On the Shelf: November 2025

Was I an overachiever in November, or just particularly committed to not being present in my actual life? Because I hit 205 books for the year to date—pushing it past the milestone number with 21 titles this past month. Approximately half were by Kelley Armstrong. (I kid. It was really just five.) There's a reason she's one of my favorite authors and I follow her from genre to genre like a total creeper. I can't wait for the next Rip Through Time mystery and it's excruciatingly slow-burn romance arc between Mallory and Duncan. (And lest you think I'm complaining, I actually really enjoy a mystery series that drags out the love story. See also: Veronica and Stoker in Deanna Raybourn's Veronica Speedwell books.)

You know what didn't snail-pace all the feels? The three fantastic romantasy books I devoured! I've been wary of this new, trend-driven, iteration of what we used to call fantasy romance but these bangers (pun intended, of course) from Akwaeke Emezi, Bridgid Kemmerer, and Eva Leigh rank among some of the best romances I've read this year! Gali, Lucifer, and Leviathan from Son of the Morning are still living rent-free in my head weeks later. Given how awesome You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty was, this does not come as a surprise. Asher, Kemmerer's titular assassin, is a broken, messy, murderpuppy and I love him so. And The Sea Witch, Alys, could totally go kick ass in lady pirate adventures with Amina al-Sirafi were they living in the same time period. It tickled me how Ben sat out most of the action sequences, like a female character in a swashbuckler often does.

Suffice it to say, it wasn't exactly a hardship to get to 205. When you're devouring good works by talented people, the pages and the time both fly!

The Reading Rundown
The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong (folk horror, suspense)
A Rip Through Time by Kelley Armstrong (historical mystery)
The Poisoner's Ring by Kelley Armstrong (historical mystery)
Disturbing the Dead by Kelley Armstrong (historical mystery)
Death at a Highland Wedding by Kelley Armstrong (historical mystery)
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty (historical fantasy)
The Curse of White Oak Grove by Heather Crews (dark romance, gothic)
Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi (queer polyam romantasy, southern gothic)
Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer (queer polyam romantasy)
The Sea Witch by Eva Leigh (romantasy, paranormal historical romance)

Backlist titles & rereads: My first foray into the past was with Almost Heaven, a new-to-me Judith McNaught title. Then it was a return to Darkest London for Winterblaze and Shadowdance by Kristen Callihan. You know what I did after that? I read Evernight again, even though I reread it last December. Like I had to complete an arc before I could step away. I revisited Marjorie M. Liu's Dirk & Steele series via Within the Flames—and managed to not burn through more in that series. (Yay for restraint!) Despite giving hockey romance a wide berth for years now, I borrowed Heated Rivalry and The Long Game by Rachel Reid on Hoopla and caught up ahead of the show's premiere on Crave/HBOMax. The Captain's Midwinter Bride by Liana De la Rosa was a nice historical palate cleanser afterward. I wrapped my November reread slate with Sweet Filthy Boy, Dirty Rowdy Thing, and Dark Wild Night by Christina Lauren—and SFB still holds up as an excellent erotic romance in single first-person POV.

Currently reading: Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher, Wicked Sexy Liar by Christina Lauren, a book for review, and Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (again). 

On the wish list/TBR
Three Chances to Cherish by Grace Callaway
In a Second by Kate Canterbary
All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
The Lines We Cross by Ausma Zehanat Khan
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James