Best Enemies to Lovers Books That Will Make You Swoon

The enemies to lovers trope is one of the most beloved themes in romance book, captivating us with its blend of tension, wit, and undeniable chemistry. We all have someone that annoys us. They are unpleasant, frustrating, and occasionally rude. Or maybe they’re perfectly pleasant, which irritates us even more because we can’t figure out why we dislike them. There’s just something poetic and hopeful about the idea that your greatest enemy can become your greatest ally and protector at the drop of a hat. We explore some of the best enemies to lovers books that showcase this timeless trope, taking you on an interesting journey.

While discovering the best enemies to lovers books, consider using Arvin, your intelligent reading companion. With Arvin, you can explore deeper into the themes, character dynamics, and complex plot of each story. Whether you seek personalized recommendations, insights into character motivations, or discussions on the emotional development of protagonists, Arvin is here to enhance your reading experience.

The Temptation of Magic by Megan Scott

Nicole Palmer and her family have hidden from the Wake for years. The Wake is a shadowy organization that governs all supernatural creatures. If they discover Nicole is an Empyreal, they will force her to join them. If she resists, they will kill her.

They killed her mother. Nicole is close to uncovering a secret message in a supernatural art collection. This message is from her mother about how to destroy the Wake for good. However, when the collector is murdered, a key painting is stolen. The Wake sends their best Empyreal assassin to track down a dangerous creature on the loose.

Kyan McCarter is handsome and perceptive. He is the last person Nicole wants to work with to find the stolen painting. Their search creates a powerful connection between them. If Kyan discovers Nicole is a rogue Empyreal, he will have to hunt her next. After all, no one disobeys the Wake and survives.

Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore

The mythical Vase of Venus Aurelia hasn’t been seen since 1932, but Margot Rhodes is determined to change that. Drawn by the vase’s supposed magical properties, Margot embarks on her school’s archaeological trip to Pompeii. Sure, it’s Margot’s first time holding a shovel. However, she possesses something unique: lost teenage explorer Van Keane’s journal. She pores over the poetic entries that map the vase’s missing shards. As she reads, Margot finds herself falling in love with the boy who wrote it a century ago.

She’s shocked when her search leads her to a statue that looks exactly like Van. Suddenly, the statue comes to life. Catapulted into the present, Van is nothing like the wordsmith Margot imagined. He has sharp edges and intends to retrieve the relic for all the wrong reasons.

But it takes two to survive Venus’s death-defying challenges. Together, Margot and Van must excavate the treasure and their buried pasts before their story ends in ruins.

With a blend of humor, magic, and love, Rachel Moore crafts another stand-alone adventure rom-com. It features double- and triple-crosses, hilarious shenanigans, and frustration-fueled banter. In this tale, the best treasure is true love.

Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Alex is the first son of the president of the United States and Henry is the prince of England. The story picks up a few years after Alex and Henry’s first chilly meeting. Unfortunately, things haven’t improved between them.

Tensions escalate at Henry’s brother’s wedding. A misunderstanding sends Alex and Henry crashing to the floor, covered in wedding cake. To smooth things over, they must go on a press tour. This tour aims to show the world that they are actually friends, and they begin to develop a tentative friendship.

Told from Alex’s point of view, we gain insight as he figures out his sexuality. He also questions whether love is worth risking it all. It’s sweet, it’s funny, and I’m obsessed with how much these two love each other. And while, books are always better than the movie, this adaptation on Amazon Prime is phenomenal. Plus, there’s a movie sequel coming!

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Enter: Shanghai, 1926. It’s a glamorous and gritty city, and the blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red. But this is a Romeo and Juliet-inspired debut, so we would be remiss not to mention the two hearts at the center of this tale.

Juliette is a former flapper, the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a criminal network above the law. Their rivals? The White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations and now operate at the whims of their heir, Roma Montagov. And he wasn’t just Juliette’s first love. He was her first betrayal.

As things get worse—people start to whisper of a madness resulting in gangsters on both sides clawing their own throats out—Juliette and Roma must set their guns and grudges aside to work together. Only one can rule Shanghai’s streets—but first, they’ll need to make sure there’s a city to rule.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

In college, January and Gus were rivals. But that was a while ago, and she hasn’t thought about him since. Only when she sees his books on the shelves of bookstores everywhere while hers aren’t taken as seriously since they’re romance.

January is on deadline to deliver another happy beach read rom com love story but she’s struggling with losing her dad and coming to terms that her dad was having an affair. She goes to the lake house he owned (and she didn’t know about) to try to process everything.

Her next door neighbor? None other than broody, infuriating Gus. Like, she’s trying to grieve and here is her rival. Can she not get a moment of peace? They sort of bury the hatchet but forever the rivals, they challenge one another to a writing competition. As they spend more time together, we learn bits about each of their pasts, the times their paths crossed in college, and what they’ve been up to since. It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s steamy—it’s a perfect beach read.

The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas

Lina is in a bit of a predicament: She’s supposed to be traveling from New York to her sister’s wedding in Spain with her American boyfriend in a few weeks. The only problem? The “American boyfriend” was a little white lie that spiraled out of control. Now she has to find a date or risk being embarrassed in front of friends and family.

Enter Aaron Blackford, coworker and workplace nemesis who she’s had bad blood with since her first day. Aaron overhears Lina’s plight and offers to be her date, allowing her to save face with her family. It’s got fake dating, family drama, and stolen glances. You might have trouble putting this down—I stayed up until 3 a.m. reading this and had zero regrets.

Wings of Winter by Dipsea

Wings of Winter centers around Rowan, a fae who feels a magnetic and captivating pull toward you. Yes, the story is told as if you are the main character! Rowan finds this attraction incredibly annoying. You remain dismissive and unbothered by his presence, which only frustrates him more.

The dynamic reminds me of Edward and Bella from Twilight, where Edward was equally annoyed by his feelings for Bella. If you enjoy a tortured immortal reluctantly falling in love with a human while fighting in a Hunger Games-esque battle, then you’ll love Wings of Winter.

This spicy audiobook features episodes of about 20 minutes each. Trust me, it’s impossible to stop after just one!

All This Twisted Glory by Tahereh Mafi

As the long-lost heir to the Jinn throne, Alizeh has finally found her people—and she might’ve found her crown. Cyrus, the mercurial ruler of Tulan, has offered her his kingdom in a twisted exchange: one that would begin with their marriage and end with his murder.

Cyrus’s dark reputation precedes him; all the world knows of his blood-soaked past. Killing him should be easy—and accepting his offer might be the only way to fulfill her destiny and save her people. But the more Alizeh learns of him, the more she questions whether the terrible stories about him are true.

Ensnared by secrets, Cyrus has ached for Alizeh since she first appeared in his dreams many months ago. Now that he knows those visions were planted by the devil, he can hardly bear to look at her—much less endure her company. But despite their best efforts to despise each other, Alizeh and Cyrus are drawn together over and over with an all-consuming thirst that threatens to destroy them both.

Meanwhile, Prince Kamran has arrived in Tulan, ready to exact revenge…

Layered with exquisite tension and heart-stopping romance, All This Twisted Glory is the explosive third book in the captivating, bestselling This Woven Kingdom series.

Brutal Prince by Sophie Lark

Coming from rival mafia families, Callum and Aida aren’t just enemies, they are enemies. If the rivalry between their families wasn’t bad enough already, Aida makes things worse by setting a fire (it was small!) while crashing a party at Callum’s family home.

Their families decide that the only way to stop a full-on crime war that would crush them all is to join forces. And what better way to marry their families than through the arranged marriage of Callum and Aida?

Neither one is pleased and they are each hellbent on driving each other crazy. But if there’s one thing they didn’t count on, it’s how quickly their warfare turns into a game they both love. It’s got some dark moments and a serious plotline but it’s also not as dark as some romances can get, making it a great entry-level mafia romance or dark romance novel.

Reckless by Elsie Silver

Winter is a true ice queen. I mean, her name is literally Winter. Theo is a bull rider who rattles her—and she never gets rattled.

This might be the slow burn to end all slow burns. The story fades to black at the beginning and uses flashbacks to reveal their first fateful night together.

There’s immense tension, emotion, growth, and healing throughout the narrative. By the end, you’ll find yourself rooting for literally everyone. It’s a perfectly executed enemies-to-lovers story.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

What’s not to like about this book?? Lucy works in publishing (as book lovers, it’s so fun to dive into the book world in books!) and used to have her dream job until a stupid merger left her stuck working with Josh, who is sterile, uptight, and curt.

She’s about to like him even less, because they’re competing for the same job and she refuses to lose to him. But as they spend more time together, she starts to see Josh might be a human underneath all that icy indifference.

This book has competition, workplace drama, family drama, angst, a splash of fake dating, steam, and moments that make you want to kick your feet screaming, “eeeeeeeeek.” It’s joy in book form. Run, don’t walk.

Love on the Brain by Ali Hazelwood

Bea and Levi have had beef (well, Impossible Beef, since Bea is vegan) since grad school but she hopes they can bury the hatchet as they team up for a dream project at NASA. But things in Houston aren’t all sunshine and roses, because Levi is as adversarial as ever. He even takes the only vegan donut!! Who even does that!!!

Ali Hazelwood is the queen of writing women in STEM and the men they hate to love. This book is no exception. It’s funny, silly, and will have you swooning (and wondering if your work rival is actually the love of your life).

The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer

Hazel’s a physical therapist for a professional hockey team. Rory’s the NHL badboy who just got traded to the team. Hazel was Rory’s tutor in high school, so they already have awkward and antagonistic feelings when PLOT TWIST, Hazel’s icky high school ex-boyfriend gets traded to the team (side note—how do so many people from one high school land on the same professional hockey team?).

Hazel fakes being in a relationship with Rory to make the ex jealous and she learns that underneath his tough-guy exterior, he’s got a heart of gold. If you’re a fan of Nathan and Haley from One Tree Hill and Taylor Swift’s “I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can),” then this book recommendation is a must-read.

You, with a View by Jessica Joyce

Noelle is down on her luck and living at home (look, we’ve all done it, there’s no shame there!) after a layoff. She took all the right steps and STILL ended up jobless, dejected, wondering how she can feel sad about losing a job she didn’t even like to begin with, and panicking. She’s also grieving the loss of her grandmother, who was her closest confidant. Safe to say, our girl is in crisis.

Noelle learns her grandmother had a fiancé Noelle knew nothing about. After finding a photograph and love letter from her grandmother to a former fiancé, Noelle makes a TikTok in search of her gran’s mystery man. She finds him (yay!) but also finds herself face-to-face with Theo, her high school nemesis…and mystery man’s grandson. He has an incredibly flourishing life that she’s not at all jealous of!

The unlikely trio embark on a road trip, leading to lots of tension and sparring between Noelle and Theo. This is a textbook rivals-to-lovers story that’s funny, witty, spicy, sad, and heartbreakingly beautiful.

Things We Left Behind by Lucy Score

Don’t let the flowers on the cover fool you: This book has some serious drama. Sloane and Lucian were close in high school, then Something happened and they’ve hated each other ever since.

Sloane is the human equivalent of sunshine, while Sloane calls Lucian Lucifer. Naturally, these two get along like oil and water. Can they return to the friendship they once had, or are they destined to hate each other forever?

If you enjoy small-town dramas featuring second chances, and steamy stories with a dash of criminal drama, then this book is for you.

The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Olive’s the maid of honor, Ethan’s the best man and they Do Not get along. A tale as old as time! In a cruel twist of fate (or more accurately, a cruel case of food poisoning that spares only them) they have to go on the honeymoon together as stand-ins for the happy couple. Not ideal, but putting up with Ethan is worth it for a free trip to Hawaii, right? Wrong!

Olive and Ethan immediately run into Olive’s new boss. Desperate to start her new job off on the right foot, she convinces Ethan, her sworn nemesis, to pretend to be her doting new husband. To her shock, he agrees. Let the games begin!

Twisted Hate by Ana Huang

Josh and Jules have been at each other’s throats from the moment they met. He’s her best friend’s brother. They’re both smart, competitive, and driven. On paper, they should be friends but to each other, they’re public enemy number one.

After one night together that they definitely didn’t hate, they decide to be friends enemies with benefits. How could this go wrong?

This book is interconnected with the others in the series, but it’s a standalone story. “Twisted Hate” (and the whole “Twisted” series) flirts with some of the elements of dark romance without being too dark and scary.

Conclusion

Do you find that enemies to lovers is an interesting trope? When the main characters hate each other at first and then slowly become lovers, nothing annoys them more than Insta-love. just open these best enemies to lovers books, embrace the tension and complexity of love.

You can ask Arvin for summaries, highlights of key moments, or even thematic analysis to enrich your understanding of the narratives. For those moments when you’re torn between multiple titles, let Arvin guide you to the perfect choice based on your preferences. Making the reading experience even more engaging and enjoyable with Arvin by your side!

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