They hate my guts. They love me not. They love me…
If you didn’t know, these are the three common stages of an enemies-to-lovers romance—arguably the best anything-to-lovers romance trope. Take that, friends looking to become more.
Don’t believe us? Well, with all of these incredible examples we have below, it would be pretty hard to disagree. A witch and a witch hunter? Two exes forced back into each other’s lives? Two people destined to kill each other, not fall in love? Do you have any idea how much attraction has to exist between you to fall in love with your mortal enemy?! The tension? You could cut it with a knife.
In honor of all the enemies who have fallen in love, here’s a list of some romances you definitely won’t hate to love. Oh and, obviously, spoiler alert!
30 Enemies-to-Lovers Romances
WE CAN’T HELP BUT ADORE
1. Isadora and Tristan
📚 The Enemy’s Daughter by Melissa Poett
Two sworn enemies caught between a deadly war and their undeniable attraction? We are sat!
It’s been thirty-seven years since the Republic was destroyed. Now two settlements—the five clans and the Kingsland—fight for control of the untainted land. Though the five clans are outnumbered, they’ve finally struck, killing Kingsland’s brutal leader.
In the war that follows, Isadora, an eighteen-year-old healer, risks her life to help injured soldiers. But when she stops an attack from Tristan, a Kingsland assassin, his soldiers shoot her with a poisoned arrow. As Isadora lies dying, Tristan does the unimaginable: He offers to save her life using a rare magic.
In choosing to live, Isadora is unknowingly bound to the mysterious Tristan. Worse, even acknowledging the attraction between them allows him to glean fragments of her memories and the very knowledge he needs to destroy the five clans. But their magical connection works both ways. So to save her people, Isadora will have to open her heart to her most cunning enemy. Because in a race for ultimate survival, she’ll need to destroy Tristan and his people first.
2. Irene and Aiden
📚 The Romance Rivalry by Susan Lee
Irene Park loves romance novels—so much so she’s made a career of them as an online book reviewer with a massive following. But Irene’s real life dating story? Non-existent.
So when she starts her freshman year of college, she sets her sights on finding true love using the one thing she really understands…romance book tropes.
If only it were that easy.
Enter Aiden Jeon, Irene’s online book review rival and biggest nemesis. When Aiden challenges her to see who can find love-by-trope first, he becomes the one person standing in her way to getting everything she wants both professionally and personally, too.
So when the competition takes an unexpected turn, forcing the two of them to have to partner in the ultimate trope, fake dating, Irene is not prepared for everything she believed about romance, and Aiden, to flip on its head.
As Irene tackles the challenges of college life, struggles to figure out what she really wants for herself, all while trying to win the race for love, Irene realizes the answers may not be found in a romance novel. Happily Ever Afters seem so easy on page.
But for Irene to find her ultimate HEA, she’ll have to get her nose out of the book and become the main character of her own story.
3. Nicole and Kyan
📚 The Temptation of Magic by Megan Scott
Nicole Palmer and her family have been in hiding for years from the Wake—a shadowy organization that governs all supernatural creatures. If the Wake discovers that Nicole is an Empyreal—a rare kind of creature that can shapeshift into any creature’s natural predator—they’ll force her to join them or kill her for resisting.
Like they did her mother.
Nicole is close to uncovering a secret message hidden in a supernatural art collection—a message from her mother about how to destroy the Wake for good. But when the collector is murdered and a key painting stolen, the Wake sends their best Empyreal assassin to track down the dangerous creature on the loose.
Kyan McCarter is handsome, perceptive, and the last person Nicole wants to work with to find the stolen painting. Their search sparks a powerful connection between them, but if Kyan finds out that Nicole is a rogue Empyreal, he’ll have no choice but to hunt her next. After all, no one disobeys the Wake and survives.
4. Lou and Reid
📚 Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin
As a huntsman of the Church, Reid Diggory has lived his life by one principle: Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. He’s literally grown up believing them to be evil. Enter Lou…
Lou is a criminal he apprehends, and a witch, unbeknownst to him. She’s hiding from her mother and coven, but survival on the streets of Cesarine leads her directly into Reid’s clutches. And through an unexpected turn of events, they end up wed. For her, it’s safety. The other witches won’t reach her in the base of their enemy. For him, it’s a headache. She’s loud, vulgar, fun, and fierce. He’s quiet and proper.
They obviously hate each other—and that’s without him even knowing her true identity. But the more time they spend together, the more their walls come down. And the more their walls come down, the more they realize that those strong feelings might not actually be hate, through and through. They could be something more.
So long as Lou’s mother doesn’t kill them both first.
5. Margot and Van
📚 Us in Ruins by Rachel Moore
The mythical Vase of Venus Aurelia hasn’t been seen since 1932, but Margot Rhodes is determined to change that.
Drawn by the vase’s supposed magical properties, Margot embarks on her school’s archaeological trip to Pompeii. Sure, it’s her first time holding a shovel, but she’s got something no one else does: lost teenage explorer Van Keane’s journal.
Poring over the poetic entries that serve as a map to the vase’s missing shards, Margot finds herself falling in love with the boy who wrote it a century ago. She’s shocked when her search leads her to a statue that looks exactly like Van, and then the statue comes to life.
Catapulted into the present, Van is nothing like the wordsmith Margot imagined. He’s all sharp edges, intent on retrieving the relic for all the wrong reasons. But it takes two to survive Venus’s death-defying challenges, and, together, Margot and Van must excavate the treasure—and their buried pasts—before their story ends in ruins.
With a blend of humor, magic, and love, Rachel Moore crafts another stand-alone adventure rom-com full of double- and triple-crosses, hilarious shenanigans, and frustration-fueled banter, where the best treasure is true love.
6. Juliette and Roma
📚 These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Enter: Shanghai, 1926. It’s a glamorous and gritty city, and the blood feud between two gangs runs the streets red.
But this is a Romeo and Juliet-inspired debut, so we would be remiss not to mention the two hearts at the center of this tale.
Juliette is a former flapper, the proud heir of the Scarlet Gang—a criminal network above the law. Their rivals? The White Flowers, who have fought the Scarlets for generations and now operate at the whims of their heir, Roma Montagov. And he wasn’t just Juliette’s first love. He was her first betrayal.
As things get worse—people start to whisper of a madness resulting in gangsters on both sides clawing their own throats out—Juliette and Roma must set their guns and grudges aside to work together. Only one can rule Shanghai’s streets—but first, they’ll need to make sure there’s a city to rule.
7. Iris and Roman
📚 Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross
When two young rival journalists find love through a magical connection, they must face the depths of hell, in a war among gods, to seal their fate forever.
After centuries of sleep, the gods are warring again. But eighteen-year-old Iris Winnow just wants to hold her family together. Her mother is suffering from addiction and her brother is missing from the front lines. Her best bet is to win the columnist promotion at the Oath Gazette.
To combat her worries, Iris writes letters to her brother and slips them beneath her wardrobe door, where they vanish—into the hands of Roman Kitt, her cold and handsome rival at the paper. When he anonymously writes Iris back, the two of them forge a connection that will follow Iris all the way to the front lines of battle: for her brother, the fate of mankind, and love.
8. Alizeh and Cyrus
📚 All This Twisted Glory by Tahereh Mafi
As the long-lost heir to the Jinn throne, Alizeh has finally found her people—and she might’ve found her crown. Cyrus, the mercurial ruler of Tulan, has offered her his kingdom in a twisted exchange: one that would begin with their marriage and end with his murder.
Cyrus’s dark reputation precedes him; all the world knows of his blood-soaked past. Killing him should be easy—and accepting his offer might be the only way to fulfill her destiny and save her people. But the more Alizeh learns of him, the more she questions whether the terrible stories about him are true.
Ensnared by secrets, Cyrus has ached for Alizeh since she first appeared in his dreams many months ago. Now that he knows those visions were planted by the devil, he can hardly bear to look at her—much less endure her company. But despite their best efforts to despise each other, Alizeh and Cyrus are drawn together over and over with an all-consuming thirst that threatens to destroy them both.
Meanwhile, Prince Kamran has arrived in Tulan, ready to exact revenge…
Layered with exquisite tension and heart-stopping romance, All This Twisted Glory is the explosive third book in the captivating, bestselling This Woven Kingdom series.
- Buy All This Twisted Glory now!
9. Warner and Juliette
📚 Shatter Me by Tahereh Mafi
Ahh, what more can we say about these two that we haven’t already said? Even with the hate, the tension between Juliette and Warner from the very beginning is so intense, it’s no surprise they become something way more then “enemies.” Even as a ruthless leader, he melts around Juliette and shows Juliette her true power. However, in his obsession to use Juliette as a weapon, he also hurts her. And when Juliette learns she can touch him without him feeling pain, that set us over the edge. This enemies to lovers story is golden!
No one knows why Juliette has such incredible power. It feels like a curse, a burden that one person alone could never bear. But The Reestablishment sees it as a gift, sees her as an opportunity. An opportunity for a deadly weapon. Juliette has never fought for herself before…
10. Jackie and Wilson
📚 It’s Not Me, It’s You by Alex Light
Jackie Myers is a fraud. Or she might be a genius—the jury’s still out.
The thing is, she secretly runs pleasebreakmyheart, a gone-viral account aimed at breaking hearts and ending relationships…. And she just used it to break up her insufferable eternal nemesis’s picture-perfect relationship.
Wilson is the buttoned-up, type A assistant manager of her nightmares—but it turns out he’s also, apparently, a really great boyfriend.
So with her conscience (and paycheck) on the line, Jackie decides there’s only one thing to do: She’s going to help Wilson win his ex-girlfriend back. Which should be easy, considering Jackie hates him…right?
11. Jude and Cardan
📚 The Cruel Prince by Holly Black
Cardan is even more beautiful than the rest. I hate him more than all the others. I hate him so much that sometimes when I look at him, I can hardly breathe.
Jude and Cardan are QUITE a pair. The hatred between this human and royal fae has enough tension to cut with a sword. They both use their position to challenge one another when no one else would ever dare and that “respect” is exactly what keeps the rage (and the passion) going.
Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences.
12. Bao and Linh
📚 A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
If Bao Nguyen had to describe himself, he’d say he was a rock. Steady and strong, but not particularly interesting. His grades are average, his social status unremarkable. He works at his parents’ pho restaurant, and even there, he is his parents’ fifth favorite employee. Not ideal.
If Linh Mai had to describe herself, she’d say she was a firecracker. Stable when unlit, but full of potential for joy and fire. She loves art and dreams pursuing a career in it. The only problem? Her parents rely on her in ways they’re not willing to admit, including working practically full-time at her family’s pho restaurant.
For years, the Mais and the Nguyens have been at odds, having owned competing, neighboring pho restaurants. Bao and Linh, who’ve avoided each other for most of their lives, both suspect that the feud stems from feelings much deeper than friendly competition.
But then a chance encounter brings Linh and Bao in the same vicinity despite their best efforts and sparks fly, leading them both to wonder what took so long for them to connect. But then, of course, they immediately remember.
Can Linh and Bao find love in the midst of feuding families and complicated histories?
13. Charlie and Alexa
📚 It’s a Love/Skate Relationship by Carli J. Corson
Charlie Porter is a force to be reckoned with, both on and off the hockey rink. When she accidentally starts a brawl after a game, she’s suspended from school, meaning no hockey this season—and no chance to play in front of college scouts.
Alexa Goldstein’s pairs skating partner was hurt in the fight, and with only four months until their next competition, pickings for a replacement are slim. So she strikes a deal with Charlie—skate with her at the competition well enough to place, and her Olympian mother will use her formidable connections to get Charlie in front of scouts at D-1 schools, even without her team.
It seems impossible, and not just because Charlie has never figure skated before. Where Charlie is powerful, Alexa is elegant; where Charlie is quick to blow up, Alexa is cold as ice. But as the frostiness between them starts to thaw, they begin to wonder if they’ve found a partner for more than just skating.
14. Emmy and Gabe
📚 Three Things About Emmy Crawford by Allison L. Bitz
There are three things high school senior Emmy Crawford will accomplish, no matter what:
- Taking Nationals in debate this season.
- Shielding her sister, Issy, from anything that could hurt her, especially her anxiety.
- Representing her family well, since her mom may be the next president.
And nothing can get in Emmy’s way. Not Crohn’s disease, even if her gut has been acting up. Not the paparazzi, who snap any photos they can get of the daughters of a presidential candidate. And definitely not her feelings for Gabe Castillo, the only debater in DC who stands a chance at beating her—and who she used to be on secret kissing terms with, before he ghosted her. When Gabe unexpectedly returns to the debate scene and Issy starts crushing on him, Emmy works harder than ever to keep her eyes on winning and off her aching heart and body, because the alternative means losing the three things that matter most.
15. Bailey and Charlie
📚 Betting on You by Lynn Painter
When seventeen-year-old Bailey starts a new job at a hotel waterpark, she is less than thrilled to see an old acquaintance is one of her coworkers. Bailey met Charlie a year ago on the long flight to Omaha, where she moved after her parents’ divorce. Charlie’s cynicism didn’t mix well with Bailey’s carefully well-behaved temperament, and his endless commentary was the irritating cherry on top of an already emotionally fraught trip.
Now, Bailey and Charlie are still polar opposites, but instead of everything about him rubbing Bailey the wrong way, she starts to look forward to hanging out and gossiping about the waterpark guests and their coworkers–particularly two who keep flirting with each other. Bailey and Charlie make a bet on whether or not the cozy pair will actually get together. Charlie insists that members of the opposite sex can’t just be friends, and Bailey is determined to prove him wrong.
Bailey and Charlie keep close track of the romantic progress of others while Charlie works to deflect the growing feelings he’s developed for Bailey. Terrified to lose her if his crush becomes known, what doesn’t help his agenda is Bailey and Charlie “fake dating” in order to disrupt the annoying pleasantries between Bailey’s mom and her mom’s new boyfriend. Soon, what Charlie was hoping to avoid becomes a reality as Bailey starts to see him as not only a friend she can rely on in the midst of family drama–but someone who makes her hands shake and heart race. But Charlie has a secret–a secret that involves Bailey and another bet Charlie may have made. Can the two make a real go of things…or has Charlie’s secret doomed them before they could start?
16. Anisa and Marlow
📚 If You’re Not the One by Farah Naz Rishi
Anisa Shirani is…well, perfect. A fact, not an opinion. Of course, it’s all a front to feed her own praise-obsessed ego. Behind closed doors, she is—some might say—a little slobbish and snobbish, and she works obsessively to maintain her God-given talents. Fate has favored her, but Ani knows better than anyone that fate is made by effort.
But she must, especially when all signs point to her being a top-notch lawyer with a top-notch education and being destined to marry Isaac, total heartthrob and eldest son of the richest family in the community. A perfect girl deserves a perfect life, and Ani’s perfect life is going exactly the way it should…
Until Ani’s parents announce they’re getting divorced.
Until Isaac shows all the signs of…cheating. Sort of.
Until she starts catching feelings for Marlow, an overly friendly weirdo she’s hated since the moment she laid eyes on him in class.
How can fate be so wrong?
17. Rochelle and Amira
📚 If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal
Lights. Camera. Love?
Rochelle “the Shell” Coleman is laser focused on only three things: becoming valedictorian, getting into Wharton, and, of course, taking down her annoyingly charismatic nemesis and only academic competition, Amira Rodriguez. However, despite her stellar grades, Rochelle’s college application is missing that extra special something: a job.
When Rochelle gets an opportunity to work at Horizon Cinemas, the beloved Black-owned movie theater, she begrudgingly jumps at the chance to boost her chances at getting into her dream school. There’s only one problem: Amira works there… and is also her boss.
Rochelle feels that working with Amira is its own kind of horror movie, but as the two begin working closely together, Rochelle starts to see Amira in a new light, one that may have her beginning to actually… like her?
But Horizon’s in trouble, and when mysterious things begin happening that make Horizon’s chances of staying open slimmer, it’s up to the employees to solve the mystery before it’s too late, but will love also find its way into the spotlight?
18. Khalid and Shahrzad
📚 The Wrath & the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh
Khalid, the eighteen-year-old Caliph of Khorasan, is a monster. Each night he takes a new wife, only to have her killed by sunrise.
Shahrzad is the first volunteer to become Khalid’s bride. She vows to stop his reign of terror—for the friend she lost, and all those who perished before her.
Incredibly, Shahrzad manages to survive her first morning…then the next.
Night after night, she mesmerizes the Caliph with her storytelling—at once buying time and digging deeper into the elusive boy-king’s past.
If Khalid is truly the murderous madman everyone says he is, how does Shahrzad find it so easy to fall for him?
19. Nina and Matthias
📚 Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
As a Drüskelle, Matthias was always taught to hate and hunt the Grisha. As a Grisha, Nina had good reason to fear Drüskelle as they saw her as an abomination. It isn’t until they end up shipwrecked and have to depend on one another for survival that they are able to set aside their prejudices to realize that there’s more than meets the eye.
Ketterdam: a bustling hub of international trade where anything can be had for the right price—and no one knows that better than criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker. Kaz is offered a chance at a deadly heist that could make him rich beyond his wildest dreams. But he can’t pull it off alone…
20. Effy and Preston
📚 A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
Bestselling author Ava Reid makes her YA debut in this dark academic fantasy perfect for fans of Melissa Albert and Elana K. Arnold.
Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.
But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.
Part historical fantasy, part rivals-to-lovers romance, part Gothic mystery, and all haunting, dreamlike atmosphere, Ava Reid’s powerful YA debut will lure in readers who loved The Atlas Six, House of Salt and Sorrows, or Girl, Serpent, Thorn.
21. Millie and Oliver
📚When You Get the Chance by Emma Lord
Nothing will get in the way of Millie Price’s dream to become a Broadway star. Not her lovable but super-introverted dad, who after raising Millie alone, doesn’t want to watch her leave home to pursue her dream. Not her pesky and ongoing drama club rival, Oliver, who is the very definition of Simmering Romantic Tension. And not the “Millie Moods,” the feelings of intense emotion that threaten to overwhelm, always at maddeningly inconvenient times. Millie needs an ally. And when a left-open browser brings Millie to her dad’s embarrassingly moody LiveJournal from 2003, Millie knows just what to do. She’s going to find her mom.
There’s Steph, a still-aspiring stage actress and receptionist at a talent agency. There’s Farrah, ethereal dance teacher who clearly doesn’t have the two left feet Millie has. And Beth, the chipper and sweet stage enthusiast with an equally exuberant fifteen-year-old daughter (A possible sister?! This is getting out of hand). But how can you find a new part of your life and expect it to fit into your old one, without leaving any marks? And why is it that when you go looking for the past, it somehow keeps bringing you back to what you’ve had all along?
22. Karina and Malik
📚 A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown
The first time we heard about this book, it was accompanied by a tease that described it as “a little bit Aladdin and Jasmine, but if they had to kill each other.” It wasn’t wrong—but also, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is so much more than that.
To save the only family that she has—or, had—left, Karina turns to dark magic, and the cost is the heart of a king. So, as Crown Princess of Ziran, she offers her hand in marriage to the victor of the Solstasia competition. Little does she know, Malik has struck a fatal deal with a vengeful spirit outside of the city. He needs to kill Karina for his sister’s freedom.
As the demands of their futures draw them together, Malik and Karina will find that their initial goals won’t be made any easier by the intense emotions between them.
23. Célie and Michal
📚 The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin
This dark and thrilling vampire romance—set in the world of the New York Times bestselling Serpent & Dove series—is perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas!
Célie Tremblay has always been a good girl: kind and beautiful, a daughter of whom every parent would be proud. She surprises the entire kingdom when she defies tradition to become the first huntswoman—including her new captain and fiancé, Jean Luc, who rules the huntsmen with an iron fist. He isn’t the only one concerned for Célie’s safety, however. Though her friends try to protect her from the horrors of her past, mysterious whispers still haunt her, and a new evil is rising in Belterra—leaving bodies in its wake, each one drained of blood.
Determined to prove herself in her new role, Célie tracks the killer to the lair of Les Éternels—ancient creatures only spoken about in nursery rhymes—and catches the attention of their king, a monster who hides his plans for her behind beautiful words and sharp smiles. Now Célie has new reason to fear the dark because the closer he gets, the more tempted she feels to give in to his dark hunger—and her own.
24. Annika and Lenox
📚 A Thousand Heartbeats by Kiera Cass
“Love has a sound. It sounds like a thousand heartbeats happening at the same time.”
Princess Annika has lived a life of comfort—but no amount of luxuries can change the fact that her life isn’t her own to control. The king, once her loving father, has gone cold, and Annika will soon be forced into a loveless marriage for political gain.
Miles away, small comforts are few and far between for Lennox. He has devoted his life to the Dahrainian army, hoping to one day help them reclaim the throne that was stolen from them. For Lennox, the idea of love is merely a distraction—nothing will stand in the way of fighting for his people.
But when love, against all odds, finds them both, they are bound by its call. They can’t possibly be together—but the irresistible thrum of a thousand heartbeats won’t let them stay apart.
Kiera Cass brings her signature sparkling romance to this beautiful story of star-crossed lovers and long-held secrets.
25. Will and Katherine
📚 Dark Rise by C.S. Pacat
In this stunning new fantasy novel from international bestselling author C. S. Pacat, heroes and villains of a long-forgotten war are reborn and begin to draw new battle lines.
Sixteen-year-old dock boy Will is on the run, pursued by the men who killed his mother. Then an old servant tells him of his destiny to fight beside the Stewards, who have sworn to protect humanity if the Dark King ever returns. Will is thrust into a world of magic, where he starts training for a vital role in the oncoming battle against the Dark.
As London is threatened and old enmities are awakened, Will must stand with the last heroes of the Light to prevent the fate that destroyed their world from returning to destroy his own.
26. Lily and Leo
📚 The Rosewood Hunt by Mackenzie Reed
Irresistible intrigue, captivating suspense, a swoony friends-to-rivals-to-lovers romance, and heartbreaking betrayal drive this thrilling debut novel that is perfect for fans of The Inheritance Games and Knives Out.
Lily Rosewood has lived with her grandmother since her dad’s death a year ago. She and Gram have always been close—Gram’s role as chair of their family’s luxury coat business has inspired Lily’s love of fashion, and Lily hopes to follow in Gram’s footsteps one day.
Then Gram dies suddenly, and Lily’s world is upended. Gram’s quarter of a billion dollar fortune is missing, and Lily has been banned from the manor she and Gram shared.
But Gram has always loved games, and even in death, she still has a few tricks up her couture sleeve. When Lily and three other seemingly random teens get letters from Gram sending them on a treasure hunt around Rosetown, they hope the fortune will be the reward. But they’re not the only ones hunting for Gram’s treasure, and soon the hunt becomes more dangerous than they ever could have imagined.
27. Jordan and Cindy (kind of)
📚 With or Without You by Eric Smith
New from Eric Smith comes a delightful YA rom-com about two teens caught in the middle of their families’ orchestrated rivalry between their Philly cheesesteak food trucks.
All’s fair in love and (food truck) war.
Everyone knows Jordan Plazas and Cindy Ortiz hate each other.
According to many viral videos of their public shouting matches, the Plazas and Ortiz families have a well-known food truck rivalry. Jordan and Cindy have spent all of high school making cheesesteaks and slinging insults at each other across their shared Philadelphia street.
But the truth? They’re in love, and it’s all just an act for the tourists.
When the fake feud lands them a reality tv show pilot, Jordan and Cindy find themselves having to lie on a much bigger scale. Trapped between pursuing their dreams or their love, can they find a way to have their cheesesteak and eat it too?
28. Natasha and Della
📚 The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters
Lush and chilling, with razor-sharp edges and an iron core of hope, this bewitching, powerhouse novel of two girls fighting back against the violence the world visits on them will stun and enchant readers.
Girls have been going missing in the woods…
When Natasha’s sister disappears, Natasha desperately turns to Della, a local girl rumored to be a witch, in the hopes that magic will bring her sister home.
But Della has her own secrets to hide. She thinks the beast who’s responsible for the disappearances is her own mother—who was turned into a terrible monster by magic gone wrong.
Natasha is angry. Della has little to lose. Both are each other’s only hope.
29. Zuri and Darius
📚 Pride by Ibi Zoboi
When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri isn’t impressed with the judgmental and arrogant Darius, even as Zuri’s older sister starts falling for his brother, Ainsley. Yet as Zuri and Darius are forced to find common ground, their initial dislike shifts into an unexpected understanding… and something more.
Zuri Benitez has pride. Brooklyn pride, family pride, and pride in her Afro-Latino roots. But pride might not be enough to save her rapidly gentrifying neighborhood from becoming unrecognizable. When the wealthy Darcy family moves in across the street, Zuri wants nothing to do with their two teenage sons, even as her older sister, Janae, starts to fall for the charming Ainsley. She especially can’t stand the judgmental and arrogant Darius…
30. Jules and Liam
📚 Everless by Sara Holland
Jules is on a mission, and nothing can stop her. Except maybe… Liam?
In a land where time is money, Jules takes a job at the Everless estate to help her dying father. A prince at Everless, Liam, comes off cold and staunch—and even dangerous—from the very beginning. But, as Jules’ journey unfolds, she learns that there is more than meets the eye. Does Liam stop Jules from completing her task? Or does he, despite all the odds, help her?
This is a fantasy that plays with everything tied to one’s identity—their life, their legacy, their inheritance. And their love, obviously.
Are you team enemies- or friends-to-lovers? Let us know down below!