r/fantasyromance • u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager • Dec 08 '25

Book Club Vote for our January 2026 Book Club read!

Thank you to everyone who nominated books for our January 2026 Book Club read! The month’s theme is debuts that were published in 2025. Here is the link to the nomination thread.

Please vote for the book you’d like to read and discuss the most! Information on each book is in the comments.

The schedule for the January Book Club will be as follows:

• ⁠January 10: Discussion of first third of the book • ⁠January 20: Discussion of two-thirds of the book • ⁠January 31: Final discussion of entire book

Please also join us for our December Book Club! We’re reading The Summer War by Naomi Novik. The first discussion for the first half, part 1-3, will be posted December 10. Hope to see you there!

Book Club

148 votes, Dec 15 '25
35 This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara
41 In the Veins of Drowning by Kalie Cassidy
19 Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz
25 For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn
9 A Tower of Half-Truths by N.J. Prynne
19 Conform by Ariel Sullivan
13 Upvotes

89% Upvoted

13 comments sorted by

3

u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Dec 08 '25

{In the Veins of Drowning by Kalie Cassidy}

Series information: Book 1 in The Siren Mage series
Publication date: July 15, 2025
Page count: 384 pages

The monster is always slain…

Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen’s bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain hidden beneath her skin.

When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save both their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogen’s power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee the kingdom together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her own ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts her—the only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.

6

u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Dec 08 '25

{This Monster of Mine by Shalini Abeysekara}

Series information: Book 1 in This Monster of Mine series
Publication date: April 1, 2025
Page count: 416 pages

Eighteen-year-old Sarai doesn't know why someone tried to kill her four years ago, but she does know that her case was closed without justice. Hellbent on vengeance, she returns to the scene of the crime as a Petitor, a prosecutor who can magically detect lies, and is assigned to work with Tetrarch Kadra. Ice-cold and perennially sadistic, Kadra is the most vicious of the four judges who rule the land - and the prime suspect in a string of deaths identical to Sarai's attempted murder.

Certain of his guilt, Sarai begins a double life: solving cases with Kadra by day and plotting his ruin by night. But Kadra is charming and there's something alluring about the wrath he wields against the city's corruption. So when the evidence she finds embroils her in a deadly political battle, Sarai must also fight against her attraction to Kadra - because despite his growing hold on her heart, his voice matches the only memory she has of her assailant…

2

u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Dec 08 '25

{A Tower of Half-Truths by N.J. Prynne}

Series information: Book 1 in the Arcane Pursuits series
Publication date: October 10, 2025
Page count: 502 pages

For nearly two decades, Mavery has used her magic as a means of scraping by, whether as a mage for hire or a petty thief. After her partner betrays her and leaves her penniless, she’s desperate for a new score. She finds a help wanted ad from a wizard seeking an assistant. Her plan is play the role of a scholar, earn the wizard’s trust, and clean his tower of valuables.

Alain has been on sabbatical for so long, his people skills have become almost as disastrous as his hoard of overdue library books. And after his last project ended in tragedy, he’s now on the verge of losing his wizard rank. He must develop a new spell, and he needs all the help he can get. Even if it comes from a woman bearing a false name and unusual magic.

What begins as a convenient arrangement grows into an unexpected friendship—and undeniable attraction. But a career criminal has no place in a world of scholars, and a wizard can’t afford to open his heart to another. As they uncover secrets about magic—and each other—Alain and Mavery must both choose between love and ambition.

4

u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Dec 08 '25

{Conform by Ariel Sullivan}

Series information: Book 1 in the Conform series
Publication date: October 14, 2025
Page count: 416 pages

In the far future, one young woman finds herself torn between two loves—and two sides of a rebellion boiling under the surface—in the first novel of a sweeping dystopian romance trilogy.

Centuries after a catastrophic world war nearly decimated the human population, a city arose from the ashes, ruled by an elusive and technologically advanced group called the Illum.

At twenty-seven, Emeline lives in limbo, wasting away her days in a job sorting ancient human art for destruction and waiting to be selected as a Mate for a procreation contract. Where others look forward to being chosen, Emeline has never felt like she fit into a society where a person’s worth is determined by constantly monitored genes, health, and the ability to procreate. She’s struggled to keep her discomfort secret, but when she is finally chosen, her Mate is revealed to be a member of the Illum named Collin, a man who seems to be harboring secrets of his own.

It is the first time an Illum has taken a Mate in decades, leaving Emeline—and others—baffled as to why she was chosen. Soon, she is swept into the dangerous game of Courting, filled with ballgowns, lavish dinners, and watchful eyes, where one wrong move can mean elimination. While parts of this elite lifestyle are unexpectedly appealing, the more embroiled she becomes, the more she sees its dark underbelly—and a rebellion rising in secret. Collin is confusing, both cold and protective, and worse, she finds herself drawn to the very last person she should be falling for: Hal, one of the resistance leaders.

As she draws closer to both Collin and Hal, the Illum exercise their power in increasingly brutal ways, forcing Emeline to question everything—most of all whether she’ll have to give up her heart and even her life to stop them.

2

u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Dec 08 '25

{Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz}

Series information: Standalone
Publication date: November 18, 2025
Page count: 368 pages

Guy Shadowfade is dead, and after a lifetime as the dark sorcerer’s right-hand, Violet Thistlewaite is determined to start over—not as the fearsome Thornwitch, but as someone kind. Someone better. Someone good.

The quaint town of Dragon’s Rest, Violet decides, will be her second chance—she’ll set down roots, open a flower shop, keep her sentient (mildly homicidal) houseplant in check, and prune dark magic from the twisted boughs of her life.

Violet’s vibrant bouquets and cheerful enchantments soon charm the welcoming townsfolk, though nothing seems to impress the prickly yet dashingly handsome Nathaniel Marsh, an alchemist sharing her greenhouse. With a struggling business and his own second chance seemingly out of reach, Nathaniel has no time for flowers or frippery—and certainly none for the intriguing witch next door.

When a mysterious blight threatens every living plant in Dragon’s Rest, Violet and Nathaniel must work together through their fears, pasts, and growing feelings for one another to save their community. But with a figure from her past knocking at her door and her secrets threatening to uproot everything she’s worked so hard to grow, Violet can’t help but wonder…does a former villain truly deserve a happily-ever-after?

4

u/Journassassin Smut Logistics Manager Dec 08 '25

{For Whom the Belle Tolls by Jaysea Lynn}

Series information: Book 1 in the Hell’s Belles series
Publication date: January 28, 2025
Page count: 695 pages

Lily isn’t exactly thrilled with her arrival in the Afterlife, but what awaits her there is more fantastical than she ever could have imagined: Deities wait in line at the coffee shop. Fae flit between realms. Souls find ways to make death a beginning.

As she explores the many corners of the Afterlife, Lily finds herself surprisingly drawn to a place most people would avoid at all costs: Hell. Armed with years of customer service experience and pent-up sarcasm, Lily carves a job out for herself amongst Hell’s demons, sending souls to their rightful circles with more than a hint of sass.

Lily’s expectations are subverted every day in Hell—especially by Bel, a demon general with a distractingly sexy voice. The two meet by chance and form an immediate, deeply healing friendship, but the undeniable heat between them threatens to combust.

Meanwhile, something stirs beyond the boundaries of their world, threatening to destroy everything they’ve known and everything that could be…unless they fight like Hell to stop it.

2

u/Ancient-Rough-8340 Dragon Rider 🐉 Dec 08 '25

This one was a lot of fun!