9 Enemies to Lovers Romance Books for 2026
If you are hunting for the best enemies to lovers romance books to devour this year, you are in exactly the right place. The short answer: enemies to lovers is the trope where two characters begin in conflict — rivalry, opposition, active dislike — and fall in love through forced closeness, undeniable chemistry, and the slow, agonizing realization that the person they despised might be the only one who truly sees them. It is the tension that makes readers stay up until 2 AM turning pages.
I am USA Today Bestselling Author Victoria Pinder, and I have written over 100 novels — many of them built entirely on this trope. I want to share nine of my favorite examples of enemies to lovers done exactly right, including comp titles I genuinely love and the Victoria Pinder books I think pair with each one perfectly. For a full deep dive into every enemies to lovers romance I have published, visit my enemies to lovers romance books hub where every series is organized and waiting for you.
Enemies to lovers is a romance subgenre where the hero and heroine begin in direct opposition — as rivals, enemies, adversaries, or people who actively dislike each other — and fall in love through forced proximity, undeniable attraction, and emotional vulnerability. The conflict is the engine. The love is the reward. It is consistently the most-searched romance trope on every platform.
Why Enemies to Lovers Romance Hooks Readers So Deeply
Honestly, I have asked myself this question a hundred times while writing these books. What is it about two people who cannot stand each other that makes readers completely lose their minds? I think the answer is tension. Pure, uncut tension. When two characters are forced together and they are fighting both each other and their own feelings at the same time, every single scene crackles. Nothing is wasted. Every interaction carries the weight of everything they are not saying.
The best enemies to lovers stories are not about hate. They are about two people who are terrified they might actually be perfect for each other, and who spend the entire book running from that truth. When they finally stop running, the payoff is enormous because you felt every step of the journey. That is what I chase when I write this trope. That is what the nine books below deliver.
The 9 Best Enemies to Lovers Romance Books to Read in 2026
These nine picks span royal romance, billionaire drama, spy thriller romance, contemporary rivals, and everything in between. Every entry includes a comp title and the Victoria Pinder book I think you should read right after it.
1. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Two coworkers forced to share an office, share a job title, and compete for the same promotion — and somehow end up sharing everything else. Sally Thorne made enemies to lovers feel like a thriller and a love story at the same time, and the banter is legendary. If you finished this book and immediately needed another one, I have you covered.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Secret Crush in the House of Morgan series. Secret Crush is the book that started a twenty-book saga, and it is completely free on Apple Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play. Peter Morgan and his love interest circle each other in exactly the way Thorne fans will recognize — two people who should not work together and absolutely cannot stay away from each other.
2. Twisted Love by Ana Huang
He promised her brother he would watch over her. He did not expect to fall for her. Twisted Love is one of those books that grabbed the romance world by the throat and did not let go, partly because the brooding protective hero is done so well and partly because the enemies-to-lovers tension builds across the entire series. If you burned through the Twisted series and are wondering what to read next, I hear you.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Strong in the Brothers in Revenge series. Eva was hired to spy on Jake Bentley. She then married him for cover. And then she fell for the man she was sent to betray. The stakes are higher here because the Bentley brothers are fighting to reclaim a stolen throne and Eva came into their world to help bring them down. This series is gaining massive organic traction right now and Irresistibly Charming is free on all retailers to get you started.
3. A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Captured by a faerie lord she despises, Feyre slowly discovers the world she thought she understood is nothing like reality. Maas built an entire empire on enemies to lovers done at the highest possible emotional stakes — forced proximity in a literal prison that becomes something else entirely. Readers who love ACOTAR specifically love the slow realization that the enemy might be the only one who truly sees the heroine.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Forbidden Crown in the Princes of Avce series. The fictional kingdom of Avce is full of royals who are insufferable, powerful, and absolutely terrible at admitting they have feelings. Forbidden Crown is FREE on all retailers and it is the perfect starting point for a twelve-book royal saga built entirely on forced proximity, fake marriages, and enemies who cannot keep pretending.
4. The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling
A witch and a warlock who absolutely should not be attracted to each other and somehow cannot stop. Erin Sterling writes small-town romance with a fantasy edge that makes the enemies dynamic feel both grounded and deliciously heightened. The slow burn here is exceptional and the banter is the kind that makes you laugh out loud on public transit and embarrass yourself.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Cherished in the Virgin Cove series. Virgin Cove is a coastal small town where everyone knows everything and second chances happen whether you want them or not. Cherished is FREE on all retailers and it is the kind of book that feels like a warm afternoon by the water — until the tension kicks in and suddenly you are completely invested.
Ready for your next enemies to lovers read? DM me ENEMIES on Instagram and I will send you my complete enemies to lovers reading list!
5. It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
This one operates in a different emotional register than pure enemies to lovers but the push and pull between Lily and Ryle — the way she is drawn to someone who is also her greatest source of conflict — captures something essential about why this trope works. Hoover writes emotional tension with real stakes, and readers who loved this book often say they are chasing that same gut-punch feeling in everything they read after.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Found in the Brothers in Revenge series. This is the second book in the saga and it digs deeper into what happens when love and loyalty are pointed in opposite directions. The Bentley family’s fight to reclaim their throne is the backdrop but the emotional core is always two people who chose wrong things for right reasons and have to decide what they actually believe about each other.
6. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Best friends who should have stayed best friends — until one summer changed everything. Emily Henry is a master at the ‘why are these two so charged around each other’ slow burn, and the will-they-won’t-they tension in People We Meet on Vacation is carried entirely by two people who keep finding reasons to stay close even as they tell themselves it is a bad idea. This is warm enemies to lovers, the kind where the conflict is internal rather than combative.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Favorite Series Book 1 in the Favorite Series. Jay and Penny’s fake roommate, fake date arrangement in Miami is exactly this flavor of ‘we are definitely just friends’ tension that Emily Henry fans will recognize immediately. Miami heat, found family, and transactional romance that becomes devastatingly real.
7. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
She needs a fake date for her sister’s wedding in Spain. He volunteers. They cannot stand each other. You already know where this is going and you are going to love every single page of the journey anyway. Armas writes enemies to lovers with such specific, delightful detail that the rivals dynamic feels completely fresh. The will-they-won’t-they is prolonged perfectly and the payoff is enormous.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Rocking Player in the Steel Series. Secret babies, fake relationships, and the kind of pro athlete hero who is used to getting exactly what he wants until he meets the one woman who refuses to play along. Rocking Player is FREE on all retailers. The Steel Series has ten books and every single one delivers on that specific flavor of ‘this was supposed to be fake and now nothing about it feels fake.’
8. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
A figure skater and a hockey player forced to share ice time. Immediate enemies. Undeniable chemistry. Hannah Grace writes sports romance with the kind of competitive tension that makes enemies to lovers feel completely earned — two driven people who understand each other’s obsession with winning because they share it, and who slowly realize that understanding is actually intimacy in disguise.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Steel Family Book 1 in the Steel Series. The Steels are pro athletes and powerful players and every love in this series is forged under real pressure. If competitive, driven heroes who are terrible at vulnerability until suddenly they are not is your thing, the Steel series was written for you. The tagline is ‘a Steel love is forged to last’ and I mean every word of that.
9. The Deal by Elle Kennedy
A hockey player tutoring a college student in exchange for her help making his ex jealous. A fake relationship that neither of them was prepared for. Elle Kennedy essentially redefined new adult enemies to lovers romance with this book and the Off-Campus series, and the combination of banter, genuine emotional depth, and slow realization that the arrangement stopped being an arrangement a long time ago is executed perfectly.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Charming in the Brothers in Revenge series. Fake situations becoming devastatingly real is the engine of the entire Brothers in Revenge saga. Irresistibly Charming is FREE on all retailers and it is the perfect introduction to a series where every arrangement, every cover story, and every strategic alliance ends up meaning so much more than anyone planned. Start here and you will read all seven books back to back.
What Makes a Great Enemies to Lovers Romance in 2026?
I get asked this question constantly and I always give the same answer: the conflict has to be real. Not just ‘they were rude to each other once’ but actual, sustained, meaningful opposition. The reader needs to believe in the rivalry before they can believe in the love. If the enemies stage collapses too fast, the romance collapses with it.
The best enemies to lovers books in 2026 also give both characters something to lose by admitting they were wrong. It is not just about who wins the argument — it is about two people who built identities around not needing each other and have to tear those identities down to get to the truth. That vulnerability is what makes the eventual love scene, whether emotional or otherwise, feel like a revelation rather than just a plot beat.
I have written this trope across multiple series — the Brothers in Revenge saga, the Princes of Avce, the House of Morgan, the Steel series — and every time I approach it differently because every pairing deserves its own flavor of conflict. Royals fighting for a throne have a different enemy dynamic than spies fighting their own assignment. Rivals in a Miami billionaire world feel different than rivals in a Scottish castle during a blizzard. The trope is the frame. The characters are the story.
How to Find Your Next Enemies to Lovers Read
The best starting point depends entirely on which flavor of tension you love most. Here is a quick guide based on what you already know you enjoy:
| If you love this… | Try this Victoria Pinder series | Free starting point |
|---|---|---|
| Royal romance and fake marriages | Princes of Avce | Forbidden Crown (free) |
| Spy thriller romance and high stakes | Brothers in Revenge | Irresistibly Charming (free) |
| Billionaire dynasties and dark secrets | House of Morgan | Secret Crush (free) |
| Sports romance and competitive tension | Steel Series | Rocking Player (free) |
| Small town second chances | Virgin Cove | Cherished (free) |
Every single series listed above has a free entry point. I am a wide author — all of my books are available on Apple Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more. No subscription required. Just pick your flavor of tension and dive in.
For the complete organized list of every enemies to lovers book I have published, visit my full romance book catalog where every series is organized by trope and reading order. If you want specifically the royal romance corner of my catalog, the royal romance series page has everything Princes of Avce. For the spy thriller and counter-espionage side, the enemies to lovers hub is your best starting point.
A Personal Note on Why I Keep Writing This Trope
I have to be honest with you. I have written over 100 novels and enemies to lovers remains the trope I come back to most often, across the most different settings, because I find it endlessly true to real human experience. We do not always fall in love gracefully. Sometimes the person who ends up meaning the most to us is the one we spent the most energy resisting. I was thinking about exactly that when I wrote Eva in Irresistibly Strong — a woman whose whole assignment was opposition and who discovered that genuine connection was more powerful than any brief she had ever been handed.
Rossie in the Princes of Avce series was a different kind of truth. She was not sent to be anyone’s enemy. She was just a woman who had been humiliated and decided that rage and a contract marriage to a man who despised her was actually a reasonable response to her situation. Writing her was one of the most fun and most emotionally honest things I have ever done on a page. She says exactly what she thinks. She does not perform being okay. And she falls in love in spite of herself, which is the only way real falling ever works.
That is what I want for you as a reader. The feeling that these characters are falling for real, not for plot convenience. Every book on this list — mine and the comp titles — delivers that. I hope you find your next 2 AM read in here somewhere.
Start Reading: Your Free Entry Points
Every Victoria Pinder series mentioned in this post has a free book to get you started. Here is the complete list available right now on ALL retailers:
- Forbidden Crown (Princes of Avce Book 1) — FREE on Apple Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play
- Irresistibly Charming (Brothers in Revenge Book 3) — FREE on all retailers
- Secret Crush (House of Morgan Book 1) — FREE on all retailers
- Rocking Player (Steel Series Book 1) — FREE on all retailers
- Cherished (Virgin Cove Book 1) — FREE on all retailers
DM me the word ENEMIES on Instagram and I will personally send you my complete enemies to lovers reading list with reading order and recommendations matched to your taste. Or visit victoriapinder.com/books to browse every series by trope right now.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best enemies to lovers romance books to read in 2026?
The top enemies to lovers romance books in 2026 include The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Twisted Love by Ana Huang, Icebreaker by Hannah Grace, The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas, and series like the Brothers in Revenge saga and Princes of Avce by USA Today Bestselling Author Victoria Pinder. Each offers a distinct flavor of tension — from royal fake marriages to spy thriller romance to sports rivals.
What is the enemies to lovers trope in romance?
Enemies to lovers is a romance subgenre where the two main characters begin in active conflict or opposition — as rivals, adversaries, or people who genuinely dislike each other — and fall in love through forced proximity, undeniable chemistry, and emotional vulnerability. The tension between them is the engine of the story. It is consistently the most searched romance trope on platforms like TikTok and Goodreads.
Where should I start with Victoria Pinder enemies to lovers books?
The best free starting points are Secret Crush (House of Morgan Book 1), Forbidden Crown (Princes of Avce Book 1), Irresistibly Charming (Brothers in Revenge Book 3), Rocking Player (Steel Series Book 1), and Cherished (Virgin Cove Book 1). All are permanently free on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play. Secret Crush is the most-recommended first read.
What are the best royal enemies to lovers romance books?
For royal enemies to lovers romance, strong recommendations include A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and Victoria Pinder’s Princes of Avce series (12 books set in the fictional kingdom of Avce). Forbidden Crown is the free series starter and features a heroine who flees to Paris after being abandoned at the altar and enters a contract marriage with a royal marchese who begins as her enemy.
Are Victoria Pinder books available without ?
Yes. Victoria Pinder is a wide author, meaning all of her books are available on every major retailer with no subscription required. You can read her books on Apple Books, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more. Several books including Secret Crush, Forbidden Crown, Irresistibly Charming, Rocking Player, and Cherished are permanently free on all platforms.
What is the reading order for the Princes of Avce series?
The Princes of Avce series by Victoria Pinder starts with Forbidden Crown (Book 1) and continues through 12 books featuring different royals from the fictional kingdom of Avce. Each book focuses on a new couple with a standalone HEA while building the kingdom’s overarching story. Forbidden Crown is free on all retailers and is the recommended starting point. Visit victoriapinder.com/royal-romance/ for the complete reading order.
