There are some tropes that just never go out of style — fake dating, opposites attract, that one bed in the room — but if you ask me, enemies-to-lovers is the holy grail. And no, I’m not just saying that because I wrote a whole gay romance about a snarky atheist podcaster and a sexy small-town faith healer trying very hard not to fall into bed (and maybe love) with each other.
But seriously, enemies-to-lovers endures for a reason. It’s electric. It’s messy. It’s unhinged emotional yearning wrapped in a sexy, slow-burn shell. In Holy Water, I cranked that dynamic all the way up and added just a dash of religious trauma, a shot of Southern charm, and a full pour of mutual obsession.
So why does it work? And why does it work even better when one character thinks the other is a con artist sent straight from Satan?
Let’s talk.
1. The stakes are high — and deeply personal.
In Holy Water, Julian Reed doesn’t just dislike Jude Brooks — he’s made it his mission to expose him. His career depends on it. His pride depends on it. And let’s be real, his deeply repressed desire to believe in something again depends on it too.
When characters have a reason to resist their feelings — real, internal conflict — the payoff becomes so much sweeter. There’s no insta-love here. Just slow, spicy spiritual warfare with tongue.
2. Desire and doubt? That’s the good stuff.
Enemies-to-lovers always hinges on a push-pull dynamic. One minute they’re at each other’s throats, the next minute they’re noticing how good the other one smells in a confession booth. (True story.)
The tension between Julian and Jude isn’t just sexual — it’s existential. Jude represents everything Julian doesn’t trust: faith, charisma, miracles that can’t be proven. But he also represents something Julian’s secretly aching for: healing. And that’s where enemies-to-lovers shines — in the messy space between hate and hope.
3. It lets us explore redemption in sexy, human ways.
We love a redemption arc — but make it queer and sweaty, please. Both Julian and Jude are wounded. They’ve both built armor around their hearts. And enemies-to-lovers gives them permission to fight for something real, instead of just falling into it.
When two characters with every reason to walk away choose to stay — and choose each other anyway — that’s romance. That’s faith.
And in this case? That’s Holy Water.
🙏 Read Holy Water now — and let the healing begin. Holy Water is now available at all major online bookstores as well as my direct bookstore, Cruz Publishing!
Ian O. Lewis and Luke Jameson 