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I’m so excited to share this with you all today, we have a guest here on Adventures in Literature to share her thoughts on the romance trope: Enemies to Lovers. Rhiannon Hargadon is a dark fantasy romance author that has a little something to share with you all regarding her thoughts on this trope. Check out what she has to say and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
Talking Tropes: Enemies to Lovers
In a recent survey, 42% of bookstagramers preferred Enemies to Lovers vs any other romance trope. When you have two characters who initially hate each other, you set the stage for a high conflict, high attraction romance where there is gradual development of emotional connection and friendship. (Hopefully) there’s witty banter and insults. The characters evolve over the course of the story, and move past their past grievances.
When done well, it is electric, and I personally love this trope. The combination of tension and chemistry, will-they-or-won’t-they…. it’s too much for my simple heart to resist. I love the emotions that come with miscommunication, arguments, forgiveness, and confessions. And the sex scenes… ah. Chef’s kiss.
The only problem, of course, is that publishers know how much I love this trope. I have been manipulated into buying books that claim to have an enemies to lovers plot, which in reality it is ‘insta-love’, with immediate attraction. I want to dive into a book that you’ve probably read and heard of, Fourth Wing, which some claimed was the best enemies to lovers book of the year… those people were liars.
Let’s get into it.
We get our first hint of Xaden on page 31, when Violet’s sister says to stay away from him, and he’ll kill you. Of course, she doesn’t say why so we don’t exactly know. Certainly wanting to kill a total stranger you’ve never met seems a little ridiculous since these are all teenagers, but hey, why not.
Violet lays eyes on him on page 36 (damn that was fast), and obviously he’s the best looking man she’s ever seen. “Astonishingly perfect” and “exquisite”, “flaming hot”, “scorching hot” (we aren’t even two paragraphs into this intro, my friends). And Violet asks him directly if he’s going to kill her. Of course he says no. Missed opportunity, imho.
Are they enemies yet? Clearly not. Meanwhile, we do have our first actual enemy, Jack, a guy who attempts to push Violet off the parapet (page 42). “Murder is etched in his narrowed, glacial blue eyes as he glares down at me… and where the tip of my dagger now indents the fabric of his breeches–against his balls.”
Keep reading and Xaden has done exactly nothing. By page 67, he’s guilty of watching Violet, and she said “maybe he’s plotting my death.” (p67). For sure she has an overactive imagination and Xaden should probably take up yoga, but they are still not enemies. Next big interaction is when Xaden calls out the fact that Dain and Violet know each other, assuming they are a couple (p83). She, of course, is like ohmygod he’s going to kill me in front of everyone, which he does not.
We have more interactions with Jack making fun of, challenging, and threatening Violet… And then Jack kills a first year. Violet spies on Xaden and friends from a perch in a tree, then he catches her. She throws knives at him, and he gives the knives back and suggests she use them on Jack. Which, she later does – after she throws them at Jack, Xaden gives her a good job girlie smile so full of smolder her panties practically fall off.
And let’s not forget that smokeshow of a scene where Xaden disarms her repeatedly and doesn’t hurt her at all. I could keep analyzing, but we are 20% into the book and it’s obvious that Fourth Wing is not an enemies to lovers. Which is really too bad. It would have been easy for Xaden to hold a grudge and be vicious like Jack, and it would have made Violet seem less ridiculous and his character arc more compelling.
True enemies to lovers stories are the ones where the characters hate, violently dislike, threaten, and are actually enemies for the first 20% of the book (or longer)? My top three recommendations, if you like this trope:
- Manacled (my personal roman empire). Time is precious. At any given moment, you could read Shakespeare or Hemingway, or hell, you could buy and read my book, and I would still tell you that you’re better off reading Manacled. It will destroy you and hollow out your bones. You will cry harder than you did when your childhood dog died. It is magnificent.
- The Witch Collector – This book yanked me throat first out of a reading slump where I’d DNF’d six books in a row. I love the main character, who is mute and on a mission to kill, and I love the dark and brooding MMC who is dying to toss her down in the snow and make her his. Not to be missed.
- The Ever King – A few months ago I did a challenge called “start at 69” (yep.) where you start reading at page 69 and if you still want to keep reading after ten pages, you go back to the beginning of the book. I completely fell for this pirate dark fantasy where the MMC is a sneaky shitbag and she’s his way to have revenge. The chemistry between the two main characters was off the charts, and I absolutely loved it.
What are your favorite enemies to lovers romantasy books? Tell me! I need them on my TBR!
Rhi
P.S. Despite what I said earlier, you might still consider reading my book, Queen of the Blood Throne, if you have nothing else to do. It is forced proximity, with a shadow daddy, mythology+dark fantasy and on KU.
About Rhiannon Hargadon
My mother likes to tell stories where I disappeared. Playing in the park, taking a walk, a long bike ride. I’d vanish into the forest, shimmy up a tree with a book. There was a willow I loved by a creek, and sometimes I even slept there. I was never afraid, alone out there in the dark. There was nothing to fear from water and trees or fairytales.
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Now I write folklore and mythology inspired dark fantasy. I prefer it to be fast paced, full of new worlds and creatures, sprinkled with steamy romance. Morally gray main and male characters are my favorite. I always fall hard for a villain.
Looking for book recs…
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