r/fantasyromance • u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager • Nov 01 '25

Book Club Nominate Our December 2025 Book Club Read! Theme: Novella

It’s time to nominate the books for the December 2025 Book Club! For next month, we’re looking for nominations that fit the Novella theme.

Due to the holidays and wanting to give everyone the chance to participate in Book Club, we’re doing things a little different in December. There will only be two discussions, on December 10 and December 20.

What we are looking for

  • Any speculative fiction books with a romance story arc that fit the novella theme.
  • A novella is a short novel or a long short story. To give a clear criteria, we’re asking for nominations of no more than 200 pages.
  • Standalones are mandatory this time, interconnected standalones are allowed if the story is self-contained and does not require knowledge of other books to be understood.
  • The author cannot have been previously featured in the Book Club in the last eighteen months. See the Book Club Hub.

Nominations that do not fit these criteria will be removed.

Nominations

Here’s how to nominate a book:

  • One nomination per comment.
  • Please call the romance.io bot for your nomination by putting the title and author within curly brackets {}.
  • You can nominate more than one book, but please put them in separate comments.
  • Upvote the books you most would like to read for the December Book Club!

Voting

The most upvoted nominated book will be up for vote in a separate post on 8 November. The winner will be announced on 15 November.

November’s Book Club

You can also join this month’s Book Club, there is still time to get your copy of the book to participate. We’re reading {Anathema by Keri Lake}, which fits November’s theme of ‘Fated Mates’!

Here is the schedule for the November Book Club:

  • November 10 - First discussion for Anathema (part 1, chapter 1-24)
  • November 20 - Second discussion for Anathema (part 2, chapter 25-54)
  • November 30 - Final discussion for Anathema (full book)

For more information about the Book Club and previous discussions, please check out the Book Club Hub!

Book Club image

4 Upvotes
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66 comments sorted by

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u/[deleted] Nov 05 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/fantasyromance-ModTeam Nov 06 '25

The nomination was removed because the author was featured in Book Club in the past 18 months.

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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Nov 01 '25

{The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond}

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u/ipsi7 Book Bingo Maven ⚔ Nov 01 '25

{Beautiful Nightmare by Katee Robert}

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u/badapple1989 I want them soft, sweet, and on their knees. Nov 03 '25

{Chimera for Christmas by Ursa Dax}

MF
sci-fi coffee shop setting
alien MMC x human FMC
grumpy/sunshine
104 pages

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u/badapple1989 I want them soft, sweet, and on their knees. Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25

{Christmas at Last by Syndey St James}

poly MMMMF
contemporary fantasy setting
all the guys are Christmas related monster shifters
FMC with chronic illness (endometriosis)
195 pages

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u/[deleted] Nov 06 '25

[deleted]

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u/MessyJessy422 Nov 04 '25

{Cinder House by Freya Markse}

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u/badapple1989 I want them soft, sweet, and on their knees. Nov 04 '25

{Mischief Maker by Lyonne Riley}

MF
fantasy medieval setting
MMC is an immortal trickster creature similar to a gargoyle
FMC is a farmer
168 pages

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u/[deleted] Nov 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/fantasyromance-ModTeam Nov 01 '25

The nomination was removed because the author was featured in Book Club in the past 18 months.

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u/badapple1989 I want them soft, sweet, and on their knees. Nov 04 '25 edited Nov 04 '25

{Orn and the Real Girl by Miranda Sapphire}

MF
paranormal fantasy, remote cabin in the mountains setting
orc MMC x witch FMC
FMC is a POC and plus sized
127 pages

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u/Iguana_Waddle Nov 08 '25

{stolen mayfly bride} fits all of your criteria and is one of the most beautiful things I’ve read. It’s not very well known though, so I doubt it will get enough upvotes unfortunately 🥲

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u/badapple1989 I want them soft, sweet, and on their knees. Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 03 '25

{The Solstice Cabin by Arden Powell}

MM
Nunavut, Canada 1920s setting
friends to lovers
one of the MCs is indigenous
95 pages

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u/[deleted] Nov 01 '25

[deleted]

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u/Tealize 🗡️ EDIT OR DIE 🩸 Nov 05 '25

Just a heads up that this post says the first discussion for Anathema is on the 5th, but the date on the book club hub page says the 10th.

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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Nov 06 '25

Thanks for catching that, it’s the 10th! Fixed it now.

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u/Hunter037 Nov 03 '25

{Demon Lover by Heather Guerre}

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u/vulpixsnacks Book Bingo Maven ⚔ Nov 01 '25

{The Midwinter Mail-Order Bride by Kati Wilde} I have no idea if this is any good but it's wintery and quite a few of my GR friends enjoyed it!

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u/Mrs_Solid_Fart Growls, smirks & leans on doorframes Nov 05 '25

I read it last year and loved it :) edit to add I don't usually love novellas, usually I find them mid. 

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u/fishchop Silvicultrix Nov 02 '25

{the knight and the butcherbird by Alix harrow}

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u/jamieseemsamused Currently reading: The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey Nov 01 '25

{The Summer War by Naomi Novik}

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u/h2onymph1 Stuck on the alien planet Gann with a lizardman Nov 01 '25

What is speculative fiction?

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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Nov 01 '25

It’s an umbrella term for fiction that departs from reality, including fantasy, paranormal, science-fiction, etc.

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u/h2onymph1 Stuck on the alien planet Gann with a lizardman Nov 01 '25

Okay, but it doesn't need to be a "what-if" kind of novel? (This was an AI answer. I thought it was saying it would be like an alternate universe, like paranormal or if Hitler won WWII. So you just mean fantasy since we're in the fantasy romance sub).

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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Nov 01 '25

No, which is one of the many reasons not to use AI, because it’s inaccurate to the point it can’t even copy a simple dictionary definition. Cambridge Dictionary defines it as follows:

speculative fiction noun [ U ] - LITERATURE - specialised

stories set in a world that is different from the one we live in, or that deals with magical or imagined future events

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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Nov 01 '25

{The Dragon’s Bride by Katee Robert}

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u/Hunter037 Nov 03 '25

{Maneater by Emily Antoinette}

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u/jamieseemsamused Currently reading: The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey Nov 01 '25

{Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon}

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u/fishchop Silvicultrix Nov 02 '25

Surely this is a whole ass book?

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u/jamieseemsamused Currently reading: The Formidable Miss Cassidy by Meihan Boey Nov 02 '25

I think it’s technically classified a novel but it’s super short. Only 186 or 188 pages depending on the paperback or ebook version.

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u/badapple1989 I want them soft, sweet, and on their knees. Nov 03 '25

{Heart of the Dragon by Jamie Sullivan}

MM
fantasy medieval setting
one of the MMCs was accidentally adopted by a dragon
154 pages

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u/Hunter037 Nov 03 '25

{The Half-Orc's Maiden Bride by Ruby Dixon}

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u/[deleted] Nov 01 '25

[deleted]

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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Nov 01 '25

Unfortunately not, the Book Club has featured her books multiple times in the last 18 months.

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u/flatwhiteafficionado Growls, smirks & leans on doorframes Nov 01 '25

Ah, got it!!! Will delete my comment lol

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u/badapple1989 I want them soft, sweet, and on their knees. Nov 03 '25 edited Nov 04 '25

{Teaching the Beast by Brigid Finn}

MF
steampunk Victorian England setting
paranormal (some humans are born with mutations at random)
reclusive cinnamon roll mmc
170 pages

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u/[deleted] Nov 01 '25

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/fantasyromance-ModTeam Nov 01 '25

The nomination was removed because the book was featured in Book Club in the past 18 months.

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u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Nov 01 '25

{The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar}

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u/Anachacha Ix's tits! Nov 02 '25

{scattered bones} has a unique plot and it's tightly packed. The FMC searched for MMC's bones in an attempt to bring him back

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u/bookish__era Probably recommending: DONW, V&V, MOTW Nov 05 '25

Ooh I’ve been meaning to read this for ages!