For Butter or Worse by Erin La Rosa
Genre: Romance
For fans of shows like: The Great British Bake Off and Top Chef
In addition to a staggering amount of baking puns, Erin La Rosa’s steamy ‘n sweet rom-com For Butter or Worse has enough tropes from the romance genre to make you swoon directly to the floor: enemies-to-lovers, fake dating, the guy falls first/has been in love all along, forced proximity, a grand romantic gesture . . . the list goes on. And on. And on. And thank god for that, because the whole thing is a gd delight.
The plot follows accomplished chef Nina Lyon, who in addition to owning a fancy fine dining restaurant in Los Angeles, appears as a co-host on a cooking competition series. The other host? Handsome restaurateur Leo O’Donnell, whose family has a successful, if bland, chain of Italian restaurants. After years spent being underestimated by the male-dominated sphere of professional kitchens, Nina has little patience for Leo’s pompous behavior on The Next Cooking Champ!, which finally comes to a head when one of his off-handed remarks leads Nina to quit on live TV. After network execs let Leo know the only way he’ll stay on as co-host is if he can convince her to come back a fake-dating situation is borne (leading to multiple R-rated hook-ups, and surprisingly deep revelations and reflections on sexism, mental health, and ambition).
Also for what it’s worth, this novel has a remarkably similar plot to another baking-themed rom-com, Battle Royal by Lucy Parker, which I loved, in case you want to check that one out, too!
