Open Thread for Readers for December 2025
Got a book you want to talk about? Frustrated with a book or series? In love with a new one? Found a buried treasure? An issue that keeps popping up in the books you are reading? Just want to chat about stuff in general? Post about it here!
Has anyone got any good Hanukkah, Solstice, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, or Festivus book recs?
Or New Year’s? Forgot that one.
@Jayne: I just googled New Year’s romances. I’ll preface this by saying I haven’t read the book, but Katrina Jackson has a romance called Every New Year that sounds great, about a couple who dated briefly in college and per the blurb, stumble into each other’s arms at New Year’s most years. The rest of the blurb sounds fantastic too.
I’m seeking recommendations for well-crafted fantasy and romantasy novels. Which are your favorites?
I am slowly moving away from the choke-hold cozy-paranormal-mysteries have had on me for about three months. Here are some of the books I enjoyed this past month:
I read the third book in Helen Harper’s cat lady chronicles – THE SKIRL OF SORCERY Good installment with an interesting take on banshees.
Then I read Ilona Andrews’ THE INHERITANCE the first book in their new Breach Wars series. I wasn’t sure I was going to like it so it took me a minute to get into it. Turns out I REALLY loved it. It can’t be said enough, they know how to plot, ramp up tension, and give great payoff…and set you up to wait for what it next.
I also read Anne Bishop’s TURNS OF FATE – the first book in her new series. If you liked her The Others’ series I think you’d like this one. Feels like a kissin’ cousin to that series. I was immediately immersed and had to pace myself otherwise I seriously could have done nothing but sit and read it in one go. And that is saying something because it clocks in at over 500 pages.
then I went in a wholly different direction with Jill Mansell who writes British chick-lit. Her books Tends to be humorous with a fairly big cast of characters. First up was IT STARTED WITH A SECRET where the main character and her friend are let go from their jobs at a boutique french hotel that is losing money. So they take a job as married caretaker couple for a large blended family who has a patriarch who is an old golden era Hollywood star (think Cary Grant/Richard Burton). The kicker is they aren’t really a couple as the job requires and the male friend is actually gay. Lots of hijinks ensue and there are a lot of subplots with various members of the family and we get an HEA romance in the end between the main FMC and the rather autocrtic eldest son of the family.
And now I am going down into a re-read rabbit hole with her stuff where I am currently reading THIS COULD CHANGE EVERYTHING where the FMC who needs to vent about her her boyfriend’s terrible mother (who happens to also be her boss) and does so in a text note to herself. But someone gets into her computer and pranks send it a bunch of people. If sets off a chain of events where she loses her job and her boyfriend. She ends up a bartender in a cozy neighborhood bar where we meet a lot of people and her new love interest.
@TinaNoir:
Okay, that’s lots of recs for this series. I must read it.
I liked this one as well and also wait for the next installment.
@Janine: Have you tried AJ Lancaster? I’ve read A Rake of His Own and the original version of How to Marry a Winged King by her, and both were very good.
Has anyone read Robert Bennett Jackson’s Foundry series? I read and enjoyed The Tainted Cup and A Drop of Corruption but am not sure where to start in his backlist.
@Janine: Have you read “Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love”? I liked it a lot, and in a recent conversation with my new DIL she mentioned that it is one of her favorites.
@MaryK: No, I will take a look at that!
@Susan/DC: I didn’t make it far past book two in the Harry Potter series and also rarely read fanfic, but I am kind of interested in the published version, The Irresisitlbe Urge to Fall for Your Enemy, anyway. Also in another novel based on Dramione fanfic, Alchemised.
@jmc: I read the first two books in the Founders trilogy. I loved the first one (even more than the Shadow of the Leviathan books) but was disappointed in the second, and Sirius had a similar experience with them. I didn’t read the third, but my husband did and said he liked it. The good news is that book one, Foundryside, is almost a standalone. You don’t have to read the sequels to find the story satisfying, IMO. So I still recommend that one.
@TinaNoir ~ I’m happy to learn your thoughts concerning Anne Bishop’s TURNS OF FATE as I have it beside me on the couch as I type. I am very much a fan of her Others books but find her other books (yes, that does look funny) too dark for me.
@Jayne: Party Favors by Erin McLellan is a New Years Eve ff romance novella. It’s part of her So Over the Holidays queer romance series. I vaguely remember enjoying it but don’t remember much about it.
@Janine:
You know what, I had to look up ‘Romantasy’ to see if the definition of it and the examples of books are things I may have actually read. But most of the books I that come up I have consciously passed over for one reason or another.
But I love fantasy (epic, sword and sandals, hero’s journey etc.) that includes a romance as an element or subplot.
One fantasy series I was very surprised I really liked and I think it is pretty well crafted was Michael J, Sullivan’s Riryria Revelations. It is a six-book series that begins with THE CROWN CONSPIRACY. The first book is very lightweight — it reads as full of banter adventure with two main characters who are in a great bromance and are thieves and pull off an impossible heist. I didn’t expect much more than that honestly, just something pleasant and easy and not very deep.
But the author does something very impressive. With each book he deepens the storyline very organically. The Plot gets more complex, the characters gets more interesting, we get deep history and world building, he ramps up the tension and the peril and handily manages several threads which he brings together with great verve in the final book. And gives us a nice little romance to boot.
One reviewer on GoodReads said the series is a great intro to high fantasy with a curriculum that takes you from introductory (first two books) through grad school (last two books).
The author self published them and I guess they sold incredibly well and were very well received. So Orbit books later published them in 3 omnibus sets (2 books per volume).
@TinaNoir: I too prefer fantasy with romantic elements to romantasy or fantasy romance. There have been exceptions, though — I can think a few books I loved that had signficant worldbuilding and a plot where the romance, as well as the world-level politics, took center stage. Archangel by Sharon Shinn and some of its sequels come to mind, as does Dragonflight (the first Pern book) by Anne McCaffrey. I would love to find more books that center the romance that deeply, and have that level of worldbuilding and craftsmanship. I haven’t read one like that in a long time, and I’m not sure that this type of book wouldn’t be published as romantasy today, rather than fantasy.
The Sullivan series sounds good, I will check it out. BTW, I am reading the Ilona Andrews book now and agree with your thoughts on it.
I haven’t read this collection of four works, @jayne, but I have enjoyed other books by Jessica Topper, one of the two authors. As I write, this is currently free for US Kindle readers ~
The Matzo Ballers: A Hanukkah Romance Anthology
https://amzn.to/3XMx8yz
@cleo: @Kareni: Thanks for the info!
@janine Thank you for the info re Foundryside!
@Janine: I have been on a fantasy/romantasy kick even though I wouldn’t say that this is a favorite genre. This just seems to be what’s being published these days, and they’re hard to avoid! My quick take on a couple:
– Shield of Sparrows (Devney Perry) – I picked this up after I saw that it was nominated for 2025 Goodreads awards and available through Libby, and just finished it. It was also ok but not great. The writing was fine, the world building is interesting but often internally inconsistent. The pacing is very uneven (not much happens for 90% of the book, then the last few chapters things move too fast). It suffers from a lot of cliches and I find the FMC a bit annoying (she suffers from a lot of poor little rich girl self-pity), but the characters and plot were exciting enough and cliffhanger-y so that I couldn’t stop reading it.
– Assistant to the villain series (Hannah Nicole Maehrer) – The slow burn romance is reasonably engaging. They are character-driven which I generally really like and I have read all three despite my reservations. The writing is often bad to the point of cringe for me (don’t listen to the first audiobook, the narrator makes it worse), and the plot is kind of all over the place. It feels mass-produced and a bit like something written by AI if you know what I mean.
– A Ruin of Roses series (KF Breene) – This is a kindle unlimited series that I tried (I only read the first 4), and got into because I found the chemistry between the MCs compelling. Also full of cliches, not great writing, but I found it kind of an original take on the beauty and the beast story. It is very spicy, probably counts as erotica, I’m not really sure what the strict definition of that genre is. Its like one of those thrillers that you just can’t put down but feel a bit cheap afterward.
-Sarah J Mass – her writing is not great, and the plot feels overwrought. I DNF’ed many of her books, though I did read several of the Cresent City books. Silver Flame wasn’t bad, but I could not finish the other ACOTAR books. I don’t understand the popularity.
-Sworn to the Shadow God (ruby Dixon) – another Kindle unlimited find, I picked it up after enjoying the short Freebie “Space Vampire” by this author. I recommend Space Vampire. This book was only ok. The slow burn romance was nice. The payoff is pretty spicy. I don’t think I’ll be reading more of this series though, I leafed through the next one and it seemed repetitive.
-The Familiar (Leigh Bardugo) – I liked this but agree with another review that I saw that said the buildup to the romance seemed lacking. The story was fairly original though and I liked the ending. It didn’t feel cookie cutter like some of the above.
– Alexis Halls’ Kate Kane series – these are fantasy mysteries with romantic elements. Well written, smart and internally consistent plots and compelling characters. These are meant to be parodies of classic noir detective stories. Five stars.
-Once was Willem (MR Carey) – I really like Carey’s books and this was no exception. I found the characters and story delightful. I can’t remember if you already read this or not.
-Circe (Madeline Miller) – one of my favorites, high recommended! Beautiful writing, moving, insightful, deep, well-researched
-Clymnestra (Costanza Casati) – DNF. Felt like a poor imitation of Circe.
For reference, my favorites in the genre include Paladin of Souls, Curse of Chalion, Uprooted, the Burning Sky series, Nettle and Bone. I find a lot of the recently published fantasy/romantasy feel like mass-produced throw-away book that feel like AI could have written them and lack depth. However, they do provide pleasant escapism if that is what you are looking for!
Have you read any Japanese surrealism like Haruki Murakami? You it is fantastical rather than fantasy, but I recommend trying it if you haven’t before.
Just remembered more oldie but goodies:
-The night circus (Erin Morgenstern) – it’s been so long since I read this, I can’t remember it much, but it made an impression. I tried the new book by the same author, The Starless Sea, but it was meandering and lacked a lot. I DNF’ed that one.
-The Books of the Raksura (Martha Wells) – they lack some of the wit and charisma that the Murderbot series has, but solid writing and world building. Would characterize this as fantasy with romantic elements.
-The Bear and the Nightingale – Jayne reviewed this a while back, based on Russian folklore which lends it a richness that I enjoyed, more YA I think
-The host (Stephenie Meyer) – solid writing, immersive world-building. I couldn’t put this down but the ending was a little predictable and too pat. I have never read the Twilight series, but I suspect that the writing will be familiar if you have.
@Janine – I don’t really read fantasy romances, however I loved Sherry Thomas’ Elemental trilogy and her Heart of Blade books. They were all great reads!
@Li: Thank you! I have read some but not all of this list. I don’t have time to comment at length today, but I will look for a couple of those books.
@MEB: Sherry Thomas is my critique partner and a good friend, so it’s lovely to hear that you’ve enjoyed her books.