Published: November 14, 2023
Publisher: Berkley
Series: N/A
Genre: Romance
Pages: 336 (Kindle)
My Rating: 4 Stars
A copy of this book was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Synopsis:
Sparks fly when an occult expert and a disgraced archeologist become enemies-with-benefits in this steamy romance.
Riley Rhodes finally has the chance to turn her family’s knack for the supernatural into a legitimate business when she’s hired to break the curse on an infamous Scottish castle. Used to working alone in her alienating occupation, she’s pleasantly surprised to meet a handsome stranger upon arrival—until he tries to get her fired.
Fresh off a professional scandal, Clark Edgeware can’t allow a self-proclaimed “curse breaker” to threaten his last chance for redemption. After he fails to get Riley kicked off his survey site, he vows to avoid her. Unfortunately for him, she vows to get even.
Riley expects the curse to do her dirty work by driving Clark away, but instead, they keep finding themselves in close proximity. Too close. Turns out, the only thing they do better than fight is fool around. If they’re not careful, by the end of all this, more than the castle will end up in ruins.
I was far too delighted by the concept of Do Your Worst to pass it up. A curse breaker and a disgraced archeologist are forced to work together at a supposedly cursed castle in Scotland. She is trying to legitimize her new business in curse breaking while he is trying to recover from an embarrassing research blunder that he didn’t even commit. Who can resist enemies to lovers romance?
Do Your Worst was delightfully fun and didn’t lack for spice or characterization. The plot was even pretty solid! This one did start out in an unexpected way – the two characters meet at a local pub before they realize one another’s roles and immediately hit it off. Once Clark, our grumpy archeologist realizes Riley is the cursebreaker sent to work at the castle he tries to get her FIRED! Rude! Their enmity begins there and it’s perhaps even more bitter because they hit it off so well at first. As one expects, they keep getting forced together and those feels are undeniable and unavoidable.
There are some surprisingly poignant themes throughout the book as well – feeling legitimate, dealing with familial expectations and legacy, and dealing with professional embarrassment – all of which round out the story quite well. I like spice in my romance, but I like a solid plot and characterization (and good dialogue) even more. I also really like the back and forth between Riley and Clark. She kept picking at him to antagonize while he kept trying to trick her to disprove her curse breaking ability. It certainly kept things lively. Then the actual curse itself was quite good – it got into the vagaries of fae promises and solving a centuries old mystery.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by Do Your Worst and had a great time with it. I like the archeology bits, though admittedly they were few, and the general mood of the setting. Dare I admit I’m growing to enjoy contemporary romances? I would definitely pick up another book by Rosie Danan in the future!
Powder & Page 
This sounds like fun! I’m also loving romances with a bit of the speculative to them, I’ll have to consider this😁
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