On the Shelf: December 2025

I was a woman on an unintentional mission in December. I barely read any backlist titles and loaded up on new releases—and it took me up to 220 books read for 2025! There's been a lot of discourse about reading goals and numbers and how it's highly likely a person can't remember most of what they've read. Guess what? That's a problem whether you read six books or 26 or 260. So I'm not worried about failing a pop quiz on something from May. If I liked it enough, I probably remember enough to get at least a C+. (Which is an Asian F, but I digress...) 

I'm not even going to be coy about which book I liked the best this past month. It was The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow. Holy shit. Definitely one of the best I read all year—alongside Starling House, which I read for the first time in September and had to read again. Harrow's writing is exquisite and heartbreaking and immersive and so damn romantic. I loved Una and Owen so much. You know who else wrote a hella romantic book? KJ Charles. That All of Us Murderers is expertly done is no surprise. What made it extremely romantic for me was Gideon braving spiders for Zeb. A man who will go into a room full of spiders to get your stuff is a keeper. I'm not sure if the same can be said for a man who chases you through the woods for primal thrills, but Allie Oleander's Willing Prey has me thinking yes. I love books where characters explore and expand their kinks together. Honestly, my end-of-year reading slate was all kinds of great. T. Kingfisher? Silvia Moreno-Garcia? A bunch of high-heat romances? I went out with a bang—more like several bangs, actually. 

The Reading Rundown
Cold Truth by Toni Anderson (romantic suspense)
Goaltender Interference by Ari Baran (m/m romance, contemporary romance)
In a Second by Kate Canterbary (contemporary romance)
All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles (gothic, historical m/m romance)
Faster by Andie J. Christopher (contemporary romance)
[Redacted] by TK (domestic suspense, for professional review purposes)
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (contemporary fantasy)
Starling House by Alix E. Harrow (contemporary fantasy, gothic)

Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher (contemporary fantasy, horror)
The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (gothic horror, historical fantasy)
Willing Prey by Allie Oleander (erotic romance, contemporary romance)
The Last Man on Earth by Shae Sanders (contemporary romance)
Huntsman by Naima Simone (dark romance, mafia romance)

Backlist titles & rereads: Wicked Sexy Liar by Christina Lauren and Forever Your Rogue by Erin Langston.

Currently reading: a suspense book for review purposes and The Seduction of Mr. Alfred Saintsbury by Lydia Lloyd.

On the TBR/wish list
Soon By You by Dahlia Adler
Three Chances to Cherish by Grace Callaway
Well Versed by Jen DeLuca
Captive Traitor King by Brigid Kemmerer
The Lines We Cross by Ausma Zehanat Khan
Score by Kennedy Ryan
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James