Book List

22 Fantastic Enemies to Lovers Romances

April 12, 2023

I love romance. Whether it’s the main plot or a subplot, I can guarantee it’s almost always my favorite part of any given book. And like any good romance fan, I have my particular favorite trope — enemies to lovers.

Friends to lovers is the classic romance slow burn, and — don’t get me wrong — I love that too. But there’s something about two people who start off hating each other, or otherwise pitted against each other, and who wind up falling in love that just gets to me. The breaking down of each other’s walls, the discovery that they really do have more in common, the reluctant acceptance that they actually like each other — swoon! It gets me every time.

I’ve rounded up a list of some of my personal favorite enemies-to-lovers stories. Check it out!

22 Fantastic Enemies to Lovers Romances

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

Zorie and Lennon used to be best friends, but now they avoid each other at all costs. When a camping trip goes south, the two teens find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together. What could go wrong? You can find out in this second novel from Alex, Approximately author Jenn Bennett.

The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett

Jenn Bennett’s newest book, The Lady Rogue, takes place in 1930s Romania and follows Theo as she and her ex-boyfriend Huck set out to rescue her father who disappeared while searching for a mysterious ring that was believed to have belonged to Vlad the Impaler himself. With only her father’s journal to guide them, Theo and Huck are in for a big adventure and maybe by the end they’ll be able to rekindle their love for each other.

Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson

Elisabeth has been training her entire life to be a librarian in one of Austermeer’s Great Libraries. In her world, books of magic are dangerous and can transform into terrible monsters. Her entire life has been spent protecting the kingdom from their power. Then an act of sabotage releases the library’s most dangerous grimoire. Elisabeth’s desperate intervention implicates her in the crime, and she is torn from her home to face justice in the capital. With no one to turn to but her sworn enemy, the sorcerer Nathaniel Thorn, and his mysterious demonic servant, she finds herself entangled in a centuries-old conspiracy. Not only could the Great Libraries go up in flames, but the world along with them.

Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens

Edison Rooker (aka Rook) isn’t sure what to expect when he enters the office of Antonia Hex, the powerful, intimidating sorceress who runs a call center for magical emergencies. Antonia gives Rook a new job, and a Spell Binder, an illegal magical detection device, that he has to keep hidden from the Magical Consortium. And contend with Sun, the grumpy and annoyingly cute apprentice to Antonia’s rival colleague, Fable. But dealing with competition isn’t so bad; as Sun seems to pop up more and more, Rook minds less and less. But when the Consortium gets wind of Rook’s Spell Binder, they come for Antonia. All alone, Rook runs to the only other magical person he knows: Sun. Except Fable has also been attacked, and now Rook and Sun have no choice but to work together to get their mentors back…or face losing their magic forever.

An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson

Isobel knows that the fair folk are not to be trusted. But Isobel’s life is thrown into disarray when she accidentally paints mortal sorrow into the eyes of Rook, the Autumn Prince, and he spirits her away to his kingdom to stand trial. Waylaid by the Wild Hunt’s ghostly hounds, the tainted influence of the Alder King, and hideous monsters risen from barrow mounds, Isobel and Rook depend on one another for survival. Their alliance blossoms into trust, then love—and that love violates the fair folks’ ruthless laws. Now both of their lives are forfeit, unless Isobel can use her skill as an artist to fight the fairy courts. Because secretly, her Craft represents a threat the fair folk have never faced in all the millennia of their unchanging lives: for the first time, her portraits have the power to make them feel.

This Mortal Coil by Emily Suvada

The world has been overrun by a mysterious plague that’s put humankind on the brink of extinction. Hacking genius Catarina Agatta hates the shadowy corporation Cartaxus — they kidnapped her father Lachlan years earlier to force him to work for them. But when Cartaxus soldier Cole shows up on her doorstep with news that her father’s been killed, and that Cat is the only person who could access the cure Lachlan supposedly found before he died, Cat must decide who she can trust.

Shimmer and Burn by Mary Taranta

When her sister is captured, Faris is forced to work with Princess Bryn and a traveling magician named North on a dangerous scheme — smuggling magic into a plague-ridden neighboring kingdom. Find out what happens in this exciting and dangerous start to a brand-new fantasy duology.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Dimple is fed up with her mother’s traditionalism and obsessive quest to find Dimple the “ideal Indian husband.” Luckily, the summer program for aspiring web developers she’s in will offer a reprieve from that. Except Rishi is also attending the program. Rishi who, unbeknownst to Dimple, is the second half of a suggested arranged marriage her parents have set up for her.

The Last Magician by Lisa Maxwell

Esta is a talented thief with an incredible ability — she can manipulate time. She uses this power to steal magical artifacts from a sinister organization, the Order, looking to keep magic users down. And all of her training has been for one mission: traveling back to 1902 to steal an ancient book before a man known only as The Magician can destroy it and doom magic users forever. But Old New York is not what Esta expected — and neither is the Magician.

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

In Tally’s world turning 16 doesn’t mean getting your license, it means getting a surgery to be turned “pretty”. But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to be pretty. She’d rather risk life on the outside. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn’t very pretty. Enter David, someone from the outside who against everything Tally ever knew.

Stay Sweet by Siobhan Vivian

Amelia & her best friend Cate have worked at Molly Meade’s locally famous ice cream stand for the last 3 summers. When Molly suddenly passes away, her grandnephew Grady takes over and starts making changes. Grady’s presence threatens everything Amelia wants to protect–the stand, her friendships, and most inconveniently, her heart. Grady and Amelia don’t always agree, especially at the beginning, and this leads to some major conflict that’s further complicated by some major chemistry.

Of Curses and Kisses by Sandhya Menon

When Jaya Rao discovers that Grey Emerson, the heir to her family’s centuries-old rival is responsible for targeting her little sister in the newspapers, she devises a plan to make him fall in love with her with the intent of breaking his heart. The only problem is that Grey Emerson is not what she expected.

A Pho Love Story by Loan Le

When Dimple Met Rishi meets Ugly Delicious in this funny, smart romantic comedy, in which two Vietnamese-American teens fall in love and must navigate their newfound relationship amid their families’ age-old feud about their competing, neighboring restaurants.

Glimpsed by G.F. Miller

This charming, sparkly rom-com follows a wish-granting teen forced to question if she’s really doing good—and if she has the power to make her own dreams come true. Charity is a fairy godmother. She doesn’t wear a poofy dress or go around waving a wand, but she does make sure the deepest desires of the student population at Jack London High School come true. But, when Charity fulfills a glimpse that gets Vindhya crowned homecoming queen, it ends in disaster.

Today Tonight Tomorrow by Rachel Lynn Solomon

In Today Tonight Tomorrow, Rowan and Neil have been rivals since the start of high school and nothing can change that…or so they thought. When they have to team up together for Howl, a senior class game, that will take them all over Seattle, they’ll discover that maybe they don’t hate each other after all.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Normally a Romeo and Juliet retelling features the star-crossed lovers trope (and it still does) but These Violent Delights is also an amazing enemies-to-lovers story. Heirs to rival gangs, Roma and Juliette must put their differences aside to save their city from a mysterious illness. Can they work together to save their city before they betray each other? You’ll have to read to find out.

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Snarky, annoyingly cute, next-door neighbor? Yes please! Liz is determined to get her longtime crush, Michael, to ask her to prom, but Michael has only seen her as little-Liz, the girl from his childhood. Liz will do whatever it takes to get on his radar—even befriend Wes Bennet, her neighbor who has only ever been a pain in her side. But as Liz and Wes scheme to get Liz noticed by Michael so she can have her magical prom moment, she’s shocked to discover that she likes being around Wes.

Scythe by Neal Shusterman

In a world where death has been eradicated, the population is controlled by Scythes — a mysterious group of people with the power to “glean,” or permanently kill, anyone they want. When Citra and Ronan are chosen to be apprentices to Scythe Faraday, they’re in for more than they bargained for — especially when their apprenticeships turn into a competition that only one of them can survive.

Blood Like Magic by Liselle Sambury

A rich, dark urban fantasy debut following a teen witch who is given a horrifying task: sacrificing her first love to save her family’s magic. The problem is, she’s never been in love—she’ll have to find the perfect guy before she can kill him.

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe

How Moon Fuentez Fell in Love with the Universe by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland

The Hating Game meets I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter in this irresistible romance starring a Mexican American teen who discovers love and profound truths about the universe when she spends her summer on a road trip across the country.

As If on Cue by Marisa Kanter

A pair of fierce foes are forced to work together to save the arts at their school in this swoony YA enemies-to-lovers romance that fans of Jenny Han and Morgan Matson are sure to adore.

Drawn That Way by Elissa Sussman

Moxie meets the world of animation in this fresh, unputdownable novel about a teen girl determined to prove herself in the boys’ club of her dream industry no matter what it takes. When Hayley meets Bear, she soon realizes that there’s more to him than she expected. As they work together, the animosity between them thaws into undeniable chemistry and maybe something… more.