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Happy New Year! I hope you had a very happy, healthy, and restful holiday season. If you don’t celebrate the holidays, then I hope you and yours had an amazing end to 2024!

I love the start of a new year because it means fresh starts and all new everything - templates, bad Fozzie jokes, and of course NEW BOOKS! My running list of 2025 New Releases is already filling up and I can’t wait to tell you about them.

As for actually reading — I’ve been thinking about my reading habits going into 2025 and how I would like this year to go. Not necessarily hitting reading goals or anything like that, but more of how I will approach my reading life in 2025. 

If you’ve been a subscriber for a while, then you will know that I kinda lost my Romance Reading Spark there for a bit. The 2024 Romance Holiday Novella Challenge helped tremendously in getting me back in the Romance Groove but I still felt like something was missing. And then it hit me. Like Inigo, I needed to go Back to the Beginning! 

I came to romance relatively late in life (my mid-30s), so I’ve missed out on SO MANY OG authors that have laid the groundwork for the romances we squee about today. I want to dive into those books and authors and learn more about this genre that I do truly love. Plus, I have severe FOMO when I’m online and see these old school discussions - I want to know what they are talking about, lol. 

Cue, ROMANCE UNIVERSITY!

Romance University is my monthly challenge to read a book from an OG romance author. I’ve picked 12 authors - I figured 12 months, 12 authors - to start with but this list is not, at all, a complete list. There are so many more out there. To start though, I’ve picked the following: Grace Callaway, Jennifer Cruise, Julie Garwood, Lorraine Heath, Brenda Jackson, Beverly Jenkins, Christina C. Jones, Lisa Kleypas, Julie Ann Long, Judith McNaught, Susan E. Phillips, and Nalini Singh.  

I will choose at random (except for Beverly Jenkins - she will be in July!) and then crowdsource for the book I should start with. January’s pick is down below. If you want to join in, YAY! If not, no worries. I’m not sure how I will wrap up each month’s read but I’m open to suggestions if you have them. :)

Now, ONTO JANUARY’S NEW RELEASES! 

Victoria Gilbert’s series are a bit hit or miss for me, but I’m always willing to try a brand new series. This one features Jen, an author and educator at a university in Virginia, who is looked down upon because she writes genre fiction. When another professor is murdered, Jen has to prove it wasn’t one of her students that did it. Listen, sign me up for anything set in academia. There are so many scenarios for murders and plots in this setting - I’m excited!!

I don’t read much YA these days but this one is being billed as, “Heartstopper meets Haunting of Hill House”, and yes, 1000%, to all of that. The description also makes me think of the Goosebumps movie (the one with Jack Black) and I LOVE that movie so much that I have high hopes for this book.

Y’all, I have been waiting on this book FOREVER and I got my hands on an ARC and am beside myself!! It’s going to be my first read of 2025.

The story features Darby, an out-of-work trans man who has to move home to make ends meet. He finds himself (literally) at the old bookstore he used to work at in high school, only it’s his teenage self.

Basically this is a time traveling, what would have happened had you made this other choice, story. These are not my favorite type of stories overall (they make me super anxious) but I’m so intrigued by this premise.

In this thriller we find Agnes who is trying to clear her family’s name from a horrific murder that happened 40 years ago. She moves to the remote town of Bifröst, Iceland, the place where her ancestors lived, and finds herself embroiled in another case when a local girl goes missing. Are the two events connected? How is her family involved? What secrets will she uncover while trying to find redemption for her family?

I love a good thriller in general, but throw in the cold and desolate Icelandic setting and I’m ready for some major family drama and secrets to be revealed!

Y’all, this cover says it all, no? I mean, look at it! Perfection! But if you need a bit more, Murder in the Dressing Room is the first in a new series featuring Joe, an accountant by day, and drag queen, Misty Devine by night. Misty’s mentor, Lady Lady gets murdered and it’s up to Misty to find out who did it. Dun dun dun…

Jessica gets stuck in Peach Blossom, GA when her car breaks down. Luckily, Lavenia “Vini” Williams, the town’s mechanic, is there to provide a tow…and rides around town. They are both feeling it (and each other, heh) but how can Vini give Jessica a real chance when she’s leaving soon?

Listen, I’m obsessed with Karmen’s writing - just all the kick your feet in the air, giggly feels you want in a romance read. I CANNOT WAIT for this installment in her Peach Blossom series.

This debut novel follows Kate, a best selling mystery author who has agreed to attend the destination wedding of her ex-fiancee, aka her editor. The bride gets poisoned, there’s another dead body, and everyone on the island is a suspect, including Jake, the one who got away. This is being billed as a half romance/ half cozy mystery - my two favorite genres!! Coming together! As one! (Now, let’s see if it actually works, lol.)

The first in a new series, Haunting & Homicide follows Tallulah “Lou” Thatcher, the host of a popular ghost tour in New Orleans, who can actually see ghosts - hello M. Night Shyamalan. Her ghost tour rival, Adam Brandt, turns up dead after a heated argument between the two making her suspect #1. The added twist?? Lou can now see Adam’s ghost and he knows she didn’t kill him, so now what? 

HA, I LOVE this premise and can’t wait to see how it all unfolds! There’s also the promise of a love interest side plot, which I’m always here for.

*Denotes that I’ve received an ARC of this book and hope to share a review soon(ish).

What about you? Do you have any 2025 Reading Goals? What books are you excited about this year? Let me know - I love hearing from y’all!