Publication Date: November 14, 2023
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.
Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan has a great deal of adversity and redemption, with paranormal vibes and curses needing to be broken.
This story pits Riley and Clark against each other. Riley’s from Philly and a curse breaker who learned from her grandmother, and he’s an archaeologist from England who has followed in his father and brother’s footsteps. Riley and Clark are attracted to each other when their paths cross in a pub before knowing who the other is and how they will be working together, but that morphs into hate, and we cycle back and forth through these feelings repeatedly.
The story is mainly set in Scotland at Arden Castle, where Clark is trying to redeem himself in the archeological world due to a misstep in his career. Riley was hired to break the curse on the castle that had existed for at least 300 years. There is science, magic, and mystical acts that take us on a roller coaster ride. Throughout the story, treasures are uncovered and found almost by accident as Riley follows her nose to follow the curse!
Multiple stories unfold as we read on, and the characters have depth as their layers are pulled back. The story has a good flow but is often bogged down because of all the details and nuances that were brought out. There are some steamy moments when their attraction gets the better of them, but there are several arguments and anger, too. The book is wrapped up nicely but unexpectedly, and there are a few happy people as a result.
Do Your Worst has magic and mayhem with paranormal activity and science. I look forward to the next Rosie Danan novel!
Rosie Danan is the award-winning, bestselling author of The Roommate and The Intimacy Experiment. The New York Times describes her work as “warmly funny and gorgeously sexy,” and a film adaptation of The Roommate is currently in development from Anton Studios. When not writing, Rosie enjoys jogging slowly to fast music, petting other people’s dogs, and competing against herself in rounds of Chopped using the miscellaneous ingredients occupying her fridge. Like so many of her favorite romance protagonists, she resides in London.
