41 MORE Books Coming Out in 2025 That You Need to Know About - Part 2

Gird your TBR a little bit harder, now

Hi book pals,

Last week, I kicked off my round up of 41 books coming out in the 2nd half of 2025 that are hot on my radar. Part 1 covered all the debuts, potential picks for your IRL book club, and series continuations. Today, you’re getting all the romances, thrillers, wild cards, and personal auto-buy authors.

Depending on how you feel about the current state of your TBR, this is either a banger or a doozy. Let’s go!

HEA enthusiasts are in for a summer (and fall) of love.

20. Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley | May 27: I am the Gretchen Weiners of trying to make literary romance happen, so this one set against the backdrop of British politics called to me. Newly arrived to London, a woman falls for a single dad, but 10 years into their relationship she struggles with relationship ennui.

21. Sounds Like Love by Ashley Poston | Jun 17: The queen of speculative romance is back with a new book about a blocked songwriter who heads to her hometown music venue hoping for inspiration, but instead runs into a mysterious musician she may or may not have made up in her head.

22. Let’s Make A Scene by Laura Wood | Jul 1: A new contemporary romance from the author of one of my all-time favorite books (A Sky Painted Gold). An actress’ big break came with false pretenses of fake-dating her co-star. Thirteen years later, they’re making a sequel, but must also rekindle their (fake) romance. This sounds like tons of fun!

23. Totally and Completely Fine by Elissa Sussman | Jul 8: A cousin book to the breakout debut romance, Funny You Should Ask. In this, Gabe’s sister Lauren embarks on a one-night stand with a much too young for her actor that turns into more.

24. A Witch’s Guide to Magical Inkeeping by Sangu Mandanna | Jul 15: I just know this magical romance about a witch who lost her powers and is forced to take a job running an enchanted inn is going to be spectacularly cozy. The escape from the current news cycle we all need right now.

25. Sweet Heat by Bolu Babalola | Sept 2: From the author of Honey & Spice comes a new (and steamy) romance about a relationship podcaster with a hot mess love life who discovers her ex is the best man at her best friend’s wedding. Can they make it through the summer without rekindling their romance? (Probably not!)

26. Hot Desk by Laura Dickerson | Sept 2: I was sold at “Younger meets Writers & Lovers” in the pitch copy. But if you need a bit more, this one follows rival editors forced to share a “hot desk” in their post-pandemic office. It’s enemies-to-lovers story built on passive aggressive Post-Its and I am here for it.

27. And Then There Was You by Sophie Cousens | Nov 18: God bless Sophie Cousens for somehow sticking to a book-a-year publishing schedule and delivering us an annual dose of warmth and wit. In her latest, a woman who isn’t quite as far along in life as she hoped hires a fake date for her ten-year reunion. I’m getting major The Wedding Date vibes, which happens to be one of my all-time favorite rom-com movies.

Even as a certified scardey cat, I’m willing to risk my sleep schedule for these.

28. The Ghostwriter by Julie Clark | Jun 3: From the author of The Last Flight, a ghostwriter agrees to pen her famous father’s last book. But this time, the horror is closer to home as he delves into the infamous murder of his siblings.

29. Our Last Resort by Clémence Michallon | Jul 8: Once-close siblings go on a luxury vacation seeking to repair their relationship. But when a dead body is discovered and the brother becomes the prime suspect, and the pair must confront their painful past being raised in a cult and their dramatic escape.

30. Everyone Is Lying to You by Jo Piazza | Jul 15: An influencer mystery with a tradwife twist! College besties, now estranged, are brought back together when one—now a famous family influencer—invites the other to interview her. But then, the influencer goes missing and her husband turns up brutally murdered, leaving her old pal to piece together what happened.

31. The Dead Husband Cookbook by Danielle Valentine | Aug 5: This title! This cover! I fear I may not be able to resist this story about a famous chef/restauranteur mired in a decades-old controversy around the mysterious death of her husband. When a young writer lands the plum job ghostwriting the chef’s memoirs, she starts unraveling the story and realizes something smells… rotten.

32. Boom Town by Nic Stone | Oct 14: A beloved YA author makes her adult thriller debut with this novel about two girls who go missing from one of Atlanta’s most notorious strip clubs and the former-dancer intent on finding them. I think we can safely say there’s nothing YA about this premise! I’m excited!

I’m not immune to great marketing copy (or buzz!), and these intrigued me.

33. The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater | Jun 3: I’m not usually a historical fiction reader—and have specifically OD’ed on WWII settings—but this premise about a West Virginia hotel forced to take in captured Nazi diplomats sounds like a completely fresh twist.

34. Bring the House Down by Charlotte Runcie | Jul 8: On the opening night of Edinburgh Fringe Festival, an actress has a one-night stand with a critic and wakes up to a career-ruining review of her one-woman show. On the heels of this humiliation, she re-works it into a takedown of the critic himself and goes viral. Female Rage: The Musical, anyone?

35. Katabasis by RF Kuang | Aug 26: I loved Yellowface, but haven’t checked out any of Kuang’s fantasy writing yet. So, I’m very curious about this dark academic fantasy set in…. wait for it… hell.

36. Happiness & Love by Zoe Dubno | Sept 2: Set over the course of a single dinner party, the narrator eviscerates the entire downtown New York scene she was once part of. This is either going to be incredible or insufferable, and I’ll be reading to find out which.

37. Alchemised by SenLinYu | Sept 23: Adapted from a mega-viral Dramione (Draco/Hermione) fan-fiction, this story’s getting it’s trad publishing debut. In the aftermath of war, a once-promising magician is now the prisoner of a depraved necromancer intent on uncovering her buried memories. Think: dark romantasy.

I would buy these completely blind. These authors have earned my unending loyalty.

38. All the Way to the River by Elizabeth Gilbert | Sept 9: If Liz Gilbert writes it, I will read it. Those are the rules. Her latest is a memoir of falling in love with and subsequently losing her best friend.

39. The Academy by Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham | Sept 16: I’m not egotistical enough to think that Elin sat down and said to herself, “What would Becca Freeman most want to read?”. But we have to admit this Gossip Girl-esque boarding school mystery (written with her daughter who was a boarding school student at the time!) is eerily my vibe.

40. Heart the Lover by Lily King | Oct 7: New Lily King! New Lily King! Is that not enough description for you? (It is for me, but fine.) A college student falls headfirst into an intellectually-charged love triangle with two classmates. Years later, a surprise visit sets her on a collision course with the choices made by her younger self.

41. Bread of Angels¹ by Patti Smith | Nov 4: I know I’m not alone in placing Just Kids, Smith’s memoir of her friendship with artist Robert Maplethorpe, in my pantheon of all time favorite books. This is a more sweeping—yet still taut: 288 pages—memoir of her life from childhood to present. I will be clearing my calendar on pub day.

Which are you adding to your TBR? And which other books did I miss that you’re excited about that come out in the second half of this year? Tell me in the comments!

Happy reading,

Becca

P.S. I love putting guides like this together, but it’s also a major undertaking. If you value this work and are in a position to afford it, please consider becoming a paid subscriber. Book recs are always free, but paid subscribers get access to travel guides, more personal content (like my end of month wrap ups), book predictions (like this post speculating about the book of the summer), and more. Paid subscribers also make free posts like this possible.

1. This book doesn’t have a cover yet, but that will not deter me.