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

Suleikha's Top 20 Romance Books of 2025

It's time to put 2025 and a year's worth of reading behind me so I can start fresh! Narrowing down my 20 favorite romances out of 220 books total was so hard. I tried to stick to two rules: The book had to be released in 2025, and I could only pick one book by an author—even if I liked two of their current releases. Yes, there are a few titles here that aren't strictly genre romance—but the love stories in them had a big impact on me, were integral to the plot, and did end with an HEA/HFN! (For some of my non-romance favorites, check out my year-end newsletter.)

1. No Ordinary Love by Myah Ariel

2. Goaltender Interference by Ari Baran

3. August Lane by Regina Black

4. Call Me Yours by Elizabeth Bright

5. Two Secrets to Surrender by Grace Callaway

6. In a Rush by Kate Canterbary

7. Copper Script by KJ Charles

8. Gabriela and His Grace by Liana De la Rosa

9. Ghost Business by Jen DeLuca

10. There's Something About Mira by Sonali Dev

11. Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt

12. Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi

13. Scotch on the Rocks by Eliot Fletcher

14. The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow

15. Warrior Princess Assassin by Brigid Kemmerer

16. The Sea Witch by Eva Leigh

17. Willing Prey by Allie Oleander

18. Read Me Slow by Charish Reid

19. Mercy Fletcher Meets Her Match by Aydra Richards

20. Can't Get Enough by Kennedy Ryan

Honorable mentions: Not Here to Make Friends by Jodi McAlister, Where Have All the Scoundrels Gone by Louisa Darling, and My Season of Scandal by Julie Anne Long, all of which came out in 2024. Much like The Everlasting, last year's Starling House by Alix E. Harrow doesn't fall under genre romance. But it ended up being one of the most romantic books I read in 2025. In fact, I read it twice! Another book I read twice this past year was Shadowheart by Laura Kinsale so I obviously want to name-check that as a favorite as well! I even got all thinky about it in my newsletter.

2026 titles to look out for: I snagged an ARC of The Duke by Anna Cowan and tore through it. It's fantastic and definitely going to end up on a lot of Best Of lists. I also have an ARC of Soon By You by Dahlia Adler. I'm only partway into the book and enjoying how falling for Arielle is making uptight MMC Judah totally unravel. Such a Perfect Family by Nalini Singh is primarily suspense and the FMC spends most of the book unconscious, but Tavish's love for Diya is the driving force of the story and it was such a satisfying read! Still on my TBR and additions you should make to yours? Silver & Blood by Jessie Mihalik and Dom-Com by Adriana Anders.

See my Top 20 romances of 2024.
See my Top 20 romances of 2023.

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