“Enemy of my Dreams” is a historical romance between Julia, a princess of the Roman Empire, and Alaric, King of the Goths. After her tyrannical brother makes an example of one of her lovers, Julia orchestrates her own kidnapping by Alaric, who in turn is perfectly willing to use her as leverage to gain what he wants: a parcel of land on which the Goths can build a home after their was stolen by the empire. Each of these people work to manipulate and seduce the other, with the upper hand switching places throughout the story.
Fans of spicy romance novels will probably enjoy this; personally I felt that Julia and Alaric kept rehashing the same conflict over and over, and the spicy scenes got repetitive pretty quickly. The pacing also felt very strange: the event that felt like the halfway point of the story happened around 80% through, and then it didn’t feel like it ended in the right place either. There is certainly character development, but I didn’t think either Alaric or Julia reached the point in their journeys where I actually felt like I would root for them.

I have to admit that this one had me intimidated at first glance:
1) While I love me some historical romance, I was worried that as far back as ancient Rome might be out of my depth.
2) I've recently gotten back into truly reading for enjoyment, and clocking in at almost 500 pages had me questioning if I'd like it.
3) I also don't usually gravitate towards enemies to lovers romances because they can often be problematic as hell.

However, this book pleasantly surprised me on all three counts. Williamson does an amazing job of immersing the reader in the ancient world, sharing details that really set the scene while not making it a tedious distraction. There were a few moments when I felt the pacing was slower than it needed to be, but overall it all tied together in a way that still made it interesting.

Finally, Julia and Alaric's tension was engaging to read from the very beginning, and their damn misunderstandings/miscommunication had me STRESSED. The growth and progression of their romance feels so genuine, and they're sexy and soft and stupid in the way only the most compelling book couples can be.

After about 1/3 of the way in, I couldn't put Enemy of My Dreams down. My only complaint is that the ending felt a little rushed -- but I may have just wanted more!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Enemy of My Dreams follows Julia, a spoiled daughter of a Roman emperor, and Alaric, the king of the Goths who is engaged in a lifelong battle with Rome for a true homeland. When Julia's brother, the new emperor, turns on both her and Alaric, they find their destinies connected. First up, we always need more historical romances that are not set in England during the regency period, so this was a super refreshing change of pace for the genre. Alaric and Julia have a very interesting dynamic between the two of them that is founded on both admiration and deep suspicion of each other that does not go away despite their growing closeness. I really appreciated that they didn't suddenly trust each other just because they developed feelings for each other, especially considering that their reputations are well-known by both of them.

That being said, the last third of the book feels a little unwieldy and rushed. I don't feel entirely satisfied by how it ends and I wouldn't be surprised if another book comes down the pipeline for these two.

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book. With the feel of a Greek myth retelling with heaps of spice added in, it was a perfect recipe for a page turner that gripped me
And wouldn’t let me go. There were only a few times I felt it was going on just a little too long, but in the end, I loved the way it all played out.

Julia was not a great person at the start, but what she was forced to endure changed her for the better. I loved watching her and Alaric fall in love, and I loved seeing her forge friendships with people who were so far and away different from her and where she started in life. Alaric was a hard man who knew what he wanted, and he did everything he could to make his desires come true. He was the perfect enemy to the princess until he wasn’t. I loved seeing his soft side reveal itself, both for Julia and for his friends.

Fantastic book, definitely recommend.

Enemy of My Dreams is a novel set during the Roman Empire. It is an enemies-to-lovers historical romance following Julia, the only daughter of the Emperor of Rome, and Alaric of the Visigoths, a sworn enemy of Rome. Julia has a mind for ruling but is quickly put aside for being a woman and is replaced by her brother- a petulant, arrogant heir to the throne. He offers her hand in marriage to a man she hates and decides to take fate into her own hands by orchestrating her kidnapping.

Julia spends this entire book fighting for the women in her life. She knows that they can be just as cunning, strong, brave, and cutthroat as any man can be. Many men in this story dismiss her knowledge simply due to her looks and the societal gender norms of women being meek and submissive. I do love the feminine rage that echos in the pages of this book.

I also really enjoyed the characters that are present. You can't help but love all of the side characters that come into play. Each has their own history without it being two dimensional or repetitive. They stick to their personality without being second thoughts, each is fleshed out.

It did take me a little while to get into the book. The first 2/3 was a lot of set up and not a lot of action. However, that last 150 pages were enthralling. I could not set it down for a moment because I needed to know what was going to happen next. I do look forward to an eventual book 2.

I also had some difficulty with Alaric as a MMC. He didn't quite have the character growth I was wanting from him, BUT I had not realized that this would be a series until close to the end and knowing that he has a lot more time to grow into a man worthy of Julia eases my frustration with his bullheadedness at times.

Those that love historical stories set in the Roman times, some spice, feminine rage, and found family will really enjoy this novel.

The amazing and well written story of Galia Placidia’s early life. What I don’t understand is why she’s named Julia in this story, when it would have been just as easy to give the main character her historical name.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

First off, I have to say that this book deserves a stronger, more evocative title. While Enemy of My Dreams leans heavily into a rom-com vibe, it doesn’t quite capture the intensity and epic scope of the story. This is a tale of war, betrayal, and passion, set amidst the backdrop of the fierce conflicts between the Goths, Romans, and Huns—a much grander stage than the title suggests.

That said, I thoroughly enjoyed this read. The pacing was spot-on, pulling me through the twists and turns of the story without feeling rushed. The characters were richly developed, with layered motivations and compelling arcs that made it easy to root for (or against) them. The storyline was fire, packed with enough intrigue, action, and romance to keep me glued to the pages.

The Roman setting was a standout element for me. It brought a unique and refreshing angle to the narrative, immersing me in the political and cultural complexities of the time. The vivid descriptions and historical depth made the world feel alive, and I loved the sense of stepping into a completely different era.

Overall, this book was incredibly entertaining and well-executed.

From the first the chapter, I was sort of convinced this book wasn’t for me, but I was wrong. I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Jenny Williamson did a phenomenal job at developing the side characters and bringing this story to life. The side characters make this story. I felt like I knew each and every one of them by the end and would have loved to regard them as friends. Although ruthless, their loyalties run deep and they do their best for their little make shift family.

I wish I had a map and a bit more background knowledge about the time period while reading this. I’m not sure I understood the historical significance of the feuding groups, but the story read well even without the background. Honestly, it felt more like I was reading a romantasy. Also, I found the writing to be confusing at times especially at the beginning when trying to follow which character perspective I was reading, but you get used to it.

I’m not the biggest fan of Alaric, but his character certainly kept me engaged. He fit the savior complex trope so well. Julia and Alarics romance skewed more towards lust than love at times and definitely had some toxic moments, but hey it didn’t stop me from inhaling this story. I enjoyed the concept of this book so much that I am hoping Jenny Williamson builds on it with books about some of the side characters like thorismund or the twins.

My rating: 4 stars

I’d like to thank NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this arc.

I really enjoyed this as a historical fiction novel, it had that feel that I was hoping for from the last days of Rome. The overall story and characters worked with the storyline being told, I was engaged with the concept and how it was written. I enjoyed the way Jenny Williamson wrote this as it was a realistic setting and enjoyed that it felt like Rome. The story was so well done and was glad I was able to read this.

Many thanks to NetGalley.Harlequin Trade Publishing | Canary Street Press for the ARC.

This was such a strong start, but towards the last third of the book, the plot started going wayward - I understand the push and pull of Alaric and Julia's relationship and how fraught it was with distrust, but this book could have been about 150 pages shorter. Her running away caused a lot of unnecessary plot filler that I think didn't need to be there. However, it was a fairly entertaining tale - I love Roman myth retellings and this was overall fun to read.

A great time. Well written, good characters, interesting plot, excellent yearning and romance. I liked both of the main characters, I thought they were well developed, and I understood their motivations and worries. The plot got heavy and drawn out at times, but there was just enough humor and levity injected into the dialogue and scenes to carry through. My one note is that it probably could have been 10-20% shorter and yet the ending was rather abrupt. There were also a few very modern bits of dialogue or internal thought that I snagged on, but really I'm not sure I even disliked it, so not counting this as a real note. The modern vernacular got points and vibes across clearly, and full adherence to time period appropriate language may have been tedious/unintelligible.
I had a great time, it was a real page turner, and its fun to get out of the regency era when reading historical romance. Recommend!

Enemy of the Dreams is the story of Julia. As an Emperor's sister, she is being forced into a loveless marriage to allow her brother to consolidate power. Out of options, she turns to Alaric, King of the Goths, to rescue her from Rome and allow her to overthrow her brother.

The book take full advantage of the historical setting, to really let the internal politics of the Roman Empire give it incredible specificity in its settings - it is unusual for the action to be centred around Ravenna, the capitol of the latter Roman Empire. I enjoyed getting to see more diversity than typical in Roman Empire epics - there are characters from Asia, from the Alps, and from Scandianvia. I hope the author will continue a sequel and recommend to anyone who loves a Roman Empire tinged romantasy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

This is a great and unique historical romance! The real enemies to lovers vibes, the angst, the tension, the actually high stakes, all of it combines into a gripping novel. And the spice was spicy! Will look for more from this author.

The Vibes:

—actual factual enemies to lovers (as in, enemy of the state)

—KIDNAPPING!!!

—Ancient Rome, naturally

—high as hell stakes

Heat Index: 7/10

The Basics:

When an attempt to escape a horrible forced marriage goes wrong, Julia, sister to Rome's emperor, is taken captive by Alaric, King of the Goths. He wants freedom for his people; she wants freedom for herself. As much as they hate each other—an alliance could be in order.

The Review:

Is that... a historical romance set sometime and some place other than the nineteenth century in England? Um, shockingly enough, yes! And boy does it wring every bit of tension and world it can possibly get out of that world? Also yes.

The thing about Enemy of My Dreams is that it actually is a legitimate enemies to lovers novel, which is harder to find than you'd think (these days). Alaric spent fifteen years prior to the story killing Romans, essentially. Julia's brother wants him dead. Julia is very much taken against her will! Alaric very much doesn't see her as anything more than a hostage... at first.

It's all quite delicious, and you really feel the push-pull between the two of them throughout the novel. Because, even when they develop feeling for each other, the conflict and distrust doesn't automatically go away. You still have this tension between two people with fundamental differences, as well as different motivations.

And they're fun people, by the way. Alaric is, frankly, quite hot—he's a big alpha warrior type, but also a strategist. Williamson avoids the barbarian stereotype, emphasizing his cunning and knack for manipulation. The trouble is that he's coming up against a fellow manipulator, though Julia... rather adorably, isn't the most experienced at it. There's an age gap, and you feel it when she hurtles herself into plot after plot, only for it to not quite land because she's a bit of a young hedonist.

It's incredibly endearing. I love Julia; in a lot of ways, this book is her journey as much as it's her romance with Alaric.

Make no mistake, though. I can make a couple of critiques regarding pacing, but generally speaking, this one harkens back to old schools in the best ways. Peoples' lives are at stake. We have a classically hulking and dangerous hero and a defiant, beautiful heroine way in over her head (but she's gonna fight anyway). We have a broad cast of fun characters. It's an old school vibe updated for modern sensibilities... But not TOO updated.

The Sex:

Alaric and Julia's loathing and lust lead to several different hate sex encounters, as well as looooovemaking sex. It's explicit, though Williamson does often use euphemisms and avoids super anatomical descriptions. Regardless, the chemistry between the leads makes each scene FAB.

I'm excited to read more from Jenny Williamson. This is a novel both unique and a throwback. It's plenty exciting—check it out!

Thanks to NetGalley and Canary Street Press for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I'll lead with: I loved this. If you're an avid reader of old-school bodice rippers but just wish they weren't so, well, problematic, this book is going to be your catnip. Frankly the cover should have Fabio in a loincloth, with a red-haired model in blue eyeshadow and a carefully-draped toga swooning in his arms. It's that kind of book - fun, adventurous, and over-the-top dramatic. Williamson's updated for the twenty-first century, however; not only our heroine Julia but other women have agency and excellent characterization, there is always consent between the hero and heroine, and several secondary characters are queer. Williamson presents many of the Gothic tribes as fairly egalitarian, with women warriors, women leaders, and unproblematic queer relationships.

That said, holy shit did a lot happen in this book - and most of it in the last half. They're here, they're there, they're in love, they're apart, they're on this side or that one... it was a lot and got occasionally hard to track, particularly since the first half of the book had a much more granular timeline. It felt hard to figure out what was going on politically or militarily; Williamson focuses on the small-scale battles and I couldn't figure out what that actually meant for the big picture.

I'll also note that despite the historical vibe and presentation, historically accurate it is not (much as I hate that term used to describe romance novels). In many ways it felt more like a fantasy novel set in a vaguely Roman world, with a depiction of Gothic tribal life which felt kind of idealized for a modern audience. Given how little we know about the ancient Gothic tribes this was actually fine by me. That said, Alaric didn't marry a Roman princess - his brother-in-law Athaulf (who does appear here) did, and her name wasn't Julia.

Over all, I'd classify this book as a historical fantasy in the nineties bodice ripper vein: a tempestuous Roman princess (fictional) meets a handsome Visigoth warlord (historical) and they fall in love (fictional) and live happily ever after (also fictional). Very fun and very readable but very, very much a romance novel rather than historical or mythological fiction.

This was an okay book. I was not wowed by it, but I did find it entertaining. I did find it a bit confusing at times, but not so much that I was lost.