Tromping Through Tropes: Enemies To Lovers

'Ello everyone! My apologies for not posting last week - time got away from me. But I'm here this week, with a new blog post on one of my least favorite tropes in fiction romance: enemies to lovers. I'm not sure why I dislike this trope as much as I do; perhaps it's just become so cliche to me, or because it's just not my preferred way to fall in love (says the girl with no dates, I know, but still). 
​Anyway, without further ado, let's get to it! What Is This Trope All About? With the enemies to lovers trope (ETL), a couple starts out not being interested in each other, for a variety of reasons. They may be rivals in a baking competition, one could consider the other too flighty to their brooding nature (incidentally, ETL pairs well with the grumpy-sunshine trope, or some other reason.
Once a reason to hate has been established, then a reason to like each other comes into play. Maybe they've always been enemies since childhood (think  Fudge-a-Mania ) and a biology project pairs them together, forcing them to like (and then "like" like) each other. Maybe one of them is sharing lyrics back and forth on a Post-It note in class ( P.S. I Like You ). Or maybe one likes the other, but they both are blinded by their pride and their personal prejudices against the other person (if you know, you know ;D). 
When it comes down to it, this trope needs two things to exist - a reason to hate, and a reason to love.
What Books/Movies Feature This Trope? Because this trope is somewhat overrated, there's a fair amount of media​ that covers ETL. That said, I had a difficult time curating this list. Some books that highlight enemies to lovers are:Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice Jenny B. Jones' So Not Happening (arguably the whole Charmed Life series is one huge example of ETL, but I'm So Sure and Over My Head plays more off of a grumpy-sunshine trope)Naomi Novik's  Spinning Silver Francine Rivers'  The Masterpiece Michelle Griep's  The Thief of Blackfriars Lane Lucy Maud Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables (arguably one of the best ETL of all time)Krista Noorman's 18 Hours to UsKasie West's  P.S. I Like You 10 Things I Hate About You (and its parent, The Taming of the Shrew)E.B. Roshan’s Love Costs and InseparableMadisyn Carlin’s Shattered Reaction Is This Trope Cliche? Without a shadow of a doubt.
But that doesn't make it enjoyable. Pride and Prejudice made waves not just with the idea that a woman dared to marry for love, but also that two people didn't have to fall instantly into love (or even like each other to start with), and So Not Happening plays off of this concept. Anne of Green Gables, 18 Hours to Us, and P.S. I LIke You both fall into the "childhood rivals" subtrope, where the MC and her love interest have hated each other's guts since childhood (Though, did Gilbert really "hate" Anne? I submit that he did not.). 
So why is this trope cliche? Purely because it's been done so much and with little variety. Nowadays, the ETL trope seems to either be instant hate-turned-love or decade-long-hate-turned-love. And it irks me that there's no in between, or apparent way to fix that.
Disclaimer: I don't know if any of this is just a personal preference of mine or an actual critique. With the exception of the listed books above, I do not enjoy the ETL trope, and so I may be slightly biased on this.
Another disclaimer: All this said, one of my favorite movies is 10 Things I Hate About You, which plays off of ETL. The sarcastic banter in this movie, paired with the incredible casting of Julia Stiles, the (sadly) late Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, makes for not just a well-written Shakespeare retelling, but also a well-acted retelling of the ETL trope.  How Can I Write This Trope Effectively? At the risk of sounding like I'm completely bashing ETL over the head in this blog post... I'm not sure if it can be salvaged. 
The only way I can think of would be for it to have a possible fix is for it to shake up the timing. Maybe the characters meet, hit it off as friendly acquaintances, then begin to despise each other, and then find some way to like each other. Like a slow (emphasis on slow)-burn romance. 
That's all I have for now! What do you think of ETL? Do you think it could be rewritten? Or do you like insta-hate or rivals-all-around in an enemies-to-lovers trope? Let me know your favorite enemies to lovers stories in the comments!
And join us tomorrow (or the next day, most likely), when I finally get around to accepting a blogger tag I've coveted for six years. *dances with anticipation* :D

Until next time!
~Cate