We're toppling TBR piles and preorder lists today with our quarterly "Books we're excited to read" list! We're name-checking more than 50 romance novels we're looking forward to, and looking forward to hearing about the ones you're waiting for, too! If you're a romance novelist and have a book coming this year, please head over and fill out this Google form to let us know!

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

The Notes

• Los Angeles, we are thinking of you.
• After our very silly firefighter episode, we chatted with magnificent firebird and wildland firefighter, Emma, who gave us the lay of the land as a woman firefighter. You can listen to that conversation on YouTube.
• Emma recommends the following resources: the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters account on Instagram, and you can make donations to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. If you are looking for factual, reliable information, check out the website of the National Interagency Fire Center, inciweb is the national situation report with information from wildland firefighters. If you are looking to make donations to aid those impacted by the fires, we recommend World Central Kitchen, Baby2Baby, the Pasadena Humane Society, and Octavia’s Bookshelf which has details mutual aid collection efforts on their Instagram. The Ripped Bodice has free wifi and period products .
• If you have a 2025 release you have written or you are a reader looking forward to something this year, please use our handy form to submit books for upcoming episodes in spring, summer, and fall.
• For more Romantasy recs, follow Jen’s friend Gabriella Guava on Instagram.

The Books

January

• Empire of Temptation by Mila Finelli
• Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams
• Flirting with Disaster by Naina Kumar
• Let’s Call a Truce by Amy Buchanan
• Book People by Jackie Ashenden
• His Girl Hollywood by Maureen Lee Lenker
• The Relationship Mechanic by Karmen Lee
• Shifting Gears by Jazz Forrester
• She Doesn’t Have a Clue Jenny Elder Moke
• Better than Friends by Jill Shalvis
• The Naked Truth by Sandy Lowe
• Yin Yang Love Song by Lauren Kung Jessen
• Best Mistake Ever by Christy McKellan
• Fighting for Berlin by Katie Reus
• Immortal by Sue Lynn Tan
• Malcolm by Margot Bond Collins
• Unromance by Erin Connor
• My Inconvenient Duke by Loretta Chase
• 3000 Reasons to Stay by Jaime P. Bradley
• Strike and Burn by Taylor Hutton
• Into the Woods by Jenny Holiday
• The Duke’s Guide to Fake Courtship by Jade Lee
• The Broposal by Sonora Reyes

February

• A Tropical Rebel gets the Duke by Adriana Herrera
• Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
• Never Gamble Your Heart by Lindsay Lovise
• The Mafia King’s Sister by P Rayne
• Frenemies with Benefits by Synithia Williams
• Unloved by Peyton Corinne
• First Time Caller by BK Borrison
• On Screen and Off Again by Caitlin Cross
• I Got Abducted by Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Romcom by Kimberly Lemming
• Wooing the Witch Queen by Stephanie Burgis
• No Saint by Donna Alam
• The Devils Charm by Megan Frampton
• The Love Lyric by Kristina Forest
• Break Point by Yahrah St. John
• Losing Sight by Tati Richardson
• Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

March

• The Trouble with Anna by Rachel Griffiths
• Take a Chance on Me by Elizabeth Eulbert
• A Gentleman’s Gentleman by TJ Alexander
• The Shots You Take by Rachel Reid
• One in a Million Beverly Kendall
• And They Had a Great Fall by Shelby Saville
• Unlikely Story by Ali Rosen
• Fan Service by Rosie Danan
• The Big Fix by Holly James
• Jane and Dan at the End of the World by Colleen Oakley
• A Wager at Midnight by Vanessa Riley
• A Circle of Uncommon Witches by Paige Crutcher
• The Lady Sparks a Flame by Elizabeth Everett
• Chaos by Constance Fay
• Just Our Luck by Denise Williams
• Something Cheeky Thien-Kim Lam
• Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raash
• Code Word Romance by Carlie Walker

The Sponsors

• Jamie P. Bradley, author of 3000 Reasons to Stay, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
• 1001 Dark Nights, publishers of Love Rekindled: A Second-Chance Romance Collection from Tessa Bailey, Sawyer Bennett, Alexandra Ivy, Corinne Michaels, and Kennedy Ryan. Available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Jenni Bara, author of Mother Maker, available in print, ebook or audiobook, with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited, or wherever you get your books.