Enemies to Lovers Romantasy Books: What to Read, and What to Read Next
By Sera VossSci Fi Romance Author
Enemies to lovers is the trope romantasy is built on, and romantasy is the fastest growing corner of romance.
It is also the trope most often mislabeled.
Five that hold the enmity, sorted by how long it lasts:
- The Cruel Prince, Holly Black, 2018. Closed door, our estimate.
- Serpent & Dove, Shelby Mahurin, 2019. Open door.
- The Serpent and the Wings of Night, Carissa Broadbent, 2022. Open door.
- Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros, 2023. Open door.
- Quicksilver, Callie Hart, 2024. Open door.
This page sorts them two ways: how long the enmity actually holds, and whether the door stays open or closed.
Then it answers the question the shelf does not.
Where does the trope go when you want it without the magic.
Before the list, one disclosure.
The Starfall Accord is the book this site publishes and sells, so treat that pick as the author's own case for it rather than a neutral review.
If you already know you want it closed door and human only, read the first three chapters free right now.
Every other title on this page earned its place on the brief alone. Titles, authors, years and series details are reported from publicly available publisher and retailer listings; the door calls are our own.
Most Enemies to Lovers Romantasy Is Rivals to Lovers
The label sells.
The structure often does not match it.
Here is the test.
Remove the conflict from the book.
If the story loses nothing it was banter.
If the story collapses it was enmity.
| The test | Enemies to lovers | Rivals to lovers |
|---|---|---|
| Starts from | Real harm, real history | Competition, no malice |
| Each one wants | The other to lose | To win, and to be respected |
| Remove the conflict | The story collapses | The story survives |
| How long it holds | Most of the book | Often resolved in the first act |
In our view, a lot of romantasy tagged enemies to lovers passes the second test for the first hundred pages and fails it after that.
The enmity gets resolved early so the romance can start.
That is a rivals to lovers book wearing the more searchable label.
The difference between enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers is worth knowing before you trust a blurb.
Enemies to Lovers Romantasy Books, Sorted by How Long the Enmity Holds
Five titles. Each one is named, attributed, and described from publicly available listings.
Closed door means intimate scenes happen off the page.
Open door means they happen on it.
Heat level is our editorial estimate throughout.
That hedge is marked on every entry.
The book this site publishes is not on the list. The Starfall Accord is closed door and it is $4.99 USD, so naming it among five titles picked on merit would not be a neutral ranking.
Australian, EU and UK buyers see the exact GST or VAT inclusive price at checkout.
| Book | Year | How long the enmity holds | Door |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Cruel Prince, Holly Black | 2018 | The length of the novel | Closed |
| Serpent & Dove, Shelby Mahurin | 2019 | Held by the forced marriage | Open |
| The Serpent and the Wings of Night, Carissa Broadbent | 2022 | Held by the tournament | Open |
| Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros | 2023 | Genuine at the start, contested after | Open |
| Quicksilver, Callie Hart | 2024 | Held by the binding | Open |
Every door call in that column is our editorial estimate, not a publisher statement.
How far through the book the enmity is still doing work
Longer bar, later the antagonism resolves. The glyph shows the door.
The Cruel Prince
2018 · the length of the novel
Serpent & Dove
2019 · held by the forced marriage
The Serpent and the Wings of Night
2022 · held by the tournament
Fourth Wing
2023 · genuine at the start, contested after
Quicksilver
2024 · held by the binding
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black · 2018 · Book 1 of The Folk of the Air
Enmity holds: the length of the novel
A mortal girl raised inside the faerie High Court, and the prince who spends the book tormenting her.
The enmity is not decorative. He is cruel to her, deliberately, for reasons the book takes its time explaining.
Of the five here, this is the one closest to a closed door enemies to lovers, on our own door estimate.
Door call is our editorial estimate from the young adult category and publicly available retailer listings, not a publisher door label.
Serpent & Dove
Shelby Mahurin · 2019
Enmity holds: held by the forced marriage
A witch forced into marriage with the witch hunter sworn to hunt her kind, hiding what she is from him.
Neither can leave, and she cannot tell him the truth, so the enmity has nowhere to go but inward.
Door call is our editorial estimate, not a publisher statement.
The Serpent and the Wings of Night
Carissa Broadbent · 2022 · Book 1 of Crowns of Nyaxia
Enmity holds: held by the tournament
A human raised by a vampire king enters a tournament designed to kill her, allied with and against a rival competitor.
The alliance is tactical. The hostility is real. Both are true at once, which is what the trope is supposed to feel like.
Door call is our editorial estimate, not a publisher statement.
Fourth Wing
Rebecca Yarros · 2023 · Book 1 of The Empyrean
Enmity holds: genuine at the start, contested after
A war college, bonded dragons, and a rival who has every reason to want the narrator dead.
How long you think the enmity holds is the argument the whole fandom is having.
Door call is our editorial estimate, not a publisher statement.
Quicksilver
Callie Hart · 2024
Enmity holds: held by the binding
A human pulled into a fae realm and bound to a hostile fae swordsman.
The binding keeps the two in contact whether either wants it, which is what holds the antagonism in place.
Door call is our editorial estimate, not a publisher statement.
Where the Trope Goes Without the Magic
Sci fi romance runs the same trope against technology instead of magic.
The slow burn carries over. The forced proximity carries over. The morally gray love interest carries over.
What changes is the trap.
A magic world can always produce another kingdom, another court, another road out.
A ship cannot.
A ship has one corridor, one mess, one duty roster.
Whoever you cannot stand is on all three of them tomorrow, and the day after that.
The Starfall Accord runs that exact trap.
Closed door. Human only, no aliens. Dual point of view. Fourteen chapters of forced proximity before the first kiss, and a complete happily ever after with no cliffhanger.
Three chapters, no charge, no email box in the way.
Read the first three chapters freeThe Short Version
Enemies to lovers romantasy is easy to find and hard to trust.
In our view, the label is often applied to books where the enmity is gone by chapter ten.
The five above hold it longer than most, and one of them, on our own door estimate, holds it with the door closed.
If you want that combination without a magic system, the trope survives the move to space intact.
The Starfall Accord keeps the enmity load bearing into chapter fourteen, and keeps the door shut the whole way.
Closed door enemies to lovers, $4.99 USD.
See the Book · $4.99 · launching soonAustralian, EU and UK buyers see the exact GST or VAT inclusive price at checkout.
Bibliographic details above are reported from publicly available publisher and retailer listings, checked in August 2026. Heat levels are this site's editorial estimate, not publisher statements.
Frequently asked questions
What is enemies to lovers romantasy?
Romantasy is romance built inside a fantasy world, so the setting runs on magic, courts, or invented lore.
Enemies to lovers is the trope where two people begin as genuine opponents and end as a couple.
Enemies to lovers romantasy is the two combined: a magic world, and a central pair who start on opposite sides.
The relationship comes first. The magic is the pressure it happens under.
What is the difference between enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers?
Enemies means real harm, real history, and a reason to want the other person to lose.
Rivals means competition without malice, and the two can usually still respect each other.
Many books tagged enemies to lovers are rivals to lovers with sharper dialogue.
The test is simple: if removing the conflict would cost the story nothing, it was banter, not enmity.
Are enemies to lovers romantasy books usually spicy?
Most of the best known titles are open door, meaning intimate scenes happen on the page. That is our editorial estimate from retailer listings, not a publisher statement.
Closed door romantasy exists but it is a smaller and harder to find part of the shelf.
Heat level is not part of the enemies to lovers trope. The two are independent.
Check the publisher or retailer listing before buying if heat level matters to you.
Where does the trope go if I want it without magic?
Sci fi romance runs the same trope against technology instead of magic.
The slow burn, the forced proximity and the morally gray love interest all carry over.
Space adds something magic cannot: a sealed hull, where neither person can walk away.
See the romantasy and sci fi romance comparison for the full case.
How long should the enmity last?
There is no rule, but the strongest examples hold it across most of the book.
In The Starfall Accord the first kiss arrives in chapter fifteen of twenty two, after fourteen chapters of forced proximity.