The spy who falls for her target is a trope built on one delicious question: what happens when the lie becomes true? Every scene carries double meaning, and the reader knows the moment of discovery is coming.
Here are five books that deliver it.
Red Sparrow by Jason Matthews Written by a former CIA officer. Dominika Egorova is trained by Russian intelligence to seduce and manipulate, and assigned to a young CIA officer. Neither of them is sure who is running whom.
The Wrath and the Dawn by Renée Ahdieh A young caliph takes a new bride each night and kills her at dawn. Shahrzad volunteers to marry him, planning revenge, and finds a man with secrets she didn't expect. A Thousand and One Nights retelling. Young adult.
The Cruel Prince by Holly Black A mortal girl raised in Faerie becomes a spy in a court that despises her, and finds herself entangled with the prince she hates most. Enemies to lovers with real teeth.
The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski A general's daughter buys a slave at auction on impulse. He is not what he seems, and he is working for a rebellion inside her own house. Young adult.
The Last Lake of Ashen Stars by M.S. Elezzi This one is mine. Nine people escape a controlled city and build a new life on a wild island. Then a half-drowned stranger washes up with a flawless story. She was sent to watch them for the company they fled, and she begins to mean everything she pretends. Dark romance, eco-thriller and mystery. Adult.
Read the first pages on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0HNNHF564