The Best of 2025 – Maria Rose’s List
This year my reading list was quite varied with more mysteries than in the past, and I did a lot of comfort rereads (KJ Charles, Iām looking at you). But I still found time for some great romance reads as detailed below.
Big Nick Energy by Kristen Bailey
This romance caught me by surprise in how much I enjoyed it. I was thinking it would be a run of the mill holiday read but instead I was delighted by the dilemma of the heroine Kay when sheās faced with two men named Nick, an old flame and a new one, and the choice of who sheāll end up with. This one is funny and sweet and one of my favorite holiday stories that will be on my Christmas reread list.
Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone
I knew that I had to be in the right frame of mind to read this grief-centered romance and Iām so glad I found that space and gave it a go. Lennyās despair over her best friend Louās recent cancer death is sharp and all encompassing and how the author is able to put this into words, and yet also offer hope to Lenny when she meets Miles is done so skillfully. Of course there are lots of teary moments (how can there not be?), but there are also lots of laughs and new friends and the overall story is really wonderful from start to finish.
Zomromcom by Olivia Dade
Youād be hard pressed to find a year in the past decade that hasnāt included a book by Olivia Dade on my favourites list. I laughed a lot reading this zombie romantic comedy (which I confess, I originally misread as āZoomromcomā and thought it was going to be about a workplace zoom call romance). I even picked up the print copy to have the glow in the dark cover on my shelf.
Fan Service by Rosie Danan
Fan service is not your typical paranormal romance but I loved how the characters grew and the depth in their backstories that came through as the story progressed. Everyone can have an outer shell but learning about the person underneath and their true value is the theme of this sexy contemporary wolf shifter romance.
Scotch on the Rocks by Elliot Fletcher
It was Dabneyās review of this book that made me pick it up – a great choice as it was one of my favourite reads this year and an absolute cracker of a contemporary romance. Iām a sucker for a hero in pursuit and Callumās pining is next level. The sexual tension and spicy scenes are so well written and I am excited to read more from this author.
Princess of Blood by Sarah Hawley
The first book in this series, Servant of Earth, is one of my favourite reads of 2025, but it was published in 2024 so isn’t eligible for this list. Book two, Princess of Blood, is equally as good and its excellent worldbuilding, strong characters and romantic subplot make it a fantasy series not to be missed, so long as you can handle some bloodthirsty violence.
Homemaker by Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare
The one non-romance read on my list is by two of my favourite romance writers, Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare (who also wrote as Mary Ann Rivers). While it has some romance elements (that will continue in the next in series), itās a gripping missing person mystery that had me hooked from the start.
Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz
Itās not often you read a fantasy romance with a female lead who is the villain looking for redemption. I loved the concept of the story, the characters, and am now a fan of rock goblins (they make excellent pets!).
The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid
With the exciting success of this authorās hockey romance novel Heated Rivalry on our screens, Iām hoping it will draw readersā attention to some of her other books, including this fabulous second chance romance. While grief is front and center with the death of a retired hockey playerās father, it rekindles the relationship between him and a former teammate, and it was lovely to see these older characters reconnect.
Viscounts & Villainy by Allie Therin
I know this is the end of the line for the Roaring Twenties Magic series (the spinoff from the Magic in Manhattan series) and Iām really going to miss all these characters from the six books. Wesley and Sebastianās banter continues to delight and the mysteries and worldbuilding that the author has come up with are so much fun to read. If you havenāt started them, youāre in for a treat
Maybe itās just me, but it seemed like there were quite a few grief-centered romances this year. I canāt with those, and there were several authors whose books Iād normally read that I skipped this year. I remember thinking there mustāve been a writerās retreat where they picked a theme.
I agree.
I agree and normally they wouldn’t be my thing but 2025 was a strange year for me (see my comment to Manjari).
I gobble up all the grief themes (it’s part of my id I think) – and I’m currently ruminating on Dandelion is Dead (coming out on 15th January, review nearly done) which makes Promise Me Sunshine look tidy :) – I’m so keen to see how it is received.
So I haven’t actually read any of the books on your list but Promise Me Sunshine, The Shots You Take and Scotch on the Rocks are all in my TBR. I know Promise and Shots deal with grief and I haven’t been in quite the right mood to start either but I will get to them! I’m an Olivia Dade fan too but waiting for Zomromcom e-book to come down in price. I really enjoy seeing these lists. Thank you for doing it and for your reviews!
Thanks for your kind words Manjari! Yes, I think you definitely have to be in the right frame of mind to read the grief-centered books. I know this will probably sound strange, but I had 4 family funerals in 2025 (all older but dear relatives) and so grief was such a big part of my year anyway that reading books dealing with grief didn’t phase me or upset me since it was already part of my living experience.
I’m so sorry for your losses. Reading gives me a lot of comfort and joy and I hope it helped you when you felt sad. Thank you for sharing that with us.
I appreciate your sympathy and yes, it helps to have good books to turn to.
Hi Maria, love your list! We’ve got a lot of overlap and I’m so delighted to be agreeing with you so often. I haven’t read any of Allie Therin’s – or Rachel Reid’s – though they are now on my TBR. I think the show of Heated Rivalry will come to Australia soon so I’ll be watching when it does.
I’m excited for Homemaker and the only one I’ll skip is Sarah Hawley’s – it’s the bloodthirsty-ness that doesn’t do it for me. Great fun!
I’m excited for you to see Heated Rivalry! I mentioned above that I like to reread KJ Charles books, I can also add that I’ve reread Allie Therin’s 1920s set series at least 2 times as well. The Sarah Hawley fantasy ones are definitely not for the faint of heart – they are riveting but gruesome in parts. As for Homemaker, the plot wouldn’t normally be something I enjoy reading but in the hands of Ruthie and Annie, it sucked me in. (ditto for the next in their series which comes out in the spring 2026 but I’ve already read it).
The Shots You Take and Viscounts and Villainy are both on my Best of 2025 list! Rachel Reid rarely misses, and Allie Therin is amazing.
Yes, they write such enjoyable stories!
Fan Service came ThisClose to making my list; these are so good!
Thanks Lisa, it’s always a challenge narrowing down the list!