Sometimes you need to leave reality, and the cheapest way to do it is between the covers of an enemies to lovers fantasy book about a girl who falls in love with a man who is either six hundred years old or actively trying to kill her, ideally both. Here are eleven that work for that purpose.

The Faerie King by Deborah J Martins

My own hehe <3. The Faerie King is dark romantasy with a cursed mortal girl, the sadistic fae king who has loved her since they were children, the war between their fathers, and the question of what happens to her when the curse comes. Book two, Queen of Blood, is already out. There are demons, politics, and lots of "harsh, possessive, painful" kisses.

A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas

Feyre kills a wolf in the woods, the wolf turns out to be fae, and the fae who comes to collect on the murder turns out to be the kind of man you fall in love with, until he's not anymore. The series gets darker, hornier and stranger with every book and I have read it more times than I'm prepared to admit in print.

Radiance by Grace Draven

This is an arranged marriage between a Kai prince and a human noblewoman who find each other physically repulsive on sight. They have to make it work for political reasons. It's one of the gentlest love stories in the genre and a useful antidote when you've been reading too much dark romance and need a palate cleanser that still has fangs and politics in it.

The Winter King by C.L. Wilson

A summer princess is captured by a winter king after their kingdoms go to war. He needs an heir, she needs to escape. Neither of these things ends up happening the way either of them planned. The romance is slow-burn, the type where you spend half the book wondering if they're going to kiss and then they don't kiss for another hundred pages.

The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

Okay, so this isn't fantasy, but I'm putting it on the list anyway because if you've read all the other recs and your brain needs a contemporary palate cleanser, this is the one. Lucy and Joshua work at the same publishing house, they hate each other, until they don't.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

You've seen the film. The book is better. A young man crosses the wall between his town and Faerie to bring back a fallen star for the girl he wants to marry. The fallen star turns out to be a person. This is a fairy tale that's funny, dark, occasionally horny, and completely mythic.

The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon

A heroine born into a world where words have literal power is made silent at birth to protect her. There's a king who notices her and a magic system tied to language in a way that doesn't feel gimmicky. Amy Harmon's prose is lyrical in a way that some readers love and some find too purple, but give it a chapter. If you like the first chapter you'll like the book.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin

A witch and a witch-hunter forced into marriage by circumstance. He doesn't know what she is and she doesn't trust him. The chemistry is top tier and the slow reveal of what she is and what he'll do when he finds out is the engine of the book. It's marketed as YA but it reads a little darker than YA.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

Two magicians are bound to a competition they didn't choose. The competition is staged inside a circus that only opens at night. Morgenstern writes like she's casting a spell on the reader. The romance is delicate and strange and not the central engine of the book, which is something to know going in. If you want to live inside a moonlit dream for a few hundred pages, this is it.

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

A young woman from a quiet village is taken by a powerful wizard known as the Dragon as part of a centuries-old agreement. The magic system is rooted in Eastern European folklore and feels older and more fairy-taley than lots of current fantasy. The romance is grumpy-sunshine.

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden

Think of this as medieval Russian folklore as fantasy romance. Vasilisa can see the household spirits that protect her village. When her stepmother arrives and tries to stamp out the old ways, the spirits begin to fade and the dark things in the forest grow stronger. Morozko, the Frost-King, comes for her. The romance is slow and atmospheric and woven through all three books.