Today I wanted to talk about the writing trope: Enemies to Love. Funny thing is when I started writing, I had no idea what tropes were. In fact, I’m still learning. These days, the word trope has also come to be used for describing commonly recurring literary and rhetorical devices in creative works. I looked that up, ha! Several other tropes (also looked up) are:
Love Triangle (Remember Twilight? Team Jacob-Team Edward)
Secret Billionaire (Didn’t it used to be millionaires??)
Stuck Together (Like in cabin during a snowstorm)
Friends to Lovers (When Harry Met Sally)
Forbidden Love (Romeo & Juliet)
Second Chance Love (I’m currently writing one of these!!)
Fake Relationship (Movies like The Wedding Date)
I’m sure there are more tropes I don’t know about, but today I’m looking at Enemies to Love. In Star Rising, the heroine Star loves her arthritis-riddled employer, Mrs. Kelly. She takes care of Mrs. Kelly and her household. Star is angry because she can’t understand why Mrs. Kelly’s son doesn’t do more to help. He hasn’t even visited his sweet mother during the entire year Star has worked in the household. Finally, when Mrs. Kelly collapses, needing heart stents, Star calls the man and gives him a piece of her mind. And so the enemy trope begins!
Paul had no clue what he was in for when he flies home from Europe and arrives at the hospital. His mother is all he has left, and he wants to be near her. He just didn’t expect her health to decline so quickly. Enter this pretty, young spitfire of caregiver, who he’s not at all sure can be trusted around his mother. They end up on a trip to Ireland with his mother, which he thinks is the worst idea ever, and the sparks fly. (So actually, I’ve got the Stuck Together trope and Road-trip Romance trope thrown in here! Who knew?)
Looking back at my other 7 novels, the only other Enemies to Love trope I’ve written is Blown Together, where I threw in two quirky-unlikable characters who eventually fall for each other. These type stories were actually the most fun to write! Apparently, I enjoy writing squabbles.
(Both these novels are on sale for only $2.99, currently!)
Star Rising
by Janet W. Ferguson
Your turn! Do you enjoy reading Enemies to Love stories? What are your favorite novels with Enemies to Love Tropes?
Janet W. Ferguson is a Christy Award finalist and the FHL Readers Choice Award winning author of realistic inspirational fiction. An avid reader, she loved books so much she found a job as a librarian so she could be around them all day. Then she turned that love of story into writing faith-filled novels with characters who feel like best friends. You’ll laugh and cry as the quirky heroes and heroines chase their happily ever after. Janet and her husband live in Mississippi where they say y’all a lot, and she forces him to visit the beach as often as possible. They have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a cat that allows them to share the space. Connect with her at http://www.janetfergusonauthor.com/
I do enjoy Enemies to Love stories – no particular titles come to mind.
I love any and all tropes! Doesn’t matter to me how they get together! I honestly didn’t think I’d like the “secret baby;” however, now that I’ve read a couple of Christian ones, I like them, too. I know I wouldn’t like them if it was a mother keeping the baby secret from it’s own father. The ones I’ve read is a widower keeping his kids secret from a mail order bride, and a mail order bride keeping a orphaned child from her groom, or a widowed mail order bride keeping her pregnancy a secret from her groom.
I enjoy enemies to lover stories. I can’t think of a particular CCR title. All the ones that come to mind I don’t really think they both see each other as enemies, but there is a dislike of at least one of them …
Love this trope – and loved Star Rising!! I’ve not used this trope yet, but the wheels are turning! Lol!
They are fun!
Yes, it’s surprising how an author can take those and remake the story to keep it interesting!! Very creative.
I remember way back, a lot of the romances were enemies to lover stories, and they felt trite. I think now they are a bit more varied in how the story is told.
Thank you so much, Regina! I’m thrilled that you liked it! I bet you’ll think of a great one!
I don’t particularly like this trope, although my favorite book of all time uses it — Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. P&P takes place over several months, so it’s a gradual change on Elizabeth’s part. She begins to see that she really didn’t know him, just made incorrect assumptions, and that he really is a good guy.
Another one I read just recently that I was surprised I liked was Sandover Beach Memories by Emma St. Clair. The heroine had only known the hero years ago before he found Jesus and became a better person. She is rude to him at first, thinking he would never change. She was wrong and began to see that. I think it was really well done. A reasonable amount of time and a reasonable reason for changing opinions is absolutely essential.
I really don’t like when one moment the guy and girl are arguing, and then all of a sudden, they want to kiss each other. That’s not love. That’s physical attraction and letting your emotions get the better of you. Not that it doesn’t happen. But is that really the best foundation to a healthy relationship? What’s going to happen after they ride off into the sunset? Marriages need to last in Christian lives, so they need to show how to start and to continue in Christian fiction, in my opinion.
Great Comment, Lila!! And so true! Physical attraction won’t hold a marriage together.
It’s not a favorite troupe of mine, though I’ve read some well-written stories in it. I don’t mind witty banter and the like, but what I don’t like is a huge amount of conflict where the hero & heroine argue almost ALL the time about anything and everything. That’s just a turn-off for me! And I don’t like when they cut each other with their words or actions or talk about each other behind their backs to their friends/ family, that’s just not pleasant to read, nor is it kind. I know not everyone gets along, but there is a way to handle it with grace in a Christian fiction story.
That being said, I have enjoyed books with the enemies-to-love theme. One of the most recent ones being Bethany Turner in her latest book “Hadley Beckett’s Next Dish”. Two chefs competing for the same cooking show spot on TV. It’s funny, lots of witty banter, and I think Bethany handles it all with grace. Even when characters Hadley & Max have to go back and apologize to both God in prayer and each other when they mess up. Learning Max’s background helped endure me to him by the end of the book. It’s a perfect example of the troupe you are talking about today Janet! I know I’ve read others but just can’t come up with other ones.
Lastly, some of my favorite troupes are: marriage-of-convenience, mail-order bride, friends-to-more, and reunion or first loves reunited. I will read anything in between of course and there’s others I don’t care much for, two of them being secret baby/child and love triangle.
I see Star Rising is available on KU (along with the rest in the series), so I will borrow it to read :-) I’d love to find out how you handle the whole enemies-to-love theme!
Hi. Enemies to Love trope is one I enjoy. I find it fabulously fun when mixed with Proximity/Danger (Stuck Together) and Us Against the World tropes, especially when placed in travel or action/adventure situations. I will be sure to check out your titles. :D
I also enjoy 2nd Chances trope (widows & spinsters), Opposites Attract trope (similar but not always Enemies), Spies & Agents trope and Marriage of Convenience/Mail Order Bride/Fake Marriage (sometimes mixed with Spies & Agents) tropes. I avoid Love Triangles, Billion/Millionaire, “Bad Boy”, and “Baby” tropes and Forbidden Love tropes – they all seem excessively angst-filled to me. I love action & adventures but emotional drama is too exhausting. Lol.
Tropes are a fun topic. Every reader has their own preferences. :D
I enjoy marriage of convenience the best, but I will read all tropes. I did enjoy Star Rising, and liked how Mrs. Clark found her our love on the trip as well. It was a nice twist.
Hi Trixi! Yes, arguments get old. I bet Bethany nailed the banter! She’s so funny!
I hope you like Star Rising! Let me know.
Oh, you mentioned some good ones! I love 2nd chances and stuck together too!
Oh thank you for reading it, Marcia! Makes me smile! I haven’t written a marriage of convenience yet. Maybe someday!
Pride and Prejudice is the first one that comes to mind. There was another one I read last year, but the title eludes me. Her brother was married to his sister. The couple have a baby and then are killed in a car accident. The two enemies are the only family and move in with the baby to raise her. The drama of learning to live together, be first time parents, cope with a three month old, up all night, emergency room visits, nosy neighbours and social services to arrive at a HEA! If I remember will post the author and title.
For me I read books not tropes or genres and often have no idea what some of the genres and tropes out there even mean. :(
Enemies to lovers can be fun, like Star Rising and Pride and Prejudice. However, it can also be awful when one or both people are beyond likable and the presto-chango “we’re in love now” is unbelievable. For me, it’s more about the ability of the storyteller than the trope.
Oh, I may have read a book like that too! Also forgot the title.
Yes, you are so right! It has to be believable.
I do enjoy enemies to love but a particular title eludes me at this time.
I have the worst time trying to remember titles, ha!
Hi, yes I like to read Enemies to Love tropes, I find them very interesting.
I am late. When I read enemy to love it seems unreal. To explain what I am thinking (I have a cold my brain is not working!) I often wonder how you can go from being an enemy or really hating someone to loving them. I guess I think of a war or even a situation where someone has done something to really hurt someone or I guess has a totally different set of values or ideas. I know it can happen with prayer and God’s help. I also then think like in your situation of the story it may very well be a preconceived idea. The son doesn’t visit or seem to help. But maybe there is a reason he can’t be there to help. When both sides can sit down rationally they can explain or even clear up the misconception and then become friends.
So while the actual statement enemy to Love seems too unrealistic I understand. As long as its done in a realistic way it can be understood. (I guess its more the title of the trope I don’t like)
They can be fun!
That makes perfect sense! Thanks!
They can be fun
They can be! They are fun to write :)
I get confused by tropes sometimes. Your article helped me understand better. I have read enemy to to love and enjoyed them. The storyline is what catches my attention.
I get confused too, ha! Glad I could help clarify a little for us both :)
enemies to love is one of my favorite tropes. I also enjoy second chance.
Those are both fun to read! I’m writing a second chance story right now! Or I’m supposed to be :)
I love them but no particular titles come to mind right now.
I have trouble thinking of them too :)
I love all tropes. It doesn’t matter to me how they get together. I want to feel like I’m there going through everything together with them. The highs, lows, and all the feels.
That’s great! You give them all a chance! I like to try to be that way too!
Yes, I enjoy that type of beginning to a relationship. Helps keep everyone on their toes.
Look forward to reading your series.
Enemies to Lovers is not my first pick in a trope, but I have read a number of them that are more in the way of opposites attract but with so sort of misunderstanding that gets cleared up.
I think that the main reason I don’t usually read this trope is that so many of them aren’t believable. Spitting mad at a stranger and then they are in a passionate love scene. Just doesn’t work for me.
Hi Nancy! Thanks! I hope you enjoy it!
That makes sense, Sonia! Opposites attract can be fun.
I Enjoy this trope but cant think of a title right off!
I understand!