10 best spicy fantasy enemies to lovers books, ranked
Cayenne. Jalapeño. Carolina Reaper. In peppers and literature, there are levels to spice. This list is a smattering, a smorgasbord of the spiciest enemies to lovers fantasy, for those who need more than a fade to black makeout sequence and their imagination to fill in the details.
From filthy to downright debauched, these novels are sure to tickle ya tastebuds, literary style. Here they are, the 10 best spicy fantasy enemies to lovers books, ranked.
10. From Blood and Ash
Jennifer L. Armentrout’s From Blood and Ash is the story of Poppy, a young woman with the misfortune of being chosen to become a Maiden. As the title suggests, a Maiden’s life is decidedly unsexy – Poppy must live untouched, unloved, and unworthy of and other visitors safe for the gods themselves. She’s accompanied by round the clock bodyguards, one of whom, the charming Hawke, is more than he lets on. After their relationship is marred by a betrayal, Poppy and Hawke have to form an uneasy alliance to save the realm from an ancient curse that threatens to cast it into darkness… all the while trying to keep their hands off one another. They succeed at one, and fail utterly at the other – I’ll leave it to you to guess which.
9. What Lies Beyond the Veil
The realm of mortals and fae were separated for over 400 years by the ethereal Veil, which served as a tenuous boundary between the two. The young Estrella lived at the edge of the Veil, drawn to its mysterious power, working as a gardener at the edge of the border. One day, the magical wall comes down, allowing the fae armies of Alfheimr to plunder and pillage the mortal plane and subjugate its people in the process. As it turns out, not all the fae are bloodthirsty bastards, and the warrior Caelum saves Estrella from certain death at the hands of the Wild Hunt. Bound by an uneasy truce, the pair embark on a quest to free the human world from fairy tyranny, and get some hanky panky going in the process.
8. The Book of Azreal
Amber Nicole’s The Book of Azreal is the story of a demonic warrior who didn’t get the memo. Rather than spreading Hell’s infernal gospel, the immortal warrior Dianna is on a quest to find the titular grimoire that contains the power to destroy a dark god called Samkiel. The god in question, as it turns out, isn’t all that bad of a guy. He’s been living in exile after falling out of power, and is simply trying to survive the onslaught of immortals that want his head on a spike. After a chance encounter with Samkiel, Dianna realizes that perhaps her immortal masters are wrong about the god, and maybe the desire to destroy Samkiel is nothing but a thinly veiled effort to take control of existence themselves. Pansexual shenanigans ensue between the pair and their many other lovers.
7. Serpent and Dove
Shelby Mahurin’s Serpent & Dove is the story of Louise le Blanc, a witch on the run. After fleeing from her coven, the young sorceress ekes out a living in the city of Cesarine – living on what she can acquire through a five finger discount. She’s hunted by Reid Diggory, an agent of an all powerful church that seeks to divorce witches from the mortal plane of existence. Ironically, Reid ends up betrothed to Louise after a public scandal forces them to marry in order to protect their reputations. Their mutual hatred of one another soon melts into admiration after the pair discover that they’re both victims of conservative social conditioning, and decide that the only way to unbrainwash each other is in the bedroom – all the while attempting to keep their mutual secrets safe from the powers that be.
6. The Witch Collector
Charissa Weaks’ The Witch Collector is the story of Raina Bloodgood, a 24 year old spell weaver who lives under constant threat of capture. Every harvest moon, the Witch Collector rides into town to take a witch to the home of the Frost King, to remain in his icy domain forevermore. After her sister is taken away, Raina hatches a plot to murder the Frost King and the Witch Collector that serves him. What she didn’t expect to happen was the Witch Collector, Alexus Thibault, to take a stand against his frozen former employer and become an unlikely ally. Alexus and Raina’s frosty relationship soon heats up as their quest to destroy mutual enemy ignites a mutual attraction – things get spicy from then on.
5. Fourth Wing
Violet Sorrengail was never supposed to be a dragon rider. What she WANTED to do was live the simple life of a scholar at Basgiath War College, save from being bitten, burned and brutalized by the most dangerous creatures in the realm. Her military mother had other plans, and signed Violet up to join the Rider Quadrant, which devote their often short lives flying dragons into battle. A beloved Booktok stalwart, Rebecca Yarros’ Fourth Wing depicts Violet’s transformation from fragile bookworm to full fledged aerial warrior. She’s helped along in her transformation by her charismatic squad leader Xaden, who initially hates her guts after what her mom did to his family during the war. After a new enemy rears its ugly head, Xaden puts aside his mistrust of the Sorrengail girl in order to save the kingdom – falling head over spurs in the process.
4. The Bridge Kingdom
Lara is a warrior princess trained for only one purpose: to destroy The Bridge Kingdom and its ruler King Aren with it. Why? Taxes. As its name suggests, The Bridge Kingdom serves as the only thoroughfare through a world plagued with magical storms, makes travels pay handsomely for passage. Sent on a plot to assassinate King Aren, Lara’s handlers get her close to the king in the most surefire way possible: through an arranged marriage. While Lara is keen to soak the sheets of her wedding bed in blood, she soon discovers that the Bridge Kingdom’s ruler isn’t as nefarious as his laws suggest, and is a prisoner of his sworn duty to protect his homeland and subjects. Uh oh, now Lara has to question whether or not assassination is the best option for political change, or if perhaps there’s a less violent (and way sexier) way to usher change into the world.
3. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
N.K. Jemisin’s The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms is on the milder side when it comes to spice, but makes up for its relative tameness with the incendiary creativity of its world building. The plot revolves around Yeine, a young woman who is summoned to the floating city of Sky after finding out that she is the rightful ruler of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, a world spanning empire under her grandfather’s control. In order to ensure her rule (and not get murdered by her royal rivals for the throne) Yeine finds that she must make a pact with the gods that serve the realm. One of these gods is Nahadoth, a god of darkness that gets an undeservedly bad rap. Throughout the course of the novel, their transactional relationship blossoms into one of mutual adoration – spurred on by a little mortal x divinity action.
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses
Unless you’ve been living under a digital rock, you’ve probably heard of Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses. A pioneering work of the New Romantasy genre, Maas’ fae fantasy series has put Booktok in an unrelenting chokehold. ACOTAR is the story of Feyre, a young huntress who runs afoul of the faerie powers that be after killing a magical wolf. As punishment for her crime, she’s taken as a captive to a faerie kingdom by a beast-like prince. Now a political prisoner, she’s forced to navigate the ever shifting courtly politics of her ethereal new home – along with the turbulent emotions of its movers and shakers. When it comes to spice, these stories are as unrelenting a bushel of jalapeños.
1. Kushiel’s Dart
When it comes to fantasy with spice, Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart is a genre OG. The story takes place in the realm of Terre d’Ange, a land settled by fallen angels who decreed that pleasure is the most sacred pursuit. After young Phèdre nó Delaunay is discovered to have been marked by the gods themselves, she’s trained as a courtesan and spy by theCourt of Night-Blooming Flowers, an elite organization of sex workers that are privy to all the realm’s dirty secrets. With god-given ability to experience pain as pleasure, Phèdre uncovers the secrets of the kingdom through seduction, all the while attempting to resist the allure of her bodyguard Joscelin – who has taken a vow of celibacy. While the two are on the same side politically, their differences lie in their ideologies surrounding sex. Joscelin preaches purity, while Phèdre experiences sex as a path to the divine. While the novel is penned with stunningly sweet prose, Carey isn’t afraid dirty things up when the plot demands. And oh does it demand.
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