There exists no sweeter alchemy in all the pages of romantasy than the transformation of bitter rivals into devoted lovers. It is a peculiar magic—watching two souls who clash like flint and steel slowly discover that the very sparks flying between them were never hatred at all, but something far more dangerous and delicious.
If you have wandered the thorny courts of ACOTAR, trembled at the dark bargains of Kingdom of the Wicked, or felt your heart race through From Blood and Ash, then you know this enchantment well. Here, dear reader, are the finest enemies to lovers romantasy books to devour in 2025, 2026, and beyond.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
One might say this tale wrote the very rules that other enemies-to-lovers stories now follow. Jude Duarte was but seven years old when wicked faeries stole her away to the High Court of Faerie. Ten years hence, she wants nothing more than to belong—yet Prince Cardan, youngest and most terrible son of the High King, makes her mortal existence a daily torment.
The cruelty between them is not pretend, and therein lies the exquisite tension. Cardan’s bullying carries genuine menace, while Jude refuses to bow. Their hatred transforms through scheming and court intrigue into something neither expected. Holly Black crafted a masterwork of slow-burning yearning wrapped in political machinations.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent
Picture, if you will, a human woman raised among vampires—the only mortal daughter of a vampire king. Oraya has spent her life proving she belongs in a world designed to devour her. Her one chance for true belonging lies in the Kejari, a brutal tournament held by the goddess of death herself.
Enter Raihn: cocky, powerful, and infuriatingly impossible to resist. He is everything Oraya should despise—a ruthless vampire from a rival house, a threat to everything she holds dear. Yet in this deadly competition, enemies must sometimes become allies, and allies sometimes become far more. Readers describe the tension as “slow-burn perfection.”
Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
In the kingdom of Navarre, dragon riders are the elite—and violet-haired Violet Sorrengail never expected to become one. Frail where others are strong, she must survive a war college where weakness means death. Complicating matters considerably is Xaden Riorson, whose father led a rebellion that Violet’s mother crushed.
Xaden has publicly sworn to kill her. She has every reason to loathe him. Yet when dragons bring them together in unexpected ways, Violet discovers that her most dangerous enemy might also be her fiercest protector. The dragons themselves are magnificently brutal, and the romance is combustible.
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
Princess Lara has trained her entire life for one purpose: to destroy the Bridge Kingdom from within. Sent as a bride to King Aren under the guise of peace, she carries secrets that could topple nations. Her mission is clear—seduce him, learn his weaknesses, and deliver his kingdom to her father.
What Lara does not anticipate is finding a ruler who genuinely loves his people, or discovering that everything she believed about her enemy might be lies. The cat-and-mouse tension is exquisite, with both characters harboring deadly secrets while falling helplessly into attraction. They nearly kill each other on multiple occasions before passion blooms.
Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
In a world where gods wage war through mortal lands, eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow pours her heart into letters she slips beneath her wardrobe door, addressed to her brother on the front lines. But magic, being the mischievous thing it is, redirects her words into the hands of Roman Kitt—her cold, handsome rival at the newspaper where they both compete for the same promotion.
Through anonymous correspondence, enemies become confidants become something far more tender. Rebecca Ross weaves a story that feels like black tea and typewriter ink, where the battlefield of love mirrors the actual war around them. This won Goodreads Best YA Fantasy of 2023 for excellent reason.
The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem
Ten years ago, young Sylvia watched her kingdom burn and her family murdered. Now she survives in hiding, her magic suppressed, her true identity as Jasad’s lost heir a deadly secret. When Arin of Nizahl—heir to the very kingdom that destroyed hers—discovers her power, he offers a terrible bargain: compete as his champion in exchange for her life.
This Egyptian-inspired fantasy crackles with tension as two people who should be mortal enemies are forced into close quarters. Sylvia must hide her identity while hatred slowly transforms into something complicated and consuming. The cultural richness and slow-burn intensity have made this a Sunday Times bestseller.
Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
In a French-inspired kingdom where witches burn, Lou has survived by hiding her magic and living as a thief. Reid Diggory, devoted servant of the Church, has dedicated his life to hunting her kind. When a disastrous twist of fate forces them into holy matrimony, the hunter and hunted must share a roof.
Lou’s irreverence clashes gloriously with Reid’s rigid devotion. She is everything he has been taught to destroy; he is everything she has learned to fear. Yet living together reveals uncomfortable truths about prejudice and love. Sarah J. Maas called it “a sparkling and fully realized heroine, an intricate and deadly system of magic, and a searing romance.”
One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig
Elspeth Spindle carries a monster in her mind. She calls him the Nightmare—an ancient spirit who protects her secrets but slowly consumes her sanity. In her mist-locked kingdom, such magic is dangerous, and discovery means death. Everything changes when she encounters a mysterious highwayman who turns out to be the King’s own nephew, Captain of the Destriers, and guilty of high treason.
Their quest to cure the kingdom’s dark magical infection forces enemies into allies. The gothic atmosphere drips from every page, and the romance between Elspeth and Ravyn builds with delicious tension. For those who loved the inner circle friendship of ACOTAR, similar warmth awaits.
A Shadow in the Ember by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Before Poppy and Casteel, there was Seraphena and Nyktos. Sera has been raised for one purpose: to make the Primal of Death fall in love with her, become his weakness, and then destroy him. Her entire existence has been preparation for this assassination.
Yet when Sera finally meets Nyktos, nothing goes according to plan. Their chemistry ignites the pages while Sera struggles between her mission and her heart. As a prequel to From Blood and Ash, this delivers all the tension and heat readers adore, with an arranged marriage that becomes wonderfully complicated.
Quicksilver by Callie Hart
Saeris Fane guards her secrets carefully—her strange powers, her pickpocket past, her survival in a world ruled by an Undying Queen. When she accidentally reopens a gateway between realms and finds herself stranded in a land of ice and fae warriors, her careful life shatters completely.
Binding herself to Kingfisher, a handsome fae warrior with nefarious agendas, proves both salvation and complication. He will use her magic to protect his people regardless of the cost to her; she will fight for survival while attraction grows between them. This BookTok sensation offers razor-sharp banter and blistering romance.
As Many Souls as Stars by Natasha Siegel
This 2025 release spins a dark sapphic romance across centuries. Cybil Harding is born cursed—a First Daughter whose chaotic magic dooms everyone around her. Miriam Richter is a demon forged by dark arts, consuming souls to survive her eternal existence.
When these two beings meet, obsession sparks between them. Miriam sees a soul so bright she must claim it; Cybil finds someone who finally understands her isolation. Their cat-and-mouse chase through lifetimes explores the blurry line between love and destruction. For fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, this gothic tale enchants.
Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport
Releasing October 2025, this dark romantasy features Princess Kadeesha, a warrior who wants nothing to do with fae politics. Bound since infancy to marry the tyrannical Hyperion High King, she has spent her life being told what to do by men. When circumstances throw her into alliance with Malachi—a morally grey shadow king with void magic—the knife-to-throat tension begins.
These are actual enemies, not merely people who bicker. The fantasy plot and romance plot sit side by side, neither sacrificing for the other. Kadeesha and Malachi match each other in power and wit, their every interaction sizzling with undeniable tension.
A Vow of Shadow and Blood by Charlene Antrobus
This 2025 debut tells of Adina Barron, bred to serve vampires but hiding a deadly secret: her blood can become poison to them. When her sister’s life hangs in the balance, Adina must use this ability to assassinate the Crown Prince. Embedding herself in his life proves easy enough; making the kill proves far more complicated.
Fate keeps drawing Adina and Prince Karius together while war whispers grow louder. Soon she must choose between her sister, her kingdom, and her treacherous heart. Readers praise Adina as a truly badass heroine whose forced proximity with her vampire target creates delicious slow-burn tension.
Why We Love Enemies to Lovers in Romantasy
The enemies to lovers trope works magnificently in fantasy romance because the stakes are already impossibly high. When your beloved’s people destroyed your kingdom, when magic makes you natural opponents, when duty demands you become enemies—the surrender to love requires true transformation.
These stories remind us that understanding can bloom from opposition, that the person who challenges us most fiercely might also see us most clearly. In worlds of magic and danger, such love becomes its own kind of spell.
Whether you seek slow-burn tension, political intrigue wrapped in romance, or simply the delicious agony of watching two people deny their attraction, these enemies to lovers romantasy books deliver magnificent reading. May your pages be full of sparks, your ships be full of tension, and your happily ever afters be well earned.
