9 Enemies to Lovers Romance Books for 2026
If you are looking for the best enemies to lovers romance books to read right now, you are in exactly the right place. Enemies to lovers is the trope where two people who should never work somehow become absolutely inevitable — and when it is done right, it is the most emotionally satisfying ride in all of romance. Below you will find nine books that do it exceptionally well, plus matching reads from Victoria Pinder’s catalog that hit the same nerve.
This list is built for readers who already know they love the trope and want their next great read — whether you are coming off a Sally Thorne binge or you just finished something by Emily Henry and need more of that electric, charged tension between two people who cannot stand each other yet cannot stay away. Every comp title below is a real published bestseller. Every Victoria Pinder recommendation links to a book you can grab today on your retailer of choice.
And if you want to explore the full trope collection, the canonical hub for enemies to lovers romance books on Victoria’s site has everything organized and ready to browse.
What Makes Enemies to Lovers Romance So Irresistible in 2026?
The enemies to lovers trope works because the conflict is baked in from page one. You do not have to manufacture misunderstanding — the tension is structural. Two people who want to want nothing to do with each other are forced into proximity by circumstance, contract, cover story, or catastrophe. Every moment of softening feels hard-won. Every kiss feels like a defeat and a victory at the same time.
What separates a great enemies to lovers book from a mediocre one is the quality of the reason they are enemies in the first place. Surface-level antagonism gets boring fast. The best versions of this trope give each character a real, emotionally grounded reason to resist — something that makes the reader understand both sides and root for the breakthrough anyway.
The nine books below — and Victoria Pinder’s matching recommendations — all clear that bar. These are enemies to lovers with stakes, with history, with genuine emotional architecture underneath the tension.
The 9 Best Enemies to Lovers Romance Books to Read Right Now
1. The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Lucy and Joshua share an office, share a job title, and share a mutual, enthusiastic loathing for each other — until a work trip changes absolutely everything. Thorne’s debut is the gold standard of workplace enemies to lovers: witty, slow-burn, and emotionally precise. The tension builds over the entire book and pays off completely.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Strong from the Brothers in Revenge series. Eva was hired to infiltrate the Bentley family, married Jake as cover, and then fell for the man she was sent to destroy. The workplace tension of The Hating Game becomes full counter-espionage here — and the emotional payoff hits just as hard. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
2. Beach Read by Emily Henry
January is a romance writer who has lost faith in love. Gus is a literary fiction author who has never believed in it. They are neighbors for a summer and make a bet: each will write in the other’s genre. What starts as competitive skepticism turns into the most honest relationship either of them has ever had. Henry’s prose is sharp and the emotional honesty cuts deep.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Favorite Crush from the Favorite Series. Jay Marshall needs a fake roommate. Penny needs stability. Neither one plans to feel anything real — and both of them absolutely do. The Miami heat and the slow crack of the pretense will give you the same bittersweet exhale Beach Read did. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
3. People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Alex and Poppy have been best friends for a decade. They take one vacation together every year. Something happened two summers ago that they have never talked about — and now they are trying one last trip to fix whatever broke between them. Emily Henry turns the tension of unsaid things into something almost unbearable in the best possible way. The enemies-to-almost-lovers-to-real-lovers arc is masterfully constructed.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Secret Bet from the House of Morgan series. Two people with history, a second chance neither of them asked for, and the weight of everything left unspoken. The Morgan world adds a layer of high-stakes family drama that deepens every emotional beat. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
4. Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score
Naomi follows her twin sister to a small town in Virginia and ends up stranded there when her sister disappears — and stuck with the grumpiest, most infuriating man she has ever met. Knox is not looking for a houseguest. He is definitely not looking for feelings. Score writes grumpy-sunshine with enemies-to-lovers undercurrents better than almost anyone, and the small-town setting makes every forced-proximity moment feel inevitable.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Hidden Gabriel from the Hidden Alphas series. Gabriel and Erica are snowbound in a haunted Scottish castle in Maine. He is guarded and impossible. She is not going anywhere. The grumpy-sunshine forced proximity is dialed all the way up and the enemies-to-something-more arc is deeply satisfying. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
5. The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling
Vivi put a hex on her ex nine years ago as a teenager. Now he is back in her small town and the hex is apparently still very active. Sterling blends witchy Southern atmosphere with sharp enemies-to-exes-to-lovers tension, and the emotional layer underneath the magical premise is genuinely moving. This is a book that works as fantasy romance and as a real story about getting a second chance you did not expect.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Played from the Brothers in Revenge series. Action adventure, real stakes, and two people on opposite sides of a conspiracy who keep ending up in the same room. The enemies tension here has genuine consequence — not just banter, but lives on the line. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
6. Part of Your World by Abby Jimenez
Alexis is a successful Chicago doctor. Daniel is a small-town guy who fixes up old houses. They should not work on paper and they both know it. Jimenez writes class-divide enemies-adjacent tension with extraordinary emotional intelligence — the conflict is not manufactured antagonism but real, structural incompatibility that the characters have to choose to overcome. This one will gut you.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Favorite Sin from the Favorite Series. A Miami billionaire, a secret baby, and two people whose worlds were never supposed to intersect. The Favorite Series handles the gap between glamour and reality with the same emotional honesty Jimenez brings — and the baby revelation lands like a freight train. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
7. Icebreaker by Hannah Grace
Anastasia is a figure skater who needs ice time. Nathan is a hockey player whose team has priority on the rink. They are forced to share and they are both furious about it. Grace writes competitive enemies-to-lovers with electric pacing and the sports world backdrop makes every interaction feel charged with something beyond just the personal. This book has some of the best slow-burn moments in recent romance.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Rocking Player from the Steel Series. Sports romance with a fake marriage premise — two people who start at odds and build something real under the pressure of pretending. The Steel Series is packed with secret babies and power plays, but Rocking Player’s energy is pure competitive chemistry. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
8. Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
Eve Brown is a disaster. Jacob Murrow is extremely organized and cannot stand disasters. She crashes into his life — literally — and ends up working for him while he recovers from injury. Hibbert writes enemies-to-lovers with the warmest possible core: underneath the snark and the friction, both characters are people who are just trying to figure out how to deserve the love that is right in front of them. Funny, sharp, and emotionally devastating.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Charming from the Brothers in Revenge series. A Bentley brother who controls everything meets a woman he absolutely cannot control. The fake marriage is the structure but the real story is two people learning they cannot keep their walls up when the other person sees through them. Start with the free prequel Irresistibly Lost if you want the full family saga context. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
9. Book Lovers by Emily Henry
Nora is a cutthroat literary agent who has read enough romance novels to know she is always the city girl — the one who stays behind while the hero falls for someone else. Then she keeps running into a difficult, compelling editor in the small town where she is supposed to be on vacation. Henry flips the small-town romance convention on its head and delivers enemies-to-lovers with genuine literary wit and emotional depth.
If you loved this, try Victoria Pinder’s Secret Enemy from the House of Morgan series. A Morgan who has run from the family legacy and a woman who represents everything he left behind — forced proximity in a small town with twenty books of family history underneath every conversation. This is the Morgan saga at its most intimate and most emotionally layered. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
Why the Favorite Series Belongs on Every Enemies to Lovers List
I want to make a specific case for the Favorite Series as essential reading for anyone who loves the enemies-to-lovers-adjacent space — specifically the fake relationship corner of it where two people agree to something transactional and then lose the plot entirely.
Jay Marshall does not want a real roommate. He wants a cover. Penny does not want feelings. She wants stability. The agreement is clean. The execution is anything but. What Victoria Pinder does in Favorite Crush is trace the exact moment when pretending stops working — when the habits of a fake relationship start feeling more honest than anything either character has done in years. That is the emotional engine of the best enemies-to-lovers stories: the lie that becomes the most truthful thing in the room.
Favorite Scandal and Favorite Sin push this further. Secret babies, high-stakes Miami power dynamics, and found family bonds that complicate every romantic decision. And if you are already in the House of Morgan world, watching Jennifer Gonzales appear in Brandon’s storyline is one of those reader rewards that makes a long series feel deeply interconnected.
The Favorite Series stands alone from the rest of Victoria’s catalog in one important way: it is the one where the enemy is not an outside threat or a conspiracy but the characters’ own resistance to being loved. That is a different kind of enemies to lovers. And it is one of my favorites she has written.
How to Pick Your Next Enemies to Lovers Read
Here is a quick guide if you want to match your mood to the right book on this list:
| If you want… | Read this comp title | Then try this Victoria Pinder book |
|---|---|---|
| Workplace slow-burn tension | The Hating Game | Irresistibly Strong |
| Fake relationship turned real | Beach Read | Favorite Crush |
| Second chance with history | People We Meet on Vacation | Secret Bet |
| Grumpy-sunshine forced proximity | Things We Never Got Over | Hidden Gabriel |
| High-stakes action undertones | The Ex Hex | Irresistibly Played |
| Class divide emotional depth | Part of Your World | Favorite Sin |
| Sports romance competition | Icebreaker | Rocking Player |
| Warm enemies-to-lovers with heart | Act Your Age, Eve Brown | Irresistibly Charming |
| Small town with literary wit | Book Lovers | Secret Enemy |
The interconnected romance series format that Victoria uses across the Brothers in Revenge, the Favorite Series, and the House of Morgan means you are never actually done. Every book opens a new door into a world you already love — which is exactly what the best enemies to lovers stories do. They make you want to stay.
For more recommendations organized by trope, reading order, and series entry point, browse the full collection at victoriapinder.com/books — everything is searchable and every book is available on all major retailers.
Start Reading Today — Free and Paid Entry Points
If you want to start with something free before you commit, here are the best entry points into Victoria’s enemies-to-lovers-adjacent catalog:
- Irresistibly Lost (Brothers in Revenge prequel) — free on all retailers. This is where the Bentley family saga begins, the conspiracy is seeded, and the enemies-to-lovers tension that runs through the entire series is established. Get it at victoriapinder.com/books.
- Secret Crush (House of Morgan Book 1) — also free on all retailers. This is the Morgan family saga entry point and it is the best first look at the world Jennifer Gonzales eventually dominates. Available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Google Play, and more.
- Favorite Crush — the Favorite Series opener for readers who want Miami heat, fake relationships, and found family without the espionage overlay. Available on all retailers.
DM Victoria the word IRRESISTIBLY for the complete Brothers in Revenge reading order, or DM FAVORITE for the full Favorite Series guide. You can also find everything organized at victoriapinder.com/romance-book-series.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best enemies to lovers romance books to read in 2026?
The best enemies to lovers romance books in 2026 include The Hating Game by Sally Thorne, Beach Read by Emily Henry, and Things We Never Got Over by Lucy Score for comp reads. For interconnected series with strong enemies dynamics, Victoria Pinder’s Irresistibly Strong and Favorite Crush deliver the same electric tension with the added reward of a larger cast of characters across multiple books.
What is enemies to lovers in romance?
Enemies to lovers is a romance trope where the two main characters begin with genuine conflict, rivalry, or antagonism and fall in love despite — and often because of — that friction. The best versions give each character a real, emotionally grounded reason to resist the other, making every moment of softening feel hard-won and the eventual relationship feel earned rather than convenient.
Where do I start with Victoria Pinder if I love enemies to lovers?
Start with Irresistibly Lost, the free prequel to Victoria Pinder’s Brothers in Revenge series. It introduces the Bentley family, the conspiracy that drives the entire saga, and the world Eva walks into in Irresistibly Strong — the book where the enemies to lovers arc is at its most intense. Both are available on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, and Google Play.
Are Victoria Pinder’s romance series interconnected standalones?
Yes. Victoria Pinder writes interconnected standalone romance series — each book features a complete couple with a full HEA, but characters from previous books appear throughout, and the world deepens with every entry. The Favorite Series, the Brothers in Revenge series, and the House of Morgan are the three best examples of this format in her catalog, with each series containing at least seven books.
What is the difference between enemies to lovers and fake dating in romance?
Enemies to lovers begins with active conflict or antagonism between characters who must overcome their resistance to fall in love. Fake dating begins with a deliberate pretense — two people agreeing to perform a relationship — where real feelings develop inside the fiction. The two tropes often overlap: in Irresistibly Strong, Eva’s cover story as Jake’s wife is fake dating, but her mission to destroy him makes her an enemy first, which intensifies every romantic beat.
What interconnected romance series should I read if I love standalone books?
If you love romance standalones but want the satisfaction of a larger world, interconnected series like Victoria Pinder’s Favorite Series, Brothers in Revenge, and House of Morgan are ideal. Every book resolves one couple’s story completely, so you never need to read out of order to get a happy ending — but reading the full series rewards you with recurring characters, expanding world-building, and payoffs that only land if you have been there from the beginning.
