By: Ranjan Sarkhell

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Opening Quote

“They hated each other. Then they didn’t. That’s the whole trope — and somehow it still works.”

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Introduction

You know that 2am moment. You just finished a book, you closed it, and now you’re just lying there staring at the ceiling because two people who spent 300 pages insulting each other just ruined you emotionally in the best possible way. 

Your heart is doing something weird. You’re not ready to start a new book yet, but you also can’t stop thinking about the last one.

That’s exactly the moment this post exists for.

Enemies to lovers is one of those tropes that never really goes out of style. Two people who can’t stand each other. Constant arguments. Way too much eye contact. 

And somehow, by the last chapter, you’re the one who’s crying because they finally admitted they were falling. It’s messy, it’s dramatic, and once you’ve read a good enemies to lovers book series, it’s hard to go back to anything softer.

So if you just closed a book and you’re sitting there thinking “okay, what next” — this is your list.

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Quick Takeaways

• Real, verified series across fantasy, contemporary, high school, billionaire, and dark/spicy romance
• Includes audiobook picks and international crossover reads
• A flowchart to help you find your next series in seconds
• No filler — every pick checked against real reviews and ratings

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How We Picked These

We didn’t just grab the same 10 titles every other list recycles. We checked what readers are actually recommending right now — ratings, reader threads, and what’s trending — and picked series that genuinely deliver on the trope, not just slap the label on the cover.

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Enemies to Lovers Book Series — Quick Comparison Table

#	Title	Author	Genre	Spice Level	Format
1	The Cruel Prince	Holly Black	Fantasy/YA	Mild	Book
2	Fourth Wing	Rebecca Yarros	Romantasy	High	Book + Audiobook
3	A Court of Mist and Fury	Sarah J. Maas	Fantasy	High	Book
4	Serpent & Dove	Shelby Mahurin	Fantasy	Moderate	Book
5	The Hating Game	Sally Thorne	Contemporary	Moderate	Book
6	Enemies to Lovers	Alisha Rai	Contemporary/Rom-Com	Moderate	Book + Audiobook
7	Hate to Want You	Alisha Rai	Contemporary	Moderate	Book
8	Paper Princess	Erin Watt	High School/YA	Mild	Book
9	Pride	Ibi Zoboi	High School/YA	Clean	Book
10	Twisted Love	Ana Huang	Billionaire Romance	High	Book
11	Taming Her Billionaire	Piper Sullivan	Billionaire Romance	Moderate	Book
12	Haunting Adeline	H.D. Carlton	Dark Romance	Explicit	Book
13	Butcher & Blackbird	Brynne Weaver	Dark Romance	Explicit	Book
14	Credence	Penelope Douglas	Dark Romance	Explicit	Book
15	These Violent Delights	Chloe Gong	Historical/International	Clean	Book

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Fantasy and Romantasy Picks

Picture a girl who was never supposed to survive in a world full of people who want her dead — and the one person in that world who hates her the most is also the one who keeps showing up right when she needs saving. That’s basically the setup behind almost every great fantasy enemies to lovers story, and it works every single time because the stakes make the tension feel real, not just petty.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
A mortal girl stuck in a cruel faerie court, and a prince who makes her life hell — until the hate turns into something neither of them can control. This is the book most fantasy readers point to when they explain the trope.

Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
Violet is small, fragile, and not built for war. Xaden is the deadliest rider at a school that kills its weak students on purpose. They’re forced together, they hate it, and readers have not stopped talking about this book since it came out.

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas
Technically book two in a series, but this is the one where the real enemies-to-lovers arc kicks in — Feyre and Rhysand’s relationship is messy, complicated, and exactly what fans of this trope live for.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
A witch and a witch hunter, forced into a marriage neither of them wanted. Classic setup, executed well.

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Contemporary Enemies to Lovers Books

Now imagine something smaller, quieter, but just as tense — you’re stuck in an elevator with the one coworker you genuinely cannot stand. It’s not moving. Neither of you is speaking. And somehow the silence is louder than any argument you’ve ever had. That’s contemporary enemies to lovers in one scene — no castles, no magic, just two people and way too much tension in a very small space.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
If you’ve never read a contemporary enemies to lovers book, start here. Two executive assistants who despise each other, stuck competing for the same promotion. It’s funny, it’s tense, and it’s the book most readers call “the purest version of this trope.”

Enemies to Lovers by Alisha Rai
Yes, that’s the actual title. A con artist and a librarian pretending to be an FBI agent, teaming up on a road trip to find his missing brother. It’s part rom-com, part heist story, and Alisha Rai — an award-winning name in the genre — makes the tension feel earned instead of forced.

Hate to Want You by Alisha Rai
Two people from rival families, one shared secret night a year, and a decade of pretending they don’t want each other. This one’s from her Forbidden Hearts series and it’s a favorite among longtime romance readers.

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High School and YA Enemies to Lovers Books

Now go back to being seventeen for a second. Remember that one person in your grade everyone assumed you’d never get along with — different friend group, different everything — except somehow you kept getting seated next to them, kept getting paired for every project, kept noticing them across the room. That’s the entire genre, minus the actual homework.

Paper Princess by Erin Watt
A girl with nothing, dropped into a mansion full of boys who hate her on sight. One of them hates her more than the rest — and that’s exactly the one she can’t stop thinking about.

Pride by Ibi Zoboi
A modern, own-voices retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in Brooklyn. Proof that this trope has been working since Jane Austen, and it still works today.

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Billionaire Romance Enemies to Lovers

Picture the boardroom version instead — someone who built an empire out of pure stubbornness, who has never once lost an argument in his life, walking into a meeting and realizing the one person standing in his way is the one person he can’t stop staring at. Money and power don’t cancel out tension. If anything, they make it worse.

Twisted Love by Ana Huang
A billionaire who swore off love, and the one woman who won’t back down from him. This series has become one of the most talked-about billionaire romance picks in the genre right now.

Taming Her Billionaire by Piper Sullivan
An art-world enemies to lovers story with real tension between ambition and attraction — a good pick if you want billionaire romance without losing the slow burn.

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Spicy and Slow-Burn Picks

This is the section where hate stops being metaphorical. These aren’t “we bicker and it’s cute” stories — these are the ones where the tension is so thick you can feel it through the page, and the payoff, when it finally comes, hits like a storm you saw coming from miles away and still weren’t ready for.

Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton
Dark, intense, not for everyone — but readers who love this trope pushed to its extreme keep coming back to this one.

Butcher & Blackbird by Brynne Weaver
Two rival serial killers who keep running into each other on the job. Dark, funny, and genuinely unique in how it plays with the trope.

Credence by Penelope Douglas
Frequently named one of the spiciest enemies to lovers books out there — go in aware it’s intense.

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Enemies to Lovers Audiobooks

Sometimes you don’t want to read the tension — you want to hear it. A good narrator can turn a sharp one-line insult into something that lands like a punch, just through tone alone. If you’ve never experienced enemies to lovers through audio, you’re genuinely missing half the experience.

Enemies to Lovers by Alisha Rai (audiobook)
Narrated by Soneela Nankani and Shahjehan Khan, this one runs just over 11 hours and captures the banter perfectly — audiobook narration is a big part of why this format works so well for enemies to lovers stories.

Fourth Wing (audiobook)
One of the most listened-to romantasy audiobooks in recent memory — a great pick if you’re new to audiobook romance.

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International and Chinese-Set Enemies to Lovers Reads

Now picture 1920s Shanghai — two rival gangs, two heirs who were raised to hate each other before they ever met, and a city on the edge of chaos around them. Some enemies to lovers stories don’t need magic or billionaires to raise the stakes. Sometimes history does that on its own.

These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
A Romeo and Juliet retelling set in 1920s Shanghai, following the heirs of two rival gangs. Not a traditional webnovel-style danmei pick, but the closest verified crossover for readers searching for Chinese-set enemies to lovers stories with real rival-family stakes.

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Which Enemies to Lovers Book Series Should You Read?

Not sure where to start? Answer this one question and find your perfect match.

Do you want magic and kingdoms, or real-world settings?

→ If MAGIC AND KINGDOMS:

Do you want dragons and war colleges?

• Yes → Fourth Wing

Do you want faerie courts and political intrigue?

• Yes → The Cruel Prince or A Court of Mist and Fury

Want witches and forbidden magic?

• Yes → Serpent & Dove

→ If REAL-WORLD SETTINGS:

Are you in high school/YA mode (lower stakes, sweet tension)?

• Yes → Paper Princess or Pride

Want office rivals and adult banter?

• Yes → The Hating Game or Enemies to Lovers by Alisha Rai

Want money, power, and billionaire drama?

• Yes → Twisted Love or Taming Her Billionaire

→ If YOU WANT SOMETHING SPECIFIC:

Craving spicy and explicit?
→ Haunting Adeline, Butcher & Blackbird, or Credence

Want to listen instead of read?
→ Enemies to Lovers (audiobook) or Fourth Wing (audiobook)

Want an international or historical setting?
→ These Violent Delights

New to the trope and don’t know where to start?
→ The Hating Game — the purest version of this trope out there.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Every reader who loves this trope has, at some point, stood in a bookstore or scrolled a library app for twenty minutes, unable to decide. That’s basically what this next part is for — the questions people actually ask when they’re stuck.

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Final Thoughts

Somewhere out there, someone just picked up one of these books for the first time, completely unaware of what’s about to happen to their heart. That’s the beauty of this trope — you always know how it ends, and it still gets you every single time.
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Closing Quote

“Every good hate story is just a love story that hasn’t confessed yet.”

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Link

Enemy Love Stories: Why We Can’t Stop Reading Them

STAR WOWEN HEART

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