2025 Favorite reads
Happy New Year, my hearts! I saw Rachel Skye Reads share her most influential and most enjoyable book for each month of 2025, and I immediately said, yes please. Some books are just for the vibes. Others rearrange my soul. So here are my two favorite books per month!
Note: I tried to take re-reads out of the running, because otherwise this entire list would just be Emily Henry and Casey McQuiston. I mostly succeeded.
December 2025
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow, narrated by Moira Quirk & Sid Sagar
This book broke me. I stopped at about 60% so I could slow it down to 1.0x and savor every line. It is not an easy read, but it is oh so worth it. You will only be able to read this beautiful book the first time once. Savor every sentence. My favorite book of the year by far.
Good Spirits by B.K. Borison, narrated by Karissa Vacker & Will Watt
Even when it made me cry, this book was a blast. I recently decided to stop hating on Dickens retellings and I’m so glad I did! Please check this one out.
November 2025
The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston, narrated by Eileen Stevens
I wish I’d read this in October—it’s the best kind of ghost story, as far as I’m concerned. Don’t miss it next spooky season!
In a Jam by Kate Canterbary, narrated by Jason Clarke & Kit Swann
I said I wasn’t including re-reads but since this is a writer I rarely recommend, please indulge me. I read In a Jam twice in 2023 and again this month. It’s so endearing. I just love the characters so much.
October 2025
Dream On, Ramona Riley (Clover Lake, Book 1) by Ashley Herring Blake, narrated by Gail Shalan
October was a very sapphic reading month for me, and this was a big part of why—small-town longing, second chances, Hollywood-meets-home vibes, and a love story that’s tender, sexy, and quietly achy in all the right ways.
Lady Like by Mackenzi Lee, narrated by Moira Quirk
This absolutely rewired my brain chemistry—a sharp, hilarious, subversive historical romp that starts as competition-for-a-duke chaos and ends in a deeply satisfying, heart-thumping queer awakening I will never shut up about.
September 2025
The Nightmare Before Kissmas (Royals and Romance, Book 1) by Sara Raasch, narrated by Ellis Evans
So cute, so fun, such a cozy little delight—fake competition, holiday princes, chaos and chemistry galore, and a mystery-romance mashup that absolutely had me smiling the whole way through.
Lust for Tomorrow (The Stronghold, Book 1) by Dana Sweeney, narrated by Dana Sweeney
If all authors were this good at narrating, I’d demand they all read their own books. I read this as an ebook and desperately wished for the audio. Worth the wait!
August 2025
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston, narrated by Natalie Naudus
I think I’ve been pretty clear that new adult romance novels give me the ick. I’m starting to have the same problem with young adult romance. But this one is an exception—I loved the mystery as much as the kissing-book parts.
Birding with Benefits by Sarah T. Dubb, narrated by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Evan Sibley
When I tripped over Adventures in Love & Birding, starring Rachel Boston and Andrew Walker on Hallmark+, I was kicking my feet! I enjoyed this book so much and it was a fun adaptation.
July 2025
Say You'll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez, narrated by Christine Lakin & Matt Lanter
This hit just the right notes at exactly the right moment—grief, dementia, tenderness, hope—and because it’s Abby Jimenez, I trusted her completely; in anyone else’s hands this timing would’ve been a disaster, but here it was honest, cathartic, and quietly perfect.
A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping by Sangu Mandanna, narrated by Samara MacLaren
Easy, cozy, and a total delight—witchy inn hijinks, a grumpy-meets-icy slow burn, and just enough magic and heart to make this a genuinely fun, low-stress escape.
June 2025
Funny Story by Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan
(I know, I know—but I truly ONLY read EH this month!) Miles is my #1 book boyfriend of all time. ‘Nuff said.
Book Lovers by Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan
Yes, this was a re-read but Nora and Gus are just too delicious not to revisit.
May 2025
Red Gate by the Bridge by Desi Stowe
I adore these characters—Maple and Kevin were instant ride-or-dies for me, Parker is complex and sexy in that quietly devastating way, Ophelia is an absolute trip, and the whole story is a thrilling, can’t-look-away journey I devoured.
Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks, narrated by Gary Furlong & Angela Dawe
I was wildly entertained by this tender, funny opposites-attract romance that balances grief, chemistry, and charm beautifully.
April 2025
Husband Material (London Calling, Book 2) by Alexis Hall, narrated by Joe Jameson
I loved Boyfriend Material and this follow-up did not disappoint. Oliver is just adorable.
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry, narrated by Julia Whelan
As long as author Emily Henry and narrator Julia Whelan remain the greatest romance storytelling partnership of all time, I will happily and repeatedly give them my money.
March 2025
Falling the Old Fashioned Way (Top Shelf Romances, Book 2) by Irene Bahrd, narrated by Andi Eloise, Lance West & Harvey Fuller
Some of Irene Bahrd’s books are just fun romps—and some are fun romps with emotional depth and beautiful storytelling. This is very much the second kind.
A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall, narrated by Kay Eluvian
A breathtaking, tender historical romance—identity reclaimed, grief softened, and a love that feels effortless—the most beautiful trans love story I’ve read to date… well, except the one I wrote. 😉
February 2025
Always a Bridesmaid by Erin Clark & Laura Lovely, narrated by Andrew Eiden & Krystal Hammond
This story hit me right in the feels. Main characters I can relate to. Side characters I love. Narrators who nailed it. And an HEA full of hope. Cue the tears!
The Break-Up Artist by Erin Clark & Laura Lovely, narrated by Regan Linton
A snarky, swoony rom-com that had me grinning the whole way through—witty breakup letters, unexpected tenderness, and a love story that made me say yay and yum in equal measure.
January 2025
The Path to Loving Him by Meghan Quinn, narrated by Samantha Brentmoor & Sebastian York
I’d listen to Sebastian York read a take-out menu, but this one brought me to tears. How can one book make me laugh, swoon, get very …um… excited, and bawl my eyes out? Beautifully performed. Expertly written.
Bananapants by Penny Reid, narrated by Colin Brown & Fiona Fischer
Pitch-perfect storytelling that answers questions I didn’t know I was harboring from Knitting in the City. Fresh narrators deliver heartfelt and funny performances. The truest depiction of mental health and the joys that can come with it. Plus a romance I loved!
