My Anticipated Reads of 2025

 

January 21st, 2025

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

Book Summary:
After nearly eighteen months at Basgiath War College, Violet Sorrengail knows there’s no more time for lessons. No more time for uncertainty.

Because the battle has truly begun, and with enemies closing in from outside their walls and within their ranks, it’s impossible to know who to trust.

Now Violet must journey beyond the failing Aretian wards to seek allies from unfamiliar lands to stand with Navarre. The trip will test every bit of her wit, luck, and strength, but she will do anything to save what she loves—her dragons, her family, her home, and him.

Even if it means keeping a secret so big, it could destroy everything.

They need an army. They need power. They need magic. And they need the one thing only Violet can find—the truth.
But a storm is coming...and not everyone can survive its wrath.

 

February 4th, 2025

Deep End by Ali Hazelwood

Book Summary:

A competitive diver and an ace swimmer jump into forbidden waters in this steamy college romance from the New York Times bestselling author of The Love Hypothesis.

Scarlett Vandermeer is swimming upstream. A Junior at Stanford and a student-athlete who specializes in platform diving, Scarlett prefers to keep her head down, concentrating on getting into med school and on recovering from the injury that almost ended her career. She has no time for relationships—at least, that’s what she tells herself.

Swim captain, world champion, all-around aquatics golden boy, Lukas Blomqvist thrives on discipline. It’s how he wins gold medals and breaks records: complete focus, with every stroke. On the surface, Lukas and Scarlett have nothing in common. Until a well-guarded secret slips out, and everything changes.

So they start an arrangement. And as the pressure leading to the Olympics heats up, so does their relationship. It was supposed to be just a temporary, mutually satisfying fling. But when staying away from Lukas becomes impossible, Scarlett realizes that her heart might be treading into dangerous water...

 

February 18th, 2025

Rebel Witch by Kirsten Ciccarelli

Book Summary:

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 joining forces 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.

In Kristen Ciccarelli's Rebel Witch, the exciting conclusion to The Crimson Moth duology, love has never been so deadly.

"An abundance of banter and a healthy dose of sizzle.. A captivating finale to a highly addictive and entertaining duology." - Kirkus (starred review)

 

March 4th, 2025
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Stevens

Book Summary:

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue meets This is How You Lose The Time War in this fantastical love story that defies death as two souls reincarnate through the centuries.

They've loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They've killed each other in every one.

Evelyn can remember all her past lives. She can also remember that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being linked to her soul. The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life before they find her first, figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse, and try not to fall in love . . . again.

 

March 18th, 2025


Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins

Book Summary:

The phenomenal fifth book in the Hunger Games series!
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.

 

April 1st, 2025
Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

Book Summary:

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Just for the Summer comes a playful yet deeply emotional romance where one date is all it takes for two people to know they're perfect for each other . . . until one of them moves 2,000 miles away the next day.

There's no such thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes--all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediate yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there's nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong . . . unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake.

But after one incredible and seemingly endless date, Samantha is forced to admit the truth, that her family is in crisis and any kind of relationship would be impossible. Samantha begs Xavier to forget her. To remember their night together as a perfect moment, as crushing as that may be. Only no amount of distance or time is enough to forget what's between them. And the only thing better than one single perfect memory is to make a life--and even a love--worth remembering.

 

April 22nd, 2025
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Book Summary:

Two writers compete for the chance to tell the larger-than-life story of a woman with more than a couple of plot twists up her sleeve in this dazzling and sweeping novel from Emily Henry.

Named a Most Anticipated book of 2025 by The New York TimesRolling StonePeopleUSA TodayHarper's BazaarMarie Claire ∙ Bustle ∙ Reader's Digest ∙ BBC ∙ PopSugar ∙ SheReads ∙ Paste ∙ and more!


Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: to write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years—or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the twentieth century.

When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the person who’ll tell her story, there are three things keeping Alice’s head in the game.

One: Alice genuinely likes people, which means people usually like Alice—and she has a whole month to win the legendary woman over.

Two: She’s ready for this job and the chance to impress her perennially unimpressed family with a Serious Publication.

Three: Hayden Anderson, who should have no reason to be concerned about losing this book, is glowering at her in a shaken-to-the core way that suggests he sees her as competition.

But the problem is, Margaret is only giving each of them pieces of her story. Pieces they can’t swap to put together because of an ironclad NDA and an inconvenient yearning pulsing between them every time they’re in the same room.

And it’s becoming abundantly clear that their story—just like the tale Margaret’s spinning—could be a mystery, tragedy, or love ballad . . . depending on who’s telling it.

 

May 20th, 2025
The Knight and the Moth by Rachel Gillig

Book Summary:

From NYT bestselling author Rachel Gillig comes the next big romantasy sensation, a gothic, mist-cloaked tale of a young prophetess forced on an impossible quest with the one knight whose future is beyond her sight. Perfect for fans of Jennifer L. Armentrout and Leigh Bardugo.

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.

 

May 20th, 2025
Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt

Book Summary:

An emotional, spicy, second-chance romance from USA Today bestselling author Tarah DeWitt.

This time, they'll get it right.


Wren and Ellis Byrd fell in love as kids, had their son Sam when they were only teenagers, and built a life together in the coastal town of Spunes, Oregon. They were made for one another…until they fell apart.

Now divorced and in their 30s, Wren runs the bakery in town, while Ellis works as a firefighter. They live separate lives, though they are hardly off each other’s minds.

When Sam gets accepted into college and the pair help him move in together, Ellis convinces Wren to take an extended road trip back to Spunes with him to see if they can give their relationship one last chance. Amid the gorgeous scenery of the California coastline, dreamy destinations, and a great deal of long-yearned-for proximity, Wren starts to think it just might be possible. But the two still have to contend with their tumultuous past in order to move forward. And when spoken words fail, sometimes the written word must bridge the gap.
Will they make the most of what’s left of forever? Or will they let each other go for good?

Brimming with big feelings and packed with steam, Left of Forever is bestseller Tarah DeWitt at the top of her game.

 

May 27th, 2025
A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride

Book Summary:

To become the first queen in centuries, a powerfully blessed blacksmith must use her wits and fire magic to overthrow the corrupt powers ruling her kingdom—while also fighting her growing desire for one of her dragon-riding adversaries—in the first book of a sizzling Celtic-inspired fantasy romance duology.

Once a territory built on matriarchal rule and values, Tìr Teine has since grown frail from a long line of fruitless kings, the most recent of which have ruled under the influence of the True Religion, an oppressive group who have steadily poisoned the region with their anti-magic teachings.

Born to rule and blessed by fire, Aemyra has begrudgingly lived in hiding rather than risk her life in court, waiting in anticipation for the current king’s death so she can bond to his dragon, claim her throne, and protect her people. But when the king dies and Aemyra is ready to take what is rightfully hers, her ambitious plan is foiled, and she is thrust into a game of vicious politics and plots.

Her biggest adversary is Prince Fiorean, a dragon rider and one of the most powerful fire wielders in the territory. Cold, arrogant, and blindly supportive of his corrupt family, he is everything Aemyra despises. But as chaos engulfs the court, they find themselves reluctantly entwined, forced to forge an uneasy alliance—one that quickly ignites into something more dangerous than either of them expected.

Behind enemy lines and slowly falling for her so-called adversary, Aemyra uncovers just how far the rot of corruption has spread, and what she may have to sacrifice to claim her throne.

 

June 10th, 2025
Caught Up by Navessa Allen

Book Summary:

Book Two in the New York Times and instant USA TODAY bestselling trilogy!

From the viral TikTok author of the stalker romcom, Lights Out, comes Navessa Allen's second book in bestselling The Into Darkness Trilogy, upping the ante with voyeurism and play club kink.

"I wanted this woman, and I was a man who always got what he wanted."

Nico "Junior" Trocci knows Lauren Marchetti is off limits. She is sweetness and laughter, whereas Junior exists in a world of violence and depravity. Men like him don't get to have women like her. It's why he pushed her away back in high school and kept his distance ever since.

But when Junior looks Lauren up online, he discovers the shy, bookish girl he remembers is gone. In her place is a strikingly beautiful woman whose social media is filled with scantily clad pictures of herself and a connection to a nearby play club. Junior's innocent curiosity quickly turns into a dark obsession. Watching Lauren from a distance isn't enough; he needs to make her his.

"He's ruthless; a walking red flag. Good thing red is my favorite color."

Lauren is intrigued by the mystery man who keeps showing up at her club, who tempts her white-hot desires. But as their flirty online messages stir up a deeper form of connection, Lauren worries she's developing real feelings for this brooding stranger. As their combined desire ratchets up to a breaking point, who will seduce who?

 

July 8th, 2025
Rose in Chains by Julie Soto

Book Summary:

USA Today bestselling author Julie Soto crafts a lush romantic fantasy that's filled with intrigue, magic, and an irresistible enemies-to-lovers romance.

The war is over, the dark forces have won, and the hero who was supposed to save them is dead.

Captured as her castle is overrun by the enemy, the world as Briony Rosewood knows it is changed forever. Evil has won, and her people face imminent servitude, imprisonment, or death.

Stripped of her Magic and her freedom, Briony and the other survivors are quickly sold off to the highest bidders in an auction--and as Evermore's princess, she fetches the highest price. After a fierce bidding war, she's sold to none other than Toven Hearst, scion of a family known for their cruelty.

Yet despite the horrors of her new world and the role she must learn to play within it, all is not lost. Help--and hope--may yet arise in the most unlikely of places...

 

August 5th, 2025
The Fallen & The Kiss Of Dusk by Carissa Broadbent

Book Summary:

New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk.

Mische made the ultimate sacrifice to save those she loves – and plunged the world into an eternal night. Now, imprisoned by the gods and obsessed with revenge, Asar is desperate to find her again.

When a goddess offers them a final path to redemption – and back to each other – Asar and Mische embark on an extraordinary mission. Together, they must seize the power of the god of death so Asar may do the impossible: ascend to true divinity.

Their journey will take them through mortal and immortal realms, alongside both old friends and ruthless enemies. But as the underworld teeters on the brink of collapse and the gods prepare for a war, Asar and Mische must decide what they are willing to sacrifice for the power to defy death. In a game of vengeful gods and ancient betrayals, there are some debts that even love may not be able to repay.

September 16th, 2025
The Things Gods Break by Abigail Owen

The book summary is still very hush hush, but this is what’s available…

The games continue in the highly anticipated and thrilling follow-up to The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen.

 

November 18th, 2025
Brimstone by Callie Hart

Book Summary:

Duty. Blood. Honor. Power.

Saeris Fane doesn’t want power. The very last thing she needs is her name whispered on an entire court’s lips, but now that she’s been crowned queen of the Blood Court, she’s discovering that a queen’s life is not her own. A heavy weight rests upon her shoulders. Her ward—and her brother—need her back in her homeland…but the changes that have strengthened Saeris have also made her weak. Born under blazing suns, Saeris will surely die if she makes her way home through the Quicksilver. Which means that, once again, she must send someone else in her stead...
 
“Keep your mouth shut.  Stick to the shadows. And for the love of all seven Gods, do NOT crack any jokes.”

 
Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate has defeated armies and survived all manner of horrors, but traveling back to Zilvaren with Carrion Swift might just be the death of him. The male just will not shut up. Hidden dangers await them down the narrow alleyways of the Silver City. Unfolding secrets pose impossible threats. Fisher must wrangle the smuggler and accomplish his goals quickly if he wants to see his mate again.
 
A darkness falls across Yvelia. The realm and their friends are in danger. Together, Saeris and Fisher will pass through fire and brimstone to save them.