Life • 07/24/2024
Top 8 Enemies to Lovers Books to Put on Your 2024 TBR
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Do you love a slow-burn romance or prefer the satisfaction of instalove? Whether you like contemporary or fantasy, the romance genre is going through a modern renaissance. Thanks to TikTok and book social media channels, love is getting its shot in the spotlight. If you haven’t kept up with some of the cream of the crop in the enemies to lovers trope in awhile, you’re in luck. We’re going to go through some of the top in the last several years.
What Is the Enemies to Lovers Trope?
Enemies to lovers is a bookish term found frequently in the romance genre. It describes a character dynamic where two characters start as enemies. Then, love conquers all, and they fall for each other. Plot points typically involve several reveals about the character personalities or misconceptions about each other’s back stories or motivations. Through these points of intimacy, the characters fall in love.
Sometimes, the characters are not overt enemies, like a protagonist and antagonist. It could be more of a rivalry dynamic, which some people consider a subgenre in its own right. Enemies to lovers books may also feature characters who start as friends, become enemies, and end as lovers. There is no one prescribed format or genre, as you’ll find in this medley of book recommendations.
As a fair warning, knowing these books fall under the enemies to lovers trope does insinuate some spoilers about these books — depending on what you would consider a spoiler. Tread carefully if you like to go into romance books with little to no knowledge!
If you want more reads, check out our other book recommendations based on pop queens.
1. Red, White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston
Release year: 2019
Bookish highlights: Queer representation, political drama, movie adaptation
Average Goodreads rating: 4.08
Average Storygraph rating: 4.2
Meet Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son to the first female president of the United States. Working with his family to be her social media and marketing team, he meets Prince Henry from England. During an election season, their flirtations may not be ideal. This feel-good romp joyously brings millennial voices to the forefront and begs people to ask what they will risk in positions of power.
2. Beach Read by Emily Henry
Release year: 2020
Bookish highlights: Summer setting, creative characters, exploration of grief
Average Goodreads rating: 4.01
Average Storygraph rating: 4.1
From the modern romance behemoth, Emily Henry has written an emotive portrayal of writer’s block, spite and empathy. January is a writer, and so is her rival, Augustus. She writes romance, and he writes more conventional literature. The two make a bet at their seaside venues — they will overcome their creative conundrum by exchanging genres. As they help each other research their subject matters, they learn more about each other than they expected.
3. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Release year: 2016
Bookish highlights: Contemporary chick lit, grumpy and sunshine dynamic, workplace setting
Average Goodreads rating: 3.89
Average Storygraph rating: 3.85
Some say this is the pinnacle of enemies to lovers books. Lucy Hutton and Joshua Templeman work together at a publishing company. They loathe each other. Lucy is full of light compared to Joshua’s somber demeanor. As they combat for a promotion, they gear up for a game that could end up sacrificing their careers.
4. Sorcery of Thorns by Margaret Rogerson
Release year: 2019
Bookish highlights: First in a series, romantasy, fairy tale vibes
Average Goodreads rating: 4.05
Average Storygraph rating: 4.06
Elisabeth surrounds herself with the Great Library grimoires — books that are just as alive as she is. She grows to protect the place, but the most dangerous book escapes from her clutches to wreak havoc. Suddenly, Elisabeth is the primary culprit. She must work with a sorcerer, whom she despises — Nathaniel Thorn — to clear her name.
5. Highly Suspicious and Unfairly Cute by Talia Hibbert
Release year: 2023
Bookish highlights: OCD representation, characters of color, nature setting
Average Goodreads rating: 3.73
Average Storygraph rating: 3.91
Bradley Graeme and Celina Bangura are totally different, yet they both end up at the same survival course in the forest. Celina is into conspiracy theories, while Bradley is into football. They used to be friends, but a difference in priorities led them to far away social circles. Will they find their way out of the woods despite this turmoil?
6. Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
Release year: 2023
Bookish highlights: First in a series, for mythology lovers, books about writers
Average Goodreads rating: 4.21
Average Storygraph rating: 4.28
Iris and Roman are journalists who find themselves well outside the realm of facts. In light of a recent war between the gods, their priority is to connect with their families while writing the truth. A mishanded letter Iris wrote ends up in Roman’s hands, meant for her brother who has gone MIA from the war. A series of anonymous letters ends up forging an undeniable bond between feuding writers.
7. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
Release year: 2011
Bookish highlights: Light fantasy, circus setting, competitors to lovers
Average Goodreads rating: 4.02
Average Storygraph rating: 4.05
If you like a dark, mysterious aura with poetic, lush language, this is for you. Celia and Marco, in wildly separate circumstances, have been chosen by mysterious benefactors to represent them in a magician’s duel at the famous and captivating Le Cirque des Rêves. Who can produce the most compelling illusions? Who crafted the most spellbinding risks? The two don’t know what’s at stake — they just know their performance is written in fate.
8. A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
Release year: 2023
Bookish highlights: First in a series, dark academia, low-stakes mystery
Average Goodreads rating: 3.8
Average Storygraph rating: 3.96
Effy Sayre is in the architecture college when she wants to be studying literature — specifically the writings of the legendary Emrys Myrddin. After his death, his estate put out a call for someone to redesign the place. She figures this is the closest she will ever get to her hero, the writer of the famed Fairy King, until she meets Preston — a literature student also visiting the estate with a secret mission to prove Myrddin a fraud. The two explore this magical location while realizing they don’t have as many academic differences as they thought.
Enemies to Lovers Books
Which of these enemies to lovers books has gripped your fancy? From fighting gods to writing dissertations, there are plenty of diverse options to pore through.
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