Enemy of my Dreams by Jenny Williamson.
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This book is what I wanted from every other romantasy I have read this year.

When people say “this book had me in a chokehold” I did not understand them…until this book.

I finished the audio for this book and four hours later I cannot stop thinking about it and am seriously considering starting it over again.

This book makes me want to hunt down really great artists and force them to read it and then draw me fanart of Alaric and Julia.

I want a movie-version with perfect casting stat.

The tension. The drama. The romance. The found family. I will ship Alaric and Julia till forever.
The enemies to lovers trope was so well done because I wanted to throw this book across the room I was so frustrated with how they were treating each other (alas I was listening to the audio so I had to mentally throw), but also I didn’t want to stop reading.

My initial rating was 4.5 but I just cannot stop thinking about this book and I have such a book hangover I have not been able to read anything for the rest of the day.
5🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This book has consumed me body and soul, and I am mentally living here until further notice.

Lisa did amazing work bringing the characters to life! Jenny oh how I love this book!! Julia and Alaric are just chef kiss perfect!! I wish there were more books out there like this! THE BANTER!!! I was kicking and screaming! Truly so good! Even the side characters were great! I will love this book forever! If you are looking for an accurate historical romance eeeehhh this is okay, there are a few inaccuracies but that is fine! I was not bothered by it at all. Also let me just make a quick mention of Julia's growth!! That girl GREW into a Queen as she should! Truly wonderful work!

I LOVED this!!!!! I wish we had sooooo many more looks this, ancient history, enemies to lovers, war, drama, and an epic love story! Julia, is a spoiled princess and her thought processes at the beginning were at once ridiculous and I totally see how she was pushed to such desperation! She had such phenomenal growth throughout the story, and even though she kind of annoyed me at first, I grew to really admire her and I think that was the point! Alaric has my heart and soul, their banter was immaculate, and I loved his anti-Roman squad bros, they were so funny and cute! Are there some historical inaccuracies? Yes. Did they bother me? NO, because this was so fun and engaging that I just enjoyed the ride!

Man oh man, I loved this book. Slow start, but damn does it get good the longer you listen to it. The FMC has an amazing growth story. From being a spoiled princess that gets everything she wanted from her daddy, for her brother to try to marry her off so he would not longer have to deal with her after her fathers death, to the battle hardened queen of the goths. She grew from an alcoholic gunky temptress to a strong queen that demanded her place in the world.

I really love the Macbeth vibes I got from Alaric close to the end. He was seeing ghost and losing himself with the loss of his wife (she wasn't dead but still).

This was truly a enemies to lovers book. I did get tried of their will they won't they. It just started to get old after they got married. I enjoyed the fluent transition between shifts of perspective. I have read books that it was way more clunky then this. this book was a true joy to read

This book deserves to be read by the the booktok girlies. It deserves the fame of cruel prince and fourth wing because it is a much better story and way superior writing compared to the aforementioned books.

Thank you Harlequin Audio for the ALC.

I don't usually read books featuring the romance empire so this was an interesting world to dive into. This was a cute enemies to lovers historical fantasy with some decent stakes. Julia and Alaric meet early on in the novel, and after an orchestrated kidnapping, find themselves severely attracted to each other, even though they should be on opposite sides of the war. This story was full of action, some miscommunication, and cycles of unfulfilled sexy times. This novel will be cool for people who enjoy reading historical romantasies with a side of adventure.

This is a very well written and fleshed out romance novel. I'm not in my romance novel era but this one was pretty easy to get wrapped up in. Great for historical fiction lovers who need a little steaminess in their lives.

I enjoyed the pacing of this and the twists throughout.

Narration really pulled me into the story and I feel that was a main reason for me sticking with and enjoying this.

The cliffhanger felt forced for dramatic impact and don’t think it served the story well as it could very easily have been a standalone.

While I love the story, the narrator was not for me. Not that there was anything wrong just for me personally I didn't like their voice.

A romance in the middle of the Roman Empire… I loved it! It’s action packed from start to finish.
Slow burn
Enemies to lovers
Excellent character development from our FMC.
Also really enjoyed the audio. The narrator was perfect for the story.
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was a beautiful balance of history, romance, and intrigued. I highly recommend it.

This book is for perfect for people who watch Game of Thrones and Sansa Stark was their favorite character. But Roman.

Rounding up from a 4.5 - I really enjoyed this one! I'm not a huge history person so I can't speak to the accuracies but the vibes were excellent. I love a good enemies to lovers trope and this absolutely hit the spot. I also loved the way the found family aspect was done in this. As the reader, it felt super immersive as we slowly got to know the characters better and better along with Julia.

My only critiques are that 1) the POV was somewhat confusing as an audiobook (not sure if this is more clear in the written form, but it felt a little jarring to suddenly be in a different character's POV) and 2) vague spoilers ahead! the miscommunication at the end felt unresolved but the characters just went along with it, which made the ending feel rushed to me. I don't mind miscommunication but it felt like there was SO MUCH that the MMC and FMC needed to clear up in order to truly move on together and they... didn't.

Thank you to The Hive, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and NetGalley for the ALC of this book. Overall I really enjoyed this listen and would definitely recommend it.

If you like these tropes, definitely consider this one!
- enemies to lovers
- historical fiction
- found family
- unhinged MMC
- princess x barbarian (kind of)
- protectiveness / jealousy

I initially thought this story would be a fantasy novel, but I quickly realized it was historical fiction with a strong romance element. Set deep in Roman history—farther back than any book I’ve read before—it follows the story of Julia, the daughter of a Roman emperor. After her father’s death, she finds herself at the mercy of her cruel younger brother, who delights in tormenting others simply because he has the power to do so. To escape an unwanted marriage, she takes a bold risk and stages her own kidnapping by a Gothic warlord, Alaric, to create an alliance.

From that moment, the story becomes a journey filled with intense drama, action, and intrigue. Julia and the war king inevitably fall for each other, though not without resistance along the way. The tension between them, along with the “cat-and-mouse” dynamic and the classic enemies-to-lovers trope, made their relationship all the more compelling.

One of my favorite aspects of the novel was Julia’s character development. She starts as a spoiled Roman princess but transforms into a formidable Gothic queen, earning the respect of Alaric’s men and learning to fight and protect herself. And then there’s Alaric himself—absolutely divine, dangerous, and delicious. He radiates power, strength, and the unwavering presence of a true protector. Their shared thirst for vengeance and power made their bond even stronger and their love story even more intense. Every moment between them was charged with passion, making this book absolutely perfect.

That being said, I do not know enough about history to say if there are inaccuracies, and the book was quite long; there were parts where it did feel drawn out. However, the writing was exquisite, and I’m eagerly anticipating the second book—something I feel certain is coming based on how this one ended.

This is, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful books I’ve read, and I hope more people get the chance to experience it. As a final note, the audiobook narrator did an incredible job, fully immersing me in the story. I highly recommend it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Audio for ARC in exchange of my honest review!

This book reaches back in time to ancient European and the conflict between the Romans and the Goths. Julia is a princess of Rome, stuck in a life of court boredom in her gilded cage. She believes it is her right to rule and will stop at nothing to break free of her bejeweled shackles and take the throne for herself. When happenstance leads her into the arms of the king of the Goths, Rome's greatest enemy, she take it as an opportunity to take a gamble at try her hand at political strategy. Romance ensues of course.

This book includes:
- merry band of misfits crossing empires (found family)
- very moody and broody MMC
- an overconfident FMC
- a battle for a homeland
- games of strategy
- potential TW

This book is right up my alley. I love historical fiction and some good ancient Roman conflict. The will they wont they enemies to lovers conflict is also one of my favorites and I cant help but scoop up any book that promises banter and tension. While the writing was strong and the concept was fair, I found that I could not make myself enjoy this book. The MMC was came off as a bit slimy to me and the romance was both corny and lacking in chemistry. Honestly, despite not being offensive in any manner it sort of all left me with a bad taste in my mouth. I think the book cover led me to believe it would be more serious than a typical booktok type book, which left me with a sense of dissonance when trying to enjoy my reading. The audio production was good, but not enough to get past my distaste for the story.

I received this audiobook as an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Jenny Williamson, and Harlequin Audio for the opportunity to review this book. This review has been posted across my socials under the username @tinynightingales, check out my GoodReads profile https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/62314863
my bookstagram account https://www.instagram.com/tinynightingales/
and booktok https://www.tiktok.com/@tinynightingales?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

I really enjoyed this book! I thought that the author made some very compelling characters and that the world building was intriguing and unique. The audiobook narrator did a great job of navigating the characters and giving depth to the story. The pacing of the story worked well and overall flowed nicely. My only complaint would be that the romance started way too soon and became minorly obsessive for the characters-- I think it could have built more slowly into this.

This book was great. The story kept me engaged. The writing was incredible. It had the perfect balance of tension and spice. Most importantly for me in an enemy to lovers storyline is the believability around the tipping point, and Jenny Williamson has done this beautifully by illustrating the internally conflicting feelings of both characters from the very beginning.

There are so many things I didn't like about this book. The narrating was awkward and clumpy and at times the way they were narrating didn't fit the lines being said. The plot line was confusing and the story wasn't anything special. We got almost no background info or world building in order to help you as a listener understand and follow the story. The romance wasn't really there and there was little to no chemistry between the characters. The only things I really enjoyed in this book was the MMC

Unfortunately this was a DNR for me. I kept trying but it wasn’t holding my attending, so my mind would wander and I would end up feeling bored, and then when I’d go back in I had no clue what was going on. I appreciate the approval and may go back to it one day, but right now it’s not for me.

If you’re looking for a story where the FMC is helpless, not taken seriously and exploited by men, then here you go.

Our FMC, Julia, has the knowledge and position to be taken seriously as a ruler, something she time and again states as her desire, but many of her choices lead her away from that, in addition to all the men of the book seeming to work against her and trade her status for kingdoms of riches. Women are treated as property in this book, common for the books setting and time period, however, she was given an education and born daughter of an emperor, and also meets another female character who is a ruler of her people and does refuse to be married. Regardless of her upbringing, and advice from those who seem to be on her side, Julia throws it all away when she makes choices for love even when he explicitly states he will not honor her wishes.

Not every story can be empowering, however, to see the main character who is so adamant on achieving her goals choose to not follow them is extremely aggravating. I only finished the book to see what would happen in the end, and although the MMC eventually (last chapter or so) finally hears her out, I still do not feel like any justice was given.

2/5 ⭐️

Following the "not so accurate but extremely hot" story of Julia and Alaric, King of Goths.
Of course, we have our FMC that refuses to ever fall in love but jumps head first after seeing our hot bod, war lord MMC. A long treacherous journey and forced proximity delivered, as it always does.

The story is well-written and action-packed.
I had trouble with the "head hopping" in the beginning but after 40% this book had me in a chokehold.

I did find myself begging them to communicate because..honestly, you guys, what are we doing?! However, the author made up for it by delivering us a groveling hero who literally loses his mind without our dear lass.