We’ve made it through another year of romance books! While I didn’t dole out any five stars this year, there are still plenty of remarkable reads worth celebrating.
Last year, I shared the criteria a book needs to meet in order to make my top ten list. This year, I wanted to dig a little deeper. I wanted to sit with the list and analyze what these books have in common and what they say about me as a reader. Surprisingly, this isn’t an exercise I’ve given much thought to in my reading journey — I know the authors and tropes I’m drawn to and I know the type of prose that speaks to me, but beyond that, I’ve never comprehensively mapped my specific reading taste and have certainly never reflected long enough to recognize overarching patterns beyond the surface-level elements.
It’s hard to distill my taste into a single, simple, clear-cut formula (which is a good thing — taste should be ever-evolving), but I did find some clear similarities across this year’s list.
First up: the soft-alpha male protagonist.
All these books feature emotionally-literate men. These characters are strong in the traditional, patriarchal sense, but they also exhibit strength through emotional availability, vulnerability, and stability. They create tension through restraint rather than dominance. No, they may not all start out that way (I’m thinking about the MMC in #5 specifically), but softness is a destination, and it’s earned through the story arc.
Next: the voice-driven narration.
Eight out of ten of these books feature a single first-person POV (books #8 and #3 are the exception with a dual first-person POV and tight third-person POV, respectively). It’s clear I find the close interior narration more compelling: it allows me to live inside the romance (rather than observing it) and to experience the protagonist’s emotions firsthand. I also find that the limited knowledge of the hero’s POV builds more anticipation — and the payoff is more satisfying when you finally earn the emotional reveal.
And lastly: the slow-burn emotional tempo.
Speaking of anticipation, I would classify a majority of these books as slow-burn, with the romance escalating in anticipatory tension, not explosive tension. I’m one to respond strongly to the presence of restraint: tension that lives in the pauses, the stolen glances, the nearly-spoken sentences — love stories that develop through an unfurling, rather than a collision. The exceptions I would consider to be #6, #4, and #3 — in these books, desire is immediate, while emotional integration is slow.
Now, let’s get into it!
10. Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston
★★★★☆
While this isn’t my favorite novel of Ashley’s, she wins points for her unexpected, highly-original storytelling. Reading her books always feels like a breath of fresh air. This book — about two musicians who start hearing each other’s thoughts — feels cinematic and nostalgic, almost dreamlike, with an achingly tender romance and a gentle hero who will melt you with his poetic one-liners.
9. The Friendship Fling by Georgia Stone
★★★★☆
I’d consider this book the wild card out of the bunch. It’s a relatively under-the-radar pick, but one that utterly charmed me. If you’ve been in a reading slump, need a palette cleanser, or just want a book that will make you guffaw, trust me, this is the book to pick up. It’s about two friends who strike up a deal to spend the summer together enjoying London before one of them moves away. Overall it’s heart-warming, witty, and so delightfully feel-good. This book wins for best banter on this list, hands down.1
8. One Golden Summer by Carley Fortune
★★★★☆
I don’t think there is a single person who read this book and didn’t love it. It’s the companion novel to Every Summer After, about a woman who returns to the lake house from her childhood to try to recapture her creative spark, only to fall in love with the man next door. Every aspect of this book sings: the sharp banter, the acute longing, the vivid setting, the endearing characters — it’s everything I love about Carley’s writing dialed up to the max.
7. It’s Different This Time by Joss Richard
★★★★☆
In a lot of ways, I would liken this book and its spot on this list to last year’s How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang — they’re both impressive debuts by Asian women, they both elicited visceral angst from me while reading, and they both come so close to being perfect save for the third acts. Still, I knew it would be a favorite before I even finished it. The book — which follows a struggling actress who inherits a valuable brownstone together with the man who once broke her heart — captures yearning in a way that will make your heart twist in agony.
6. Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
★★★★☆
This book marks Ali’s first foray into new adult and it’s a sub-category I think suits her well. It combines the coming-of-age character growth typical in YA books with the spice present in her adult romances. The protagonist’s story arc is my favorite on this list — it’s well-developed, optimistic, and relatable. This is also one of Ali’s most nuanced plots, about a college athlete who starts up an illicit affair with another athlete, between dealing with performance anxiety and team dynamics. The lighthearted, fluffy vibes are nowhere to be found, and I definitely think that makes for a refreshing take from Ali.
5. Summer in the City by Alex Aster
★★★★☆
I read this book back in February and it held my number one spot for six months until I read the remaining four books on this list. Yes, it’s silly and a little bit outlandish, but it’s just so fun; the quick pace sucks you in immediately. You’ll smile, you’ll swoon, you’ll (lightly) agonize, and if you allow yourself to get swept up in the story, I promise you’ll have a good time. The novel is a classic rom-com about a successful screenwriter and a tech CEO who agree to use each other for a summer to help further their careers. Playful escapism at its finest — if you need a beach read, look no further.
4. If Not For My Baby by Kate Golden
★★★★☆
Out of all the books on this list, I think this one is a clear outlier. It’s the most emotionally intense story, with explosive, volatile chemistry between the characters. That being said, I devoured it. The tormented pining! The forbidden lust! The all-consuming obsession! Whew, it’s a whirlwind. If you, too, have a thing for reading about tall famous men (in this case an Irish singer very obviously based on Hozier) falling hard for the girl who’s kind of a mess, pick this one up. This book — and the remaining books on this list — I consider 4.5 stars.
3. The Best Worst Thing by Lauren Okie
★★★★☆
Another under-the-radar debut, this book is probably the most overt “literary” romance on this list. It received high early praise among the romance community, so I expected there to be more hype around its release, but I’m surprised to see it has under 2,000 ratings on Goodreads. The story — about a woman experiencing infertility, going through a divorce, and finding love again with a man from her past — is incredibly well-executed: the plot is richly layered, with a good balance of uplifting humor (the banter!) and heavy, raw heartache, the characters feel fully-realized, and the prose is stunning. If you’re looking for something adjacent to Emily Henry, but with a messier storyline and sharper emotionality, give this one a try. And add Lauren to your list of authors to watch.
2. Never Over by Clare Gilmore
★★★★☆
Coincidentally, this is the third music-industry romance on this list, about a budding songwriter who reconnects with her first love to find emotional inspiration. I guess it must have been a popular theme this year! The then/now setup of this book is similar to #7, but where Joss’s book is angsty, Clare’s book is swooningly romantic. The difference is that not only do you as the reader know how the characters feel about each other, but they do, too: no hidden feelings for the sake of saving the friendship, no miscommunication, no annoying third-act breakup because one of them is too scared to face their emotions. In this book, both characters are upfront about their feelings for one another, and they fully grasp the influence they have on the trajectory of each other’s lives. To some extent, I think every book on this list could be succinctly described as “he’s so in love with her it hurts,” but I think this book portrays that the most satisfyingly. It’s refreshing to read a book with a hero who’s so open and honest about his adoration. I wanted to live inside this romance.
1. Love in Plane Sight by Lauren Connolly
★★★★☆
Considering this book just officially released earlier this week and many of you probably haven’t read it yet, it’s not the most ideal choice for #1, but that just means you’ll have to read it and come back to tell me what you think. This book is at the top of my list for the simple reason that it brought me the most joy out of any books I read this year. It follows a woman who dreams of becoming a pilot and finally gets the chance when her brother’s best friend offers to be her flight instructor. The story jumps right in (I personally love when that happens — drop me into the action and then explain the backstory later), and just wraps you in warmth. The characters are so endearing. The antics are funny but not in a ridiculous way. The spice is steamy. And the scenes in which the hero is wracked with jealousy and the protagonist has absolutely no idea? Obsessed.
After compiling this newsletter, I was curious what ChatGPT would have to say about the type of reader I am based on this list. While a lot of what it shared was generalized word salad, there were some kernels of truth I resonated with. Here are the observations I found most interesting:
I’m conflict-averse. That doesn’t mean I dislike tension. It means I don’t like unnecessary emotional rupture — AKA conflict for conflict’s sake, characters who behave illogically for the plot, misunderstandings that could be resolved with basic emotional competence. This also explains why I respond so well to plots framed in positive anticipation as opposed to negative anticipation.
I’m more compelled by emotional safety than by intensity. That means I prefer gradual trust over instant obsession, emotional fluency over sexual dominance, calm intimacy over volatility, and earned outcomes over grand gestures.
I’m attuned to emotional labor — and who is doing it. I need to see mutual effort in the romance and dislike relationships that feel imbalanced with one person carrying the emotional load. For example, I probably wouldn’t respond well to the “I’m bad at feelings” hero or the “fix me” romance. Love should feel like a collaboration.
Tell me, did any of these books make it onto your list of top reads for 2025? Happy holidays, happy new year, and, of course, happy reading.
Best banter overall I would award to We Met Like This by Kasie West!
I read Sounds Like Love earlier this year and it absolutely destroyed me in the best way. Adding a few of these to my TBR!
Have to agree on One Golden Summer. And now I've added more books to my TBR