Kaetrin’s Top 11 books of 2025
It’s that time of year again! I went through and looked at all the 2025 releases I’d rated 5 stars on Goodreads. I had 11, so I decided to include all of them.
Misdirected
by Lucy Parker, narrated by Gwilym Lee and Nicola Coughlan – Parker is the queen of the repressed grumpy hero. No notes.
Swept Away by Beth O’Leary – Look, there are parts of this premise that are just ridiculous – a houseboat being stranded in the North Sea? – but I just loved this book. I was all in and it was just so good. The ending was just a titch less interesting than when the pair were on the water – I suppose that’s to be expected really. But overall, a winner.
“Everything you’ve told me about your life,” she says, “it doesn’t sound like you let people down. It sounds like you’ve not found people who make you feel like you’re enough.”
Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry – I’m a big fan of this author. The added advantage is that for most of her books, I’ve listened to them first. Julia Whelan narrates and she’s fantastic. Easily in my top 5 – maybe even 3 – narrators of all time. I can actually hear Whelan’s voice when I’m reading and that’s just what happened here. Henry and Whelan are a perfect pairing and a gift that keeps on giving.
I slow my pace, but surprisingly, he pauses halfway up the first set of steps when he realizes I’m behind him.
Not only does he pause, he actually turns toward me and makes eye contact. Huge progress for us. Friendship bracelets incoming, surely.
Fan Service by Rosie Danan – This is the only book in my list I didn’t review. I picked up this book because I liked the blurb and found it ticked all my boxes. It’s a story of an actor on the convention circuit, trying to revive his career. His main role was a teen wolf in a show somewhat in the vein of Supernatural (as I understand it at least – I haven’t actually watched Supernatural). After the actor actually turns into a werewolf in circumstances eerily similar to the show’s lore, he reaches out to the fandom for help and ends up meeting his number one fan for help. Only, he’d been a jerk to her some years before at a convention so their path to true love is a little rocky. Lots of great banter, fantastic humour and a great story meant this one, review or not, made my best of for the year.
Promise Me Sunshine by Cara Bastone – Such a beautiful books. I needed many tissues but so worth it. Just gorgeous.
“I mean that when people are feeling a thousand things at once, that’s when the wheels come off. They start messing up at work or in their marriages or whatever. Nobody lives skillfully when they’re experiencing this sort of thing.”
“Miles, you are, like, freakishly insightful.”
“I’m really not sure about that.”
“Come on. There’s no way you haven’t heard that from other people.”
He shakes his head. “You’ve seen me with other people. You just think I’m insightful because you’re currently experiencing the one thing I’m an expert at.”
The Undercutting of Rosie and Adam by Megan Bannen – Fantastic wrap to a wonderful series. I’m going to miss these guys!
Rosie had zero romantic interest in the man, but those forearms could inspire sonnets. And Bride of Fortune, she was not sad to witness the way Adam Lee’s impeccably tailored shirt and pants and waistcoat hugged his slender frame as he examined the scorched portal.
Three cheers for bespoke menswear, she thought.
My Big Fat Fake Marriage by Charlotte Stein – Stein has made multiple appearances on my best of lists over the past couple of years and this year it’s not even the first time she takes two spots. I love her humour and the kindness of her characters, both of which are on display here.
That flummoxes him, quite clearly. He looks at me like I just trapped him in a maze of complete accuracy, and he has no idea how to get back out.
Dealing With a Desperate Demon by Charlotte Stein – Again with the humour (and the kindness) but here we also have a super protective hero and I’m always a sucker for that.
“Honestly, all of this feels not normal for a normal guy. Or, at least, not normal for most guys. I once went on a date with one who told me romance novels were rotting my brain and giving me unrealistic expectations of men,” she said, thinking only of the way that showed approval of him.
But he was frowning by the end of it.
“Okay, and this date. Do you have his address?”
“Yeah, I think somewhere.”
“Great, go get it, then.”
The Librarians by Sherry Thomas – Loved the mix of mystery and romance and the larger POV cast. Perhaps some things were a little too convenient but I was happy to go along for the ride, especially with the bonus of Thomas’s beautiful writing.
“Thank you.” Astrid suddenly feels shy. She lowers her head. “Thank you for everything.”
“It was a low-risk offer on my part, to be a pair of willing ears. For you the stakes were much higher. So I should thank you for putting your trust in me. It’s an honor.”
No one has ever said such a thing to her, that it’s a privilege to listen to her story.
Zomromcom by Olivia Dade -Max and Edie for the win!
Like Charlotte Stein, Olivia Dade had two releases this year. I would not be surprised if the only reason her latest release, Second Chance Romance, did not end up on this list as well is because I haven’t it yet. But – it is on my TBR.
Edie couldn’t resist, despite the urgency of the situation. “Also, you have resting murder face. RMF, if you will.”
“Exactly.” The girl nodded. “You look like you’d rather maim someone than wallow in unbearable ennui.”
His neutral expression became an affronted scowl. “I can maim and wallow at the same time, young woman. I multitask very effectively.”
Blind Date With a Werewolf by Patricia Briggs – What a treat to have Asil as the protagonist in an entire book’s worth of stories.
You really are willing to dance with me? In Missoula, Montana, where you might get beaten up for it? You aren’t like any straight guy I’ve ever met.”
“I am like no one you have ever met,” said Asil with assurance.
~ Kaetrin ~
Blind Date With a Werewolf was completely amazing! I’d love it if she spun off several of those characters.
I’d forgotten about Misdirected. I was waiting for it to come out as an ebook but it hasn’t yet. :/ (I don’t typically do well with audiobook first reads – I usually listen to an audiobook after I’ve read the book. It’s an aural vs visual processing thing.)
Happy New Year!
I don’t care for fiction audiobooks, so Misdirect is on pause for text; I own Swept Away but haven’t read it yet; I thought Promise Me Sunshine was superb; I have not read any Charlotte Stein, perhaps because of the price point, although the books sound lovely. I just put The Librarians on hold – a nice surprise for me because when you reviewed it last fall, the library didn’t own it.
Email earlier today from Amazon indicated the number of books I’ve read this year which is cool but also they’re wrong. Then I figured out that the mention only counts KU. It also stated that the longest book was 1,003,162 pages but I didn’t read War and Peace or Les Mis so I don’t know where that number came from.
That would be a seriously LONG book, @LML!
I’ve read a surprising number of your choices, @Kaetrin — O’Leary, Bastone, Bannen. and Briggs — and also enjoyed them. I look forward to reading the rest with one exception. I tried the book by Sherry Thomas, and it did not grab me.
Thanks for sharing your list!
Happy New Year :). Briggs is on my Best of too :).
Great list K! I have Fan Service, ZomRomCom and Promise Me Sunshine also on my top reads list this year. Somehow I missed the Megan Bannen book though and I really enjoyed the first 2, so I have to look for that one!
Great list! Fan Service was an freaking delight. And I thought The Librarians built so beautifully to a truly satisfying conclusion.
I’m sunning it up in Bali at present so you won’t see me much online but I popped by to see what folks thought – so cool to see we have a lot of books in common!
Thanks for this list!
Re Fan Service, I liked it overall, but I thought Alex’s father got off way too lightly, which ultimately left me deeply unsatisfied.