Tropes of the Trade: Enemies to Lovers

The origins of the trope

Why We Crave the Heat of Hatred Turning into Love (and the Best Books That Nail It)

If you’ve ever shouted “just kiss already!” while two fictional characters argued like their sexual tension could burn down the room, then congratulations—you’re one of us.

Welcome to the Enemies to Lovers trope: the literary pressure cooker where mutual disdain is just foreplay, and nothing makes you swoon harder than two people who would rather die than admit they’re into each other… until they do.

This trope thrives on tension, transformation, and emotional payoff. Two enemies—rivals, ideological opposites, cursed lovers—must confront the thing they loathe most about each other: their own vulnerability. They’re forced into proximity, alliance, or crisis, and slowly, their hate starts to unravel. What’s underneath? Lust, respect, intimacy, or all three.

And when that first kiss comes? It wrecks you.

So if you love your romance with a side of verbal sparring, reluctant teamwork, and unresolved sexual tension thick enough to cut with a dagger, here are eight books that do Enemies to Lovers brilliantly—including a new standout: The Governor’s Daughter.

1. The Governor’s Daughter by Parker Williamson

Genre: Political Romance / Queer Love Triangle
Setup: When Camilla Reyes, daughter of a powerful U.S.-backed governor, declares her homeland’s independence live on air, she upends a carefully orchestrated marriage alliance. The first to publicly humiliate her? Senator Julian Oz—a dangerous, disciplined tactician. So of course, she ends up fake-engaged to him.
Why It Works: Julian and Camilla clash in public and combust in private. Their alliance begins as a maneuver, but turns magnetic. Passion, betrayal, and legacy pulse through every scene.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Queer love triangle. Political warfare. Balcony scenes you’ll not forget.

2. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Genre: High Fantasy / Romance
Setup: Feyre is a mortal girl dragged into the Fae realm and bound to a cursed High Lord. Her only goal is survival—until she discovers that her enemies may not be the monsters she imagined.
Why It Works: The real enemies-to-lovers arc starts with Rhysand, the brooding antihero who pushes, provokes, and protects Feyre until trust becomes something deeper. Their emotional unraveling across the series is legendary.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Wingspan. Night Court. Trauma healing through mutual respect and intimacy.

3. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Genre: Contemporary Rom-Com
Setup: Lucy and Joshua are executive assistants locked in a zero-sum rivalry at a publishing house. When a promotion puts them head-to-head, their banter turns blisteringly hot.
Why It Works: Snarky dialogue, intense chemistry, and one elevator ride that changes everything.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Office slow burn with steamy satisfaction.

4. These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong

Genre: Historical Fantasy / YA
Setup: Juliette and Roma are the heirs to rival gangs in 1920s Shanghai. They were once lovers. Now? They’re blood-bound enemies who must work together to stop a citywide threat.
Why It Works: Equal parts epic and tragic. They fight, bleed, and yearn with a fierceness that feels operatic.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Shakespearean vibes. Political violence. Knife-edge tension.

5. Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Genre: LGBTQ+ Political Romance
Setup: When the First Son of the U.S. and the Prince of England cause an international incident, they’re forced into a PR friendship that turns into secret romance.
Why It Works: Alex and Henry’s emotional arc—from disdain to desire to devotion—is beautifully messy, heartfelt, and sexy.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Royal scandals, political stakes, love letters, and cake.

6. The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Genre: Dark Fantasy / YA
Setup: Jude, a mortal raised in the treacherous world of Faerie, clashes with Cardan, the wicked prince who torments her. But politics has strange rules, and enemies become something else entirely.
Why It Works: Power struggles, mutual manipulation, and forbidden longing. This is enemies-to-lovers with knives.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Morally gray everything. Enemies who crave each other but won’t say it until it’s too late.

7. The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh

Genre: YA Historical Fantasy / Retelling
Setup: Shahrzad volunteers to marry a caliph who kills his brides by dawn. Her goal? Vengeance. But her enemy may be more cursed than cruel.
Why It Works: Slow-burn intimacy, moral ambiguity, and storytelling-as-seduction.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Arabian Nights reimagined with lush prose and deadly secrets.

8. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Genre: Romantic Comedy
Setup: Olive and Ethan can’t stand each other. But when a wedding disaster leaves them as the only unpoisoned guests, they go on the honeymoon instead—and have to pretend to be a happy couple.
Why It Works: Witty, awkward, full of romantic tension and unexpected warmth.
Enemies-to-Lovers Heat Level: 🔥🔥🔥
Bonus: Fake dating meets vacation shenanigans in paradise.

Why We Love It:

Enemies to Lovers is never just about love—it’s about change. The best versions show characters breaking down their own walls and learning to see someone completely. These books remind us that love can come from anywhere, even the battlefield.

Enemies may start with bitterness, but when the lines blur? That’s where the magic happens.

About the author

Parker Williamson writes about freedom, beauty, truth and love. A traveler of the world, he has been called a friend to paupers and princes alike. Parker passions include theatre, athletics, film, video games and of course writing.