Rachael's Reviews > For Butter or Worse

When you mix two scorching hot tv hosts with years of angsty banter, and a fake dating scenario to try and save their careers… You get this delicious, enemies to lovers story.

Nina Lyon and Leo O’Donnell have been cohosting The Next Cooking Champ, tv show for years together. Over the years of snide comments, bad dad jokes, harsh nicknames, sexism, anxiety, internet trolls, and self doubt, they’ve become sworn enemies. After a rough live recorded season finale, one of their publicists suggests they pretend they’re dating, for some great publicity. So you can imagine how absolutely dreadful their first arranged date is. But the problem is they’re both on the verge of losing their beloved restaurants and suffering financially. Can they suck it up and smile for the cameras?

I loved the way the author made this feel REAL, with media headlines, emails, texts, social media posts, and pop culture references. The depth of these characters was so much more than I expected. From Nina standing up to sexism in the culinary industry and her protective walls she’s built around herself, to Leo’s anxiety, self doubt, and constantly trying to prove himself. Not to mention their amazing friends and family.

This was such a hilarious and heartfelt novel. With all of the food and Italian family references, I felt like this was one giant hug. The banter was top tier. And I adored the sex scenes, although I wouldn’t have been upset if there were a few more… 😏 I grinned like an idiot, squealed with excitement, and possibly shed a couple tears while reading this. Please make a film adaptation. This is romcom GOLD.

Thank you to Erin La Rosa and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.