This week’s Sapphic Book Bingo category features sapphic enemies-to-lovers romances, one of the most popular romance tropes!
In an enemies-to-lovers romance, the two main characters start out hating or at least strongly disliking each other at the beginning of the book, but then end up falling in love. Their initial dislike could be due to a family feud, professional rivalry, or just clashing personalities. Whatever the cause, it’s always fun to watch sparks fly and accompany them on the journey from hate to love.
15 sapphic enemies-to-lovers romances
Below, you’ll find 15 recommended sapphic enemies-to-lovers romance novels.
Just a Touch Away by Jae
Hannah Martin has an unusual job: she’s a professional cuddler. While she has a big heart for her clients, she hasn’t found someone special to snuggle up to in her personal life.
Winter Sullivan isn’t looking for love. She’s an aloof workaholic who’s built walls of ice around herself. She would rather drive toothpicks under her fingernails than cuddle, and she certainly doesn’t want to share her space with anyone.
When Winter’s estranged father dies, he leaves her one last surprise: she and Hannah, a perfect stranger, will inherit a building together. But there’s a catch: first, they have to live together for ninety-two days.
Winter is determined to dislike her rival, but soon finds Hannah isn’t what she expected at all. Thanks to a hilarious doormat war, a cuddle dare from Winter’s half sister, and a kiss in the most unusual of places, the frosty fortress around her heart begins to melt.
Will she be able to accept that love might be just a touch away?
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A Game of Hearts and Heists by Ruby Roe
Scarlett Grey, disgraced assassin, is determined to get revenge.
Quinn Adams, medic turned-poisoner for hire, is her deadliest rival.
For years, they’ve stolen each other’s clients, sabotaged each other’s business, and occasionally… slept together.
When the Magician Queen offers an irresistible deal, Scarlett and Quinn are forced to work together. But this is not a simple job. With an impossible heist ahead, they’re going to have to trust each other… And that’s not easy when they both have secrets to hide. Harder still when those secrets will betray the ones they love. Now neither woman is sure if it’s a heist they want to win or a heart.
Two women, two deadly professions, and a romance that could be their downfall.
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Unexpected Goals by Kelly Farmer
If you can’t play nice, play hockey.
Canadian goalie Maisy Goode is wary of American Jen Donato and her dirty playing. She’s been on the receiving end of Jen’s aggressive style and doesn’t like it one bit. Now that they’re on the same women’s pro team, keeping her eyes off Jen is a struggle.
Jen signed up to win it all with the Boston Ice. Her very public clashes with their hot goalie aren’t going to derail her championship plans. Jen’s a professional. But there’s just something about Maisy that gets under her skin.
The media loves the tension, but the more time Maisy and Jen are forced to spend together, the more they discover what’s between them isn’t entirely hostile.
At all.
Banter turns into flirting, and flirting turns into more. The closer they get to the playoffs, the more pressure weighs on the team—and the couple. Maisy needs Jen’s support. Jen needs to know Maisy’s all in. And it all needs to get sorted out before the season—and their relationship—closes out.
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Ransom to Love by Chloe Keto
Teri Simlake is a computer scientist drawn to the dark side of freelance hacking in order to keep a roof over her head and cat food on the table. She has a soft spot for cute cat ears and Number One, her grey British Shorthair, plays that to his advantage.
Sophie Keegan hates hackers with a passion. They make everything in life difficult, as if having her friends constantly pressuring her to date wasn’t hard enough.
Will a chance encounter bring Number One’s catnip empire to it’s knees? Will a story of insecurity, gender identity and confrontation become an unconventional tale of love and peace with oneself?
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One Golden Summer by Clare Lydon & TB Markinson
Saffron Oliver is the golden girl. Golden hair. Golden skin. Golden movie career.
Only one problem: she hates it.
She flees to her sister’s seaside town – where she meets the confident & charming Kirsty McBride.
Kirsty is everything Saffron wants to be. Perhaps also, everything she wants.
But Saffron can’t have it all. So now, she has to decide: does she crave Kirsty enough to blow up her golden life?
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Jawbreaker by Max Ellendale
It isn’t everyday that the citizens of Seattle witness shadows passing out of the corner of their eye or hear the whoosh of something taking flight from the pavement beside them, but when a Shadow Protector descends on their city, they find themselves thrust into comic-book endings on the regular.
History Professor Veyda Halpern takes on the mission of protecting her city and the people she loves by channeling the gifts bestowed to her by Andromeda. For the most part, she manages to keep her identity a secret, until her private world collides with a local museum curator who catches her sneaking into the exhibits at night.
Entranced by the brazen, and sometimes cold, Harlow Misner, Veyda’s visits increase until the two finally face each other, cracking the fragile foundations of the lives they’ve both worked to build in hope of cultivating something more meaningful.
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The Disappeared by Nicole Pyland
Ten years ago, Ada Cramer’s brother went missing. Her brother had always been the favored child, and Ada had been the only witness to his disappearance. Her life changed the day the police officer assigned to the case made Ada a promise that she’d find Noah Cramer.
Dylan Easton had many cases over the course of her career as a detective, but only one she would describe as the one she’d never let go of. It had started the day she’d made a promise to a fourteen-year-old girl that she would find her brother.
Ten years after Noah’s disappearance, the two women are reunited when a true crime series wants to highlight the anniversary of the missing boy. Ada is now ten years older and still bitter about the way her life had taken a turn that day, and Dylan is now a detective, on her way to running her own team. When the two women meet up after all these years, there’s an unwanted spark between them that they attempt to deny.
A new lead in the case, mixed with some startling discoveries, has these two women attempting to balance their new and confusing attraction to one another along with the possibility of finding Noah Cramer.
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Scoop by Eva Reddy
Elkie Kransky was just six years old when a man grabbed her older brother, Bryan, from a playground near their home in Perth, Western Australia. He’d yelled for her to run and not to look back and she’d done as he’d ordered; running straight home to tell her mother.
Bryan was never seen again and Elkie’s distraught mother was unable to cope with his loss. She sent Elkie to boarding school and told her “…it was for her own safety.” A six-year-old Elkie assumed this meant the man might come back for her, too.
Now a grown woman. Elkie has become a nationally respected investigative reporter, writing for newspapers across Australia and internationally. She investigates and exposes pedophiles and paves the way for the justice system to deal with them.
But the ‘law is an ass’ and in Elkie’s opinion so is Detective Sergeant Steven Jolly of the Major Crimes Squad. Legal trickery and police bungles provide a means for some of these men to slip through the legal system and receive minimal if any punishment.
A new investigation leads Elkie to mother of two, Leila White with whom she falls instantly and hopelessly in love. Unfortunately, the door is slammed shut on what might have become a beautiful friendship when Leila’s son dies from an overdose of veterinary tranquilizers. Elkie later discovers the overdose the young boy took had been traded for sex with a pedophile veterinarian. The vet insists the drugs had been stolen and it’s difficult to prove otherwise.
Incensed and frustrated by the injustice of it all, Elkie begins to plot how she might dispense justice on behalf of the victims. Unable to save her own brother, perhaps she can save someone else’s. She’s not afraid of bad men anymore – bad men are afraid of her. And so they should be.
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Undercover by Barbara Winkes
KENDALL
I swore to avenge my father’s death. I have to do it not only for my peace of mind, but to make sure everyone, from my family to the Biancos, knows that I am in charge now.
It’s lonely at the top. Jess is exactly who I need by my side, and I can’t let her go, even knowing about the danger that’s coming. Even after I learn of her true identity…
JESS/ROBYN
I began this undercover mission with good intentions and an infatuation for my target, Kendall Mancini, heir to a crime empire. My mission: to convince her to give up her vendetta and work with the authorities instead. For that, I had to get close to her.
I did get close to her. I couldn’t resist.
Now there’s no way back.
If we both want to survive this, we must do the impossible: Trust each other.
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On The Record by Raven J. Spencer
Out and proud lesbian singer/songwriter Emmy Whittaker is not amused when her manager books her on Andrea Stone’s show. She has worked hard to build a following. That includes many younger fans who trust her to have their backs.
Stone, who has a reputation for hearing differing opinions on controversial issues, doesn’t fit the bill. For the concessions Andrea has made, she’s been rewarded with a stellar career and considerable wealth. In her opinion, the sacrifices have been worth it.
Meeting Emmy shakes her beliefs.
A fateful decision they make leads her to understand that sometimes, the cost of compromise can be too high…
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An Unusual Year by Mia Kazi
When flirtatious Jo wonders whether she has lesbian tendencies, she begins a relationship with Izzy, a fellow teacher.
Then, Jo moves on to Julia, and agrees to go on a holiday with her to Laos, where she meets Jonno, who isn’t what he seems, and he tricks Jo into becoming a drug mule.
Leaving Laos in great haste, Jo and Julia are stunned when Jonno appears threateningly at their flat in London, and Jo realises she has to solve not only the dilemma of his arrival, but also coming to terms with the fact that she has completely fallen in love with another woman.
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For the Long Run by Cheyenne Blue
A koala ruined her life. Well, that’s how elite athlete Shan Metz sees it.
When an idiot charity runner in a koala suit trips Shan during a community fun run, her knee blows out, destroying her dream of making the Australian Commonwealth Games team. Recovering from knee surgery will be bad enough, but living on her building’s fourth floor will make it a nightmare.
Consultant Lizzie Carras, aka the dream-wrecking koala, does guilt like a pro. The only decent thing to do is offer Shan her spare bedroom during recovery. Their incompatible lifestyles don’t help matters. Neither does Shan’s training partner, the haughty and possessive Celia. But they’ll muddle through until Shan’s knee has healed enough to get out of Lizzie’s life.
Because it’s not like Shan would ever miss a dream-wrecking koala or anything. Right?
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A Curious Woman by Jess Lea
Bess Campbell has escaped to the windswept Australian coastal town of Port Bannir, determined to begin her life again. She is loving her fresh start, thanks to her fun job running a hip gallery, her territorial chickens, and a lot of self-help books to find her new, better self. Port Bannir local Margaret Gale runs an austere maritime museum, and rules her staff with an iron fist. She has no time for that crazy modern gallery or upbeat, earnest Bess sweeping around town on her hipster bicycle. After a heated dispute over an antique collectible dildo, there’s little hope Margaret and Bess will ever see eye to eye. But when Port Bannir is rocked by a senseless murder, both women find themselves implicated. Can they work together to expose the truth––or will the truth prove far too dangerous?
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Heart Failure by Chris Zett
Dr. Jess Riley’s life is perfect, ticking all the boxes—successful cardiologist, newborn daughter, and a luxurious condo. That is, until she suddenly collapses from acute heart failure. Her entire world crumples along with her exhausted body.
Jess is forced to face facts—she can’t keep working endless hours, and she’ll have to move back home to recover.
To her shock, her mother has already taken in Lena Walker, a struggling artist who isn’t a stranger to heartbreak either.
At first, an unimpressed Jess resents Lena’s cheerful presence. Gradually, though, the two women form a tentative friendship over tai chi, picking fruit, and evening walks with the baby. A sexy massage leads to friends-with-benefits fun. But is it all too soon? Should two barely mended souls try to risk a future together?
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Onside Play by Liz Rain (Out in July)
Knockabout Australian Keeley McGee is living her childhood dream of playing soccer at the World Cup. The only thing that could kill her focus is coming up against the cool and dispassionate US team’s star striker.
Beautiful, brilliant Christine Delacourt was the college girlfriend who dumped Keeley out of the blue years before.
What will it be like reuniting under the stadium lights, especially since they know the other’s game—and each other—so intimately?
Despite a strict “no distractions” rule from her coach, Keeley finds herself drawn to Christine in a way that feels almost dangerous. Will Keeley be able to rekindle what she once shared with her now on-field enemy with the eyes of the world on them? Dare she even try?
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Read Her Bodyguard by Emily Hayes