Today’s post covers the second half of the books I read in December 2025. I shared what I read in the first half of the month here. I shared my five star reads here. The Amazon links to the books I’ve read are affiliate links and if you use them and make a purchase, I may receive a small commission. If you’ve read any of these books or are interested in them, I’d love to hear about it in the comments!
Title: Merry Little Bookshop
Author: Ali Brady
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Godfrey & Hammer, 11/11/25
Source: Gift
Why I Read It: Love the author
My Rating: 4 Stars
Merry Little Bookshop by Ali Brady is about Shira, whose boss sends her to Texas to open a pop up book store at a Christmas market because she doesn’t celebrate Christmas and therefore can be away in December. But she does celebrate Hanukkah, and not being with her friends for their Hanukkah traditions is hard! When she meets Jonny, at first she doesn’t mention that she’s Jewish (and she tells him her name is Sarah!), but when it comes out, he helps her to celebrate her holiday as well as to take part in his family Christmas celebrations.
“When her company sends her to tiny Azalea, Texas, to open a holiday pop-up bookstore for the month of December, Shira Schwartz knows the real reason she got the assignment—they figure she won’t mind missing Christmas. What they forgot? She’s also missing Hanukkah. From the moment she arrives on Thanksgiving Day, Shira is swept up in the town’s charm—and right into the path of Jonny McKay, a local who traded big-city dreams to come home and care for his dad. He’s cocky, flirty, and totally not Shira’s type…but he might be perfect for a no-strings holiday fling. Together, they turn the bookshop into more than a store: it’s a gathering place, a haven for new readers, and maybe the start of something magical between them. From cookie-decorating chaos with Jonny’s family to Azalea’s sparkling Christmas tractor parade, the season wraps Shira in warmth she never expected. And when Jonny rallies the townspeople to surprise Shira with their own heartfelt take on Hanukkah, she realizes this assignment might be the best holiday gift she’s ever been given.”
It was sweet that the town was so accepting of Shira, and Jonny’s large family was especially fun to read about. I loved all of the book references and the bookstore setting (for more of this definitely check out Battle of the Bookstores!). This is a romance with steamy scenes, but it is also about being true to oneself and being proud of who you are.
Title: As The Wicked Watch
Author: Tamron Hall
Genre: Mystery
Publisher: HarperAudio, 10/26/21
Source: Publisher – Print, Library – Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 3.5 Stars, Rounded up to 4 Stars
I listened to this book this month. It is about Jordan, an investigative journalist, who looks into the case of a missing Black girl. The case is ignored by the police until the girl is found murdered.
“When crime reporter Jordan Manning leaves her hometown in Texas to take a job at a television station in Chicago, she’s one step closer to her dream: a coveted anchor chair on a national network. Jordan is smart and aggressive, with unabashed star-power, and often the only woman of color in the newsroom. Her signature? Arriving first on the scene—in impractical designer stilettos. Armed with a master’s degree in forensic science and impeccable instincts, Jordan has been able to balance her dueling motivations: breaking every big story—and giving a voice to the voiceless. From her time in Texas, she’s covered the vilest of human behaviors but nothing has prepared her for Chicago. Jordan is that rare breed of a journalist who can navigate a crime scene as well as she can a newsroom—often noticing what others tend to miss. Again and again, she is called to cover the murders of Black women, many of them sexually assaulted, most brutalized, and all of them quickly forgotten. All until Masey James—the story that Jordan just can’t shake, despite all efforts. A 15-year-old girl whose body was found in an abandoned lot, Masey has come to represent for Jordan all of the frustration and anger that her job often forces her to repress. Putting the rest of her work and her fraying personal life aside, Jordan does everything she can to give the story the coverage it desperately requires, and that a missing Black child would so rarely get. There’s a serial killer on the loose, Jordan believes, and he’s hiding in plain sight.”
I thought this book was a bit too drawn out with unimportant details given too much focus. It was violent and a bit predictable. From other reviews, it seems the audio was the way to go!
Title: Her One Regret
Author: Donna Freitas
Genre: Thriller
Publisher: Soho Crime, 11/4/25
Source: Book of the Month – November
Why I Read It: Book of the Month pick
My Rating: 4 Stars
Her One Regret by Donna Freitas was one of my November BOTM picks. It is a thriller about Lucy, a missing woman and whether or not she left on her own accord because of her regrets about motherhood. Her best friend Michelle believes she was definitely taken. Meanwhile, another woman, Julia, is dealing with similar feelings. And a third woman, Diana, is a former detective looking into Lucy going missing and its similarities to a few of her past cases.
“When successful Rhode Island real estate agent Lucy Mendoza vanishes, leaving her baby behind in a grocery store parking lot, the news quickly makes national headlines. Lucy’s best friend, Michelle, is devastated, and terrified that Lucy’s life is at stake. But she knows something that could complicate the police investigation. Lucy had confessed something unspeakable: She regretted becoming a mother, so much that she’d fantasized about faking her own kidnapping. If the police and media were to find out, Lucy would become a monster in public opinion. Michelle is sure Lucy would never abandon her daughter. But could she be wrong? Could Lucy have been so desperate she chose to escape her life?”
This was a thriller that makes you think and it addresses mixed feelings about becoming a mother. I liked it a lot but found there were some plot issues that I wanted addressed further (there were two people called Richard – were they the same person??). Some of the past cases got mixed up in my head too. But I enjoyed this one!
Title: An Academic Affair
Author: Jodi McAlister
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Atria, 11/11/25
Source: Book of the Month – November
Why I Read It: Book of the Month pick
My Rating: 4 Stars
An Academic Affair by Jodi McAlister was my second BOTM pick for November. I enjoyed this book about academic rivals Jonah and Sadie, who enter a marriage of convenience for career purposes.
“Sadie Shaw and Jonah Fisher have been academic rivals since they first crossed paths as undergraduates in the literature department thirteen years ago. Now that a highly coveted teaching opportunity has come up, their rivalry hits epic proportions. Jonah needs the job to move closer to his recently divorced sister and her children, while Sadie needs the financial security and freedom of a full-time teaching position. When Sadie notices that the job offers partner hire, however, she hatches a plot to get them both the job. All they must do is get legally married. It’s a simple win-win solution but when sparks begin to fly, it becomes clear that despite their education, these two may not have thought this whole thing through.”
I thought the footnotes in Jonah’s sections were a cute addition, and Sadie’s literary references were fun as well. Obviously the married couple falls in love, and the story was also about their sibling relationships. I did think the ending was a bit rushed and I wanted more about how they improved their toxic work environment!
Title: The Ogress and The Orphans
Author: Kelly Barnhill
Genre: Middle Grade Fantasy
Publisher: Little, Brown Books For Young Readers, 3/8/22
Source: Promotion for PR
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
My final pick for my 25 in ’25 Backlist challenge was my bonus pick for fantasy, The Ogress and The Orphans by Kelly Barnhill. This was a sweet book about a town that learns you get more from giving more. In this town, the people lost everything and the mayor of the town is not great at helping its residents. In this town, there is a house with 15 orphans, as well as an ogress who lives with the crows, sheep, and a blind dog. The ogress is blamed for the town’s issues, when actually she is the one trying to save them all.
“The town of Stone in the Glen used to be lovely, but it hasn’t been so in a very long time. Once a celebrated town with a vibrant town square, prosperous businesses and families, and educated, happy children, Stone in the Glen has fallen on hard times. Since the expansive and beloved Library burned with other buildings in a time of terrible fires, the town has been plagued by droughts, blight, and destruction. But the people have continued to put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow with a bright shock of golden hair and brilliant white teeth who promises that he alone can solve their problems. And he is a famous dragon slayer! At least, no one has ever seen a dragon in the Mayor’s presence…But somebody is to blame for the town’s problems, not only the fires and the decline that followed them, but the child who has gone missing from the local Orphan House. And with a little helpful suggestion from the Mayor, all eyes turn to the Ogress who has come to live at the far edge of town. Only the children of the Orphan House know the truth. Together, they must clear the Ogress’s name and solve the mystery of the town’s destruction before their home of Stone in the Glen is destroyed by its own people.”
I liked that lessons in this book, especially the one about the definition of a neighbor. I enjoyed the characters and the way the book is a parable to our own current world.
Title: Next Time Will Be Our Turn
Author: Jesse Q Sutanto
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Berkley, 11/11/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
Yet another genre Jesse Q Sutanto can write – this one is part contemporary coming of age and part romance. Izzy’s grandmother Magnolia tells her the story of growing up in Indonesia and moving to L.A. for college as a teenager. Her story is a tragedy and she had a lot of struggles as she fell in love with a woman in a time and culture when this was less than acceptable.
“Izzy Chen is dreading her family’s annual Chinese New Year celebration, where they all come together at a Michelin-starred restaurant to flaunt their status and successes in hopes to one up each other. So when her seventy-three-year-old glamorous and formidable grandmother walks in with a stunning woman on her arm and kisses her in front of everyone, it shakes Izzy to her core. She’d always considered herself the black sheep of the family for harboring similar feelings to the ones her Nainai just displayed. Seeing herself in her teenage granddaughter’s struggles with identity and acceptance, Magnolia Chen tells Izzy her own story, of how as a teen she was sent by her Indo-Chinese parents from Jakarta to Los Angeles for her education and fell in love with someone completely forbidden to her by both culture and gender norms—Ellery, an American college student who became Magnolia’s best friend and the love of her life. Stretching across decades and continents, Magnolia’s star-crossed love story reveals how life can take unexpected turns but ultimately lead you to exactly who you’re meant to be.”
As always I enjoyed this author’s writing and the story kept me turning pages. It read somewhat young, as the characters were younger, but their stories were not easy. I would call this book heartbreaking.
Title: Daddy Issues
Author: Kate Goldbeck
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Dial Press, 11/18/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed Kate Goldbeck’s previous book and I enjoyed this one as well. It is about Sam, a 26 year old who has been living in her mother’s spare room temporarily for longer than planned. She meets Nick, an older single dad to Kira at the complex pool and they quickly fall for one another.
“At twenty-six, Sam Pulaski expected to be thriving in her academic career, living on her own in some exciting city. Expectations meet reality: She has massive student loan debt from studying art history, a dead-end service industry job, a situationship that’s equal parts intoxicating and toxic. And she’s been crashing in her mom’s condo—at least it’s not a basement?—for the last five years. If she can finally get accepted into a PhD program and get out of Ohio, the adult life that’s been on hold for half her twenties will finally begin. Her mom’s new neighbor, Nick, is the ultimate grown-up. His adult life began the moment his nine-year-old daughter, Kira, was born. Her happiness is Nick’s only priority, especially in the wake of divorce. There’s nothing he won’t do for Kira, including giving up his globe-trotting career for something more stable . . . like managing a chain restaurant. Sam has zero interest in an ultra-dependable guy pushing forty; frankly, she’s a little afraid of kids. But with just one thin wall separating the two condos, Nick proves difficult to avoid. His quiet confidence forces Sam to grapple with the other men in her life: her emotionally derelict friendwithbenefits and her actually derelict father. As her unexpected connection with Nick heats up (and steams up his minivan windows), Sam finds herself falling fast for a man whose life is steady and settled—while hers is anything but.”
I liked that meeting Nick somewhat pushed Sam out of where she was stuck, waiting for her dad to come back and take his comic collection, dating a dead end guy, and paused in her art career. I also liked her relationship with Kira a lot. I did think Sam and Nick fell for each other too quickly and then decelerated off page, which made it harder to be believable.
Title: It Started With a Dog
Author: Julia London
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Tantor Audio, 10/5/21
Source: Publisher – Print, Library – Audio
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
From my list of Backlist reads, I picked It Started With a Dog by Julia London. She is the author of Everything Is Probably Fine, which I loved, but this one was a different style, about competing coffee shops run by Harper and Jonah. When the two accidentally swap phones, Harper knows she has to meet the owner of the dog on Jonah’s phone screen. When they meet, they hit it off and have instant attraction.
“All Harper Thompson wants for Christmas is the huge promotion she’s worked so hard for—which she should get, as long as her launch of the hip new coffeehouse, Deja Brew, goes according to plan. Jonah Rogers is trying to save his family’s coffee shop, Lucky Star, from going out of business, which will be tough with the brand-new Deja Brew opening across the street. When Jonah and Harper meet for the first time after accidentally swapping phones, their chemistry is as electric as a strand of Christmas lights. He’s a tall, handsome, compassionate hunk of engineer, and she’s an entrepreneur whose zest for life is very sexy. They love all the same things, like scary movies, greasy food—and most of all, dogs. It’s a match made in heaven…until Jonah finds out that Harper’s the one about to put him out of business. Only one coffee shop likely can survive, and a competition of one-upmanship ensues in a battle of the brews. The paws really come out when the local rescue shelter has a fundraiser where local businesses foster dogs, and patrons vote with their dollars for their favorite pup. Harper takes in an adorable old bulldog on behalf of Deja Brew, while Jonah fosters a perky three-legged dachshund for Lucky Star. As the excitement builds for who will be crowned King Mutt and king of the coffee hill, Harper and Jonah must decide if their connection was all steam or if they are the perfect blend.”
I loved the role that dogs played in this book, with the competing businesses fostering dogs for a contest. Their jobs played a major part in throwing a wrench between Jonah and Harper, and I liked how they ultimately made their way past those issues.
Title: Freeing The Wild
Author: Paisley Hope
Genre: Rom Com
Publisher: Dell, 11/11/25
Source: Publisher
Why I Read It: Sent to me for my review
My Rating: 4 Stars
I thought I’d take a dive into cowboy romance with Freeing The Wild by Paisley Hope. This is part of a series and while you don’t need to read them in order, there are already established couples that play a part in this book that were introduced in previous books in the series. This one is about Cassie, a singer-songwriter who would prefer to focus only on the writing, and Haden, a former football player turned ranch hand who dreams of running his own horse rehab center. After a traumatic event at a show, Cassie comes to stay at the ranch and a previous one night stand with Haden leads to much more.
“Rising country star Cassie Spencer’s music career is just taking off when tragedy strikes mid-tour. Seeking solace, she retreats to rural Kentucky to escape the spotlight and visit her family. Haden Westbrook, the charming heartthrob of Laurel Creek, only wants one thing: a peaceful life tending to the Silver Pines Ranch and his rescue horses. But when free-spirited Cassie hurricanes back into town, his world turns upside down. Especially since the last time he saw her ended with a steamy night in his truck. They’d promised then it would be a one-time thing. But now, as Cassie and Haden spend more time together, their undeniable chemistry reignites. Cassie’s stay at Silver Pines was meant to be temporary. But as their spring fling turns into something deeper, can Haden convince her to stay?”
This gave me some Taylor and Travis vibes and I liked the couple together. It had a lot of sexy scenes (and in all of them, she “whimpered” may times). It also had plot, which was nice, but it was a bit too long overall, in my opinion. From reviews, it seems that previous books in this series were loved more than this one, so I wouldn’t stop myself from reading more from this author!
Title: Other People’s Things
Author: Kerry Anne King
Genre: Contemporary
Publisher: Lake Union, 9/21/21
Source: PR for Author
Why I Read It: Backlist
My Rating: 4 Stars
For my final book of the year, I read Other People’s Things by Kerry Anne King from my backlist. This book has elements of suspense, romance, and magical realism. It is about Nicole, or Nickle, who relocates items that she senses want to be elsewhere. This gets her into trouble often, and moving a book from one of her sister’s house cleaning client’s homes to another’s leads to a mystery and new friendships. Nicole is dealing with an awful ex and meets Hawk, who falls for her quickly and helps her find out more about the book and why it upsets home owner Andrea so much.
“Jailbird. Klepto. Spectacular failure to launch. Nicole Wood’s sticky fingers have earned her many names, but it’s not that she’s stealing―some objects just need to be moved elsewhere, and the universe has chosen her to do it. Still, being a relocator of objects isn’t easy. With her marriage on the rocks, no real-world skills, and the threat of prison hanging over her head, Nicole is determined to change her ways. Things seem to be looking up, thanks to a godsent job with her sister’s housecleaning business―until she encounters a seemingly harmless paperback that insists on moving from one client’s home to another’s. Nicole hopes no one will notice, but the action stirs up long-hidden secrets and triggers a series of fateful events that threatens to destroy the life she’s creating and hurt those closest to her. She’ll need to embrace her unwieldy gift and take a chance on love in order to unravel the mystery and fix what’s gone wrong.”
I liked the connections in this book and I was hoping for a big one at the end, but things seemed to fall naturally into place rather than coming with a huge reveal. I liked the found family aspect of the book and the look at past trauma, both in Nicole’s life and Andrea’s. This was a quick read, and a nice one to end the year with.
There you have it, the rest of my December (and 2025) reading! This post included 10 of the books I read in December. Eight of these books were in print and two were audio. Genres included rom com, mystery, thriller, fantasy, and contemporary. Nine of them were adult reads and one was middle grade.
Have you read any of these books or do you want to? What have you been reading lately?
