Our 15 Most Anticipated Romance Books of 2025
The end of 2024 is upon us, which means everyone is striving to hit their reading goal for the year, and fill out their reading journals. Oh, and probably finishing up year-end work, spending time with family, holiday shopping, and all the rest.
Obviously, books are the first priority, though. Even though there’s still a bit of time to scratch a few more titles off your 2024 TBR, we’re already looking forward to next year and the romance novels ahead.
From the next installment of the Empyrean series (I swear, Rebecca Yarros, if you do anything irreparable to Xaden, we are going to have words) to new books from Emily Henry and Taylor Jenkins Reid, there is so much to look forward to in 2025.
Swooon is ready to swoon in 2025, so check out what we’ve got on our release calendar, ordered by release date below. From romantasy books to queer romance and all the tropes we could get our hands on, here are Swooon‘s 15 Most Anticipated romance books of 2025.
Single Player
Tara Tai
Release Date: January 7
Calling all gamer girlies. Our first most anticipated book of the year arrives in the first week of January and follows game developers Cat Li and Andi Zhang who are both working on Compass Hallow. They are both determined to make their work child the next big thing in gaming, but Cat is there to add romance to the brutal play while Andi is trying to prove themselves to the gamer crowd after getting doxxed by trolls a few years earlier. If they can get past their resentment of each other — and ignore the growing attraction between them — they might be able to pull off the seemingly impossible. It’s a dual-perspective debut novel from Tara Tai, but it’s already pressing all of our buttons.
The Broprosal
Sonora Reyes
Release Date: January 21
Sonora Reyes made a big splash with the YA romance The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School and will make the transition to adult romance with The Broposal in January. It’s a fake-engagement story about two roommates Kenny and Alejandro that early reviews are comparing to Red, White, and Royal Blue. That is some very high praise, and we are intrigued to see if Reyes can keep the same laugh-out-loud energy from Lesbiana in The Broposal, while also upping the spice factor.
Onyx Storm
Rebecca Yarros
Release Date: January 21
It’s only been a little over a year since we got Iron Flame, but we are desperate to get back to Basgiath and see how Violet Sorrengail is going to handle the absolutely devastating curveball thrown at her at the end of the second book. We have burning questions and are terrified about the future for Violet and Xaden. Are a grumpy Tairn and a plucky murderous Andarna enough to get us through the next chapter in this saga? We don’t know, but let’s all agree that if Violet and Dain are the real enemies to lovers of this universe, we’ll meet at dawn and head to Rebecca Yarros’ house with pitchforks.
If the Ring Fits
Camilla Isley
Release Date: January 25
Are fake engagements the new fake dating? This is the second one on our list, and we only need one more to make a real trend. If the Ring Fits is the second book in Camilla Isley’s Funny Feelings universe. After getting us in the steamy holiday spirit with This Is Not a Holiday Romance, it’s time to follow software engineer Rowena as she enters into a fake engagement with investment banker Adrian. Rowena needs time to sort her life out, and Adrian is desperate to impress his CEO boss. It’s a mutually beneficial situation until their sleepovers lead to real feelings and, well, you know how this goes. It gets us every time.
Deep End
Ali Hazelwood
Release Date: February 4
Deep End will see Ali Hazelwood take an adjacent step away from the laboratory and hit the pool. Her next romance novel will feature an Olympic hopeful diver at Stanford who gets caught up in a friends-with-benefits arrangement with the swim team golden boy. Both of them are just trying to let off steam before Olympic trials begins, but when their bedroom chemistry starts spilling into their normal lives, they have to question if their hearts are going to get in the way of Olympic gold. Hazelwood is now famous for her STEM romances, so it’s thrilling to see what her contemporary romance looks like, with limited mention of the word Ph.D. (or werewolves, because we could never forget about Bride).
Say You’ll Remember Me
Abby Jiminez
Release Date: April 1
Yours Truly’s Abby Jimenez is pulling out the T-Swift lyrics for her next romantic adventure. Xavier and Samantha have a movie-worthy first date that all comes crashing down when Sam has to head home to deal with her family in crisis. Rather than bring Xander into her familial mess, Sam asks him just to remember the perfect night they have together. But Xavier can’t ignore the magical connection that’s been forged between them, and if Sam is honest with herself, she can’t either. Jimenez loves a miscommunication trope, even if her leads are aware of it, and she’s also a banter queen. You can expect sizzle and laugh-out-loud dialogue. We can’t wait to see if Xavier can unseat Jacob Maddox from the top of our favorite Jimenez book boyfriends list.
Swept Away
Beth O'Leary
Release Date: April 1
There’s a lot of ways that a one-night stand can go wrong, but getting lost at sea while you’re knocking boots on a houseboat is definitely a new one. The Road Trip author Beth O’Leary returns with another wild ride in Swept Away on April 1. O’Leary already proved with Road Trip that she knows how to make tension sizzle with some forced proximity, and we’re excited to see what she does when her commitment-phobic romantic leads are stuck at sea with dwindling provisions and nothing to do but give love a chance.
Great Big Beautiful Life
Emily Henry
Release Date: April 22
Emily Henry is following up 2024’s Funny Story with a new novel that she claims is the most challenging book she’s ever completed in her career. According to Henry, Great Big Beautiful Life is giving “The Last Great American Dynasty” by Taylor Swift vibes. Two competing authors are given a month with the enigmatic heiress Margaret Ives to prove they should be the one to write her biography, which is guaranteed to be a bestseller. This feels like an absolute must-read for anyone who has Beach Read at the top of their Emily Henry novel ranking. It’s a grumpy sunshine romance, and from Henry’s teasing, it is going to be a harrowing journey to the happily ever after. To be honest, though, she sealed her spot on this list from the moment she mentioned Taylor Swift.
Can’t Get Enough
Kennedy Ryan
Release Date: May 13
If you haven’t put Kennedy Ryan on your “must read everything she writes” list, please fix that right now. Can’t Get Enough is the highly-anticipated third book in Ryan’s Skyland trilogy. Now we follow Hendrix Barry, who is living the vision board life in Los Angeles but is trying to balance friends, parties, and work while also having to care for an aging parent. Introducing romance into her life at this point is a non-starter, but then she meets tech mogul Maverick Bell. The spark is immediate, the sexual tension between them is pulsing, and Hendrix is battling against herself about whether she can afford to give in to this life-affirming romance. Ryan knows how to deliver sensual romance that will make you weak in the knees and guarantees that you’ll shed at least a few tears before the end of your read.
Atmosphere: A Love Story
Taylor Jenkins Reid
Release Date: June 3
Taylor Jenkins Reid is back! It’s been over two years since Reid released Carrie Soto Is Back, and now she will introduce us to the next powerhouse literary female born in her incredible brain. This time, we are heading 1980 with Joan Goodwin, a physics professor who joins the NASA Space Shuttle Program. Joan is down to prove herself, make some friends, and be one of the first women in space, but something happens during mission STS-LR9 that changes everything and makes Joan question everything about her place in the universe. Reid is the master of the female protagonist and writing heartbreaking literature. We can’t wait to see how she’s going to devastate us with this one.
The Listeners
Maggie Stiefvater
Release Date: June 3
Maggie Stiefvater is a legend in the YA-realm. She wrote The Raven Cycle saga, which gave us Richard Gansey III, along with Roman and Adam. She will make her adult fiction debut in June 2025 with The Listeners, which is a WWII novel that takes place in a luxury spa in Virginia. June Hudson is trying to keep The Avallon Hotel and Spa afloat when the owner of her life’s work agrees to host captured axis diplomates for the State Department. Playing host to the enemy is complicated enough, but the arrival of FBI agent Tucker Minnick threatens everything she’s worked for. A Stiefvater novel promises immaculate prose, some supernatural elements, and moving into the adult realm means even darker themes than we’ve seen from her before.
Ready to Score
Jodie Slaughter
Release Date: June 3
Do you ever watch football and wish there were less bros involved? Texas high school teachers Jade and Francesca definitely do. They are both competing to be the new head coach of the school football team, but it’ll mean charming the boys’ club holding the keys to their fate. The fight for their dream job is complicated by Jade and Francesca’s immediate attraction to each other. It’s giving sapphic Friday Night Lights, and that’s a combo we didn’t know we needed until now. Let’s go, team!
Sounds Like Love
Ashley Poston
Release Date: June 17
Ashley Poston won our hearts with Dead Romantics and The Seven Year Slip, and she returns with another supernatural-adjacent romance in 2025, Sounds Like Love. This one is about a songwriter, Joni Lark, who returns home to her coastal North Carolina town to find some new inspiration. She’s immediately jaded by how everything about her favorite place is changing without her, but a mysterious melody in her head is giving hope that things can turn around. Her optimism is challenged when she finds out a gruff and aggravating man has the same melody in his head, and the two must work together to bring the song to life. Joni doesn’t understand why the song is pairing her with this man, but the music gods are composing something pretty sweet.
Give Me a Reason
Jayci Lee
Release Date: July 29
A second chance romance with K-drama trappings comes for us in mid-summer with Jayci Lee’s next novel, Give Me a Reason. It’s about two exes who are unexpectedly reunited when they are both part of the bridal party for the same wedding. They must reconcile with their devastating college breakup and whether the sparks reigniting between them are enough to overcome the deep wounds caused by their initial split. Lee has been writing contemporary romances for a while but got on our radar with her 2024 novel Nine Tailed, and now we are hooked on her delicious writing!
Fae & Alchemy Book 2
Callie Hart
Release Date: Fall 2025
We don’t have an official title or a release date for the next book in Callie Hart’s Quicksilver series, but we do know the next installment is coming in fall 2025. After the jaw-dropping cliffhanger at the end of the first book and a Netflix film adaptation the way, we absolutely cannot wait to reunite with Saeris and Kingfisher to find out how they will reunite Yveria and protect everyone we love. (We also can’t wait to see how spicy it gets now that Saeris has been…changed.)
While Swooon is very stoked about the list above, I don’t pretend to be omniscient about every exciting release coming out next year. Let us know what is on your most anticipated romance books of 2025 list and which books from ours you’ll be adding to your TBR.
