The story was inconsistent and not always believable. The narrative thread would make progress and then the story would jump all around.

🧈 For Butter or Worse 🧈

“He wound his fingers through hers, as natural a fit as peanut butter and chocolate.”

Award- winning chef and celebrity cooking show host Nina cooks up a scheme with her co-host and nemesis, Leo, to better their respective images by pretending to be in a relationship. Neither expected for things to heat up outside the bright lights of their TV show kitchen, but sparks fly and feelings take over.

Nina is prepping herself to prioritize her mental health as she takes a different in her career. She is hoping to show up for herself and other female chefs fighting the stereotypes of a male dominated industry. As their love simmers, Leo’s anxiety is also bubbling over. He learns to prioritize himself and his mental health despite all the pressures around him.

Mental health is a strong theme throughout this story. I appreciated watching how Nina made tough choices for what was best for her and Leo learned to make changes for what he needed. Both characters grew to share their struggles more openly through the book, and I enjoyed watching them develop in that way.

This book made me laugh, smile, swoon, and hungry.

Check it out if you’re looking for:
🧈 Enemies to lovers trope
🧈 Fake dating as a Hollywood publicity stunt trope
🧈 Dual POV romance
🧈 Strong mental health theme
🧈 Delightful cast of supporting characters who share their hardships such as, “Becoming the human equivalent of garlic bread hasn’t been an easy journey for me.”

Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Books for this ARC! For Butter or Worse is on shelves July 26!

Super super cute!! I loved the character development and the theme of cooking! It’s told in the two different character’s viewpoints which added a little something extra to it. It helped you understand the characters more and connect with them faster. The dramatic irony that came from the viewpoints had me banging my head on the wall (in a good way)!

Long story short: super cute book, fast and easy read, with a juicy romance!

I enjoyed this romance immensely! For Butter or Worse has fake dating, enemies to lovers, the restaurant world, and realistic depictions of mental health struggles and its blends all of those things together in a fun read! Definitely recommend to anyone who loves contemporary romance!

I loved this book! It had the perfect combinations of my two favorite tropes, enemies to lovers and fake dating. I read it in one sitting because I was truly hooked from beginning to end. I highly recommend and I will be reading more from this author in the future!

4.5 Stars!!!

For Butter or Worse is a fake dating story that revolves around trust and self-care! In the begging of their book, Nina and Leo demonstrate how they have gotten into a bad habit of bringing out the worst in each other, causing lots of anxiety for both of them. Their fake relationship starts by accident and gradually grows to more, with a slow burn to the heat. Nina and Leo have lots of chemistry (I wished for more sexy scenes because they were sooo good!!) .

I think this story would be the perfect start to a series. The supporting characters are fun and could totally support their own storylines.

I was sent a pre-published copy of this book and asked to share my honest review. This is my first book by Erin La Rosa and I look forward to reading more of her work!!!

Thank you netgalley and the publishers for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This was a great read to finish out the month. The characters were likable, the relationship didn't feel forced, and the smut was top tier! I haven't read anything from this author before but I'm definitely going to be looking out for their writing in the future. 4.5 stars but rounded to 5 stars!

Thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin trade publishing for an arc of this book!

It was so good!! For Butter or Worse included my two favorite tropes. Enemies to loves AND fake dating! I gave it 4.5:5 stars.

Our two main characters are Nina and Leo, judges of a popular cooking show, that positively loathe each other. After Leo takes a joke too far, Nina quits the show while they’re live. After facing some backlash they have a private meeting to try to resolve their issues. They get caught in what is falsely assumed to be a compromising situation and the fans are going wild. Their publisher comes up with an idea to save face and fix the problems they’ve accidentally caused. Start fake dating.

This book was so funny and it was such a delight to watch characters that hated each other start to become friends and more. The side characters were great and really added to the book. And the diversity was wonderful. It talked about some mental health issues and covered these topics beautifully. The author did a phenomenal job! The spicy scenes were quite steamy. I’d say 3/5 for spice overall.

If you enjoy the tropes I mentioned above and cooking shows this book is for you!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I loved this book. I adored the enemy to lovers, fake dating, glamor, pop culture or references. This was the perfect read for me, it had me hooked for the very start, I enjoyed it so much I plan on reading other books by this author.

For Butter or Worse was an enjoyable read. I find that most romance books now purely will focus on the romance or relationship and forget to give its characters goals or a real personality. I am glad that in For Butter or Worse there was actual plot besides there romantic relationship, and that there were personal struggles that they had to deal with. I am glad that Leo had anxiety. Again I feel like most books don't give the main protagonist a struggle or personality outside of their love interest, and so it is nice to see a male character struggle with his family or mental health.
Overall this book was fun to read. Their were some cringe moments, but I think this book is four stars. Its fun, sexy, fast faced, and has a slow burn romance.

4.5 stars! This is a wonderful book. I went into it with no expectations, and I loved it! Here are a few reasons why. Both the enemies to lovers and the fake dating trope felt realistic. The fact that they’re both celebrities, made the fake dating much more believable than I’m used to in other books. As for the enemies to lovers, I really felt the hatred they had for each other at the beginning. The buildup to lovers was great, and I was really rooting for Leo after the first fourth of the book. I also thought the spice was good and well placed. There were a lot of scenes with the side characters, but I didn’t mind it! I liked all of the characters. Definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for this wonderful advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

This review was posted on Instagram and Goodreads on March 25th. Another post will be added on Instagram on release day.

Four Stars! ****

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the ARC!

This book was a lot of fun! It was my first read from Erin La Rosa and I went in without any expectations. Nina and Leo are co-hosts on a competition cooking show and hate each other. After a blow up live on air, they begin fake dating to save their individual restaurants.

The banter and dialogue in this book was top notch! Really funny and had a great flow to it. I loved that the main characters had ~nOrMaL~ names! In so many modern romance books, the main characters have the most outrageous, unconventional names and it really takes me out of the story so Nina and Leo was refreshing for me. Leo struggled with anxiety and panic attacks and I haven't read many books where the male character dealt with these very real issues. Loved that! I also liked that we get both Nina and Leo's perspectives.

Nina's individual storyline was a little too driven by her best friend's life. A lot of the time spent with Nina alone was really about Jasmine, her parents, and figuring her next career steps. I wish it would have been more focused on Nina since she was the main character.

I really enjoyed this book and look forward to seeing what's next from Erin La Rosa!

This felt a little too much like if Buzzfeed wrote a contemporary romance for me at times (there was also a Buzzfeed reference in the book itself) but yknow what?? I didn’t hate it!!

The enemies-to-lovers was great and I’m always watching Food Network so I appreciated the cooking show aspect of it all. The dialogue was a bit cringey at times (some of Nina’s lines felt very much like someone trying to sound cool and witty when really they’re just over dramatic) and it took me quite some time to fully get into it but it was cute!

3/5… enjoyable but nothing to really write home about, unfortunately! Great for a very quick read that doesn’t make your brain think too much. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

PS: the fact that this eARC is formatted very strangely (or at least the copy that I was sent was) didn’t help… where were the separations for chapters?

Thank you to #NetGalley and #HQN for the ARC of #ForButterorWorse!

This book was a lot of fun! Fake dating, famous people, Hollywood glamour, enemies to lovers. I love it all!

I thought the pacing of the turning from enemies to lovers was really good. So many enemies to lovers books don’t handle this well, but I thought this was nearly perfect. (I would’ve even loved it if they were enemies a bit longer, but that is just a personal preference)

I also adored both Leo and Nina separately and as a couple, which is the mark of a great romance for me. I was rooting for them in their personal lives and in their relationship with each other. I thought they were a great match and they balanced each other really well.

But, this wasn’t a 5 star because I did find it a bit long. It started to drag for me around 60%-75% mark. I think some scenes could be edited out, especially the scenes revolving around Nina’s best friend, Jasmine. I like Jasmine as a character, but it felt like there was too much about her backstory and life when the novel doesn't revolve around her. There were also a few other side character moments that just didn’t feel relevant to the story and I did get bored during some of those scenes. I really just wanted to read about Leo and Nina and get more of their story!

Overall, a really strong romance novel. I will definitely be reading from this author again!

These cute illustrated cover books always pull through for me. It was a fun, easy read! I’m not usually appreciative of pop culture references but I’ll let the Bridget Jones quotes slide, since it’s one of my favorite comfort movies. A man who appreciates romcoms and the masterpiece that is Bridget Jones *chefs kiss* I hardly ever see a man with anxiety represented in media and it was nice to see that a reader who also has anxiety.
This book had me relating to man, shocking. He was also self aware and took accountability, which was stunning coming from a man. Such a shame he’s only fictional. But personally I could’ve done with a little less miscommunication and the third act conflict.

*Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for providing a copy of the book*

Thank you NetGalley for this arc
Easy one of my favorites, I’m pretty sure I’ll reread before it comes out. I love the enemies to lovers trope. And this book did not disappoint! So much chemistry!!!

This book did grumpy sunshine romance so well. I especially love when the leading lady is the grumpy one and our hero is the sunshine. Leo was an absolute cinnamon roll of a guy, while her and Nina did have conflict this was totally due to miscommunication. They each made assumptions about the other then never bothered to get to know each other and just held onto those opinions and treated each other unkindly. Obviously as the story goes on and we follow them on their fake dating journey they open up to each other and question all their assumptions. Miscommunication is a major trope in this book, every conflict and bump in the road between Nina and Leo both before the events of the book as during is due to miscommunication. It was frustrating at times because we have dual POV, so as the reader we KNOW and it’s hard when they don’t talk. However, that being said the humor and fluff really sell this book.

I love the representation of a male lead with mental health issues. I also suffer from anxiety and we hardly see male characters in books with this issues, so I loved that. Leo was charming, caring and a hopeless romantic, but he was also a little obtuse. He didn’t realize when he was making a mistake or going too far until after he did. I appreciated that he owned up to and apologized, he had major growth there. I’m glad he became an ally. I just really wanted more from his character in the end, I felt like his arc wasn’t tied up as neatly as Nina’s. What happened to his chain? Did he ever get the prestige he was after? Did he have to close down more stores? Did he ever go back to work after his break, what was his career move? I just had more questions about his personal journey. Nina, she is a darling. Tragic backstory and loss that caused her to be a more reserved person. Unfortunately when a woman is reserved and also honest, she is labeled as a unapproachable bitch. I loved being in her head and seeing how big of a heart she has and her own struggles she goes through. I loved Nina’s story as she is trying to save her failing buisness. Her overall character arc was fantastic, she grew into a more attentive sister, a better friend, and better chef and woman throughout.

Fake dating and grump sunshine and food related rom com is a recipe for a hit. I loved their romance; there was so much humor, just enough fluff, jealousy, and steaminess. Leo and Nina have always found each other attractive but their assumptions about the others personality stopped them from ever giving each other a chance at even a friendship. Watching them get to know each other and being put into these ridiculous situations by their PR team setting up dates for them was absolutely hilarious. My only critique here is that the presence of Nina’s ex-boyfriend was a lot. He kept coming back up, while I get why he was important for Nina’s growth, it did get frustrating to keep having him show up. He was reason Leo flipped on Nina, again because they don’t communicate. Then Nina comparing Leo to her ex after certain of his actions, it just wasn’t my favorite thing to have included so much of the ex and I wish we could have used different plot devises to further the story. They both have my heart. Leo has some grand romantic gestures throughout the book and he made me fall in love with him too. There was no way Nina could have resisted. Leo did make some mistakes, but in the end he did what he could to win her back and apologize.

Thank you NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for let me in read and ARC copy “For Butter or Worse. What can I say. While Fake Dating is not my preferred troupe it really has started growing on me lately. It also is enemy/rivals to lovers. Leo owns a chain of restaurants and is a co-host on a TV show with Nina the owner and Chef of Lyon’s. On the finale of the third season Nina quits. She is done with the comments and nicknames that have come from the show when all she wanted was for her career to blossom even more. She went in hoping that this would help her career and restaurants.
Leo has a passion for his family restaurant that he has turned into a chain his father started the first restaurant and all he wants it to do is succeed.. other people rely on him for their livelyhood. He wants to be taken seriously by the food community and was hoping that this TV show would help his business and connections grow.
On the last episode, which is live, Nina quits at the end. She will not be coming back. Enter the fake dating troupe when Leo shows up at her restaurant.
This was a fast pace read and I really enjoyed the growth of Leo overall. I definitely will be purchasing a physical copy of this to add to my library. 4.5 STARS.

A very charming, loving and a witty read that has the capability to get one hooked from the beginning and made my entire reading time enjoyable and super fun. I really loved and enjoyed it!

Ahh this is definitely going to be on the list of one of top favourite read of the year 2022. I really loved it. It served all of the fav tropes, like enemies to lovers, workplace dating/office romance and more. I really loved both the MCs, especially Leo. The story was interesting and engaging enough that I never felt left out from all the fun and bored haha. In a nutshell, it’s a full 5 stars read for me.