I’m an easy girl to please, both in the sheets and on my Kindle library. I don’t take much to get there, just some mean flirting, longing gazes, he growled, one bed in the inn, and so forth. You guessed it; I’m one of those emotionally traumatized girlies that lives for enemies-to-lovers. Unfortunately, this desire to have men hate me yet love me transcends off the page, but that’s a problem for my therapist to deal with. I love a good enemies-to-lovers story where they hate each other’s guts and simultaneously want to fuck them senseless. Good fucking soup, I say. Whether you like your burning passion with a side of wings and fangs or cowboys and hockey sticks, I gotchu covered. Here are the 19 best enemies-to-lovers books that are heavy on the spice, heavy on the tension, and easy on the eyes.
Enemies To Lovers Books That Are Heavy On The Spice
Lost and Lassoed by Lyla Sage
Nothing makes me squeal like a pig more than a cowboy romance book, except maybe one with enemies to lovers involved!! Lyla Sage’s Rebel Blue Ranch series never disappoints, and this might just be my favorite of the lot. We get to watch Teddy and Gus go from spicy, snarky hatred to fiery horniness to tender romantic love. I loved every step of the journey, and this is how you do grumpy x sunshine, right, my friends? Big applause for the iconic line, “I’d rather fight with Teddy than be happy with anyone else.” Brb gonna go out and buy cowboy boots and a lasso to find my own Gus Ryder.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Of course, this list includes an Emily Henry novel! So, while some could consider Beach Read to be an enemies-to-lovers romance, I think January falls for Gus too quickly for that. Instead, we’re going for Book Lovers, which plays upon the whole sassy businesswoman in a small-town trope. Nora Stephens’ doesn’t take shit from anyone but her beloved little sister Libby, which is why she finds herself agreeing to go to Sunshine Falls, North Carolina, for the month of August with her. But much to her surprise, she keeps bumping into Charles Lastra, a brooding book editor from back in the city. Nora isn’t your typical romance heroine, and Charlie certainly isn’t the perfect hero for this story, but maybe their love story has a chance anyway…
Off to the Races by Elsie Silver
How do you pick just one Elsie Silver novel? Well, you go for the enemies-to-lovers, smart-mouthed heroine, and grumpy ranch owner book, also known as Off to the Races. Billie is a horse trainer and strictly off-limits, but this will not be enough to stop Vaugn from getting his hands on her. Billie is a total horse girl but also sexy?? And her horse has more complex feelings than any man I have ever known. This book takes cowgirl in a whole new direction and I am not complaining. It was charming and snarky, emotional and hilarious, sassy and sexy — take all the adjectives!!
Hail Mary by Kandi Steiner
Forced proximity is my worst nightmare in real life, but I absolutely love it in books. This is no exception. Leo Hernandez doesn’t realize that he knows Mary, so he has no idea what he might’ve done to make this curvy, tattooed hottie hate him so much. He’s just North Boston University’s star running back and a notorious bachelor. When Mary’s apartment floods, she has no choice but to accept his offer to stay with him and his roommates for a while. But it’s harder to ignore him when he’s inches away and shirtless, and Mary’s not sure she wants to anymore. College romances allow me to pretend I, too, had good sex at nineteen.
Steel King by Devney Perry
Romance and mystery in one book? And not a light, fluffy mystery, but a proper MURDER? Yes, please!! Bryce Ryan is your typical early Y2K journalist, working at a local paper and desperate for THE BIG SCOOP. As a journalist, I can tell you I don’t want a big scoop!! I just want to write about silly, goofy books. A woman in her small town is brutally killed, and Bryce thinks that the former Clifton Forge, Montana, motorcycle club is responsible. She is determined to prove to expose the members and their leader, Kingston “Dash” Slater, as murderers. But the more that’s revealed, the less Bryce knows. Suddenly, she isn’t just fighting for her story; she’s fighting not to fall head over heels for the Steel King. *chefs kiss*
Mile High by Liz Tomforde
I am not a member of the Mile High Club, as frankly, I find planes to be disgusting and not sexual in the slightest. To each their own, I guess!! But even I’d make an exception for this private plane and for Zanders. He’s a cocky, womanizing hockey player. She’s a flight attendant assigned to his team’s private plane. He’s determined to get her to quit, but she won’t give in. Who’s going to surrender first? And who’s going to get off first?
The Co-Op by Tarah Dewitt
The description for this book starts with, “They say love and construction don’t mix,” and I’m not sure if anyone actually says that, but let’s fucking go. I am not a DIY girlie. I would marry a man sorely to have someone to always build shit for me. I would sleep with a man just so he would build my JÄTTESTA. This is a love-hate book about CONSTRUCTION, and I loved it. That’s how well it was written. So LaRynn Lavigne and Deacon Leeds had a summer fling as teenagers, and a decade later, their grandmothers have left them with shared ownership of their dilapidated Santa Cruz building. They want to rebuild it, so they get married in order for LaRynn to access her trust fund and Deacon to use the money to fix shit. It sounds complicated, but it’s better than a completed KALLAX bookcase.
A Deal With The Devil by Elizabeth Oroark
Now I usually don’t read books with a photograph or a shirtless man on the cover as a rule of thumb, but I made an exception for this book, and it might be because his many, many abs hypnotized me. This is the whole boss-employee dynamic that is so hot in books but so wrong in real life. Hayes Flynn (literally ChatGPT, give me a sexy mean boss name) is British, arrogant, and well-known in Hollywood. Tali is giving total main fucking character energy and basically has to work for him for six weeks. Also, not to spoil things ( we all know where it’s going), but erm… 16 times in one night? I think I’ve been seeing the wrong men.
Fault Line by Ki Stephens
The rise in hockey romance is something that will fill textbooks in a decade or so. Times have changed since we were in high school, when football players were the be-all-end-all. Nowadays, I want to date an ice hockey player, even though I could not name a single position on the team. This time, we’ve got Holden Becker (such an enemies-to-lover name), who PLAYS BY HIS OWN RULES ON AND OFF THE ICE. Yeah he does! His academic rival is Kaia, who is “a born and bred overachiever, chronic overthinker, and full-time seeker of academic validation,” so she’s basically me — only with academic validation. They’re forced to share an academic advisor, and soon enough, they’re hooking up behind closed doors while trying to keep their relationship strictly casual. I am a sworn believer in the “one night to get you out of my system” trope, even though it never works, of course!!
Love Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood
Ali is the Queen of STEM romance, a genre I didn’t even know existed before her. But pop off, sis, show those smart girlies that they deserve to be fucked on a lab table — with careful disinfecting to follow, of course! Elsie has a Ph.D. in theoretical physics (couldn’t be me) and works as a fake girlfriend at night to pay bills. She successfully keeps these two worlds separate until Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody older brother of her favorite client, turns out to be on the hiring committee at MIT, standing between Elsie and her dream job. Ruh roh! She HATES Jack, and he obviously hates her too when he discovers her lies. It’s kinda random like there are a bunch of Twilight references, and Jack mentions that his fantasy is to hunt something and cook it for her… lowkey giving psychopath, but I’m into it.
Reluctantly Yours by Erin Hawkins
I’m a girlboss trapped in the body of a procrastinating writer, and so I adore books in a work setting, especially when they manage to be consensual and not HR nightmares. This time, we’ve got Barrett, who rebuilt his father’s media company but is struggling to get close to a contact due to his single status. He needs a fake girlfriend and finds the perfect option in Chloe, his mom’s assistant. He blackmails her to pretend to be his girlfriend, but soon, it doesn’t even feel like pretending anymore. I love fake dating!!! Sorry, but it’s true!! I just love a fake dating trope, especially when they hate each other. I’m fake-dating a lot of celebs right now; they just don’t know it yet. One review of this book said, “started off strong but then got boring bc they literally wouldn’t stop fucking?” which is exactly what convinced me to read it. Grab a glass of milk as things are about to get SPICY.
The Viscount Who Loved Me by Julia Quinn
Season two of Bridgerton is my absolute favorite, so I rushed to read Anthony and Kate’s book. It did not disappoint, that’s for sure, especially as I pictured those two hotties. The plot’s actually a bit different, so it feels like a whole new story, but it has the same Kanthony banter we adore. There’s still Anthony, London’s most elusive bachelor, looking for a wife and thinking he’s found it in Edwina. Her older sister Kate does not approve of the match and won’t give her blessing, much to Anthony’s irritation. Period drama + enemies-to-lovers = do-not-disturb mode for the whole weekend.
Court of Blood and Bindings by Lisette Marshall
Your love language might be physical touch, but mine is aggressive banter and threats of violence. Note: It is just in books, not in real life. I obviously don’t date in real life. Emelin is a 20-year-old human living in a fae-controlled land, trying to hide her illegal powers — why are they always 20? Why are they never 27? She is discovered by Silent Death, the deadly assassin reporting straight to the leader of the lands. But instead of turning her in, he enlists her to help him overthrow the fae Mother. There is such a beautiful, sore tension between them, as well as some vicious flirting. And let’s just say when the flirting leads to more… well, it is quite enjoyable.
From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout
This MIGHT just be the smuttiest book on this list of enemies-to-lovers novels. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny it is hot. Like several pages at a time hot. Like voyeurism, group sex, and vamp sex hot. It will also either make you sexually attracted to honeydew or swear off it for life, like me. Poppy was chosen from birth to usher in a new era as “The Maiden,” who will Ascend in order to please the gods. But when a new mysterious guard is assigned to protect her, everything starts to change quickly, and she doubts her duty. Will she risk it all for this chemistry? Will she risk it all once she knows who he really is and the truths her people have hidden for centuries? Vampy biting and sex scenes ahead!!
Rhapsodic by Laura Thalassa
You might just get more than you bargained for… Well, Calypso Lillis certainly did!! A siren who owes 322 debts to The Bargainer, aka Sexy Des. Over the years of making these bargains, the two have grown close and then distant again, leaving you to wonder what exactly happened. The Bargainer has come to collect his fee, and it involves her help with a huge world-changing task. This novel switches through time frames to let you discover what led her to make each bargain, including offing her stepdaddy oops. Did I mention that Des has wings? I love a man with wings.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
More vampire smut for my favorite dirty readers!! This duology was HOT and VIOLENT, and yes, I should book another appointment with my therapist. What I loved most about The Serpent and the Wings of Night is how competent Oraya, the main character, is. Like she is a fighter!! She’s the adopted daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, and she has spent her life learning how to overcome her human weaknesses. Now, she’s entering the Kejari, a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself. But to win, she must beat the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. She’s forced to make an alliance with one of her fellow competitors, Raihn. From enemies to allies to friends to…lovers? Oh, but don’t be sure it’ll stay that way, as love turns to hate just as quickly… *high-pitched squealing*
A Touch of Darkness by Scarlett St. Clair
I’ve said it before, but I have the hots for Greek mythology retellings. I think it’s because Hercules and Meg from the Disney film were one of my bisexual awakenings. And of all the Greek myths, Hades and Persephone is one of the hottest!!! It’s the original Grumpy Boy x Sunshine Girl. So our girlie Persephone is the Goddess of Spring (duh), but flowers always wilt at her touch. She moves to New Athens to lead an unassuming life as a mortal journalist — omg, is she me?? Meanwhile, Hades is the God of the Dead and has built a gambling empire among the mortals. They meet, and our girlie ends up in a contract to create life in the Underworld or lose her freedom forever. It’s giving me and my fifth cactus, which I’m trying to keep alive. Soon enough, Persephone isn’t sure if she wants to leave the Underworld or its sexy, dark leader.
The Witch Collector by Charissa Weaks
A book that covers world-building extensively but still finds enough spots for heavy petting (and more)? Sign me up. I especially love a dirty dual POV with a female main character and male main character, as my bi brain gets to imagine I’m each narrator! Yes, he is very hot, and yes, she is very hot. Okay, now let’s talk about the plot. Raina Bloodgood has sworn vengeance on the Witch Collector for stealing her sister for the Frost King — he’s been a very bad boy. Her chance arises, but instead, she has to team up with him to save the whole empire and her sister. Ugh, I hate it when that happens to me! So now she’s torn between wanting to stick to her guns and kill him, save the world, or screw it all and screw him. I know which I’d pick.
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
I have a list of jobs I’d like to one day fuck, including firefighter, drummer, and doctor, to name a few. Well, you can add Dragon Rider to the list, and I’ll tell you that! Twenty-year-old Violet Sorrengail was working towards a quiet life in the Scribe Quadrant when her mom (also known as the commanding general lol) made her join the elite group of dragon riders. The only issue is that Violet is small and brittle, so it’s likely a death sentence. How will she survive among the toughest of the population? How will she get one of the few available dragons to bond with her? How will she resist sexy, dark Xaden Riorson, who’d like nothing more than to kill her as revenge for her mother’s actions? Tune in for electrifying sex scenes, political turmoil, hot academic settings, queer and disability representation, and witty dragons!!
A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J Maas
Let’s round this list off with the Queen of Romantasy herself, Miss Sarah J Maas. ACOTAR is by far her most famous series, but the other two also contain some enemies-to-lovers energy, as Sarah can’t resist a bit of hate sex, I guess. A Court of Thorns and Roses is loosely based on Beauty and the Beast, and the sequel A Court of Mist and Fury is a Hades and Persephone retelling, so both contain delicious enemies to lovers’ content. The 500-year-old Fae man and the scrawny human girl HATE each other. I wonder what will happen!!! I hope they don’t have to pretend to be attracted to each other… She smirked, he growled, she came.
