Best Sapphic Enemies to Lovers Fantasy
Best Sapphic Enemies to Lovers Fantasy: 19 WLW Reads That Turn Rivals Into Romance
Quick answer: The best sapphic enemies to lovers fantasy books right now include Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir, Crier's War by Nina Varela, Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta, We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia, and This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Each one pairs a genuine rivalry - political, magical, or military - with a slow-burn wlw romance set inside a richly built fantasy world. Keep reading for 19 total picks sorted by vibe, plus a quick-pick table and answers to the questions readers ask most.
Why Sapphic Enemies to Lovers Fantasy Hits Different
There is a reason "enemies to lovers" keeps topping romance and fantasy polls, and it hits even harder when the two leads are women. Sapphic enemies to lovers fantasy takes the classic rivals-to-romance arc - sharp dialogue, competing goals, grudging respect - and builds it inside a world with its own politics, magic systems, and stakes. The tension is not just personal, it is ideological: two women on opposite sides of a war, a court, or a curse, who have every reason to distrust each other and one very inconvenient reason not to.
For readers who love wlw fantasy, this trope offers something contemporary romance often can not: a fully realized secondary world where the power imbalance, the found-family side characters, and the slow unraveling of prejudice all raise the emotional stakes of the central romance. Below is a curated, continually updated list of the best sapphic enemies to lovers fantasy books, organized by vibe so you can find the right one for your mood.
What Makes a Sapphic Enemies-to-Lovers Fantasy Actually Work
- A real ideological conflict. The best entries do not rely on a flimsy misunderstanding - the leads genuinely serve opposing kingdoms, gods, or causes.
- Banter with teeth. Sharp, layered dialogue where every barb hides something the character is not ready to admit.
- A slow-burn structure. Trust has to be earned scene by scene, which is what makes the eventual turn so satisfying.
- Worldbuilding that raises the stakes. Magic systems, courts, and wars that make falling for the enemy genuinely dangerous.
- Emotional payoff. A reconciliation arc that respects both characters instead of erasing their conflict overnight.
The Best Sapphic Enemies to Lovers Fantasy Books
YA Fantasy Standouts
1. Crier's War by Nina Varela (2019). In a world ruled by artificial, god-like beings called the
Automae after they overthrew humanity, a grieving handmaiden accepts a mission to get close to - and eventually destroy - the noble Automae daughter of the family she blames for her losses. Their forced closeness while investigating a court conspiracy slowly rewrites both women's loyalties.
2. We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (2019). Trained from childhood to be the perfect wife for a powerful man in a rigidly divided society, a young woman gets pulled into the rebellion by a fierce courier who represents everything her upbringing taught her to fear, forcing her to choose between the life she was raised for and the one she actually wants.
3. Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta (2021). A rebel raised to destroy the empire's city-sized mechs infiltrates the program as a mechanic, only to be drawn to the brutal, brilliant teenage pilot she is supposed to help take down. Fast, mecha-flavored, and unapologetically queer.
4. The Midnight Girls by Alicia Jasinska (2021). Two witches bound to a legendary winter demon are set against each other in a competition to enchant a prince, but the closer they get to sabotaging one another, the harder it becomes to remember why they started.
5. Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley (2021). A witch exiled for a past betrayal and a girl with no magic of her own but a rare, dangerous kind of power team up to stop a plague-like curse, their wary partnership curdling into something neither of them planned for.
6. These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy (2021). Twin heirs to a magical throne find their fates entangled with a firebird-blooded rebel whose family the crown destroyed, splitting the story between duty and rebellion with a slow-burn romance at its core.
7. A Dark and Hollow Star by Ashley Shuttleworth (2021). An outcast fae, a half-fae detective, and a crime lord's heir get tangled in a murder investigation across a modern fae underworld, with prickly alliances that turn into something more layered than anyone expects.
MATELDA : In Silence We Forgive
A slow-burn, enemies-to-lovers sapphic mafia romance where the most lethal weapon isn't a gun—it’s desire.
Bound by a crumbling empire and a legacy of secrets, they survived a lifetime of isolation only to find their match in each other.
Adult & Epic Fantasy Picks
8. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (2019). A foul-mouthed swordswoman and the necromancer heir she has despised her whole life are forced into an uneasy alliance to compete in a deadly trial inside a decaying, gothic space empire. The banter is savage, the stakes are lethal, and the slow shift from mutual loathing to devotion anchors the entire Locked Tomb series.
9. Malice by Heather Walter (2021). A dark, feminist retelling of Sleeping Beauty in which a reviled sorceress known as a Dark Grace becomes unexpectedly entwined with the cursed princess she is meant to save, upending everything the kingdom believes about villains and heroines.
10. Ruinsong by Julia Ember (2020). A court musician forced to use her magic to torture her kingdom's enemies reconnects with a childhood friend turned political prisoner, and the two must decide whether old loyalty can survive present danger.
11. Fate's Bane by C.L. Clark (2025). A politically charged epic fantasy where rival claims to power and loyalty collide, delivering the morally complex, high-stakes romance readers loved in Clark's earlier work.
12. The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri (2025). A lush, mythic fantasy pairing two women on opposite sides of an old conflict, with the kind of atmospheric worldbuilding Suri is known for wrapped around a wary, simmering romance.
Fairy Tale, Myth & Folklore Retellings
13. Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust (2020). A Persian-inspired fairy tale about a princess cursed so that her touch poisons anyone she loves, whose carefully guarded world is upended when a figure tied to her family's darkest secret returns to the palace.
14. Thorn by Anna Burke (2019). A tightly plotted fantasy adventure that reworks classic fairy-tale bones into a story about duty, survival, and a rivalry that will not stay simple.
Sci-Fi-Flavored Fantasy & New Releases
15. This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (2019). Two agents from opposing, time-warring factions leave each other letters hidden across the threads of history, and what begins as professional taunting becomes one of the most acclaimed enemies-to-lovers romances in modern speculative fiction.
16. House of Crimson Hearts by Ruby Roe (2024). A reverse-harem-adjacent fantasy romance where rival heirs and immortal courts collide, built for readers who want their enemies-to-lovers tension turned all the way up.
Pirates of Aletharia by Britney Jackson (2021). Swashbuckling, dragon-adjacent, and unabashedly fun, this series pits sharp-tongued rivals against each other on the high seas before letting them fall for one another.
18. Fable for the End of the World by Ava Reid (2025). A propulsive, near-future dystopian fantasy from one of the genre's buzziest voices, with a charged rivalry at its center.
19. Hearing Red by Nicole Maser (2024). A fast-rising favorite among sapphic fantasy readers, blending a tense central rivalry with the kind of banter that makes the slow burn worth the wait.
Quick-Pick Comparison Table
| Book | Author | Best For | Vibe |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gideon the Ninth | Tamsyn Muir | Readers who want dark humor with their gothic horror | Necromancers, swords, savage banter |
| Crier's War | Nina Varela | YA readers who like political intrigue | Post-uprising, android nobility |
| Gearbreakers | Zoe Hana Mikuta | Fans of fast-paced rebellion stories | Giant mechs, rebel infiltration |
| We Set the Dark on Fire | Tehlor Kay Mejia | Readers who love caste-system worldbuilding | Rigid society, rebel courier |
| This Is How You Lose the Time War | El-Mohtar & Gladstone | Literary sci-fi/fantasy fans | Epistolary, time-bending |
| Malice | Heather Walter | Fairy-tale retelling lovers | Dark Sleeping Beauty reimagining |
| The Midnight Girls | Alicia Jasinska | Readers who want witchy competition plots | Winter folklore, rival witches |
How to Choose the Right One for Your Mood
If you want savage banter and body horror alongside your romance, start with Gideon the Ninth. If you are newer to fantasy and want a YA entry point, Crier's War or We Set the Dark on Fire ease you in with familiar structures and high emotional stakes. Readers who want something short, literary, and devastating should go straight to This Is How You Lose the Time War. If fairy-tale retellings are your comfort read, Malice and Girl, Serpent, Thorn deliver familiar bones with sapphic hearts. And if you want maximum tension with a side of swords or mechs, Gearbreakers and Pirates of Aletharia will not disappoint.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is sapphic enemies-to-lovers fantasy?
It is a fantasy subgenre where two women or wlw characters start out as rivals, opponents, or ideological enemies within a fantasy world, and their relationship slowly develops into a romance over the course of the story. The trope combines the tension of rivals-to-lovers romance with the worldbuilding and stakes of fantasy fiction.
Is sapphic enemies-to-lovers fantasy the same as wlw fantasy?
Not quite. Wlw fantasy is the broader category of fantasy books featuring women-loving-women romance or characters, while sapphic enemies-to-lovers fantasy is a specific trope within that category, defined by the rivals-to-romance arc.
Where should I start if I am new to this trope?
Crier's War and We Set the Dark on Fire are approachable entry points with clear worldbuilding, while Gideon the Ninth is the pick for readers who want something darker and more irreverent right away.
Are these books more sweet or more spicy?
It varies widely by title and publisher, from fade-to-black YA romance to more explicit adult fantasy. Always check the specific book's content notes before picking one up, since heat level differs from author to author and even book to book within a series.
What is the difference between YA and adult entries on this list?
YA sapphic fantasy tends to focus on coming-of-age stakes, found family, and fade-to-black romance, while adult entries lean into more explicit content, morally gray politics, and higher body counts. Both categories deliver the same core enemies-to-lovers tension.
Final Thoughts
The best sapphic enemies to lovers fantasy books all share one thing: they earn the turn from rivalry to romance instead of rushing it. Whether you want necromancers, rebel pilots, cursed princesses, or time-traveling spies, there is a book on this list built for exactly the kind of slow burn you are craving. Bookmark this page, because it will keep growing as new sapphic fantasy releases hit shelves in 2026 and beyond.
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