two breaking curses in France and I definitely need a book about Ceilidh and Patrick

I feel like these two really had to overcome a lot so I loved that there was no third act break up.

Thank you to the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

→3 stars

I had whiplash reading this book. I was bored, then intrigued, fine, then laughing, tired, then swooning, so I was unsure of how to rate this other than neutral.

some things I liked about this book:
-> rivals (enemies) to lovers
-> English accent in the audiobook had me on the floor
-> fmc, Riley, had loads of confidence, we love to see it
-> passion and pining off the charts
-> learning about Scottish culture/ lore and curse-breaking

some things I didn't like:
-> the plot felt like it jumped around too much, trying to do too many things so it was hard to stay focused on the main problem
-> Riley was like borderline cringey, "I'm so quirky" vibes
-> one scene where they're trying to break the curse through a certain kind of ritual, if you've read you'll know what I'm referring to, gave me terrible secondhand embarrassment
-> the ending felt off-putting like it should have ended sooner or at a different scene bc it just was like boom that's the end and it didn't feel complete or cohesive

overall, it was one of those books where I didn't completely hate it or love it. I liked parts of it and not other parts, but it was ultimately a forgettable read. I do like this author's other books though so I look forward to what she will write next!