Five for Friday: Hate to Love, But Make it F/F

We all know just how good a trope hate to love is. Hell, it’s up there as one of my favourites. But you know what makes any trope a million times better? When it’s f/f.

So here are five of the best f/f hate to love books I’ve read. Yeah, there are some more popular ones in here too because turns out I haven’t read that many I’ve actually liked. Hopefully, all those 2020 and 2021 f/f releases will give me something good.

Disclaimer: no, I haven’t yet read Crier’s War. Yes, I have read Her Royal Highness. No, you do not need to tell me about either of them.

This is How You Lose the Time War
Amal el-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

And thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more.

Except discovery of their bond would be death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

Comments

If you want hate to love, you can’t get much more so than having characters who start on opposite sides in a conflict. And also. This is probably one of my favourite f/f books ever because of the hunger in it. (Maybe one day I’ll be able to put into words why that is.)

Joyride
Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Earth sucks.

The stars have been blocked out for so long that people have forgotten there was anything else besides the World Government Alliance watching over them. Uma Akkolyte is a girl who shoots first, leaps before she looks, and is desperate for any means to leave her planet behind. And so she does. When Uma jacks an alien spaceship and punches through the stratosphere she sets forth on an adventure with an unlikely crew who are totally not ready for all the good, bad, and weird the universe will throw at them.

From writers Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly (Batman and Robin Eternal, Grayson) and artist Marcus To (Nightwing, New Avengers), Joyride is a rebellious love letter to the sci-fi genre, exploring what happens when nothing stands between a group of teens and their freedom amongst the stars.

Comments

It’s been a while since I recced Joyride, but here we are again! If you want found family in space, morally questionable aliens, and a hate to love f/f romance, look no further. And it doesn’t hurt that Marcus To’s art is one of my favourites.

Compass Rose
Anna Burke

⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Rose was born facing due north, with an inherent perception of cardinal points flowing through her veins. Her uncanny sense of direction earns her a coveted place among the Archipelago Fleet elite, but it also attracts the attention of Admiral Comita, who sends her on a secret mission deep into pirate territory. Accompanied by a ragtag crew of mercenaries and under the command of Miranda, a captain as bloodthirsty as she is alluring, Rose discovers the hard way that even the best sense of direction won’t be enough to keep her alive if she can’t learn to navigate something far more dangerous than the turbulent seas. Aboard the mercenary ship, Man o’ War, Rose learns quickly that trusting the wrong person can get you killed—and Miranda’s crew have no intention of making things easy for her—especially the Captain’s trusted first mate, Orca, who is as stubborn as she is brutal.

This swashbuckling 26th century adventure novel is smart, colorful and quirky, yet it manages to deliver a healthy dose of heart, humor, and humility on every single page.

Comments

Think futuristic pirates and exquisite tension in your hate to love, and you’ll have an idea of what to expect in this one. Sure, I’m still the tiniest bit bitter that the ship I was rooting for wasn’t the endgame ship, but we all make mistakes don’t we.

Amelia Westlake
Erin Gough

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Two very different girls, and one giant hoax that could change – or ruin – everything.

Harriet Price has the perfect life: she’s a prefect at Rosemead Grammar, she lives in a mansion, and her gorgeous girlfriend is a future prime minister. So when she risks it all by creating a hoax to expose the school’s many problems – with help from notorious bad-girl Will Everheart, no less – Harriet tells herself it’s because she’s seeking justice. And definitely not because she finds Will oddly fascinating.

But as Will and Harriet’s campaign heats up, it gets harder for them to remain sworn enemies – and to avoid being caught. As tensions burn throughout the school, how far will they go to keep their mission – and their feelings for each other – a secret?

Comments

Is there anything better than planning a giant hoax with your rival only to fall for her? No, there is not.

Anyone But You
Chelsea M. Cameron

⭐⭐⭐

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Things are going great for Sutton Kay, or at least they were. Her yoga studio is doing well, she’s living with her best friend, and she just got two kittens named Mocha and Cappuccino. Sure, she doesn’t have a girlfriend, but her life is full and busy.

Then her building is sold and the new landlord turns out to be the woman putting in a gym downstairs who doesn’t seem to understand the concepts “courtesy” and “don’t be rude to your tenants.” Sutton can’t get a read on Tuesday Grímsdóttir, but she can appreciate her muscles. Seriously, Tuesday is ripped. Not that that has anything to do with anything since she’s too surly to have a conversation with, and won’t stop pissing Sutton off.

Sutton’s life gets interesting after she dares Tuesday to make it through one yoga class, and then Tuesday gives Sutton the same dare. Soon enough they’re spending time working out together and when the sweat starts flowing, the sparks start flying. How is it possible to be so attracted to a person you can barely stand?

But when someone from Tuesday’s past shows up and Sutton sees a whole new side of Tuesday, will she change her mind about her grumpy landlord? Can she?

Comments

The love interest is hot what can I say.

What are your favourite f/f hate to love books?