Stone Reeves was my neighbor, and I’ve hated him since sixth grade.Gorgeous and charismatic, he became the town’s football god, while I became the town’s invisible girl.He went to a Division 1 school for football, while my father was fired by his father.His team won the National Championship, while my mother died the same day.He was a first round pick for the NFL …… while I made the worst … …
… while I made the worst decision of my life.
Now I’m in Texas trying to pick up the pieces of my life.
But, Stone is here.
Stone is everywhere.
It doesn’t matter that disaster has struck my life again.
It doesn’t matter that he’s the one trying to console me.
It doesn’t matter that he’s the nation’s newest football obsession.
Because for me, he always has been and always will be my enemy.
** Enemies is a 100k enemies-to-lovers football romance standalone!
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Two of my favourite tropes in one. Sports and Enemies to Lovers, what more could you want?
Oh my life this book will turn you inside out. I love Tijan’s style of writing. She gives you the slightly crazy inner monologue of Dusty, in a conversational style. I love that Dusty talks to herself, coaches herself through things and you get to experience all of that. She is so flawed, but she’s just a young woman trying to find her way and be independent. Stone is a few years older than her and he wants to right past wrongs, but can’t help the pull he feels, not only to protect Dusty, but the attraction he has for her too.
Along with the constant push and pull between these two the electricity is off the grid. AND of course because they are enemies at times there is some seriously hot hate F and man do I love the hate F! It is hot and sweaty and dirty and fast and hard and all the things you want but equally when they reconcile and Dusty finally gives in, to her feelings locked up in her heart, there is tenderness. There is healing, there is friendship, there is care, there is slow, sensual love making. So really this book has it all. Drama, sports, action, fighting, hate F, friendship, love and a partnership that stands the test of time.
I love a good stand-alone that can build up a storyline and the characters without rushing the plot and/or ending.
The angst, drama, emotions and all of the feels just made this book. All those feel-good swoon moments hit me in the heart. I loved it.
Dusty and Stone were neighbors and best friends until 6th grade. Then when Dusty could’ve used her bestfriend, he was no where around. After moving across country and starting a new college her junior year, she’s the loner girl and Stone’s a football god. Who doesn’t love a good friends to enemies to lovers story?
Their relationship is amazing. It’s sweet some times, hilarious at others, hot and steamy at times, and just down right frustrating at others.
Dusty’s immediately likeable. Reserved and quiet, she’s away at college for the first time. She just wants to study marine biology but things are off to a rocky start when she discovers the “quiet” room she rented is actually in a party house. Her roommates are a mixed bag, a couple okay, a couple of mean girls. Soon tragedy strikes, turning her life upside-down in every way.
Stone and Dusty grew up as neighbors and the best of friends. Their relationship got increasingly complicated and fractured as they grew up. Bad blood between their families cemented the divide and the two became enemies. Stone is the last person Dusty wants in her life but he’s the only person there when things hit an all-time low. He doesn’t particularly want to help her, but she has no one and he can’t turn his back. She doesn’t want his help but needs it, which just makes her resent him even more.
Dusty is extremely bitter toward her former friend, with good reason, but Stone doesn’t seem to resent her in kind. He slowly realizes that he misses his old friend and she learns to forgive him to some extent. Attraction blooms, it only creates more problems for them. It’s painful to watch them want to get along but be unable to because it’s so real. That’s something we’ve all seen (or experienced).
The complexities of her and Stone is practically the least of her worries. She has baggage from her past and is struggling with the fall-out from the most recent trauma, which includes physical problems and sensitive family issues. Still, she’s trying to figure things out with Stone and dealing with difficult housemates while juggling school. She suffers from panic attacks and other physical manifestations of the various traumas she’s suffered so she’s socially withdrawn, but slowly allows others in.
Favorite quote from Dusty: “Grief is a right bastard. Sneaks up on you, blasts you, hits you, pounds you, leaves you wrecked. There’s a moment of peace. You never know how long it could last. Minutes. Hours. Days. You’re starting to believe you can ‘do this’ and the bastard comes back, knocks you over with a battering ram.”
No matter how tough things get, Dusty is determined to prove to herself that she can stand on her own. It isn’t easy but she makes friends, excels at work and conquers her biggest fears. Each accomplishment reinforces her strength and determination so she can do more. Her friends are the truest kind, rallying around Dusty and celebrating her every step of her journey. Her other relationships are an integral part of this story, so the romance is almost secondary.
This isn’t their story like most romances. This is Dusty’s story and he’s just one part of it. There are a few chapters from Stone’s POV later in the book but the story is almost completely from Dusty’s POV and while that’s usually disappointing in a romance, it works well here because we didn’t need to be in his head to make sense of things.
Favorite quote from Stone: “I love you and I want you to let me love you and I want to make you mine. My woman. Just mine. All mine. I don’t care what you want. I can’t let you be someone else’s. Mine, babe. Mine.”
This is a sad story and an emotional read at times but ultimately has one of the happiest endings I’ve ever read, simply because she’s accomplished so much and transformed her life to such an incredible degree. The epilogue was fun and heartwarming but the extra epilogue was even better. Enemies is a new favorite and I’ll read it again.
This book follows the story of Dusty Phillips and the famous American Football player; Stone Reeves. Exactly, that’s how she sees both of them. She struggles in her life because things get more and more complicated to her, which she blames Reeves for everything wrong in her life. Almost. They’ve known each other for years and they got along for several years but everything changed one day when their rivalry started. They can’t stand to even text each other, they hate themselves for the past connections they share but that doesn’t stop them from crashing into one another again.
Their chemistry was explosive and they kept fighting back through their layers because deep down they’re meant. Of course, I had a difficult time processing everything that happened to Dusty, but she managed it like a pro. She’s a warrior. Life sometimes feels like it’s getting harder and harder, but just like her, we need to fight those battles and become stronger.
This book is the perfect example we need in times like these. There are things that can damage our relationships but we have to always step aside and evaluate the whole situation. Sometimes we are the ones making assumptions and mistaking what the others took for a good action. Also, we have to always keep our hopes up because life can always get really messy and in my personal experience, life can change from a day to another; things crumble but you have to find your way up. Not building up the same but better.
I really enjoyed this book.
• •
: Enemies
: Tijan
: 5/5
This book is one of my favorite books. And it just gets me every time. This book is always such an emotional read for me. Even after a reread and I already know what is going to happen… it still gets me every time. And I know it will when I do another reread. It just has all the feels and I can’t help but shed a tear every time I read it. I really like the pace of the book as well, especially the twist and the turns. There is no way I saw that coming the first time I read it. And even when knowing what happens, it still does not take away from the story. It is still just as good as it was the first time around. I love the character development in this book, there is so much happening and I love how Dusty keeps on growing and evolving. The connection she and Stone have, and how it evolves throughout the book is just perfection. I love the enemies to lovers trope in general and when someone asks me for a enemies to lovers recommendation, I’ll tell them to read Enemies by Tijan. Yes, I am loving a lot (I mean EVERYTHING) about this book and I seriously recommend it to everyone that wants to read an AMAZING enemies to lovers romance.
A lot of my reviews are also available with photo at my Bookstagram: @justmyfantasyworld
Once again, Tijan delivered another page turner.
Not wanting to give away any spoilers, I’ll leave it at: Tijan has a talent to develop a plot (with multiple plot twists) the reader can’t anticipate. The story behind Dusty and Stone being enemies is not the “traditional” one of love gone wrong, which I really enjoyed. A definite must-read!!
Great story
So amazingly good that I had to tell myself to go to sleep because I could not put it down. I was instantly sucked into this book from page one. This “enemies” to lovers book had me laughing and on the edge of my seat with all their “bickering”. These two are just perfect for one another but it is t easy and there’s some obstacles to over come.
I won’t say much more for fear of spoiling it so go read this story you won’t be disappointed.
Don’t worry it’s a standalone so no cliff hanger just a need for more of Dusty and Stone!!!!
Enemies is in my TOP 5 best books of all-time! I’ve read a lot of books in this trope and I think this might be my favorite! Stone was just everything! I could not put this book down. Their love story captivated me from page 1! Excellent amount of steam, angst, passion, love, and drama…this might be one of the only books that I could reread! I don’t ever REREAD…I could reread this and I think I might have to soon! JUST READ IT…if you like enemies to lovers, the push pull, and sexual tension between AWESOME characters…you won’t be disappointed! Tijan killed it with this one!!!
Heck yeah Tijan rocks!
Dusty could be such a good character overcoming so much and surviving. Stone was a big town hero and her former friend which she hated the way it had ended.
I am all for romance, all for sports but this is one of the few books I wasn’t able to finish. Got about half way through and couldn’t do it anymore. I had hoped it would be good but I was wrong.
Sorry but there are so many wrong things in here when it comes to handling the situation Dusty was placed in. But when you have a character who has a major concussion which caused them to put her in an induced coma, having an evening with hard, rough sex multiple times within days of being released (one day after she woke up by the way) it’s time to stop reading. What happened to her was a serious medical issue, she needed to be in a quiet, dark place and adjust over time, not what was written in the book at all. How it got such high stars I don’t know.
Not what I expected. Love the characters
A very enjoyable and angsty read.
Dusty and Stone have a very firey relationship..they hate eachother…but can’t seem to stay away from eachother.
Dusty is living in a Nightmare,I swear this girl can not get a break and sadness and tragedy just seem to follow her around.
Stone is a BIG Football star and he shows up to help her through this devestating situation she is going through but she keeps pushing him away.
But I have to hand it to Stone no matter what Hate she throws at him he is so persistent until one night they cross the line and nothing is the same.
Tijan has an amazing way with words and her writing style is addictive and this story threw me some curve balls I didn’t expect.
Emotional,sexy and compelling
It is a Magnificent story and I Loved it.
5 Stars
This was an okay read. I honestly thought I would end up loving it more based on the blurb and reviews but I didn’t. Dusty and Stone were okay characters but there was nothing about them that I loved. Nothing that made them stand out to me. There was chemistry between the two and the sex scenes were steamy, but there seemed to be more hate between them so it was hard to believe in their love. There was just a little to much back and forth between the two. There was drama, heartbreaking and heartfelt moments in this story but something was just missing for me. The drama with the stalker felt unnecessary. It wasn’t a bad story but it is a one time read for me.
This is a very hard book to read as Dusty and Stone are so damaged, especially Dusty. But read it I did. All of the characters were damaged but some were just a lot easier to notice. I really could not put this book down. I just had to see what happened next. So complex, so believable, so passionate.
I LOVE a sports romance, okay? I love them, and I don’t ever try to hide that fact. So as soon as I found out that Tijan had one coming for us, I knew I’d be reading it ASAP.
My girl Dusty. Sheesh. My heart broke for her in so many ways, and when she was stumbling, so was I, and when she was smiling, so was I. She earned it. Every last bit of everything, she shuffled through her struggles, and the serious life adjustments and did things her own way, at her own pace. She grew in every bit of this book, and I am here for it.
Warning: I cried. A good bit. Some sadness, some emotional wreckage, some bittersweet things, but I cried.
I smiled, I laughed, and I had warm fuzzy feelings too.
Stone is EVERYTHING. The man swooped in, ready to fight, ready to be her hero, ready for it, and was DENIED. I loved it all. He made my heart soar with his actions, and then again with his words, and honestly, it’s gonna take me a bit to recover, but Stone has definitely found himself on my list of book boyfriends.
Recommendation: The swoon factor is real here, the angst is raw, and I highly recommend this read.
This was an awesome story. It sent you through every emotion and then some. It is like what else can go wrong and have you sitting on the edge hoping that good things do happen for good people.
Stone Reeves was my neighbor and best friend and in the six grade he started to ignore me. Pretended we were never best friends. He became a football god in our town and I became the invisible girl. So from that moment I hated Stone. Especially the day their team won the championship, my mother died that day.
Dusty Phillips tried running from all her problems and enrolled in a college 5 states away in a marine biologist program in Texas. Coming from a small town in South Dakota Dusty knew no one and she liked it that way. “I hated meeting people. Like, truly hated it. I was what you’d call an introvert extrovert. I was chatty once I got to know someone, but let’s be honest here, because of a certain incident, I was very peopled-out.” The ad Dusty answered for housing because she transferring as a junior, stated it was a quiet house, however when Dusty arrived it was her worst nightmare a football party house.
Now Stone and I were in the same town and my step-mother thought it would be a good idea for us to meet up but no one including me & Stone Rampage Reeves wanted that. Yes, did I tell you he’s everywhere in this town. He was a 1st round pick in the NFL draft and still a football god, but I hated him. The ad Dusty answered to for housing because she transferring as a junior states it was a quiet house, however when she arrived it was her worst nightmare a football party house. So it was no escaping Stone, they worshipped him.
Then it happened he made contact and I will say I still hate him because what came out of his mouth was, “call you step-mother Gail off or we will sue them for harassment”. The nerve of this guy especially with the history our families had. His father fired my father and we were forced to move, while my mother was going through chemo. I hated him but little do I know that soon he would also come to my rescue in the time I needed him the most. Do I continue to hate him or accept fate.
I really enjoyed this book ,big fan of Enemies to lovers 🙂 I love Tijan’s writing ,she makes you fall in love with her stories and her characters ,
I am a fan of sports romances and this one did not disappoint,it had all the great big game moments that get you on the edge of your seat when reading and all the super steamy scenes were so good !
I loved Dusty ,she is a great character and i get why she is bitter ,she went through alot at such a young age ,i felt a connection to her right away ,she lost her mom to cancer and i have just went through the same experience and i don’t know how she is still standing ,losing your mom is one of the worse things to ever happen to anyone ,Tijan did a really good job conveying all those emotions , then what happens to her stepmom and dad is another hit to her, i loved that Stone was there for her,they have this pull and you really feel for both of them .
I loved Stone ,he was a major jerk when they were kids but now he wants to be there for her and i loved that he wants to take care of her in his own way , he doesn’t let his fame go to his head and i loved that he tries to do what is best for them both ,i loved that they found their way back to each other ,they are a great fit and i loved the end of the story 🙂
I love Tijan and all her books ,i can’t wait to read more from her 🙂
I could not put this book down. The relations between Dusty and Stone was unique. They both had their reasons to not like the other but they both didn’t know the other’s reasons. Dusty went through so much in this book but somehow Stone was always there. They both denied what was happening between them for so long and were great at pushing each other away or just pushing buttons. All I kept thinking while reading this book was what will happen next. Stone is one of my favorite book boyfriends, he handled everything so perfectly or exactly how Dusty pushed him to act which he can’t have any blame for doing. I was glued to the pages and might have let the kids watch too much tv so I could finish this book.