Specified Enemies to Lovers Trope - Fantasy EditionI originally made this list because as a lover of this trope, it's actually really, really difficult to find legitimate (and accurate) recommendation for books with this trope. I often leave books with disappointment when I didn't get what I was originally looking for, but these jackpots I can personally guarantee would not let you know if you're craving this trope (if I disappoint you feel free to take it out on me through email haha, but I promise you that won't happen because if you read closely at my descriptions for each book, you'll get exactly what you need).
Throne of Glass
Author: Sarah J. Maas
Series: Throne of Glass #1
After serving out a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, 18-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien is dragged before the Crown Prince. Prince Dorian offers her her freedom on one condition: she must act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin.
Her opponents are men-thieves and assassins and warriors from across the empire, each sponsored by a member of the king's council. If she beats her opponents in a series of eliminations, she'll serve the kingdom for four years and then be granted her freedom. Celaena finds her training sessions with the captain of the guard, Westfall, challenging and exhilarating. But she's bored stiff by court life. Things get a little more interesting when the prince starts to show interest in her ... but it's the gruff Captain Westfall who seems to understand her best.
Then one of the other contestants turns up dead ... quickly followed by another. Can Celaena figure out who the killer is before she becomes a victim? As the young assassin investigates, her search leads her to discover a greater destiny than she could possibly have imagined.If there's one author that is NAILING this trope, it's SJM. She is amazing at launching armadas with her series, but somehow still manages to successfully avoid making triangle relationships between her characters. If you want a book that the end-guy doesn't even appear until several books into the series, ToG is the one for you.
If you like ToG, I highly recommend you to read Falling Kingdoms as well, something I mentioned on my "What Should I What Should I Read Next? If You Like This Book, Then You Might Like..." book recommendation list since there's a lot of similarities between them (e.g multiple POV, high fantasy, and characters ending up with different love interests from the initial one, etc).
Shatter Me
Author: Tahereh Mafi
Series: Shatter Me #1
I have a curse
I have a curse
I have a gift
I am a monster
I'm more than human
My touch is lethal
My touch is power
I am their weapon
I will fight back
Juliette hasn’t touched anyone in exactly 264 days.
The last time she did, it was an accident, but The Reestablishment locked her up for murder. No one knows why Juliette’s touch is fatal. As long as she doesn’t hurt anyone else, no one really cares. The world is too busy crumbling to pieces to pay attention to a 17-year-old girl. Diseases are destroying the population, food is hard to find, birds don’t fly anymore, and the clouds are the wrong color.
The Reestablishment said their way was the only way to fix things, so they threw Juliette in a cell. Now so many people are dead that the survivors are whispering war – and The Reestablishment has changed its mind. Maybe Juliette is more than a tortured soul stuffed into a poisonous body. Maybe she’s exactly what they need right now.
Juliette has to make a choice: Be a weapon. Or be a warrior.Unlike, ToG, Shatter Me is for those who don't mind that the guy appearing in the first book (as a villain, and not as a romantic interest), and having the ship starting to form only at around book two (although it is hinted subtlety in book one). This book also has a villain-gets-the-girl trope. Aside from this, if you REALLY enjoy scenes where the romance interest is deemed as a villain and unapproachable, and shows PDA in front of everyone, making everyone gape, this is also the book for you.
Half-Blood
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: Covenant #1
The Hematoi descend from the unions of gods and mortals, and the children of two Hematoi pure bloods have godlike powers. Children of Hematoi and mortals--well, not so much. Half-bloods only have two options: become trained Sentinels who hunt and kill daimons or become servants in the homes of the pures.
Seventeen-year-old Alexandria would rather risk her life fighting than waste it scrubbing toilets, but she may end up slumming it anyway. There are several rules that students at the Covenant must follow. Alex has problems with them all, but especially rule #1:Relationships between pures and halfs are forbidden. Unfortunately, she's crushing hard on the totally hot pure-blood Aiden. But falling for Aiden isn't her biggest problem--staying alive long enough to graduate the Covenant and become a Sentinel is.
If she fails in her duty, she faces a future worse than death or slavery: being turned into a daimon, and being hunted by Aiden. And that would kind of suck.JLA is one of my go-to guilty pleasure author. Her books got the perfect indie vibe that I like. Not too serious but also not too cheesy. Although they are not masterpieces, they are still seriously addicting. If you read any of JLA's series, you should know what I'm talking about. If not, just...trust her. She knows what she's doing...
White Hot Kiss
Author: Jennifer L. Armentrout
Series: The Dark Elements #1
One kiss could be the last
Seventeen-year-old Layla just wants to be normal. But with a kiss that kills anything with a soul, she's anything but normal. Half demon, half gargoyle, Layla has abilities no one else possesses.
Raised among the Wardens—a race of gargoyles tasked with hunting demons and keeping humanity safe—Layla tries to fit in, but that means hiding her own dark side from those she loves the most. Especially Zayne, the swoon-worthy, incredibly gorgeous and completely off-limits Warden she's crushed on since forever.
Then she meets Roth—a tattooed, sinfully hot demon who claims to know all her secrets. Layla knows she should stay away, but she's not sure she wants to—especially when that whole no-kissing thing isn't an issue, considering Roth has no soul.
But when Layla discovers she's the reason for the violent demon uprising, trusting Roth could not only ruin her chances with Zayne…it could brand her a traitor to her family. Worse yet, it could become a one-way ticket to the end of the world. Basically the same as the last one. Trust JLA to give an indie-vibe book that is an addictingly fun read with ships that you enjoy.
Inception
Author: Bianca Scardoni
Series: The Marked #1
Be careful who you trust, for even the Devil was once an Angel.
My name is Jemma Blackburn, and I have a secret. I know vampires are real. I watched one murder my father eight months ago, and even though they tried to convince me it didn’t happen—that I’d lost touch with reality due to the trauma, I know what I saw was real.
Hollow Hills is now the place I call home. It was supposed to be my chance at a normal life. My chance to bury my secret and start over. But everyone around me is keeping their own secrets, whispering lies into my ears like promises, and one of them is about to turn my entire world upside down.
I thought I had it all figured out. I thought I had the answers. I thought I knew who I was. The truth is, I didn’t even know the half of it. There's a reason these vampires are still after me. There's a reason they will always hunt me. Because I'm not human.
I'm the devil they fear and the angel they crave.
Only problem is, I don't know it yet.This series is super underrated. I came across this book during my indie phase (I was literally reading indie books that nobody knows about exclusively). This was one of my favorites. Expect the second guy was the expected villain (not the leader or the most powerful one though). I'm really sad the fourth book hasn't released yet because apparently, the author put it on hold for personal reasons. I REALLY can't wait for book four though.
