New to Enemies to Lovers? 9 Books to Start With
New to enemies to lovers? Start here. These nine books show the trope at its best — from slow-simmer rivalries to full scorched-earth — in the order that will hook you fastest.
For the full trope deep-dive and every flavor of enemies to lovers romance books, the complete catalog lives at victoriapinder.com. But right now, let us get into the list.
What Makes Enemies to Lovers Romance Work?
Before the list, a quick definition — because not every ‘they bickered once’ setup counts. True enemies to lovers romance requires three ingredients: a genuine reason the characters cannot trust each other, a force that keeps them in each other’s orbit anyway, and an emotional arc where both characters change because of the relationship. The tension must be earned on both sides. One-sided hostility is just drama. Mutual walls dismantling together — that is the trope.
The best enemies-to-lovers books also give you a moment about two-thirds through where the reader thinks ‘oh no, they are going to ruin this’ — and then the author makes it hurt before the healing. That is the heartbeat of the subgenre. Keep that shape in mind as you move through this list.
9 Enemies to Lovers Romance Books You Need Right Now
1. The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren
Olive and Ethan have despised each other at every family event for years. When a mass food-poisoning incident leaves them as the only two people standing at their siblings’ wedding reception, they end up taking the honeymoon trip together — while pretending to be the newlyweds. The enemies-to-lovers tension in this one comes from proximity plus performance plus the slow realization that everything Olive thought she knew about Ethan was wrong. It is funny, warm, and absolutely devastating in the best way.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Forbidden Earl from the Princes of Avce series. Two people forced into each other’s orbit by family obligation, fake circumstances covering real feelings, and a hero who is not at all who the heroine assumed. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
2. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Literary agent Nora Stephens keeps running into the same infuriating editor, Charlie Lastra, every time she turns around — including in the small North Carolina town where she escapes for a summer reset. They are professional rivals with clashing worldviews and a history of sharp exchanges, and the way Henry dismantles their mutual defenses chapter by chapter is masterclass-level slow burn. This one rewards patient readers with one of the most satisfying payoffs in recent contemporary romance.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Strong from the Brothers in Revenge series. Eva was hired to spy on Jake. She married him for cover. Then she fell for the man she was sent to betray. The professional-conflict-turned-personal emotional arc hits the same nerve as Book Lovers but with counter-espionage stakes layered on top. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
3. The Deal by Elle Kennedy
Hannah needs a fake boyfriend to make her ex jealous. Garrett needs a tutor to stay eligible to play hockey. What starts as a cold transaction between two people who genuinely irritate each other becomes one of the most beloved college sports romances in the genre. The Deal is the book that launched a thousand ‘I do not even like sports romance’ readers into full-blown series obsessions, and the enemies-to-lovers undercurrent — the way Garrett has to prove himself worthy of Hannah’s trust specifically — is what makes it endure.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Rocking Player, the first book in the Steel Series. Secret babies with pro athletes, fake marriages with power players — a Steel love is forged to last. Rocking Player is permafree on all retailers, so you can start the series today at zero cost. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
4. Powerless by Lauren Roberts
In a world where the powerless are hunted, Paedyn Gray has been hiding what she is her whole life. When she is thrown into a deadly competition alongside Kai Azer — the prince who enforces the very laws she has been breaking — the enemies-to-lovers tension becomes survival-level urgent. Roberts writes the push-pull between these two with extraordinary control, making every moment of reluctant alliance feel earned. If you want your enemies-to-lovers with genuine life-or-death stakes and a slow burn that lasts across volumes, Powerless delivers.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Played from the Brothers in Revenge series. Action, espionage, a displaced royal family fighting back against the conspiracy that stole their throne — and two people whose initial alliance is anything but trusting. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
5. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Alex and Poppy are best friends who take one trip together every summer — until one summer goes wrong and they stop speaking for two years. When Poppy convinces Alex to try one more trip, the reader slowly pieces together what actually happened between them. This is enemies-to-lovers in its most quiet, devastating form: not shouting matches but the kind of careful distance two people maintain when they are terrified of what the truth means. Henry writes longing better than almost anyone working in the genre today.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Secret Bet from the House of Morgan series. Second-chance romance, billionaire stakes, and the particular ache of two people who know exactly what they lost and cannot figure out how to stop protecting themselves long enough to reach for it again. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
6. One Day in December by Josie Silver
Laurie sees a man through a bus window and is immediately certain he is the one — and then he disappears. When she meets him again, he is her best friend’s boyfriend. What follows is years of doing the right thing while feelings refuse to stay buried. The enemies-to-lovers dynamic here is internal and circumstantial rather than combative, which makes it exquisitely painful. Silver makes you root for a couple you know cannot happen yet, and that tension is its own kind of torment.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Wrong Scot For Christmas from the Modern Scottish Lairds series. Miriam and Banner have every reason not to fall for each other — wrong timing, wrong circumstances, a Highland blizzard that makes every excuse irrelevant. The forced proximity strips away every polite defense, and what is left underneath is something neither of them planned for. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
I have to be honest with you about this book because it is one of my personal favorites in everything I have written. I was deep in a stretch of long, complex series books when I wrote Wrong Scot For Christmas, and there was something about the simplicity of two people, one castle, one impossible storm that freed me completely. Miriam came out fully formed in a way characters do not always do. Banner surprised me on every page. If you love snowbound romance with enemies-to-lovers tension that earns its HEA completely, this is the one.
7. The Kiss Curse by Erin Sterling
Gwyn Jones is a witch who absolutely does not need help from the warlock who has just arrived in Graves Glen. Cai Griffiths is charming, powerful, and exactly the kind of complication she cannot afford. Sterling writes paranormal enemies-to-lovers with a light touch and genuine warmth, and the small-town setting gives the romantic tension an extra layer of community stakes. This is the book to reach for when you want your enemies-to-lovers with magic, autumn atmosphere, and a hero who dismantles every defense with patience and humor rather than drama.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Scottish New Year Bride from the Modern Scottish Lairds series. A new year, a Highland estate, and two people whose first meeting was a disaster but whose second meeting will not let either of them walk away. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
8. The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas
Catalina Martin needs a date for her sister’s wedding in Spain and reluctantly accepts help from Aaron Blackford — her infuriating colleague who she is absolutely certain cannot stand her. Armas writes slow burn with enormous emotional intelligence, and the way she structures the gradual revelation that Aaron’s hostility was never actually hostility is some of the best misdirection in contemporary romance. If you have ever been wrong about someone in the most wonderful possible way, this book will wreck you.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Charming from the Brothers in Revenge series. Fake relationship, real feelings, and a hero whose walls come down so slowly and so completely that when they finally do, you feel it in your chest. Start the Brothers in Revenge prequel Irresistibly Lost for free on all retailers. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
9. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
Naomi’s fresh start in Knockemout, Virginia becomes significantly more complicated when she collides with Knox Morgan — the brooding, difficult, deeply unhelpful man who seems to have appointed himself the obstacle to her every plan. Score writes small-town enemies-to-lovers with tremendous plot momentum, giving her characters real external problems to solve alongside the internal romance arc. Knox is the kind of grumpy hero who earns every single piece of his redemption, and Naomi is exactly the sunshine presence that forces him to confront himself.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Secret Enemy from the House of Morgan series. Billionaire, forced proximity, small town — and a Morgan who did not expect the complications that followed him out of Miami. Secret Enemy is the newest release in the House of Morgan saga. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
Which Enemies to Lovers Sub-Trope Is Right for You?
Not all enemies-to-lovers romance books hit the same emotional register, and knowing which flavor you are craving saves you from picking up the wrong book at the wrong moment. Here is a quick guide to the sub-tropes represented in this list:
| Sub-Trope | Best For | Victoria Pinder Match |
|---|---|---|
| Forced proximity (snowbound/travel) | Readers who love slow burn with no escape | Wrong Scot For Christmas |
| Fake relationship covering real feelings | Readers who love performance anxiety romance | Irresistibly Charming, Irresistibly Strong |
| Professional rivals | Readers who love intellectual tension | Forbidden Earl, Secret Enemy |
| Action and espionage stakes | Readers who want plot AND romance equally | Irresistibly Played, Irresistibly Strong |
| Second chance with prior tension | Readers who love unresolved history payoffs | Secret Bet, Scottish Second Chance |
Where to Start With Victoria Pinder’s Enemies to Lovers Books
If you are new to Victoria Pinder’s catalog, the best entry points for enemies-to-lovers romance specifically are:
- Wrong Scot For Christmas — standalone-accessible, snowbound, forced proximity, immediate tension. Start here if you want Scottish setting and cozy atmosphere.
- Irresistibly Lost (the Brothers in Revenge prequel) — this is free on all retailers and sets up the entire Bentley family counter-espionage saga. Start here if you want action and a sprawling series to devour.
- Secret Crush — the first House of Morgan book, also permafree on all retailers. Start here if you want billionaire romance with a twenty-book family saga behind it.
- Forbidden Crown — the first Princes of Avce book, also permafree. Start here if you want royal romance with enemies-to-lovers tension at a kingdom level.
All four of those entry points cost you nothing. You can fall deep into enemies-to-lovers romance across four completely different worlds before you spend a single dollar.
Browse the complete enemies to lovers catalog at victoriapinder.com/books/.
Why the Modern Scottish Lairds Series Owns the Forced Proximity Sub-Trope
I want to spend a moment on the Modern Scottish Lairds series specifically because I think it is the most underrated corner of my catalog for enemies-to-lovers romance book readers. When people search for forced proximity romance or snowbound romance, they are often not finding it — and they absolutely should be.
The series works because the Scottish setting is load-bearing, not decorative. A Highland estate in a January blizzard is not a backdrop — it is a character. The walls are centuries old. The isolation is real. There is no cell service, no escape route, no polite social buffer to hide behind. Two people who would normally maintain perfect professional distance are forced into the kind of raw honesty that only happens when every external excuse has been stripped away.
Banner, in Wrong Scot For Christmas, is the kind of hero I love writing — someone who is not cold, exactly, but who has learned to hold everything at arm’s length because letting people in has cost him too much. Miriam arrives completely unplanned and refuses to be held at arm’s length. She does not do it by being relentlessly sunny or by fixing him. She does it by being too real, too honest, too much herself for him to categorize and manage. That is the heart of the best enemies-to-lovers romance: the heroine who makes the hero’s defenses irrelevant just by being exactly who she is.
The series also includes Scottish Wedding Date, Scottish Second Chance, and A Scot For Christmas — each with its own couple, its own brand of tension, and its own version of what happens when rugged men and unexpected women get trapped somewhere together by forces neither of them controls.
Find the full series at victoriapinder.com/scottish-highland-romance/.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the enemies to lovers romance trope exactly?
Enemies to lovers is a romance subgenre where two characters begin with genuine mutual hostility, mistrust, or conflict and gradually fall in love through forced proximity, circumstance, or a shared goal. The trope works best when both characters have real reasons not to trust each other and both experience an emotional transformation because of the relationship — not just one-sided thawing.
What are the best enemies to lovers romance books to read in 2026?
The most popular enemies to lovers romance books in 2026 include The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren, Book Lovers by Emily Henry, Powerless by Lauren Roberts, Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score, and The Spanish Love Deception by Elena Armas. For billionaire and royal enemies-to-lovers, Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Strong, Forbidden Earl, and Wrong Scot For Christmas are strong picks with free entry points in each series.
Where should I start with enemies to lovers romance books if I am new to the trope?
Start with a free book to sample the trope before investing. Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Lost (Brothers in Revenge prequel) is free on all retailers and launches a full counter-espionage enemies-to-lovers saga. Forbidden Crown (Princes of Avce Book 1) and Secret Crush (House of Morgan Book 1) are both also permafree across Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play.
What is the difference between enemies to lovers and hate to love romance?
Hate to love and enemies to lovers are used interchangeably in most reader communities, but there is a soft distinction: hate to love often implies a more intense initial animosity (genuine dislike or cruelty), while enemies to lovers can include professional rivalry, competing goals, or forced opposition without personal hatred. Both subgenres require the same core arc — real tension dissolving into genuine love through character change.
Are Victoria Pinder’s enemies to lovers books part of a series or standalones?
Most of Victoria Pinder’s enemies-to-lovers romance books are part of series with interconnected characters, but many read well as entry points without prior books. Wrong Scot For Christmas from the Modern Scottish Lairds series is particularly accessible as a first read. Irresistibly Strong (Brothers in Revenge) benefits from reading the free prequel first. All books are available wide on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play.
What Victoria Pinder books are free to start reading right now?
Victoria Pinder has four permafree series starters that are ideal for enemies-to-lovers fans: Secret Crush (House of Morgan Book 1), Irresistibly Lost (Brothers in Revenge prequel), Forbidden Crown (Princes of Avce Book 1), and Rocking Player (Steel Series Book 1). All are free permanently on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play.
