The Best of 2025 – Caz’s List

I’ve had a pretty good reading year this year; I’ve read/listened to well over 250 books and audiobooks, and the majority have fallen into the ‘good’ (B/B+) range with around a couple of dozen earning DIK status – which isn’t too shabby.  So here, not in order of preference, is my Best of 2025 list (with a couple of sneaky ‘also rans’ included).

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

A Best of the year list from me wouldn’t be complete without (at least) one entry from KJ Charles, and for 2025, it’s All of Us Murderers, a masterful blend of mystery, romance and suspense and a clever, witty homage to the gothic romance. Set in a creepy and remote old house, all the ingredients you’d expect to find in such a story are here: a family curse, ghosts, unwelcoming servants, dreadful family members and a kind and morally upstanding hero who triumphs over adversity to win true love. The mystery is satisfyingly twisty, the romance is fabulous and the slowly growing atmosphere of dread and unease as the strange and supernatural events start to escalate is extremely well done. It’s KJ Charles at her very best.

The Meaning of You by Jay Hogan

Jay Hogan’s first same-couple series gets off to a fantastic start with The Meaning of You, a romantic suspense story set in and around Auckland, NZ. Two men in their fifties become the unwitting targets of some dangerous people when one of them discovers some unsettling facts about his late husband. The author perfectly balances both elements of the story to weave together a poignant, beautifully written story about love, loss and moving on, combined with an emotional romance and an intriguing mystery plotline. 

Paternal Instincts by Nicky James

 I was hard-pressed to choose between the four books Nicky James has published this year, because they’re all excellent and every one is a DIK. But I decided to go with Paternal Instincts because it’s the final outing for our favourite Toronto-based detectives Quaid Valor and Aslan Doyle, whom we’ve watched go from antagonists to committed partners and husbands over the course of eight books as they’ve solved some pretty twisty mysteries and overcome a number of relationship hurdles. If the series had to end – as all good things must – Nicky James sent these two guys off into the sunset with a fantastic and incredibly satisfying finale that delivered everything series fans could have wanted.

(Note: special mention to the author’s other DIKs this year – Reading Between the Lines, A Breath of Life and Kismet, which could all have had a place on this list if I’d been able to choose twenty books instead of ten!)

Absolutely Pucked by E.M. Lindsey

This is the third book in the author’s Punked as Puck series featuring a group of friends who play on a community sled hockey team. I really enjoyed the first book, Zero Pucks, (which was also a DIK, so could have made this list) but I chose to include this one because it’s a redemption story and I’m a sucker for those. Killian – twin brother of Tucker from Zero Pucks – was quite the arsehole when we met him in that book, but by the time we meet him again here, his life has been upended (through no fault of his own) and he’s hit rock bottom. The author does a great job of showing us who he really is while never letting him off the hook for his past behaviour, and his love interest, Ford, is a total sweetheart whose life hasn’t exactly been a bed of roses. The disability rep is excellent, Killian and Ford have great chemistry and their love story is tender, funny, heart-breaking and beautifully romantic.

Recipe for Trouble by Dylan Morrison

Dylan Morrison’s second traditionally published contemporary romance is a charming opposites-attract slow-burn romance between a grouchy video editor (Ben) and a ray-of-sunshine chef (Pete) who end up working together when Ben is roped in to editing a disastrous cookery video that ends up going viral.  It seems like 90% of contemporaries are labelled as rom-coms these days, and of those, 90% are neither funny nor romantic, but Recipe for Trouble is both; the writing is witty, vivid and engaging and the two leads are endearing characters you can’t help but root for.

(Note: If I’d had room, I’d also have included H.L. Day’s With One Kiss on this list, another rom-com that is both romantic and funny and which was also a DIK read.)

Hudson River Homicides by C.S. Poe

Another favourite long-running series where the books really need to be read in order; Hudson River Homicides is the fourth Memento Mori book featuring NY Detective Everett Larkin and his partner, forensic artist Ira Doyle. Whoever is taunting Larkin is escalating their cat-and-mouse game and raising the stakes considerably, which is, in turn, affecting Larkin and Doyle’s relationship as Larkin desperately wants to do everything he can to keep his boyfriend safe and out of the line of fire. These books are mysteries with a romantic subplot; the mysteries are clever and superbly researched and the romance between these two damaged but loving men is the emotional heart of the series. Here, we get some long-awaited details about Doyle’s troubled past as it becomes clear that their last three cases have been part of the same tangled web of blackmail and murder – and that whoever is behind it all is prepared to go to any lengths to get what they want.

The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid

Well, this has been quite a year for Rachel Reid. The massive success of the TV adaptation of Heated Rivalry has been amazing and so very satisfying to see, and I can honestly say that it’s the first time I’ve seen a (modern) romance novel adapted for the screen that feels like the people behind it actually understand the genre, take the subject matter seriously and treat it with the respect it deserves.

Earlier this year, Ms. Reid published this fabulous standalone romance featuring two former players who reconnect more than a decade after their youthful relationship crashed and burned. It’s a real emotional rollercoaster of a read, pulling readers through the depths of despair over lost love, a career lost due to depression and addiction and soul-deep grief in the troughs before pulling us up to the highs and the possibility of a second chance at love, hope for the future and redemption for past mistakes. It might not always an easy read, but it’s a deeply satisfying one.

After Hours at Dooryard Books by Cat Sebastian

Cat Sebastian knocks it out of the park again with this fabulous tender slow-burn romance set in New York City in 1968. It’s a compelling, character driven slice-of-life story in which the historical background is superbly researched and incorporated into a beautiful story about finding family and finding love, about shared grief, forgiveness, the importance of community and finding the good where you can, of making space for happiness and peace for yourself and your loved ones, even when things seem hopeless.  Happy sigh.

Viscounts & Villainy by Allie Therin

Another one of my favourite series came to an end this year; Viscounts & Villainy is the third and final book in Allie Therin’s Roaring Twenties Magic series in which our heroes – snarky curmudgeon Wesley, Viscount Fine, and “dangerous marshmallow” Sebastian de Leon –  come face-to-face with probably their most dangerous (and unhinged) foe yet as they seek to foil the plot to control and destroy magic that has run through the three books in the series.  The plot is complex and well-constructed, but the highlight of the series has been the wonderful interplay and superb banter between the two leads; I’ve loved every minute I’ve spent watching Wesley and Sebastian falling for each other and coming to accept that they’re worthy of love and deserving of happiness. 

Dark Water series by Xanthe Walter

One reason I can find it difficult to pick books for these lists is because so many of the books I read are part of long-running series with an ongoing relationship arc, so it’s hard to say “book three is the best” or “you MUST read book four”, as anyone who only reads that one will likely be lost. Xanthe Walter’s Dark Water series is a same-couple series that is effectively one story told across four books, and because each instalment builds on what has gone before it will make no sense if you haven’t read the others, so I feel justified in adding the entire series to my Best of 2025 list. Dark Water is both a gripping suspense and gorgeous romance; set in the not-too-distant future, in a world where rising seas have made land scarce and life cheap, a grieving investigator crosses paths with a beautiful, enigmatic and damaged young man and both their lives are changed forever. A high-stakes plot, a romance that will rip your heart out, flawed, compelling, superbly-drawn characters you can easily fall in love with (and one you will love to hate!): each instalment of the series had me on the edge of my seat – and the audiobook versions are fantastic, too.