Trope · 12 books reviewed
Enemies To Lovers romance
They hate each other. They want each other. They eventually choose each other. The classic enemies-to-lovers structure earns the romance by forcing both characters to dismantle the version of the other they thought they knew. Done well, the antagonism has teeth (real political stakes, real injuries) and the slow rebuild has weight. Done poorly, it's bickering with no consequence. Combines with fated mates, forced proximity, and morally-grey MMC for the heaviest impact.
- Average heat
- 3.8 / 5 peppers
- Open door
- 11 of 12
- Ending
- 6 HEA · 2 happy for now · 4 cliffhanger
- Reads on its own
- 6 of 12
- Author-published CW list
- 3 of 12
Where to start
Three ways in, picked from the Spice Index, not from vibes.
Every enemies to lovers book, hottest first
Grouped by our 1 to 5 heat rating. Want this trope with filters? Open it in the Spice Finder.
5/5 · unhinged1 book
Corrupt
Penelope Douglas · Devil's Night, book 1
Revenge looks good in a mask.
dark romancemorally grey MMCforbiddenenemies to loversdub-con
4/5 · spicy8 books
A Touch of Darkness
Scarlett St. Clair · Hades x Persephone Saga, book 1 of 7
She lost a bet to the God of the Dead.
Bride
Ali Hazelwood · Bride, book 1
A vampire bride, a werewolf alpha, and a very bad idea.
arranged marriageenemies to loversvampireshifterforced proximity
Butcher & Blackbird
Brynne Weaver · Ruinous Love, book 1 of 3
Two killers. One game. Annual body count.
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros · The Empyrean, book 1 of 5
The book that made dragons hot again.
Pestilence
Laura Thalassa · The Four Horsemen, book 1 of 4
She shot the apocalypse. It took her home.
Quicksilver
Callie Hart · Fae & Alchemy, book 1
A thief, a fae warrior, and a portal she should not have opened.
The Maddest Obsession
Danielle Lori · Made, book 2
He kept rules for everything. Except her.
Twisted Hate
Ana Huang · Twisted, book 3 of 4
No strings. No jealousy. No chance.
3/5 · open-door2 books
A Court of Thorns and Roses
Sarah J. Maas · A Court of Thorns and Roses, book 1
Where BookTok was born.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Carissa Broadbent · Crowns of Nyaxia, book 1
The only human in a vampire death tournament.
2/5 · kissing-only1 book
Kingdom of the Wicked
Kerri Maniscalco · Kingdom of the Wicked, book 1 of 3
She summoned a prince of Hell. He stayed for dinner.
Often paired with
Tropes that share a book with enemies to lovers in our catalog, and how many books they share.
Enemies To Lovers on our lists
- Every BookTok book we review, ranked by spice12 enemies to lovers books · The whole shelf, hottest first. One glance tells you where each book sits.
- Romantasy, ranked by spice8 enemies to lovers books · Dragons, fae courts and vampire queens, sorted by how much happens behind the door.
- Spicy standalones with no cliffhanger6 enemies to lovers books · Hot, finished, and no next book required. 4/5 heat and up.
- Dark romance with a happy ending3 enemies to lovers books · Stalkers, mafia, villains. Every one of them still lands the HEA.
- BookTok books that aren't too spicy3 enemies to lovers books · Mildest first. The yearning is the point; the scenes are a footnote.
- Spicy books whose authors publish content warnings3 enemies to lovers books · Every book where the author publishes a content-warning list, linked to the source.
Quick answers
- How spicy are enemies to lovers romance books?
- Across the 12 enemies to lovers books we've reviewed, heat averages 3.8 out of 5 peppers. 11 are open-door and 1 closed-door.
- What are the spiciest enemies to lovers books?
- By our rating: Corrupt (5/5), A Touch of Darkness (4/5), and Bride (4/5).
- Are there enemies to lovers books that aren't too spicy?
- Yes. The tamest we've reviewed: Kingdom of the Wicked (2/5), A Court of Thorns and Roses (3/5), and The Serpent and the Wings of Night (3/5).
- Which enemies to lovers books are standalones with a happy ending?
- Corrupt, Bride, Butcher & Blackbird, and Pestilence read on their own and end without a cliffhanger.
Heat is our editorial 1 to 5 rating (how the scale works). Trope tags are ours. Content warnings come only from lists the author has published. Nothing here is paid placement.