The Best of 2025 – Kayne’s List

It’s that time of year when we make our Best of the Year lists here at AAR and I’m excited to share my favorite reads of 2025. While I read more mysteries and women’s fiction this year, I still enjoyed plenty of romance books, especially romcoms. Here are my top ten picks for 2025, not in any particular order.

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

This romcom is full of heart and joy. It has a hot coast guard rescuer and a filmmaker who is sent to Key West to film him in action. I enjoyed the laughs and romance along with the found family and big, loveable dog.

One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune

This is a passionate story about a burned-out photographer who comes to visit her favorite summer place from her youth with her grandma. She makes a bucket list of all the things she wants to do over the summer. Charlie is taking care of their cabin and when he sees her bucket list, he asks if he can join her. This is a slow burn romance full of yearning. They don’t want the summer to end and neither did I – it’s perfect for a beach read.

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Two writers compete for the chance to write a celebrity biography of a famous heiress from a wealthy dynasty family with a tragic history. The island setting was beautiful. The story was suspenseful with a few twists and turns, as well as emotional, when we learn about the family’s heartbreaks. There is also hope and joy and this turned out to be one of my favorite books of the year.

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

This has adorable rescue pets, a sunset cruise and an escape room. It’s an emotional, long-distance love story with loveable leads, humor and family drama. I laughed, I cried – Jimenez has given us a beautiful and meaningful story. I loved the romance and her gentle way of handling tough topics.

Isaiah and Isolde by Julie Anne Long

As a long-time fan of Julie Anne Long’s books, especially the Pennyroyal Green series, I savored this passionate historical romance novella about Isolde and Isaiah. The story is a love triangle between Isolde Sylvaine, Isaiah Redmond, and Jacob Eversea. It was emotional with twists and turns and I still find myself thinking about it – it’s so good!

It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan

In this enemies to lovers romance we have a former child sitcom star and a creative filmmaker at a beautiful beach setting looking for a rock star she used to know, to help them with their film project. They have great chemistry and humor that had me laughing all the way through! I loved it.

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

Lynn Painter is the queen of YA romcoms. Fake Skating has hockey, fake dating, family drama and childhood friends. I really loved it! Dani and Alec’s fake dating turns real as they help each other through their senior year. There are also some fun side characters, especially Dani’s grandpa. He is the GOAT!

Misdirected by Lucy Parker, narrated by Nicola Coughlan and Gwilym Lee

I loved Lucy Parker’s London Celebrities series, and Misdirected brought back fun memories of those books, especially my favorite, Act Like It. Hattie and Anthony are actors who play well-loved characters on a popular Bridgerton-like TV series. The opening chapter is so funny and I loved the behind-the-scenes glimpses of the show mixed with humor, romance and drama. The audiobook is entertaining, steamy and sweet, and is one of my favorite stories this year.

Wild Side by Elsie Silver

Wild Side has enemies-to-lovers, a marriage of convenience and a professional wrestler who wears a mask! Tabitha is looking after her three-year-old nephew after her sister passes away. They live in the small town of Rose Hill in the Canadian Rockies. Tabitha is sassy and snarky and everyone loves her. She is not happy when Rhys tells her he’s actually her nephew’s legal guardian and there’s a fun mystery about what Rhys does for a living. This is a very funny and sweet, small-town romance.

Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros

I was immersed in this fantasy world of dragon riders, magic, adventure and epic romance. I fell in love with the story and characters. This is the third installment in the series and I anxiously await word of a release date for the fourth.