Excellent Hate to Love Romances

There’s something so delicious about two people going from “I’d kill you” to “I’d DIE for you” (okay, sometimes it’s not that dramatic, but shh) and so enemies to lovers are my favorite trope in the world.

Because of this, I’ve obviously devoured tons and tons of enemies to lovers books, and I would like to gift you all with the knowledge I’ve acquired throughout the years. I hope you feel the love.

Market of Monsters by Rebecca Schaeffer

🖤 Nita’s family has an interesting business – her mom kills and brings supernatural creatures to Nita, a master of dissection, and sells the dissected body parts on the black market. Being the wonderfully morally gray girl she is, Nita is more or less okay with this… until her mom brings home a very alive subject. 😮

🖤 If you’re looking for a slow-burn romance, I highly recommend this series! Not Even Bones is totally romance free, and the sequel, Only Ashes Remain, has just a touch of romance.

🖤 But that doesn’t mean that the characters aren’t slowly getting close to each other! They go from enemies to tentative allies to friends, and they’re only just now, at the end of the second book, crossing into lovers territory. 🥰

🖤 For those who are looking for a dark, disturbing book, this series is where you’ll find that. Market of Monsters has morally gray and villainous characters who are creepy as heck at times… and yet, I was rooting for them nonetheless.

Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough

🖤 Perfect student Harriet and bad-girl Will set out to make their all-female school a better place by creating clever comics and trying to embarrass their school into taking action. It’s a witty and fun story, but also realistic and real.

🖤 F/F enemies to lovers and opposites attract together is *chef’s kiss*.

🖤 Harriet and Will have such captivating, authentic voices, and I loved to have the chance of going into both their minds.

🖤 Be aware that Amelia Westlake is definitely on the slower side both in terms of how the relationship builds between the girls and how the plot progresses, so it may not be the best fit for those who like fast-paced books. For those who like slower books, though? Perfect.

The Last Word by Samantha Hastings

🖤 Lucinda is eagerly awaiting the conclusion to her favorite serial when the author unexpectedly dies, leaving her readers without concrete answers. Finding this unacceptable, Lucinda goes on a desperate search for information, enlisting her father’s young business partner and her old best friend, David, to help her.

🖤 Can I just say that The Last Word is the purest, loveliest book I’ve read in the past year? David and Lucinda make for one swoony couple, and I loved to see them slowly open up to each other.

🖤 At the same time, the novel goes deep into issues like sexism, particularly regarding Lucinda’s desire to work alongside her father. She’s brilliant at math – better than her father and David combined – and she should be able to use that talent, dammit!

These Broken Stars by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner

🖤 Lilac, daughter of the richest man in the universe, and Tarver, a soldier Lilac embarrassed in front of her friends, are the only survivors of a spaceship crash that leaves them alone on an abandoned planet.

🖤 This is such a tremendous example of enemies to lovers; these two hate each other but are forced to work together and help each other, otherwise they will not be able to survive. Forced proximity is such a tension filled trope, and one of my top favorites.

🖤The banter and snark between Lilac and Tarver had me entertained all through! 😂 Their interactions were so witty and fun, and I loved being in their heads.

Hidden Legacy by Ilona Andrews

🖤 Nevada Baylor is tasked with a the most challenging case of her detective career: she has to capture a Prime, the highest rank of magic user, who is able to burn anything and anyone. To survive and complete her mission, she is forced to join forces with Connor Rogan, and, well, co-operation between these two is not a piece of cake.

🖤 Connor promptly kidnaps Nevada on their first meeting, so uh, you can very easily say that they start out as enemies. They are both stubborn and used to getting their own way, so it takes a lot for them to start properly compromising and trusting each other.

🖤 The relationship development between them is incredibly well-done – it’s gradual and careful, and it all felt realistic and healthy.

🖤 Nevada’s family is entertaining as hell – from her cousins and siblings to her grandma and mom, they all made me beam so much. 🤗

Well Met by Jen DeLuca

🖤 Emily is roped into volunteering for the local Renaissance Faire alongside her teenaged niece, where she meets Simon, a perpetually irritated teacher who seems to make it a habit of being disapproving of everything she does. 😠

🖤 Well Met is one of the most endearing books I’ve read this year and I’m eagerly awaiting the second book in the series.

🖤 The characters captured my heart from the get go – Emily is genuinely good, and for all his grumpy-ness, Simon is far from being a bad person. We see more and more of what makes him act so controlled, and even though yes, he does fuck up once in a while, he always apologizes and shows that he can change. I simply loved these two together.

🖤 Emily’s relationship with her niece and sister made me so happy to read. Growing up, she and April weren’t very close because Emily is around ten years younger than April, but in the present they have a chance to reconnect and get to know each other. It was fun to see them interact and just have so much love and respect for each other despite not being terribly close.

Work for It by Talia Hibbert

🖤 Following a massive breach of privacy Olu has been unable to be physically intimate with anyone; he tries and tries but the revulsion he feels when touching someone isn’t going away… until he meets gruff, quiet Griff. Genuine attraction, however, is not a cure, and Griff, seeing Olu’s discomfort, tries to talk to Olu which doesn’t work out the way he intended. 😩 In his frustration, Olu lashes out at Griff, hurting his feelings and destroying the connection they had, creating a lust to hate to love dynamic.

🖤 Griff is the grumpy town outcast, while Olu is everyone’s favorite charmer, so the opposites attract trope is strong in this one.

🖤 Work For It is such an emotional, beautiful little novel that made me feel all the feels, and made me root for these characters from the get go.

A Prince on Paper by Alyssa Cole

🖤 On her flight back to her home country, Nya ends up in the same bed(room) as Johan, stepson to the king of Liechtienbourg and notorious party-boy who simultaneously annoys and fascinates her. Being in close proximity to each other at their friends’ wedding, the two have no other choice, but to get to know each other. 

🖤 Besides being an enemies to lovers romance, A Prince on Paper is also about the fake-engagement of the main characters, and who doesn’t love a good fake engagement story!?

🖤 Nya and Johan are two of my all time favorite characters – they are both such kind and genuine people, and I adored seeing them slowly falling for each other.

Let’s chat!

Do you enjoy enemies to lovers romances? Have you read any of these novels? What are your favorite hate to love romances?

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