My Favorite Book Couples from 2025

I'm not big on romance as a genre, but I do love me a swoon-worthy romantic side plot. So, I have collected my favorite romances from my 2025 reading (in the order that I read them) along with a quote or two ... or three. All covers are linked to Goodreads!

1. Amira and Daindreth

Daindreth's Assassin, by Elisabeth Wheatley

"How exactly was one supposed to start these conversations? Hello, you tried to kill me, and I just forced you into an engagement, but I think you might be able to save my soul."

2. Blue and Kellan

The Blood Spell, by C.J. Redwine

"'I still don't like you,' she whispered. The affection in her voice made him want to gather her in his arms and leave the castle behind, rogue witch, royal council, and betrothal season be cursed.

"'I still don't like you either,' he said and waited another moment, memorizing the feel of her hands on his chest, of her mouth a breath away from his."

***

"'I don't even know how this happened.' His words sounded like an accusation, and she gave him a stern look.

"'Don't look at me. You're the one who was kind at Papa's funeral.'

"'You're the one who gave me the freedom to be myself.'

"'Well, you're the one who cared enough to dance with me.'

"'Well, you're the one who makes me want to come to the shop each day with Nessa just to see if I can make you laugh.' He pointed at her as if the argument had been handily won, and she stalked toward him.

"Nobody asked you to always see when I need a friend.' She raised a finger of her own and began ticking off her list. 'Nobody told you to show me that you're a natural leader or that you're generous and protective. And certainly, nobody said you could drop your shallow, flirtatious ways around me and make me fall for you.'"

***

"'Blue.' He breathed her name like it was hope and pain and joy all at once."

3. Asmel and Toba 

The Republic of Salt, by Ariel Kaplan

"'I have embarrassed myself with you.'

"Toba said, 'Because you didn't always know who I was, you mean? You couldn't help that.'

"He sighed. 'I was not always confused about that.'

"'Asmel.'

"He took her hand and said, 'I am sorry.'

"'For confusing me with the others?'

"'No!' He shook his head. 'Yes! I don't know.'

"'I think you should rest.'

"'Toba,' he said in exasperation, 'please be quiet. You said you loved me, once, and I told you it was only because you were so helpless. For me to ... to feel, or to act, it would have been wrong of me. But now, I think you are altogether different than you were then, and perhaps ...'

"Perhaps what? Toba wondered, as he trailed off, but she stayed quiet, as requested. He said, 'I believe ... I believe I have been in love with you for quite some time, and I was wondering if you might still ... You're very quiet.'

"'You asked me to be quiet!'

"'Yes, but now I think you should–' He got up. 'I'm leaving.'"

4. Kearan and Sorinda

Vengeance of the Pirate Queen, by Tricia Levenseller

"'You don't want the truth, Sorinda,' he continues, moving closer so I can hear his lowered words. 'You want what will make you feel in control. Believing I want nothing from you makes you feel in control. Unthreatened. It doesn't force you to make decisions or think about me the way I want you to think about me. You want what's easy. You need it. Because what you're doing, all these external pressures of being stranded in a foreign land and looking after so many individuals–these trials would be difficult for anyone. You don't need my feelings and thoughts making things harder. Besides, if I showed you exactly how much I want you, you would only distance yourself further from me. This way, I could help. This way, I could be your sailing master for the voyage. Your confidant. Your friend. I couldn't have become any of those things if you thought I wanted even more.'"

5. Alyssa and Jeb 

Splintered, by A.G. Howard

"'Because there's nothing brotherly about the way you make me feel.'"

***

"'I'm not wasting another second drawing you when I can touch you instead.'"

6. Matt and Rachel

First Love, Second Draft, by Becca Kinzer

"'The big deal is I've fallen in love with you.'"

7. Gale and Katniss

Catching Fire, by Suzanne Collins

"'I'm sure. I'm completely, entirely, one hundred percent sure.' He tilts his forehead down to rest against mine and pulls me closer. His skin, his whole being, radiates heat from being so near the fire, and I close my eyes, soaking in his warmth. I breathe in the smell of snow-dampened leather and smoke and apples, the smell of all those wintry days we shared before the Games. I don't try to move away. Why should I, anyway? His voice drops to a whisper. 'I love you.'

"That's why.

"I never see these things coming. They happen too fast. One second you're proposing an escape plan and the next ... you're expected to deal with something like this."

8. Arthur and Opal

Starling House, by Alix E. Harrow

"One of his hands lifts sluggishly into the air and comes to rest against the tangled nest of my hair. He says, in a voice like a rusted saw blade, 'Thought I told you to run.' Surely, if he were truly dying, he could not manage to sound so profoundly exasperated with me."

***

"It occurs to me that this lonely, beastly, bleeding boy is the only person who has ever fought for me, ever stood between me and the dark and told me to save myself."

9. Hester and Richard

A Sorceress Comes to Call, by T. Kingfisher

"'You know that I would do anything for you.' She hated how bleak his voice sounded when he said it. It wasn't a promise, just a statement of fact."

Honorable mention (since they're from a TV show, not a book)

10. Catherine and Peter

The Great

"It is strange, but ... I may love you." Peter to Catherine, Season 1 Episode 9.

Tell me about your favorite book (or screen) couples from 2025! What makes a really good book couple, in your opinion? Let's chat!