Happy Saturday and happy 2026! Last year was a great year of reading for me. I managed to read 279 books, many of which were 4 and 5 star reads. Today, I’m sharing my top 25 reads of 2025. I have a mix of fantasy, romantasy, historical romances, rom-coms, dystopias, paranormal romance, and sci-fi, and instead of organizing by favorite, I did it by genre. (However, the #1 & 2 books are tied for my favorite of the year.) Let’s check them out!
Fantasy & Romantasy:
1. The Everlasting
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Page Length: 320
Pub. Date: Oct. 28, 2025
Publisher: Tor
Synopsis: From Alix E. Harrow, the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, comes a moving and genre-defying quest about the knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part–even if it breaks his heart.
Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters—but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.
Centuries later, Owen Mallory—failed soldier, struggling scholar—falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives—and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.
But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend—if they want to tell a different story–they’ll have to rewrite history itself.
LINKS: Amazon | Goodreads | Review
2. The Knight and the Butcherbird
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Page Length: 36
Pub. Date: March 11, 2025
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Synopsis: In this gritty, haunting tale about doing whatever it takes for love, a small-town storyteller resolves to keep the local monster—and her own secrets—safe from a legendary knight.
Nestled deep in the steep hills, valleys, and surrounding woodlands lies Iron Hollow, a rural community beset by demons. Such horrors are common in the outlands, where most folks die young, if they don’t turn into monsters first. Bcut what’s causing these transformations?
No one has the answer, not even the town’s oral historian, seventeen-year-old Shrike. And when a legendary knight is summoned to hunt down the latest beast to haunt their woods, Shrike has more reason than most to be concerned. Because that demon was her wife. And while Shrike is certain that May still recognizes her—that May is still human, somewhere beneath it all—she can’t prove it.
Determined to keep May safe, Shrike stalks the knight and his demon-hunting hawk through the recesses of the forest. But as they creep through toxic creeks and overgrown kudzu, Shrike realizes the knight has a secret of his own. And he’ll do anything to protect it.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
3. The Jasad Crown
Author: Sara Hashem
Series: The Scorched Throne #2
Page Length: 400
Pub. Date: July 15, 2025
Publisher: Orbit
Synopsis: Held deep in a mountain refuge, Sylvia has been captured by the Urabi, who believe she can return their homeland to its former power. But after years of denying her legacy and a forbidden alliance with Jasad’s greatest enemy, Sylvia must win the group’s trust while struggling to keep control of both her magic and her mind.
In the rival kingdom, Arin is caught between his father’s desire to put down the brewing rebellion and the sacred edicts he’s sworn to uphold. Arin must find Sylvia before his father’s army, but his search will call into question the very core of Arin’s beliefs about his family and the destruction of Jasad.
War is inevitable and Sylvia cannot abandon her people again. The Urabi plan to raise the Jasadi fortress, and it will either kill Sylvia or destroy the humanity she’s fought so hard to protect. For the first time in her life Sylvia doesn’t just want to survive. She wants to win.
The fugitive queen is ready to come home.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review & Favorite Lines
4. The Knight and the Moth
Author: Rachel Gillig
Series: The Stonewater Kingdom #1
Page Length: 400
Pub. Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: Orbit Books
Synopsis: Sybil Delling has spent nine years dreaming of having no dreams at all. Like the other foundling girls who traded a decade of service for a home in the great cathedral, Sybil is a Diviner. In her dreams she receives visions from six unearthly figures known as Omens. From them, she can predict terrible things before they occur, and lords and common folk alike travel across the kingdom of Traum’s windswept moors to learn their futures by her dreams.
Just as she and her sister Diviners near the end of their service, a mysterious knight arrives at the cathedral. Rude, heretical, and devilishly handsome, the knight Rodrick has no respect for Sybil’s visions. But when Sybil’s fellow Diviners begin to vanish one by one, she has no choice but to seek his help in finding them. For the world outside the cathedral’s cloister is wrought with peril. Only the gods have the answers she is seeking, and as much as she’d rather avoid Rodrick’s dark eyes and sharp tongue, only a heretic can defeat a god.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Favorite Lines
5. Wild Reverence
Author: Rebecca Ross
Page Length: 544
Pub. Date: Sept. 2, 2025
Publisher: Saturday Books
Synopsis: Born in the firelit domain of the under realm, Matilda is the youngest goddess of her clan, blessed with humble messenger magic. But in a land where gods often kill each other to steal power and alliances break as quickly as they are forged, Matilda must come of age sooner than most. She may be known to carry words and letters through the realms, but she holds a secret she must hide from even her dearest of allies to ensure her survival. And to complicate matters . . . there is a mortal boy who dreams of her, despite the fact they have never met in the waking world.
Ten years ago, Vincent of Beckett wrote to Matilda on the darkest night of his life―begging the goddess he befriended in dreams to help him. When his request went unanswered, Vincent moved on, becoming the hardened, irreverent lord of the river who has long forgotten Matilda. That is, until she comes tumbling into his bedroom window with a letter for him.
As Fate would have it, Matilda and Vincent were destined to find each other beyond dreams. There may be a chance for Matilda to rewrite the blood-soaked ways of the gods, but at immense sacrifice. She will have to face something she fears even more than losing her magic: to be vulnerable, and to allow herself to finally be loved.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
6. Arcana Academy
Author: Elise Kova
Series: Arcana Academy #1
Page Length: 576
Pub. Date: July 22, 2025
Publisher: Del Rey
Synopsis: Clara Graysword has survived the underworld of Eclipse City through thievery, luck, and a whole lot of illegal magic. After a job gone awry, Clara is sentenced to a lifetime in prison for inking tarot cards-a rare power reserved for practitioners at the elite Arcana Academy.
Just when it seems her luck has run dry, the academy’s enigmatic headmaster, Prince Kaelis, offers her an escape-for a price. Kaelis believes that Clara is the perfect tool to help him steal a tarot card from the king and use it to re-create an all-powerful card long lost to time.
In order to conceal her identity and keep her close, Kaelis brings Clara to Arcana Academy, introducing her as the newest first-year student and his bride-to-be.
Thrust into a world of arcane magic and royal intrigue, where one misstep will send her back to prison or worse, Clara finds that the prince she swore to hate may not be what he seems. But can she risk giving him power over the world-and her heart? Or will she take it for herself?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
7. Ruthless Vows
Author: Rebecca Ross
Series: Letters of Enchantment #2
Page Length: 432
Publication Date: December 26, 2023
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Synopsis: Two weeks have passed since Iris Winnow returned home bruised and heartbroken from the front, but the war is far from over. Roman is missing, and the city of Oath continues to dwell in a state of disbelief and ignorance. When Iris and Attie are given another chance to report on Dacre’s movements, they both take the opportunity and head westward once more despite the danger, knowing it’s only a matter of time before the conflict reaches a city that’s unprepared and fracturing beneath the chancellor’s reign.
Since waking below in Dacre’s realm, Roman cannot remember his past. But given the reassurance that his memories will return in time, Roman begins to write articles for Dacre, uncertain of his place in the greater scheme of the war. When a strange letter arrives by wardrobe door, Roman is first suspicious, then intrigued. As he strikes up a correspondence with his mysterious pen pal, Roman will soon have to make a decision: to stand with Dacre or betray the god who healed him. And as the days grow darker, inevitably drawing Roman and Iris closer together…the two of them will risk their very hearts and futures to change the tides of the war.
8. The Wind Weaver
Author: Julie Johnson
Series: Reign of Remnants #1
Page Length: 544
Pub. Date: April 8, 2025
Publisher: Ace
Synopsis: Fear of maegic plagues war-torn Anwyvn. Halflings like Rhya Fleetwood are killed on sight. But Rhya’s execution is interrupted by an unexpected savior—one far more terrifying than her would-be killers. The mysterious and mercenary Commander Scythe. In the clutches of this new enemy, Rhya finds herself fighting for her life in the barren reaches of the Northlands. Yet the farther she gets from home, the more she learns that nothing is as it seems—not her fearsome captor, not the blight that ravages her dying realm, not even herself.
For Rhya is no ordinary halfling. The strange birthmark on her chest and the wind she instinctively calls forth means she is a Remnant, one of four souls scattered across Anwyvn, fated to restore the balance of maegic…or die trying.
But mastering the power inside her is only the beginning. Desire for the Commander—a man she can never trust, a man with plans of his own—burns just as fiercely as the tempests beating against her rib cage for release. Rhya must choose: smother the flames…or let them consume her.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
9. Shield of Sparrows
Author: Devney Perry
Page Length: 528
Pub. Date: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Entangled: Red Tower Books
Synopsis: Shield of Sparrows is a slow-burn, high-stakes romantasy perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas and Rebecca Yarros―where enemies become lovers, monsters stalk a cursed realm, and a forgotten princess finds the strength to tear off her crown and become the warrior she was never meant to be.
The gods sent monsters to the five kingdoms to remind mortals they must kneel.
I’ve spent my life kneeling―to their will and to my father’s. As a princess, my only duty is to wear the crown and obey the king.
I was never meant to rule. Never meant to fight. And I was never supposed to be the daughter who sealed an ancient treaty with her own blood.
But that changed the fateful day I stepped into my father’s throne room. The day a legendary monster hunter sailed to our shores. The day a prince ruined my life.
Now I’m crossing treacherous lands beside a warrior who despises me as much as I despise him―bound to a future I didn’t choose and a husband I barely know.
Everyone wants me to be something I’m not―a queen, a spy, a sacrifice.
But what if I refused the role chosen for me? What if I made my own rules? What if there’s power in being underestimated?
And what if―for the first time―I reached for it?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review & Favorite Quotes
10. Voidwalker
Author: S.A. Maclean
Series: Beasts of the Void #1
Page Length: 592
Pub. Date: Aug. 19, 2025
Publisher: Orbit
Synopsis: Fionamara is a smuggler. Antal is the reason her people fear the dark.
Fi ferries contraband between worlds, stockpiling funds and stolen magic to keep her village self-sufficient – free from the blood sacrifices humans have paid to Antal’s immortal species for centuries.
Only legends whispered through the pine forests recall a time when things were different, before one world shattered into many, and the flesh-devouring beasts crept from the cracks between realities, with their sable antlers and slender tails, lethal claws and gleaming fangs. Now, mortal lives are food to pacify their carnivorous overlords, exchanged for feudal protection, and the precious silver energy that fuels everything from transport to weaponry.
When Fi gets planted with a stash of smuggled energy, a long-lost flame recruits her for a reckless heist that escalates into a terrorist bombing – and a coup against the reigning immortals, with Fi’s home caught in the crossfire.
She’s always known the dangers of her trade – and of the power she’s wielded since childhood, allowing her to see the secret doors between dimensions, to walk the Void itself. But nothing could have prepared her for crossing paths with Antal. For the deal she’ll have to make with him, a forced partnership to reclaim his city that begins as a desperate bid for survival, only to grow into something far more dangerous.
A revolution.
And a temptation – for how sweet the monster’s fangs might feel.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
11. Invictus
Author: Heather Frost
Series: Esperance #2
Pub. Date: Dec. 18, 2025
Synopsis: She chose to trust him.
He swore to protect her.
But surviving Esperance was only the beginning . . .
Amryn never intended to betray the rebels she swore to help—or fall for the husband she was forced to marry. But when everything at Esperance fell apart, Carver became the one person she could trust. Now, she must rely on him more than ever—especially since the knights who hunt empaths know one was at Esperance. If they find her, they will kill her. Yet the threat Amryn doesn’t see coming may prove deadlier, because even though she turned her back on the rebels, the Rising isn’t done with her.
Carver has already lost too much at Esperance. He won’t lose anyone else—especially Amryn. He’ll fight to protect his wife from every threat, including the mysterious bloodstone that nearly killed her. He knows the dangerous relic must be destroyed, but first he has to get the surviving Chosen to the capital—a mission that soon turns deadly, making it clear there is still someone out there who never planned for the Chosen to leave Esperance alive.
But safety isn’t guaranteed in the emperor’s palace. Here, every action is scrutinized and politics twist every word. Surrounded by hidden enemies, ruthless assassins, and deadly conspiracies, Amryn and Carver must navigate a web of danger that could cost them everything—including their lives.
12. Rebel Witch
Author: Kristen Ciccarelli
Series: The Crimson Moth #2
Page Length: 464
Pub. Date: Feb. 18, 2025
Synopsis:The stakes are even higher in this epic, romantic conclusion to the New York Times bestselling Crimson Moth duology.
A WITCH…
Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches—something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish.
A WITCH HUNTER…
Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by allying herself with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmares of the past. In order to protect this new world he fought for, every last witch must die—especially Rune Winters.
AN IMPOSSIBLE CHOICE…
When Rune makes Gideon an offer he can’t refuse, the two must pair up to accomplish dangerous goals. The more they’re forced into each other’s company, the more Gideon realizes the feelings he had for Rune aren’t as dead and buried as he thought. Now he’s faced with a terrible choice: sacrifice the girl he loves to stop a monster taking back power, or let Rune live and watch the world he fought so hard for burn.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
13. The Ashfire King
Author: Chelsea Abdullah
Series: The Sandsea Trilogy #2
Page Length: 544
Pub. Date: April 15, 2025
Publisher: Orbit
Synopsis: A merchant and a prince trapped in the crumbling realm of jinn must figure out how to save one world to return to their own in The Ashfire King, the second book in the Sandsea Trilogy.
Neither here nor there, but long ago… After fleeing a patricidal prince, legendary merchant Loulie al-Nazari and banished prince Mazen bin Malik find themselves in the realm of jinn. But instead of sanctuary, they find a world on the cusp of collapse.
The jinn cities, long sheltered beneath the Sandsea by the magic of its kings, are sinking. Amid the turmoil, political alliances are forming, and rebellion is on the rise. When Loulie assists a dissenter—one of her bodyguard’s old comrades—she puts herself in the center of a centuries-old war.
Trapped in a world that isn’t her own and wielding magic that belongs to a fallen king, Loulie must decide: Will she carry on someone else’s legacy or carve out her own?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
Historical Romance:
14. The Earl’s Unlikely Bride
Author: Ella Matthews
Series: The Dashworth Brothers #1
Page Length: 278
Pub. Date: July 10, 2025
Synopsis: One summer to make her his…
After four failed seasons, Emily Hawkins is tired of following the rules. Aside from crossing swords with her lifelong enemy, Freddie Dashworth, she is an exemplary member of Society. But after all this time, she’s yet to find a husband and life with her over-bearing mother is becoming intolerable.
Freddie returns to his childhood home to help look after his orphaned niece. His neighbour, Emily, has been his nemesis for years. The infuriating miss is the only woman immune to his charms and there’s nothing he enjoys more than her disapproving glares. It’s a shame he can’t stop thinking about her, because she clearly despises him.
One minor indiscretion later and everything in Emily’s ordered world changes. The one person on her side appears to be Freddie but can she trust her former antagonist? And what will happen to her when she does?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
15. Outlaw Ever After
Author: E. Elizabeth Watson
Page Length: 366
Pub. Date: Sept. 8, 2025
Publisher: Entangled
Synopsis: They took everything. Now he’s come back to claim it—and her—in this broodingly intense and sexy Highlander romance that will delight fans of Karen Marie Moning and Lynsay Sands.
When she was just a lass, Peigi Grant attended a wedding—one that quickly turned into a night of bloodshed and grief. Through it all, there were whispers of the Comyn heir, a boy accused of the crime, who mysteriously disappeared.
Now it’s fourteen years later, and Peigi’s never breathed a word to a soul about that fateful night…or her role in helping the boy escape. But she never would have dared imagine that sweet boy turning into a roguish warrior who could shatter her heart and her reputation.
Alexander is drawn to Peigi by her clear, sweet voice. Her loveliness—along with an uncanny sensation of fate—tempts him to lay down his war scythe forever. But his clan, his lands, and his very birthright were stolen by the Grant clan…and vengeance still calls to him.
They don’t know his true name. But the Grants will come to fear his wrath…even if it destroys the one person who could tame his wild, Highlander heart.
LINKS: Amazon | Goodreads | Review
Rom-Com:
16. The Love Haters
Author: Katherine Center
Page Length: 320
Pub. Date: May 20, 2025
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis: It’s a thin line between love and love-hating.
Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her coworker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West.
The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but fakes it that she can.
Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. And they don’t get along. Next stop paradise!
But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good looking man she has ever seen . . . but also a bit of a love hater), along with his colorful Aunt Rue and his rescue Great Dane, she gets trapped in a lie. Or two.
Swim lessons, helicopter flights, conga lines, drinking contests, hurricanes, and stolen kisses ensue—along with chances to tell the truth, to face old fears, and to be truly brave at last.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
17. Love in Plane Sight
Author: Lauren Connolly
Page Length: 400
Pub. Date: Dec. 16, 2025
Publisher: Berkley
Synopsis: With her brother’s grumpy best friend—and her longtime nemesis—as Beth’s flight instructor, her pilot lessons could be a plane disaster or their first-class ticket to forever.
Mayday. Mayday. Engine failure.
When flying with George Bunsen, the last thing Beth Lundberg wants is to be horny in the cockpit. But when her first ride-along dives toward disaster, the perpetually stoic George is forced to execute a skillful emergency landing, and Beth is horrified to find herself with an adrenaline-fueled crush on the pilot. She’s even more shocked when her brother’s best friend offers her discounted flight lessons—possibly out of guilt for almost killing them.
And despite George’s annoying habit of departing any room the moment Beth enters, she really wants to accept. No matter that it’s an egregiously expensive hobby, or that her waitressing wages go right toward her mother’s medical bills, or that she’s already in debt up to her eyebrows. Flying is Beth’s dream, and she could use her private license to earn real money.
The more time they spend navigating the sky, the more the turbulence between George and Beth dissipates. But Beth has seen the burning wreckage that comes from mixing business with pleasure—plus, she’s been keeping a secret that, once revealed, will send all her relationships into a tailspin. Can she really take a risk on romance when her pilot career isn’t even off the ground?
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
Paranormal Romance:
18. Heartsong
Author: S.E. Wendel
Page Length: 392
Pub. Date: March 29, 2024
Publisher: Avon
Synopsis: San Francisco, Present day
A gargoyle warrior unprepared for the modern world…
Fifteen hundred years ago, Frey and all his kind were cursed by the vicious fae queen, their magick stolen and their bodies rendered stone. It has been a hellish existence, frozen in time as the world changes around them. A proud warrior ready for a mate, Frey rages against his stone prison, but with every year that passes, hope slips away that the curse will ever be broken.
That is, until he and some of his kin are placed in an odd little museum. And she walks through the door.
A modern woman not ready for a medieval male…
Anna Kincaid has just gotten back on her feet. After struggling with student debt, chronic migraines, a serial-dater mother, and Bay Area rent for years, she’s finally landed a job that will help with all of it. It feels too good to be true—full health care with dental and helping manage a museum full of exquisite artifacts? Her heart and history degree are thrilled, but something about the museum is…odd. The owners are a mysterious, if kind couple who call the collection the clan. And the collection is…well, monstrous. Huge, savage-looking statues from the late Celtic period.
Magick stolen can be reclaimed, and curses cast can be broken…
When the museum is stormed by masked commandos one night, it isn’t even the weirdest thing to happen. No, she could wrap her head around organized art theft—what defies belief is one of the big gray behemoths springing to life to save her. And that he flies off with her. And when he tucks her into his big body and growls mate. Fans of Lisette Marshall, SL Prater, and the Gargoyles Disney show will love this monster romance novel. Title includes several heavier themes as well as open-door spice.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
19. Ancient Warlord
Author: Katie Reus
Series: Ancients Rising #10
Page Length: 262
Pub. Date: July 22, 2025
Publisher: KR Press
Synopsis: She’s making a new life for herself in a realm full of dragon shifters…
Mia knew about the things that go bump in the night long before the world fell into chaos. As a human artist living in a world full of dragons, she should feel out of place. But she’s never felt more at home here—until an obnoxious, bossy dragon shifter makes it clear she doesn’t belong. His cruel words dredge up memories she’s determined to forget.
And turned his world upside down.
As a former warlord turned assassin, dragon shifter Tiber has never been great with women—and the moment he meets his mate, he sticks his foot in his mouth in the worst way. Now she hates him, and he has no idea how to make things right—especially since every time he opens his mouth, he makes things worse. But when it’s clear that someone wants to get rid of his feisty human, he dedicates his life to keeping her safe. If anyone wants to get to her, they’ll have to go through him—and he’s made a living out of destroying his enemies. Whether Mia likes it or not, she’s his to protect and this grumpy dragon will do whatever it takes to prove they’re fated to be together.
Links: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
Dystopia:
20. Sunrise on the Reaping
Author: Suzanne Collins
Series: The Hunger Games
Page Length: 400
Pub. Date: March 18, 2025
Publisher: Scholastic Press
Synopsis: When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?
As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.
Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.
When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town.
As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.
21. Soulmatch
Author: Rebecca Danzenbaker
Page Length: 496
Pub. Date: July 29, 2025
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Synopsis: Two-hundred years after World War III, the world is at peace, all thanks to the soul-identification system. Every 18-year-old must report to the government to learn about their past lives, a terrifying process known as kirling. Good souls leave the institute with their inheritance, a career path, and if they’re lucky, a soulmate. Bad souls leave in handcuffs.
It’s a nerve-wracking ordeal for Sivon, who, given her uncanny ability to win every chess match, already suspects her soul isn’t normal. Turns out, she was right to worry. Sivon’s results stun not only her, but the entire world, making her the object of public scrutiny and anonymous threats.
Saddled with an infuriating and off-limits bodyguard, Sivon is thrust into a high-stakes game where souls are pawns and rules don’t exist. As deaths mount, Sivon must decipher friend from foe while protecting her heart against impossible odds. One wrong move could destroy the future lives of everyone Sivon loves, and she can’t let that happen, even if they’ll never love her back.
22. Silver Elite
Author: Dani Francis
Series: Silver Elite #1
Page Length: 528
Pub. Date: May 6, 2025
Publisher: Del Rey
Synopsis: Psychic gifts are a death sentence and there are rules to survival: Trust no one. Lie to everyone. And whatever you do, don’t fall for your greatest enemy.
TRUST NO ONE.
Wren Darlington has spent her whole life in hiding, honing her psychic abilities and aiding the rebel Uprising in small ways. On the Continent, being Modified means certain death—and Wren is one of the most powerful Mods in existence. When one careless mistake places her in the hands of the enemy and she’s forced to join their most elite training program, she’s finally handed the perfect opportunity to strike a devastating blow from inside their ranks.
LIE TO EVERYONE.
But training for Silver Block can be deadly, especially when you’re harboring dangerous secrets and living in close quarters with everyone who wants you dead.
AND WHATEVER YOU DO, DON’T FALL FOR YOUR GREATEST ENEMY.
As the stakes grow ever higher, Wren must prove herself to Silver Block. But that’s easier said than done when your commanding officer is the ruthless and infuriatingly irresistible Cross Redden, who doesn’t miss anything when it comes to her. And as war rages between Mods like her and those who aim to destroy them, Wren must decide just how far she’s willing to go to protect herself . . . and how much of the Continent is worth saving.
Sci-Fi:
23. Last Chance to Save the World
Author: Beth Revis
Series: Chaotic Orbits #3
Page Length: 176
Pub. Date: April 8, 2025
Publisher: DAW
Synopsis: After a few weeks trapped on board a spaceship with Ada (and, oh look, there’s only one bed), Rian has to admit that maybe Ada’s rebels have a point. The nanobots poised to be unleashed on Earth are infected with malware that will ultimately leave the residents of Earth in a worse position than they’re in now. But is it too late?
Ada and Rian arrive on Earth with little time to spare. Together, they have to break into a high-security facility and infect the nanobots with a counter-virus before they’re released in order to give Earth a fighting chance. And if Ada happens to notice some great tech laying around in this high-security facility she shouldn’t have access to and then happens to steal a bunch of it when Rian’s not looking? Well, he knew who she was before he teamed up with her. And if he wants it back, he’s going to have to catch her first.
With countless twists and turns, this enemies-to-lovers slow-burn and high-tension romance plays on a Sherlock and Moriarity character dynamic rooted in science fiction with a heavy romance and mystery angle.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
24. Bound By Stars
Author: E.L. Starling
Page Length: 400
Pub. Date: July 1, 2025
Publisher: Entangled: Teen
Synopsis: A Love That Defies Gravity…and Fate
She never belonged in his world. He never thought he’d leave it.
When Weslie Fleet wins a golden ticket aboard the Boundless, humanity’s most opulent starliner, it’s a dream―and a danger. Raised in the dust-ridden ruins of Earth, she is thrust into the gleaming luxury of Mars’s elite, where every whispered word carries weight and every glance is a silent judgment. And none watch her closer than Jupiter, the golden boy of Mars’s high society, bound by duty, legacy, and a future he never chose.
Their reluctant partnership was supposed to be a one-off assignment. Instead, it becomes a battle of wills, a spark that ignites, and a love neither of them anticipated. But fate is as cruel as it is unpredictable, and when the Boundless veers off course, love won’t be enough to save them.
The ship is failing. The odds are impossible. And in the darkness of space, survival is the only thing that matters.
But some loves are worth defying the stars for.
25. All Superheroes Need PR
Author: Elizabeth Stephens
Series: Supers in the City #1
Page Length: 303
Pub. Date: May 27, 2025
Publisher: Montlake
Synopsis: Over two decades ago, forty-eight young, gifted superheroes fell to Earth and were eventually marketed as opposing heroes and villains. Now, one exceptionally gruff bad guy is looking to hop teams. Hello, PR director Vanessa Theriot.
His real name is Roland Casteel a.k.a. the Pyro. First, swap that with the less incinerating the Wyvern. Next, put him in spandex to highlight that near-godlike body. Finally, give that hero in training a heroine—if Vanessa will play the part in a pretend romance guaranteed to make the city swoon. She’s game. As shy as Vanessa is, it’s her job to be Roland’s very own Lois Lane. Who knew that fake dating would change their worlds?
But falling head over heels for real makes for a dangerous shift in the narrative. A monstrous supervillain is bringing out Roland’s bad side again. This time, it’s to save a woman who, against all the odds, is becoming the human love of his superhero life.
LINKS: Goodreads | Amazon | Review
Did any of these make your list? What are some of your favorite reads of 2025? Comment below!
Wonderful list! Shield of Sparrows and The Everlasting also made my list, which I’ll post on Tuesday.
You read some great books! Thanks for sharing!
That’s a great list. The Jasad Crown and the Beth Revis trilogy are both on my TBR for 2026
Great list! I really need to read more Alix E. Harrow this year. I’ve liked the ones I’ve read, and seeing some of my TBR titles on your list is a good reminder I need to get to them!
How fun to see your favorites! I’ve read a few (The Everlasting will probably end up on my list of favorites for 2025 too), and see a few more for my TBR. Wishing you more great reading in 2026!
Quite a few of these are on my TBR, so I’m glad to see you enjoyed them a lot. While KNIGHT AND THE MOTH and THE EVERLASTING weren’t five stars for me, they were solid 4 or a smidge higher in my mind and I had a good time reading them.
Great list! So many of these are on my TBR, and I have a feeling at least a few of them would’ve ended up on my best of 2025 list if I’d managed to get to them last year. Hopefully, I’ll be able to pick them up in 2026!
It looks like you had a great year of reading, Julie.
An excellent list!
Thank you!