15 Enemies to Lovers Books to Read in 2024

Enemies to Lovers is a famous erotic and romantic literature theme that can also be seen in fanfiction.

The two characters frequently have a long history of hostility with one another. They may be the protagonist and antagonist, or they may be supporting characters.

They may be on opposing sides of a conflict, or they may have simply met under unpleasant circumstances and their personalities clashed. There is generally a lot of arguing and UST.

Enemies may be forced to collaborate to achieve a common goal and gradually develop respect for one another, eventually leading to a sexual connection. Their relationship may alter due to circumstances. Fic authors have employed Forced Marriage, Sex Pollen, Amnesia, and Soulmates AU to bring their characters together.

Enemies to lovers is one of my most favorite romance book clichés to read.

If it’s also your favorite, keep reading to find all of the best enemies to lovers books in one spot to add to your must-read list!

1. Beach Reads

A romance writer who has lost faith in love and a literary writer trapped in a rut embark on a summer-long quest that may just upend their beliefs about happily ever afters.

Augustus Everett is a well regarded literary fiction novelist. January Andrews writes successful romances. When she writes a happy ending, he murders off his entire cast.

They are polar opposites.

In fact, the only thing they have in common is that they will be living in adjoining beach cottages for the next three months, broke and suffering from writer’s block.

Until, one foggy evening, one thing leads to another, and they reach an agreement to pull themselves out of their creative ruts: Augustus will spend the summer writing something joyful, while January will write the next Great American Novel. She’ll take him on field trips worthy of any rom-com montage, and he’ll take her to interview surviving members of a backwoods death cult (of course). Everyone will finish the book, but no one will fall in love.

2. The Reason I Married Him

He proposed… and I said yes.
Normally a joyous time for a couple in love, but this proposal had a whole other atmosphere.
Because the man I’ll call my husband swept into town with one goal in mind: to turn my life into a living nightmare.

So, why did I say Yes?

We both need something from one other.

Specifically, I want the agricultural land he now owns, and he needs a woman to inherit his family cottage from his grandfather’s estate.

So, as he so eloquently stated, my hand for his land.

At first, I felt the idea was ridiculous.
Who truly gets married for convenience?
Apparently I do.

We now have to market our relationship to the town. We’re holding hands, and he’s pinching my cheeks, both upper and lower. We’re even compelled to share a one-bedroom guest house on the property, where his gigantic body occupies a large portion of the bed.

But we’re so persuasive about our farse that I’m beginning to believe he might like me. Especially when he grips my wrist and murmurs, “Mine.”

3. Icebreaker

Anastasia Allen has spent her entire life striving for a spot on Team USA. Everything appears to be going as planned when she receives a full scholarship to the University of California, Maple Hills and is accepted into their competitive figure skating team.

Nothing will stop her, not even the hockey team’s captain, Nate Hawkins.

Nate’s primary objective as team captain is to keep his squad on the rink. Which is problematic when a facility malfunction forces them to share a rink with the figure skating team—including Anastasia, who clearly despises him.

But when Anastasia’s skating partner faces an unclear future, she may have to rely on Nate to take her shot.

Anastasia is unconcerned despite sparks flying…Because she would never like a hockey player, right?

4. The Fine Print

Rowan
I create fairy stories for a living. Themed parks. Production companies. 5-star hotels. Everything might be mine if I refurbished Dreamland. My initial decision to hire Zahra seemed sound in theory, but then I kissed her.

Things got out of hand after I texted her under an identity. It was too late when I recognized what I had done incorrectly. People like me don’t have happy endings. Not when we’re going to ruin them.

Zahra
After submitting an inebriated proposal condemning Dreamland’s most costly ride, I should have been fired. Instead, Rowan Kane offered me a dream position.

Is there a catch? I had to work for the most demanding employer I’d ever encountered. Rowan was harsh and utterly off-limits, but my heart wasn’t bothered. At least not until I learned his secret.

It was time to convince the billionaire that money could not solve everything. Particularly not us.

5. The Broken Vows

She was his first love, his first heartbreak, and his sole regret.

Zane Windsor has always admired the way Celeste Harrison’s eyes light up when he infuriates her. It took him years to realise that his feelings for his boyhood opponent were not hateful.

When they start working for their family businesses, competing on a grander scale than ever before, he decides he wants everything with her — and Zane Windsor gets what he wants.

Zane and Celeste find how thin the line between love and hate is, falling deeper than they could have imagined…

…until an unexpected catastrophe makes them question the reality of everything.

Zane, driven by a thirst for vengeance, drags Celeste’s company to the verge of bankruptcy, forcing both of their grandparents to intercede. The Windsors and Harrisons agree to merge—with one condition: Zane and Celeste must marry.

6. The Spanish Love Deception

Catalina Martín urgently wants a date for her sister’s wedding. Especially after her little white lie about her American boyfriend has gotten out of hand. Everyone she knows, including her ex and his fiancée, will be there, excited to meet him.

She has barely four weeks to locate someone ready to travel the Atlantic and help her deception. It’s a long flight from New York to Spain, and her noisy family will be difficult to mislead.

Enter Aaron Blackford, her tall, gorgeous, condescending colleague, who unexpectedly offers to help. She’d rather refuse; there has never been a more vexing, blood-curdling, and intolerant man.

But Catalina is desperate, and as the wedding approaches, Aaron appears to be her best option. And she realises he may not be as bad in real life as he is at work.

7. Between Commitment and Betrayal

My father’s business partner will do anything for the empire they established together, including marrying me.

Declan Hardy, the All-American heartthrob and retired NFL tycoon, is my polar opposite. He’s commanding, and I’m cooperating. I’m spontaneous, but purposeful. I’m loud even when I’m silent. The only thing we have in common is that both of our names appear on my father’s will.

He’ll inherit the fitness and hospitality empire, while I’ll keep the one thing I cherish. As long as I marry him, with conditions.

A phoney marriage lasted one year. A year of living together. One year of attempting to fit into his luxurious lifestyle.

But stipulations are rarely that straightforward. Especially when I can’t tell whether his kisses are genuine or if I’m acting when I kiss him back. And when more criteria emerge, it becomes evident that there is a fine line between commitment and treachery… and neither of us knows where it lies.

8. My Darling Bride

In a smouldering romance brimming with wit and complexity, two wounded souls meet by chance in the desert and choose to marry, forever changing their lives.

On a regular day, Emmaline Darling is not a vehicle thief. She’s a simple girl who owns a bookstore and loves animals. But when she’s stuck in the desert and wants to get away from her abusive ex-boyfriend, she chooses her only option: stealing the keys to a famous football player’s Lamborghini and driving away.

Graham Harlan, a football star, is in a state of anarchy. He was injured on the pitch and nearly died, and now he has told his brother that he will marry to preserve the family inheritance. The problem is he isn’t even seeing anyone.

Then, a mysterious woman snatches his automobile. With his typical tenacity, he pursues her all the way to Manhattan and issues her an ultimatum: marry me or I’ll file charges.

Her decision is obvious; nonetheless, neither of them anticipates the sparks that ignite between them.

As the end of their arrangement approaches, will Graham take a risk on love or let his darling walk away forever?

9. Love on the Brain

Bee Königswasser lives by a simple rule: “What would Marie Curie do?” She feels like a vengeful Jedi with purple hair who is trying to bring order to the world. Marie would gladly take the lead on a neuroengineering project if NASA offered it to her. It would be a dream come true after years of barely making it in college.

Of course. What about the mother of modern physics? She never had to work with Levi Ward as a co-leader.

Yes, Levi is handsome in the sense that he is tall, dark, and has sharp eyes. He did, in fact, catch her in his strong, corded arms like the hero in a romance book when she accidentally took the lead on her first day at work. But Levi made it clear how he felt about Bee in graduate school—they are best enemies in their own galaxy, very, very far away.

Bee’s job is in a bit of a mess right now because her tools are missing and the staff is ignoring her. Maybe her occipital cortex is playing tricks on her, but Bee is sure she can see Levi becoming an ally, supporting her shows and ideas, and those eyes are devouring her.

And the ideas make all of her neurons fire. There’s only one question that counts, though: what will Bee Königswasser do when it’s time to act and risk her heart?

10. The Wall of Winnipeg and Me

Vanessa Mazur refuses to feel bad about resigning; she feels she is doing the right thing. The onerous position of personal assistant to the top defensive end in the National Football League was always intended to be temporary. She had ambitions for her life, none of which entail washing extra-large underwear for a man who could never find the time to greet her, thank her on a job well done, or wish her a happy birthday—even when she was working for him.

The famed “Wall of Winnipeg” may be revered by multitudes, but after two years, Van has had enough.

But when Aiden Graves knocks on her door and begs her to return, she is taken aback. Mr. Walled-Off Emotions is letting his guard down for once. And she’s even more taken aback when he says that her work description is going to get much more outrageous: something that takes the “personal” in personal assistant to a whole other level.

What do you say to a man who is accustomed to getting whatever he wants?

11. All Rhodes Lead Here

Aurora De La Torre, also known as Ora to her friends, understands that returning to Pagosa Springs, Colorado, a place she once called home but is now filled with bittersweet memories of her late mother, will not be easy. Starting your life over is probably not supposed to be.

However, after splitting up with her longstanding, famous musician partner, hiding out in a little town in the mountains could be the perfect medicine for a shattered heart. Checking up with her landlord, who lives across the driveway, might also help.

Tobias Rhodes, however, did not rent out the apartment to her, but rather to his teenage son, Amos. Gruff and grouchy Rhodes, who is fiercely protective of his family and distrustful of strangers, initially distances himself from little miss sunshine Ora.

But, over days and weeks, long hikes and fireside discussions, Aurora tears down his boundaries, and an unshakable friendship grows into a once-in-a-lifetime romance.

12. Unperfect

Mia arrives for her interview at a well-known architecture firm with only 27p, a smashed loaf of bread, and a jar of peanut butter to her name. She needs this job. Even if she’s terrified of the company’s owner.

Max has made a name for himself as the grumpy northern architect from Dreams Homes (the most popular property design programme in the UK), after telling the famous host that designing affordable, environmentally friendly homes “wasn’t rocket science” and that most of the other projects featured on the programme were for “reight poncy bastads who want to spend a grand on a shite tap.”

It turned out that the entire gorgeous-but-rough-around-the-edges-Yorkshire-man feel was exactly what the country was searching for – the episode went viral, and Max became the new, quite reluctant, pin-up of the building sector.

Mia, on the other hand, finds large, grouchy males intimidating rather than attractive. She has learned from experience that even males of average size may be harmful. If she wasn’t so desperate, she would flee. She is used to running. Mia has a specific aptitude for running away, as well as invisibility, which she has honed over time.

So she’ll put up with Max’s mood swings, ignore his calling her a teen emo freak (he has no idea her black hair used to be honey blonde or her heavy eyeliner isn’t by choice), and just jog on. Simply strive to survive. Attempt to hide.

13. Untying the Knot

Ryot Bisley is my hubby.

Yes, the former Chicago Bobbies third baseman and Windy City’s ultimate heartthrob. That’s Ryot Bisley.

The first time I met him, he was grumpy and a terrible host, leaving me on his sofa with nothing but a nylon baseball flag to use as a blanket.

The second time, he unwillingly bought me supper, gazed at my chest all night, and maintained that perpetual frown.

The third time, however, was a game changer. His smile captivated me, his teasing enchanted me, and his hands energized me.

So when he was promoted to the majors, it didn’t stop us from hitting it out of the park and all the way down the aisle.

Eleven years later.I’d want to say we’re as happy as ever, but the man who sent me sexy text messages every day is long gone, and Mr. Frowny Face has returned.

He’s so focused on trying to establish a life after baseball that he doesn’t see the life we’ve already built together, so I make the difficult decision to serve him divorce papers.

My husband refuses to accept the paperwork. Instead, he has a new strategy that makes untying the knot of our marriage a little difficult. And just when I thought I wanted to be traded, he slowly, tantalizingly draws me back in.

14. SIN-BIN

He didn’t believe in love until he met her.

Have you ever met someone you despise the moment they open their mouth? AVA MASON, a freshman, can relate, and no one makes her feel that way more than COLTON THOMPSON, the gorgeous center for Great Lake University’s hockey team.

With his sights set on a professional hockey career, Colton keeps his difficulties and the truth about his family strife hidden. Despite their mutual hate, he and Ava develop a strong attraction when they cross paths.

Their initial meeting ends with a threat, prompting Ava to avoid Colton at all costs. Unfortunately, destiny continues to intervene, and their paths continue to cross, resulting in increased tension and unexpected emotions.

As Colton uses harsh words and rude actions to push Ava away, she realizes that he has a softer side beneath his strong demeanor. And as they confront their issues, will they learn they have more in common than they believe, or will they wind up loathing each other even more?

15. The Long Game

A disgraced soccer executive reluctantly enlists the assistance of a retired soccer player to coach a children’s team in this small-town love story in the manner of It Happened One Summer—from the New York Times bestselling author of The Spanish Love Deception.

Adalyn Reyes has spent years honing her daily routine: get up before dawn, travel to the Miami Flames FC offices, do her best to create an impression, return home, and repeat.

However, her routine is disturbed when a video of her arguing with the team’s mascot becomes viral. Rather than firing her, the team’s owner—who also happens to be her father—sends Adalyn to middle-of-nowhere North Carolina, where she is tasked with turning around the floundering local soccer team, the Green Warriors, in order to redeem herself.

Her plans disintegrate when she discovers that the players rehearse in tutus (impractical), maintain pet goats (messy), are scared of Adalyn (counterproductive), and are nine-year-olds.

To make matters worse, Cameron Caldani, a goalkeeping prodigy whose presence is somewhat mysterious, has arrived in town as well. Cam is the ideal choice to assist Adalyn, but after an awful first encounter with a rooster, Cam’s leg, and Adalyn’s bumper, he is also determined to drive her out of town.

However, Adalyn cannot be banished. Not again. Helping this scrappy children’s team is her path to atonement, and she’s playing the long game. With or without Cam’s assistance.