I adored this book! Enemies to lovers is one of my favorite tropes and Erin La Rosa knocked it out of the park with For Butter or Worse. The banter between Nina and Leo was witty and brilliantly executed, and you could feel the sexual tension simmering between them. Add in a fabulous supporting cast and this was the perfect recipe.

On a side note, I thought the author did a great job touching on the impact social media can have on mental health especially to those that are in the spotlight and highlighting the sexism in both social media and the restaurant industry.

Overall this has been one of my favorite books this year and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing an ARC to review.

For Butter or Worse had a lot of positive things going for it. The baking competition setting and enemies to lovers trope had me hooked and ready to enjoy a fun romance. Sadly, I ended up not liking either of our leads. Their habit of thinking logically but then emotionally exploding and doing mean things just didn't work for me. The personality connection just wasn't there for me. I give this book 2/5 stars.

What a fun and entertaining romance read.
It's full of tropes, but most is enemies to lovers which I love so much, so yeah I really enjoyed it from the get go.

This book is about chef Nina Lyon and restaurateur Leo O’Donnell. They're hosting the competitive reality TV series The Next Cooking Champ! and from the start they just hating each other. Mostly because Leo's joke really cross the line and because of that Nina quits the show. Since then the story revolves around getting Nina back in the show and Nina fixing her reputation after being ruined by Leo's joke. This book brings a lot of feelings, angst, sadness, sweetness, and the steaminess is super steamy, it's just had everything what I expected from enemies-to-lovers rom com book. I wished there's more about what really happened when Nina and Leo start working together though.

As for characters. Love Nina, I'm on Nina's side from the beginning. Not a big fan of Leo, I understand his insecurities and why he did what he did, but all those things not a good enough reason to become a douche and being rude to Nina and sometimes lash out to Nina, even though he redeemed himself in the end, still can't forgive him ahahahhaa. Still love the banter between Nina and Leo though. I also love the friendship between Nina, Sophia (Nina's sister) and Jasmine (Nina's Bestie), love them when together, they bring lots of laughter.

Cute romance enemies to lovers read that revolves around foods, definitely you need to check this one out.

always love a good enemies to lovers book with a twist of fake dating. I was hooked right from the start and love that they were co-hosts of a reality tv show.

it was simply *chefs kiss*!

Spoilers:

Enemies-to-lovers rom-coms can be tricky depending on the ability for one or both people in the couple to redeem themselves and the reason for their enmity. In the case of Leo and Nina, co-hosts of a successful cooking competition show, The Next Cooking Champ, he was so nasty to her that it was going to be a hard climb out of the hole he’d created with his sexism and casual cruelty. I don’t think author Erin La Rosa achieved that goal despite the happy ending.

At the end of the show’s third season, the producers decided they needed a live finale. The question was whether or not Leo, business manager of his family’s chain of Italian restaurants, and Nina, James Beard Award-winning chef, could put their animosity aside until the winner was announced. When Leo, in an ill-conceived effort to one-up Nina, uses the “Nasty Nina” hashtag he accidentally saddled her with early in the show’s 3-year run, it was the last straw. Because of the fickleness of social media and zealous and rabid fans, Nina’s decision to join the show to grow her business ended up tanking it. Since she blamed Leo, his careless remark led her to walk off the set and quit the show, creating a nightmare for their handlers. The solution to save their reputations and Leo’s job is to engage in a fake relationship to fool viewers into thinking they’re lovers, not fighters. Predictably, strong feelings begin to grow, but can Nina really fall for the guy who ruined both her reputation and livelihood?

Unfortunately, Leo’s insecurities and feeling of being second best to Nina (since she’s actually a chef and he’s an MBA who inherited his father’s restaurant) lead him to continue lashing out and insulting her well into the second quarter of the story. Later in the book, he does it again because of his unfounded jealousy. For anyone reading this book who is or has been in a toxic relationship where their partner gets defensive and projects blame, it would be very difficult to warm up to Leo even if Nina does. It’s a pass for me.

I received a complimentary ARC of this book from Harlequin through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Thanks @netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

Summary:
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. 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. 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. However, he's surprised when 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.
Review:
This book was okay for me. I enjoyed the banter between Nina and Leo. I also thought the story had great side characters and I enjoyed the food scene. However, I didn't like how Nina's and Leo's relationship played out from the beginning. A big part of the plot was the lack of communication between the characters. Although, this is in most novels, I thought it was dragged a bit too long in this story and it later created bigger problems. Leo has anxiety and the lack of communication affected him. He was insecure and the thought of Nina not liking him literally sent him into a panic attack. Leo said in his POV that he would do anything Nina asked, even if it broke him. I found this to be a bit unhealthy for him. As a person with anxiety, Leo needed to learn to say no and set boundaries with things that made him uncomfortable. Because of this, I did appreciate that they didn't get together right away, and instead Leo took some time to focus on himself and his mental health. Overall, this book was okay for me.

i’m a sucker for enemies/rivals to lovers and fake dating, so when i read the premise of “for butter or worse” and found out that the main characters, nina and leo, were also co-hosts of a baking competition reality tv series, i was hoooooked. unfortunately, this did not hit the mark for me. not only did i find leo’s role in the rivalry intolerable, but the miscommunication between him and nina was painfully long and repetitive.

special thanks to netgalley and harlequin trade publishing for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

FOR BUTTER OR WORSE is a dual-POV, fake dating, enemies-to-lovers contemporary romance about two rival (former) cooking show co-hosts. In addition to the Nina and Leo’s love story, this book explored sexism in the food world and the cruelty successful women often face in the public eye. FBoW also included nuanced representation for anxiety and panic attacks.

This was really cute! I liked the banter between Nina and Leo, and I enjoyed watching them slowly grow to understand one another. However, I wish this was paced a little better - I would have loved to see more scenes with Nina and Leo enjoying time with one another. The third act breakup pretty much spans the entire last third of the book, which felt overly drawn-out in my opinion.

That said, I still had a great time reading FOR BUTTER FOR WORSE. I will certainly be picking up more Erin La Rosa books in the future!

Content warnings: death of a parent (past), anxiety, panic attacks, online bullying, sexism

Natalie has hosted a reality cooking show with Leo for years, but she's done. Done with Leo's horrible personality, done with all the vicious online trolls, done with allowing it all to damage her own mental health. She needs to take a step back to focus on her restaurant, to focus on herself. So in the finale, she drops the mic - she's just hosted her final show, and she'll never have to see Leo again, never have to be in the same place with the man whose horrible nickname for her has spawned countless memes of her, a cruel hashtag, and has damaged her self-esteem almost beyond repair. Now it's her time. She just has to figure out where to go from here. But of course, the jerk has to have one last final word with her, and now he's gotten them into an even worse situation, one where they have to fake date to save face. What will she do when her feelings of hate start slowly morphing into something a lot like...love?!

Leo's got a secret, one he's never told anyone. And it's that very secret that's become the latest, and most significant obstacle in his once enemies now lovers relationship with Natalie. So now he's got to figure himself out. Has to finally tell someone, preferably someone who can help him, so he can get himself together. Whether it helps him get back the woman he loves? Only time will tell...

Snarky, witty fun rom-com set in the culinary world - I knew as soon as I read the blurb that I had to read this, and I am so glad I did because I loved it. I loved Natalie and how strong she was, how she fought back against the misogyny ever present in this cutthroat food world, how she took the time to work on her own mental health, and how she was there for the people she loved - her best friend, her sister, her employees, and even Leo, the man she used to hate. Now Leo...oh boy, but he was a mess. I wanted to smack him for his obliviousness, his blind refusal to see the way he ruined Natalie's reputation for so long and never gave it a thought. But to his credit, once he realized, he went full on apology mode. He worked on himself too, and I was cheering him on, really cheering them on as a couple, because I knew they'd be great together if they could get past all the pain they had been in for so long.

For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa, is an enemies to lovers story between two television hosts with years of annoying banter, and a fake dating situation in order to save their careers. Nina Lyon and Leo O’Donnell are co-hosts of a reality-TV competition show, The Next Cooking Champ; appearing friendly before the cameras, but off-camera they hate each other with a passion; becoming sworn enemies. After a difficult season finale, where their dislike is apparent, one of their publicists suggests they pretend they’re dating, in order to save their businesses and improve their reputations. Fake dating for the fans and paparazzi is not going to be easy for them. They are always bickering and throwing awful words at each other still. From Nina standing up to the s*xism in the culinary industry and the protective walls she’s built around herself, to Leo’s anxiety, self doubt, and constantly trying to prove himself, they are finally able find a balance; heading toward love instead of dislike. I highly recommend For Butter or Worse to other readers

I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book.

Nina is a Chief that works on The Next Cooking Champ! unfortunately she has to deal with Leo her co-host who is fantastic at getting under her skin. When he finally pushes her over the edge she decides to quit and go back to working on what she loves as a Chef in her restaurant which kind of fell on the way side putting her focus on the show. Then in come Leo trying to get her back on the show then a misunderstanding and now they are pretending to be a couple for publicity. They never expected to fall for eachother.

I am a fan of the book The Hating Games and enjoy a good cooking show or two and I love that enemies to lovers trope and this book was the perfect mix of that. I loved how different the characters were and getting to know and understand where they were coming from at different stances. Then theres the whole Nina trying to run her restaurant and Leo kinda being pushed into his families restaurant trying to keep it and his family float after the passing of his father. There was so much to love about this book. I loved seeing them warm up to eachother and eventually fall for one another. But you know that all things can never stay perfect especially since all of this romance is supposed to be a publicity stunt and it was just fun watching how everything went on. Highly Recommend!

Nina Lyons might have shot herself in the foot when she quit her job as co-host of a popular reality television cooking show. She already had earned a reputation for herself, but so did the other show’s host, Leo O’Donnell. Due to circumstances beyond their control, the pair end up creating a showmance for the sake of the paparazzi. Dating for the sake of appearances just might be what is needed in order to keep their careers going. For Nina, her career as a chef is on the line. For Leo, his restaurant businesses are already beginning to suffer because of the loss of this job.

So ultimately it is a PR stunt. Will it work? Will the two be able to pull off a fake relationship? What about when real feelings begin to enter into the picture, especially considering the fact that they have always been like oil and water. What is the change that brings these two together in the realist sense possible?

What a truly enjoyable enemies to lovers story. If they could just last one month, their careers will remain on track. Not only is there a slow understanding of their developing feelings, but the tension truly reduces as each date passes. Sidelined by their interfering but well meaning family and friends, Nina and Leo soon realize that they just might not be faking it.

I really enjoyed the progression of the story, especially as it took on more and more of an emotional edge. It was much like an evolution, an evolution of feelings that was done very well. From a fun title, to a fun couple, to a fun story with a wonderful happy ending. How could you go wrong with this book?

Many thanks to HQN and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

Please enjoy my YouTube video review - https://youtu.be/JbXPjpsoNIA

If you enjoy cooking shows or all things food-related, For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa is definitely the book you’ve been looking for. When I first saw this cover I immediately wanted to know what this book was about and the synopsis sounded very promising, and let me say that the story delivered.

Nina Lyon, professional chef and restaurant owner, has been hosting a cooking show with Leo O’Donnell for three seasons in hopes of getting her own cooking show and showing the world her love for food. However, their relationship hasn't been great from the very beginning and Nina seems to be fed up with the situation, deciding to quit the show. Next thing you know, the world thinks that Nina and Leo are in a relationship after seeing a picture of the two of them together. Forced to fake their way into love, Nina and Leo have to pretend to be together in order to save their businesses.

Let me say that I started the book having my doubts about Leo, but he managed to rain me in quite fast, the same as he did with Nina. I loved their development so much because they start clearly as two people that cannot stand each other, but after spending more and more time together they start sharing little things with each other and experiencing moments that will wake up the feelings for one another.

As a person that loves the fake-dating trope, let me tell you that the author really knew what she was doing in pairing these two together and giving them this plot. Also, Leo’s anxiety got to me and it made me understand so many of his thoughts and actions, which will make sense to you once you read the book.

Another big part of the book that I enjoyed was seeing all the emails, Google searches, texts, tweets and Instagram comments. I, for one, like to see social media playing this part in the book.

TWs: mention of panic attacks related to anxiety, loss of a parent, and bullying.

*ARC kindly provided by Harlequin Trade Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Nina Lyon and Leo O’Donnell are co-hosts on the competitive cooking show The Next Cooking Champ! Nina is a chef and owner of a fine restaurant, while Leo is a businessman, running his father’s chain restaurants. And the two do not get along - at all!

When Leo slips and calls Nina “Nasty Nina” on air, she’s had enough and quits the show. But when the paparazzi catch Leo and Nina in an awkward position later - looking like they were kissing - social media blows up. Nina’s PR guy says it might be good for business if Nina actually dates Leo for a while.


This one was definitely binge-worthy:

🧁 Foodie Heaven - Food show, L.A. food scene, cooking, food sampling, food everywhere!
🧁 Enemies-to-lovers, and let me tell you, Nina and Leo were pretty nasty to one another to begin with.
🧁 Fake Dating - all done for the sake of “business.”
🧁 Strong female friendship - Nina, her best friend, and her sister were women who spoke their minds but also had a lot of fun too!
🧁 Mental Health Awareness - Leo comes off like quite a jerk, but he slowly lets on that he struggles with anxiety.
🧁 Steamy - I’m going to leave that right there.


Thank you @harpercollins and @hqnbooks for this gifted ebook and a spot on tour.

As soon as I saw the comparison to The Great British Bake Off I wanted to pick up this book. I have a fondness fo books that include food elements, so that right there had me hooked.

That being said, I actually enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. Nina and Leo are both complex characters with a very complicated relationship. Because they are enemies they have a lot to work through and this book has a ton of different tropes at play from enemies to lovers to miscommunication, fake dating and more. I also appreciated the supporting characters such as Leo's family, they brought an additional human element to the story.

Also, this story isn't just a romance - there are a lot of real world issues that are tackled and presented not only in Leo and Nina's relationship, but throughout the story itself. All in all it was a great read and I would definitely pick up more from the author.

I need water to quench this hawtness! But first, let's talk about it!

Nina is a chef and does her best to get to the top as best as possible. She's also a co-host of a cooking show with Leo, who just enjoys teasing her, and will use any opportunity to get her upset — for no reason. Even though he knows she makes his insides twirl.

After the last show, Nina has had enough and quit. But Leo, as strong-headed as he is (but soft inside), follows her to her restaurant to apologize. One thing leads to another, and the press believes something more is going on between the two.

During the apology process, they somehow kiss, or Leo bumps into her nose — lol. Now everyone thinks they're dating; even those who didn't like her on the show are now shipping their supposed relationship. Leo and Nina know they need each to attain a level of success, but are they willing to let their differences come in the way or just pretend to like each other?

As I said earlier, this book was HAWT... The chemistry was definitely off the chart. You have the perfect enemies to lovers (work romance), fake dating with plenty of food to go around. When I mean this was it, it was! Make sure to have food around while reading.

I am such a lover of foodie romances, and with a fake dating trope??? Even better!

This cover caught my eye right from the beginning, and the story had all the hot and spicy with all the feelings that I want in a fake dating trope, along with all the food! Yum!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for the earc in return for an honest review.

This was an enemies to lovers romance, emphasis on the enemies! Unfortunately, this one just didn't quite work for me - the banter was a little too critical and some of the feelings expressed in the dual perspectives were such to an extreme that it made it hard for me to accept them ever getting together. romantically I do think others will resonate more with this book, and the writing was well done! Overall just not for me, but I will try another of her books in the future.

This book can clearly be separated into two halves- the first, I enjoyed, the second was a mess. I saw a review that said this book was written for TikTok, and I couldn’t agree more. There were so many buzzwords and controversial topics wrapped into this story, and none of them got the treatment they deserved.

In the first half, learning about Nina’s personality and her struggles in the celebrity chef world, as well as how deeply she was connected with her cooking, really endeared me to her. I thought she was a good example of a strong, but flawed, main character who wasn’t just the quirky girl. However, Leo’s POV, in my opinion, had no real place in this story. It served the sole purpose of forcing information about him down our throats instead of revealing slowly that he also had struggles. I think this was to try to make us love him, too, even though he started as the actual worst. Also, while Leo’s struggles with panic attacks and anxiety were an interesting take on men’s mental health, I feel like the author tried to use it to excuse some of his off behavior.

I did like the development of their relationship for a while, because it did feel like an ACTUAL hate to love (at least on Nina’s part), and the fake dating was SO good (publicist Tom was my favorite), but as soon as they agreed to get physical, everything went so wrong. I have never in my LIFE read a book as frustrating as this when it comes to the miscommunication trope.

They literally would just suddenly refuse to talk to each other, and even when they’d been at therapy and were supposed to have made progress, it felt like they didn’t ACTUALLY talk about anything. The grand gestures and apology styles and resolutions also just went to show how little they knew about each other and how they never actually stopped being selfish.

Overall, a good start but a disappointing read. The characters stopped growing and everything tied up perfectly for two people who I don’t think showed they would put in the work.

🧈eARC Book Review🧈

“Empowering other women was where she wanted to be, because she’d never seen a woman with the career she now had when she was coming up in the industry.”

For Butter or Worse by Erin De La Rosa
Pub Date: July 26th, 2022 - Out Now!
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟 💫(3.5/5)
Spice: 🌶🌶🌶 (3/5)

Review:
Nina is an award winning chef who is about to finish her third season as a celebrity judge on a cooking show. She and her co-host Joe just don’t get along. He may be very attractive but his witty banter that is actually painful is too much for Nina and she quites the show on the live finale. This story has many twists and turns including exes resurfacing and the sacrifices one makes for their family and themselves.

I enjoyed this story. It felt a little long but that could be due to me reading it while moving. It’s interesting to see a woman written as the grump. The will they won’t they was hard in this story. Like I wanted to smack both leads and tell them to grow up at points. The ending is unexpected and interesting.

If you like:
- Split Perspectives
- Fake Dating
- Food details
- Close friends


Thank you to Net Galley and Harlequin Publishing for proving me with an eARC of this novel.


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