How to Write Enemies to Lovers Fantasy Romance That Doesn't Suck (Lessons from Mr. Darcy and a Very Willing Kidnapping Victim)

Let me tell you something about enemies to lovers romance. If you're doing it right, your readers should be simultaneously wanting to throw your book across the room and clutch it to their chest by chapter three. It's a delicate balance between "I hate him" and "I hate that I don't hate him," and honestly? Most writers get it catastrophically wrong.

I should know. I've been there.

My Gateway Drug: Mr. Darcy's Arrogant Magnificence

Like every romance reader with a pulse, I fell hard for Pride and Prejudice. But here's the thing. I didn't just fall for the romance.

I fell for the craft of it. Jane Austen somehow made us root for a guy who was basically the Regency equivalent of that insufferable rich kid who thinks he's better than everyone (spoiler: he kind of was, but that's beside the point).

Elizabeth Bennet didn't simper or swoon. She met Darcy's arrogance with wit. Their verbal sparring was foreplay, their misunderstandings were plot gold, and their eventual love felt earned because we'd watched them both grow.

But here's where I got greedy.

What if we took that dynamic and threw it into a world where the stakes weren't just social embarrassment, but actual life-and-death magical warfare?

Enter Betrayer, where I decided to ask the question: "What happens when your heroine is absolutely fine with being kidnapped because it gets her exactly where she needs to be?"

The Art of the Willing Victim (AKA How Sol Broke All the Rules)

Most romance heroines get kidnapped and spend the entire book plotting escape. Sol? She's practically checking items off her to-do list.

Get captured by enemy tribe? ✓

Marry their commander? ✓

Slowly drive him insane with my mysterious agenda? ✓✓✓

This dynamic flipped everything I thought I knew about enemies to lovers. Usually, the tension comes from forced proximity and mutual hatred. But what happens when your heroine wants to be there, even if she can't tell anyone why? What happens when the hero thinks he's in control, but she's actually playing a completely different game?

Suddenly, every interaction becomes layered with delicious dramatic irony. Gabriel thinks he's suspicious of Sol because she's Kyanite. Reality? She's planning something that would make his blood run cold, but she's also falling for him despite herself. She thinks she's using him. Reality? She's in way over her head with a man who's keeping secrets that could destroy everything she believes.

The Cardinal Sins of Bad Enemies to Lovers

Before we dive into what works, let's talk about what makes me want to throw books at walls:

Sin #1: Insta-Hate That Makes No Sense

"I hate him because... he's really attractive and that annoys me!"

No. Stop. Put down the pen and think about this for thirty seconds. Real enemies need real reasons to hate each other. Generational warfare, opposing belief systems, actual betrayal—give me something with meat on its bones.

Sin #2: The Doormat Disguised as "Character Growth"

If your heroine's character arc is "learns to love being treated badly," we need to have words. Good enemies to lovers requires both characters to grow, not one character to shrink.

Sin #3: Abuse Dressed Up as Sexual Tension

There's a difference between "I want to argue with you until we end up kissing against a wall" and "I want to control and demean you."

Learn it. Live it. Love it.

Sin #4: The Snap-Change Personality Flip

If your hero goes from genuinely terrible person to perfect boyfriend overnight, your readers are going to get whiplash. Character growth should feel like a natural evolution, not a personality transplant.

What Actually Makes Enemies to Lovers Irresistible

The Slow Burn That Burns Everything Down

The best enemies to lovers romances are basically extended exercises in sexual tension management. Every argument should leave readers a little breathless. Every moment of unexpected vulnerability should hit like a sucker punch to the feelings.

In Betrayer, Gabriel spends chapters trying to figure out what Sol is hiding, while she's trying to figure out why she cares what he thinks. Neither of them wants to want the other, but they're both losing that battle spectacularly.

The Moment When Hate Becomes Something Else

There's always a turning point, that exact moment when "I hate you" becomes "I hate that I don't hate you."

It's usually quiet, often unexpected, and absolutely devastating to read.

For Gabriel and Sol, it's not one moment but a series of tiny fractures in their armor.

Every time she surprises him with her strength, every time he shows her unexpected kindness, they're both fighting a losing battle against their own hearts.

The Emotional Payoff That Justifies Everything

When enemies finally become lovers, it should feel like the only possible outcome and the most impossible thing that could ever happen. The reader should simultaneously think "of course they end up together" and "how did they possibly get past everything between them?"

The Fantasy Advantage: Why Magic Makes Everything Better

Writing enemies to lovers in fantasy settings is like playing romance on easy mode, and here's why:

Built-in Conflict: Your characters can come from warring magical tribes instead of just different social classes. Ancient curses beat modern misunderstandings every time.

High Stakes: In contemporary romance, the worst that happens is social embarrassment. In fantasy, your characters might literally die if their relationship is discovered.

Magical Solutions: Need to force your enemies together? Magical bonds, prophecies, quests—fantasy gives you tools that contemporary romance can only dream of.

Symbolic Everything: That enemies to lovers journey can mirror the healing of ancient wounds between peoples, the bridging of different worlds, the balance of opposing magical forces. Your romance can literally save the world.

The Secret Sauce: Making Readers Care About Terrible People

Here's the thing about enemies to lovers: you're asking readers to fall in love with characters who are, at least initially, kind of awful to each other. The trick is making them awful in interesting ways.

Gabriel isn't cruel to Sol because he's a bad person. He's suspicious because experience has taught him that trusting the wrong person can get everyone he cares about killed.

Sol isn't deceptive because she's malicious. She's on a mission that requires secrecy, even if it means hurting someone she's starting to care about.

Give your characters understandable reasons for their behavior, even when that behavior is frustrating. Readers will forgive a lot if they understand the why behind the actions.

Why I Write the Heroines I Want to Read

I'm tired of romance heroines who need saving. I wanted to write a woman who walks into danger with her eyes wide open because she's got business to handle.

Sol isn't a victim of circumstance. She's an agent of her own destiny, even when that destiny gets complicated by inconvenient feelings.

There's something delicious about a heroine who's exactly where she wants to be, even if nobody (including the reader) knows why. It flips the power dynamic in fascinating ways and creates the kind of layered tension that makes enemies to lovers truly sing.

The Bottom Line

Great enemies to lovers romance isn't about hate. It's about resistance. It's about two people who should want different things discovering they want the same thing, even when admitting that want could destroy everything they think they believe about themselves.

Whether you're writing it or reading it, the best enemies to lovers stories leave you questioning everything you thought you knew about love, loyalty, and the space between wanting someone and trusting them.

And if you do it right? Your readers will be back for more, desperately hoping you'll put them through that emotional wringer again.

Because that's the thing about enemies to lovers, once you've experienced that perfect balance of tension and release, everything else feels a little bit tame.

Your Enemies to Lovers Blueprint (Because I'm Feeling Generous)

Want to write an enemies to lovers that doesn't make readers want to throw things? Here's my never-before-shared template that I wish someone had given me before I spent months figuring this out the hard way.

The SPARK Framework

S - Specific Conflict Foundation

• What's the REAL reason they hate each other? (Hint: "She's annoying" isn't good enough)

• Make it personal, logical, and tied to their core beliefs

• Bonus points if it's connected to your world-building

P - Power Dynamic Dance

• Who has power? When? Why?

• The power should shift back and forth throughout the story

• Neither character should be powerless for the entire book

A - Attraction Contradiction

• They hate that they want each other

• Physical attraction that goes against everything logical

• "I want to kiss you AND punch you" energy

R - Resistance Breaking Points

• Plan 3-5 moments where their walls crack

• Each should reveal something vulnerable about the character

• Make readers think "oh no, they're actually perfect for each other"

K - Kill Switch Moment

• The point where everything falls apart before it gets better

• Usually involves the original conflict coming back to bite them

• Should make readers panic that they'll never get together

Use this framework, and your enemies to lovers will have readers staying up until 3 AM muttering "just one more chapter" while simultaneously cursing your name for putting them through emotional hell.

You're welcome.

What's your favorite enemies to lovers moment in romance? Drop a comment and let me know what made you fall for the trope. I'm always looking for my next book rec!

When Characters Refuse to Stay Silent: How Emerin Hijacked A Reflection of Shadow and Light (And I'm Not Even Mad About It)

Hey, fantasy romance lovers!

So here I am, deep into drafting my 12th book (seriously, how is this my life?), and I thought I had everything figured out.

Book 4 of my Reflection of Silver and Crimson series, "A Reflection of Shadow and Light," was going to follow the same POVs as the previous book: Annora with her fierce determination, Jasce with his protective intensity, and Aleksander with his deliciously dangerous schemes.

But then Emerin started whispering.

And by whispering, I mean she basically grabbed me by the collar, shook me like a maraca, and screamed, "EXCUSE ME, BUT I HAVE THINGS TO SAY."

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At first, it was just little nudges…a scene here, a moment there where I could feel her wanting to speak. You know how it is when a secondary character starts tapping you on the shoulder like an overly persistent toddler? I figured I'd give her a chapter or two and she'd settle down like a good little side character.

HAHAHA.

That's like expecting a cat to politely ask before knocking things off your desk. Emerin basically moved into my brain, set up a tent, and started demanding equal POV time with the confidence of someone who owns the place.

I was so, so wrong about everything. Including my ability to control my own characters. (Spoiler alert: I have zero control. They do whatever they want, and I just type really fast trying to keep up.)

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The more Emerin spoke, the more I realized just how vital her story is to this book. This isn't just about the enemies to lovers tension crackling between her and Reeve (though trust me, that slow burn could power a small village). It's about a healer discovering she might be capable of destruction, about family bonds tested when everything you thought you knew gets yeeted out the window like yesterday's leftovers.

Emerin basically looked at me and said, "You know what this series needs? Someone who talks to plants, makes up adorable curse words like 'bleeding wisteria,' and has absolutely zero idea how attractive she is. Also, I'm going to sleepwalk into the most inconvenient situations possible."

And honestly? She wasn't wrong.

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Meanwhile, Annora is facing her greatest challenge yet… and no, it's not dealing with ancient prophecies or political intrigue (though those are definitely on the menu). It's realizing that being the responsible sister means sometimes you have to make choices that feel like choosing between your soul and your sanity.

Watching her struggle between her protective instincts and the harsh realities of leadership has been like watching someone try to hug a porcupine. Technically possible, but everyone's going to get hurt and you're going to question your life choices.

Poor Annora. She thought marrying Jasce was the hard part.

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And Jasce? Oh, this man is walking a razor's edge between his duties as chieftain and his devotion to Annora, and let me tell you, his internal monologue is basically one long string of "How do I keep everyone alive while also making sure my wife doesn't murder me for being overprotective?"

The political intrigue surrounding them intensifies like a soap opera written by someone who thought regular drama was "too subtle." Enemies are closing in from all sides, and Jasce is forced to make impossible choices while maintaining his reputation as the levelheaded leader.

Spoiler: He's about as levelheaded as the Hulk when it comes to Annora's safety.

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But let's talk about Aleksander for a moment… because this manipulative, charming bastard has somehow managed to out-bastard himself, which I didn't think was mathematically possible.

Picture this: Take the most arrogant man alive, give him commitment issues and a face that could make angels weep, then drop him in the middle of enemy territory with a mysterious masked woman who can literally freeze his favorite body parts. What could go wrong?

EVERYTHING. Everything could go wrong. And it's absolutely hilarious.

Aleksander's basically playing 4D chess while everyone else is playing checkers, except he keeps getting distracted by his opponent's... assets. His chemistry with a certain silver magic wielding woman is like watching two very attractive people try to murder each other with sexual tension. It's enemies to lovers at its most unhinged.

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He's smooth, he's calculating, he's absolutely convinced he's in control... and then she walks into the room and his brain just goes "PRETTY WOMAN WITH SHARP THINGS" and all his plans go out the window.

His journey in this book explores what happens when someone who's always served his own interests finds something… or someone… worth sacrificing for. And by "explores," I mean "watch him have a complete existential crisis while making terrible decisions and somehow still looking devastatingly handsome.

The man could probably charm his way out of his own execution, but put him in a room with one masked woman and he turns into a disaster with excellent bone structure.

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Emerin's journey weaves through all of these storylines like that friend who somehow ends up in the middle of everyone's drama without trying. She's caught between worlds… the fantasy realm of political intrigue and ancient prophecies, and the intimate romance of discovering that she has approximately zero chill when it comes to a certain brooding warrior.

The romantasy elements intensify as she navigates sleepwalking episodes that lead to the most inconvenient situations imaginable. Because apparently, her subconscious has terrible timing and even worse judgment about appropriate places to wander.

And speaking of Reeve... fans self with whatever's handy ...this man has been bottling up his feelings so hard I'm surprised he hasn't imploded. When these two finally stop pretending they're not completely gone for each other? Let's just say the spice rating went from "mild salsa" to "why is my mouth on fire and why do I want more?"

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I have to mention… this is going to be the longest book in the series so far, which means you're getting maximum chaos for your money! With four POV characters instead of three, and storylines that span from palace intrigue to desert camps to "wait, did that prophecy just threaten to resurrect the dead?", this book is basically a buffet of emotional devastation.

Emerin's story demanded space to breathe, mostly because she kept adding more complications. Every time I thought I had her figured out, she'd do something like sleepwalk into someone's bedroom.

It's like she looked at the plot outline and said, "This seems too simple. What if we add more angst? And maybe some identity crises? Ooh, and definitely more sexual tension that makes everyone uncomfortable!"

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Without spoiling too much, I will say this: if you thought you knew who Emerin was, this book will make you think again.

Also, there may be a scene involving a chicken named Duchess. Don't ask me how we got there. I honestly don't know anymore.

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"A Reflection of Shadow and Light" is shaping up to be my most emotionally intense book yet, which is saying something because I've put these characters through approximately seventeen different types of hell already. Between Annora and Jasce's deepening bond being tested by circumstances that would break lesser couples, Aleksander's enemies to lovers dynamic with a woman who keeps holding a dagger to his throat, and Emerin's slow burn discovery of passion, there's something for every romantasy lover.

Fair warning: you might need to keep tissues handy. And possibly a cold shower. And definitely snacks, because this book is LONG and you're going to need sustenance for the emotional roller coaster.

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What do you think… are you Team Emerin and Reeve (aka Team "Just Kiss Already, You Disasters")? Team Aleksander and his mysterious masked woman (aka Team "Stop Trying to Murder Each Other With Your Eyes")? Or are you just here for more of Annora and Jasce's epic love story (aka Team "Functional Adults Who Somehow Make This Look Easy")?

Drop a comment and let me know what you're most excited to see in this book! Bonus points if you can guess which character is going to make the most spectacularly bad decision.

(Hint: it's all of them. They're all disasters and I love them for it.)

XOXO, LiAnne

P.S. … That enemies to lovers dynamic I mentioned with Aleksander? It's the kind that makes you want to throw the book across the room, immediately pick it up, throw it again, then hug it to your chest while making incomprehensible squealing noises. You've been warned! 😉

P.P.S. … I'm pretty sure my characters are plotting against me at this point. If you don't hear from me for a while, assume they've taken over and are writing their own stories. Knowing them, they'd probably do a better job than I do.

I Found Something That Changed Everything I Thought I Knew About Gabriel

As authors, we think we know our characters inside and out. We create them, shape their personalities, write their dialogue, and control their every move. But sometimes, our characters surprise us in ways that make us question everything we thought we knew.

That's exactly what's happening to me with Gabriel right now.

The Idea That Won't Let Go

I've been sitting with this overwhelming urge to write something I've never done before: letters from Gabriel's perspective. Not scenes for a book, not character notes, but actual letters. Private thoughts he would never share with anyone. Raw, unfiltered confessions that exist completely separate from any published story.

The idea hit me while I was working on another project, and I can't shake it. It's like Gabriel is demanding to finally tell his side of the story, to reveal truths that never made it into Betrayer, The Cursed Bloodstone. And honestly? I'm both excited and terrified to find out what he has to say.

What Authors Don't Tell You About Character Development

Here's something most authors don't talk about: sometimes characters demand to be heard in ways we never planned. We might finish a book and think we're done with a character, but then they start whispering in our minds, asking us to explore parts of their story that never made it onto the page.

That's exactly what's happening with Gabriel. He's been quiet since I finished Betrayer, but lately, he's been louder than ever. And what he wants to share isn't pretty or polished. It's the raw truth about his choices, his regrets, and the weight he carries.

The Character You Think You Know

If you've read Betrayer, you know Gabriel as the complex anti-hero who walks the line between protector and predator. He's calculating, dangerous, and carries secrets that could destroy everyone around him. On the surface, he appears to be exactly what everyone expects him to be.

But these letters will reveal the internal struggle that never made it onto the page. They'll show the weight of his choices, the reasons behind his actions, and the humanity he tries so hard to hide. I'm not even sure what he's going to confess yet, but I have a feeling it's going to change how I see him completely.

Why Hidden Character Work Matters

As writers, we often create far more content than we ever publish. We write scenes that get cut, develop character histories that barely get mentioned, and explore emotional depths that only influence how we write a character's dialogue or actions.

This "hidden work" is what makes characters feel real. It's the foundation that supports everything readers see on the surface. Gabriel's letters are a perfect example of this. They explain motivations that readers can sense but never fully understand.

The Power of Character Confessions

There's something powerful about reading a character's private thoughts. It's like finding someone's diary or reading their personal letters. You get to see past the mask they wear for the world and understand who they really are underneath.

Gabriel's letters will be exactly that. They'll strip away the facade and reveal the man behind the reputation. They'll show his regrets, his fears, and the moments that shaped him into the character readers know. The question is: am I ready to discover what he's been hiding from me all this time?

What This Means for Readers

For those who haven't met Gabriel yet, these letters will give you insight into one of fiction's most complex anti-heroes. Betrayer, The Cursed Bloodstone is available for free on Kindle Unlimited, or $2.99 for the ebook. There's also an audio version for those who prefer listening.

It's a slow-burn enemies-to-lovers fantasy where nothing is quite what it seems, and Gabriel is at the heart of it all.

For those who have already read Betrayer, these letters will give you new insight into Gabriel's character. They'll help you understand moments in the book that might have confused you and reveal motivations that were only hinted at in the original story. But I'll be discovering these truths right alongside you.

Coming Soon: Gabriel's Confessions

I've decided to write these letters and share them with readers. Over the coming weeks, I'll be writing Gabriel's private confessions, starting with whatever he decides to tell me first.

These won't be deleted scenes or bonus content. They'll be intimate glimpses into the mind of a character who has been keeping secrets from all of us, including his creator.

If you want to read Gabriel's letters as I write and release them, make sure you're subscribed to my newsletter. Trust me, you'll want to know Gabriel before you read what he's finally ready to confess.

Because something tells me what he reveals is going to change everything I thought I knew about him.