I’ve observed an emerging subgenre of romance defined by the presence of men apologizing. In many ways, this is refreshing and much appreciated; for eons tropes have revolved around women coming the see the correctness of a man, of eventually succumbing to the always-right man, of being educated by the much more qualified hero of the story. Not only does this “wear her down” trope play out spectacularly problematically in sexual contexts, but it also is just so tired. Romantic leads recognizing they’re wrong? Apologizing? Fantastic.
I think, however, as the novelty wears off, that this trope may lose its substance, and I’ve perhaps reached that point with For Butter of Worse. I wanted to like it. A long time issue with the enemies-to-lovers trope is the fake-enemies-to-lovers out there; you bait me with a little bit of initial rudeness, a meet-ugly, so to speak, but the protagonists get over this almost immediately, and they are really never enemies at all–I cry. Such is not the case here; Nina and Leo are aggressively enemies, that is for sure.
I’ve flown too close to the sun, it seems, though, because Nina and Leo are so brimming with hatred from each other (diction chosen intentionally–it's not dislike, it's not annoyance, it's hatred) that they are irredeemably horrible to each other. They are so horrible to each other that, by the time we get around to the lovers' part, the slow warming to each other and recognition of the other’s good qualities, rings hollow and unromantic. It seems that La Rosa is so set on making her love interest apologize she’s willing to have him commit pretty unforgivable acts just to warrant it. The accompanying apology train necessary to right the wrongs that occurred before they viewed each other as actual human beings left a sour taste in my mouth. Misogynistically slandering someone’s name? Ruining their career prospects? I don’t care how cute the apology is, you don’t belong together.
So I amend my prior wish. Apparently, I do not want just enemies–I want enemies who still have moral boundaries. Hold the knife to their throat, sure, but don’t actually stab them in any vital organs. I suppose La Rosa is to thank for this realization.
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC, gifted in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I was going to love this one. A baking show with enemies to lovers co-hosts? Sign me up. That said the writing style really threw me off (was not a fan) and the pacing was not there. It was literally chapter one and barely had an enemy interaction when her internal monologue was already shifting to the lovers point of view.

I did not buy their relationship at all and the characters fell very flat for me. I also felt the use of the miscommunication trope in the last act caused unnecessary drama and forced a very rushed resolution.

Things I did like though: the representation of a man with anxiety/therapy. The interaction between the FMC and MMC after her dizzy spell was endearing. The hospital scene at the end was well written and I felt the emotion there.

Overall had to force myself to finish this one.

This was a really fun and well executed enemies to lovers romance! The celebrity aspect of it was really fun as well. It took me a little bit to warm up to Leo, but I really like him at the end. Nina was badass and strong - loved her!

For Butter or Worse is a contemporary romance following workplace rivals who fake a relationship for public relations reasons, only to find themselves actually enjoying the charade.

Nina is a female chef in a fairly male-dominated industry, and the last thing she needs is her coworker throwing her under the bus on live TV. Nina knows Leo hated her on sight, and she has no interest in placating his ego, especially given that he isn’t even a chef.

Leo is a businessman trying to keep his family’s restaurant legacy afloat. He’s proud of what his father built, and wants to keep its foundation strong, but he fears he’ll never be respected in the food world. Being on a cooking show was supposed to help the brand, but Leo can’t help sniping back when Nina needles him. Unfortunately, this clash only escalates, culminating in an on-air fight that makes Nina look really, really bad.

When the paparazzi mistakenly believe the caustic coworkers to be a couple, Leo and Nina decide it will be mutually beneficial to fake a relationship to generate good publicity. Their plan just might work, as long as they can keep their mutual loathing under control.

I loved this book, which contains so many of my favorite things: mental health representation, rivals to lovers, reality television and well-written secondary characters. In particular, the depiction of anxiety is poignant and important and I found the families of the main characters to be very real; they add to the narrative without drawing too much attention away from the plot.

The workplace animosity works really well here. It’s sometimes difficult to pull off a realistic antagonism without assigning too much blame to one character, but I really enjoyed the way the characters’ conflict plays out. Both of the main characters experience a lot of growth, though Leo probably takes center stage at times. I really loved him, though, he’s deeply complex, and it’s easy to like him when reading from his perspective. Nina is also really special; she goes through a lot but never fails to advocate for herself. I loved that she’s unapologetic about her ambition and her desire to succeed. Her frustration with how she is perceived is super relatable, even if you’re not a reality television host.

For Butter or Worse is a delightful read with both humorous moments and serious notes that make the happily ever after all the sweeter.

This book was just okay. I didn’t find myself caring a whole lot about the story and definitely didn’t feel interested in the parts of the book that didn’t feature the main characters. The writing quality was fine, but something about it was just missing for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me access to this eARC for my honest opinion!

i love the enemies-to-lovers trope as much as i love fake dating… so you can imagine how excited i was to find out that this novel combines the best of both worlds! as someone who loves cooking, i also enjoyed the descriptions of nina and leo’s creations and the foodie comparisons (like how nina and leo are oil and water!) being celebrities, the two hosts have a following on social media and the chapters are occasionally broken up by their posts and tweets. i found myself looking forward to these pages of the novel because you get to see how their “followers” react to their relationship.

a few chapters in, i didn’t think i’d come to like leo. i found him disrespectful and rude (especially towards nina) but i gave him a chance… and i’m glad i did. as the novel unfolds and you get to know nina and leo, it becomes clear that they’ve had rough patches in their past. but i loved watching their romance and trust unfold. although their dates were staged for social media, i found them super romantic. it pushed nina and leo to act reasonably in front of a crowd but it also forced them to get to know each other. i was extremely happy with how things turned out in the end and would recommend “for butter or worse” to fans of “meet you in the middle.” these two have been some of my favorites this year because of their banter, dates, and HEA

Erin La Rosa’s For Butter or Worse is a cute, if predictable, entry in the kitch lit genre. Chef Nina Lyon finds herself where she never could have imagined: successful restaurants and a gig on a Food Network-esque cooking competition show have made her a household name. But her nemesis and fellow cooking show judge Leo (of mass-market restaurant fame) gets under her skin.

When both find themselves off the show, Nina’s publicist suggests they enter into a mutual arrangement in which Nina and Leo keep up the pretense that they are dating. The fake dating trope is a well worn entry in the romance world. The begrudging chemistry between Nina and Leo is palpable, and the story plays out - no spoilers - as you might expect. La Rosa imbues Nina and Leo with the standard qualities but brings depth by trading points of view each chapter and letting the audience into each of their minds. That technique leaves room for the reader to exclaim in disgust, ‘you’re both getting it all wrong, just be honest about your feelings!” as all good romance novels do.

Cooking and kitchen puns abound and I pride myself on having enough background knowledge to understand them without the help of the google machine. La Rosa has a keen eye for building tension, even if, at times, it feels as though it goes on a little too long. You cannot help but root for happily ever after. Or, beautifully baked after all.

I enjoyed this at times and despised it at others. Leo and Nina are co-hosts who hate each other when the cameras aren't on. They take digs at each other constantly making it almost unbearable to work with them. Nina quits the show after seasons of bullying, passive aggressive comments, and just blatantly sexist comments. Suddenly Leo is seen as the bad guy, which he absolutely was.

The 2 decide to capitalize on the idea of fake dating to get their reputations back in the positive, and save their respective restaurants. It's marketed as an enemies to lovers, but Leo is just an a$$hole. A misogynistic jerk who used panic attacks as an excuse for his behavior. I did not feel sorry for him at any point in the book. He couldn't stop making cracks and jokes and comments and really didn't get much punishment for it. He should have been dragged through the mud at some point but wasn't. And for Nina to just let it all go as quickly as she did, I didn't like it. They had some chemistry but it all felt very rushed. Let alone that I never rooted for them once, I was even rooting against Leo.

The steamy scenes were just okay. Their relationship that developed was also just okay but the fact that it fell apart because they didn't talk about how they actually felt about each other was super aggravating. Just talk like adults who want to continue having consensual relations and be emotionally available to each other! Ugh.

For being very food-centric this book wasn't too heavy on including too much. Some cooking/baking/food related stories get bogged down by too many food descriptions and this was luckily not an issue here.

I adore this book. I loved both main characters as well as the side characters. I am a sucker for a cooking romance and having the two be hosts of a cooking show just made it even better.

The characters were both well developed, and their hatred and growth felt valid and realistic and shown very well through their dual pov. The plot arc is well paced, and I was happily surprised with the resolution. Important topics like mental health, and the media portrayal and treatment of women is interwoven elegantly and treated with respect and gives the book even more depth.

I love this book and I can't wait to read more by this author.

I had a rough time getting into this book. The concept and idea is really interesting, but I wasn’t a fan of the execution. I liked the main relationship of the book and the way the two characters met.

I think I would still recommend this book to others because there’s still a good chance they’ll love it! For some reason, I just couldn’t get into it.

I absolutely devoured this one! I'm not the biggest fan of books with a reality TV trope but I wanted to try out Erin La Rosa's writing and I can 100% say now that she is an author I will be looking out for!

On page, this would be the type of romcom i would usually love but it just didn't click for me. like
if you like dual POV's- CHECK
reverse sunshine grump trope - CHECK
strong willed female leads - CHECK

but it just fell...flat.
it's one of those things where i can acknowledge that objectively its not a terrible book, it just didn't happen to work out for me.

I really enjoyed this one and found their relationship very realistic and relatable! Add in a reality tv cooking show, enemies to lovers, and some groveling…sold!

While there was some miscommunication in this book, it felt more like secret feelings and it was done well!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Ok here goes: I like the sound of an 'enemies-to-lovers' romance, until I am reading and realize all the reasons why I don't. The banter is always so great, and funny, and sassy, and sexy.. but the buildup is just too much for me. The back and forth is so annoying, JUST COMMUNICATE ALREADY. There's no way people in love are THAT bad. Am I wrong??

Having said that, I did enjoy the majority of this book. I chose it as a palate cleanser in between thrillers, and it did just the trick. The food references were cute, such as, "feeling as deflated as a cake that had failed to rise". They are sprinkled throughout and I thought that was an appropriate thing to do, considering the title.

As infuriating as it was reading from both Nina and Leo's POVs, I still liked their inner monologues and thoughts. They were both very likable characters, and (an obvious spoiler alert) it made me happy to see them get their happy ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin for my eARC of FOR BUTTER OR WORSE, out now!

Nina and Leo were the true definition of enemies to lovers! Their initial hate for each was so palpable and real, I loved it!

I don’t normally read food romcoms, don’t ask me why I have no clue but this was super good! The fact that both mc’s were struggling to keep their restaurants a float instead of them both being successful was more relatable ( not that I own a restaurant) but it’s easier to imagine the struggle than the opposite!

Then Erin added my other favorite trope, FAKE DATING! I am an absolute sucker for a good fake dating rom. You definitely start to love Leo more than Nina at first and I feel that’s because Nina has been struggling to not only keep her restaurant but also to dive in and be on top of a predominately male career. She has to be cold and harsh to be taken seriously.

These two had chemistry through their hate and I loved it! It was a wonderful gradual build between the two and it was delicious! Definitely a wonderful read!


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed the writing of this author, I liked the premise enough but I was not feeling the chemistry between these two characters. My enjoyment levels decreased as I continued the novel and the relationship didn't get any better.

3.75⭐ for this debut romance novel.

I am a big fan of butter and cooking competitions, so I just had to read this one.

This was a cute slow burn, fake dating, enemies to lovers celebrity romance for Nina and Leo. It's told in dual 3rd person. Both need the positive attention that dating each other would bring for their careers. Nina is discriminated against and receives a bunch of negative feedback on social media. Leo suffers from anxiety, which I found well written. It was fun reading their banter and their growth as individuals and as a couple.

Overall, a solid debut. I'd be delighted to read more from this author.

I was able to listen to a final copy that was narrated by Mela Lee for 10 hours and 20 minutes, easy to listen to at 2.5x. She did a lovely job, but I do wish there was a male narrator for Leo's POV.

I won this Egalley in an Instagram giveaway and I’m so glad I got to read it! I loved Leo and Nina!!! I love any books set in restaurants. Fake dating is my favorite trope. I loved their happily ever after. There wasn’t much I didn’t like about this book!

This is the perfect book for someone who likes enemies to lovers and cooking shows. There's also the fake dating trope (which many love) and a miscommunication trope (which I personally hate, sorry.) The characters have really wonderful chemistry though, and plenty of charming, witty banter. The author does a great job discussing important topics like mental health, and the public's overt criticism of women while praising men no matter what sort of actions they take. There were some wonderful side characters that are easy to fall in love with.

My only flaw with this book is the pacing felt a little slow. I wanted a little more speed in terms of plot, but some may not feel the same as I do.

Enemies to lovers, fake dating, and a woman working in a male-dominated field? FOR BUTTER OR WORSE makes the list of my fave 2022 romances.

The book opens with co-hosts Nina and Leo shooting the season finale of a competitive reality cooking show. Right away, sparks are flying -- but not in a sexy way, more like, you-make-me-want-to-burn-this-place-down.

Throughout the novel, both chef Nina and restauranteur Leo have to figure out their careers moving forward. Not to mention, Nina's grieving the mom she lost to breast cancer several years prior and Leo's been experiencing panic attacks. These main characters felt like real people, and I loved that the book was about more than just their romance. It felt like the "nasty Nina" storyline was written specifically for ambitious, knowledgeable, and forthright women everywhere.

And yet the book was still hot! Their love story still heart-warming! Sometimes you really can have it all.

This was author Erin La Rosa's first romance novel -- here's hoping she writes many more.