If you’re looking for new books to add to your reading list that are perfect for fall, this book list is here to help!

I rounded up a variety of book recommendations, from paranormal romance books to university setting fantasies that fit this season perfectly. These are all new books coming out in 2025, so you can preorder them now or grab them when they’re released!

I sorted this fall reading list by genre, starting with romances, then into fantasies, and wrapping up with some spooky thrillers!

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2025 Fall Reading List

 

Soul Searching by Lyla Sage

Lyla is best known for her Rebel Blue Ranch romance series, four books about a family of cowboys that I devoured. This is definitely an interesting jump into paranormal romance but I have high hopes!

Collins Cartwright didn’t plan on returning to Sweetwater Peak, Wyoming. Her life has unraveled—she’s lost her job, is out of money, and the ghosts she once chatted with have gone eerily silent. All she wanted was to stay hidden—but when a developer threatens her parents’ antiques shop, she’s forced home. Needing privacy, she accepts a room above Brady Cooper’s upholstery shop. Unfortunately for her, the room is full of new ghosts, but even they are ignoring her.

Brady Cooper is telling everyone he moved to Sweetwater Peak for no particular reason, but there’s a secret hiding there. When Collins moves in, neither expects what happens next. Not only do they find something unexpected in each other, the ghosts living in Brady’s home also seem to be conspiring to bring them together. This was supposed to be a temporary stop for both Collins and Brady, but maybe they accidentally stumbled upon something permanent. | Buy From Amazon

 

 

 

 

Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

The author of the famous Butcher & Blackbird series is back with a new, dark romance! In the chilling seaside town of Cape Carnage, Harper Starling quietly reigns as protector of her home. She uses her gardening skills and lethal instincts to dispatch obnoxious tourists who threaten the peace of her town. Until she becomes the target of another killer.

 Nolan Rhodes marks the anniversary of the hit and run that altered his life by taking someone else’s each year. This time, Harper is his target. However, when he shows up in town he eventually realizes she’s not the monster he expected. Sparks fly when their unexpected chemistry forces a wary alliance: Nolan agrees to help Harper conceal her mentor’s crimes, and in return, she suppresses his murderous habits, for now at least.

As they join forces to thwart the nosy true-crime investigator snooping around Cape Carnage, what starts as a truce blooms into a dangerous, slow-burn romance fueled by obsession, mutual respect, and shared secrets. Get ready for a darkly funny novel that blends romance and suspense!  | Buy From Amazon

 

 

 

Never Been Witched by Molly Harper

In this cozy, quirky paranormal romance, Alice runs her grandparents’ antique shop on the small, magical island of Starfall Point, Michigan. As a witch and ghost wrangler, she helps keep dark magic and haunting spirits in check—especially those attached to the antiques she curates. After a misstep that compromised her trust with her coven, Alice has been pulling away—until Collin Bancroft arrives. He’s purchased the historic—and undeniably haunted—Duchess Hotel, and enlists Alice’s help to restore its original charm while navigating the ghostly disturbances lurking within its halls!

Between running into her coven’s expectations and facing the murky threats tied to the hotel’s spirits, Alice must reconcile her past mistakes and trust again. Collin, distancing himself from a toxic upbringing, is eager to build something meaningful—a restoration of both the hotel and his life. As they join forces, the two find a connection rooted in mutual healing and homecoming, while unraveling a supernatural mystery involving looping shadows and hidden dark energy. | Buy From Amazon 

 

 

 

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade

Edie Brandstrup finds herself in the middle of chaos when the first major zombie breach in two decades hits her neighborhood. Armed with nothing more than a burrito, she bravely (and somewhat ridiculously) attempts to save her neighbor. Instead, she’s rescued by him——and his ridiculously large sword. Only later does she learn that her “neighbor,” Gaston “Max” Boucher (yes, Gaston), is actually a centuries-old, perpetually surly vampire with unexpected protective instincts. Though he’d prefer she stay safe in his high-tech underground bunker, Edie’s unyielding sense of duty won’t let her hide away while others are in danger!

s Edie and Max navigate the threats of fast-moving zombies, they uncover a sinister conspiracy aimed at unleashing zombies on society once more. They join forces with a dynamic, found family of supernatural and human allies, united in the fight for humanity’s future. Along the way, the duo’s reluctant partnership deepens into something much more—Edie finds herself falling not just for the distant, cynic vampire, but for someone fighting right alongside her.  | Buy From Amazon 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ordeals by Rachel Greenlaw

This is part of my fall books recommendations because it involves a magical university! I adore a school setting where the students have to go through any sort of tests or trials, so this is one of my personal most anticipated reads.

Twenty-year-old Sophia DeWinter has spent her life bound to a cruel uncle known only as the Collector, trapped by a blood bond he imposed upon her in childhood. When she discovers Killmarth College, an elite academy for magic wielders where the Collector’s influence cannot reach, she sees a chance to finally break free. But entry isn’t guaranteed. She must endure a brutal series of deadly challenges known as the Ordeals. All of the potential students  (illusionists, botanists, masquiers, and alchemists) are pitted against one another in high-stakes trials many don’t survive. 

To survive the first challenge, Sophia reluctantly teams up with Alden Locke, a powerful and attractively insufferable botanist. As the trials escalate, she must sharpen her own magical abilities and, more crucially, discern who among her peers is a rival, a potential ally, or a murderer. With applicants being eliminated one by one, Sophia finds herself fighting not just for admission, but for her very life, as she races to escape her uncle’s grasp without falling victim to the Ordeals themselves. | Buy From Amazon

 

 

 

Alchemised by SenLinYu

This is one of the most anticipated reads of the decade for fans of Draco and Hermione fanfic. Alchemised is the traditionally published version of one of THE most popular Dramione fanfics, formerly called Manacled. It takes place in a world where Harry Potter and his friends have lost, and the Hermione character is now a prisoner.

In Alchemised, you’ll find no direct references to the Harry Potter world since it’s now traditionally published, but any fans will easily recognize similarities in the new places, character names, and magical system.  Helena was once a skilled healer, but her memories of the last few months are gone, making those in power wonder if she was actually an integral part of the Resistance. 

 To unravel the truth, she is sent to the High Reeve, a ruthless necromancer tasked with prying the secrets from her mind while Helena fights to protect her identity and buried truths. As the story unfolds, Helena and Kaine navigate a relationship fraught with tension and unexpected longing.  Their relationship deepens through shared trauma, revealing unexpected emotional connections amid the brutal landscape: love, memory, and power intertwine in ways both tender and unsettling. | Buy From Amazon 

 

 

 

 

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang

We’re literally heading to Hell in this new dark academia fantasy from R.F. Kuang, making it perfect for the Halloween season. Two Cambridge students follow their professor into the Underworld after he suffers a gruesome magical accident. Their motives are both selfish, since they desperately need his recommendation or their career prospects will be bleak.

Determined to salvage their futures, Alice and Peter set aside their rivalry and descend into the Underworld: drawing inspiration from Orpheus, Dante, and an arcane system of “analytic magick” governed by logical paradoxes, chalked pentagrams, and classical philosophy. As they navigate a nightmarish, bureaucratic hellscape, they learn that magic isn’t always sufficient, their trauma runs deep, and their past may bind them as allies—or lead them to ruin. The novel brilliantly satirizes postgraduate life, exposing the intricate power dynamics, emotional toll, and costs of academic ambition. | Buy Deluxe Edition From Amazon 

 

 

 

 

The Intruder by Freida McFadden

Even thrillers are getting the sprayed edge treatment these days! You can count on Freida to deliver a page-turning novel with plenty of twists. It seems like this one you may not want to read at night!

On a stormy night in a remote part of New Hampshire, Casey braces for a hurricane in her dilapidated cabin. When she notices a light outside, she arms herself and discovers a blood-soaked tween girl clutching a knife marked Eleanor. Casey’s compassion outweighs caution: she lets the girl inside to warm up and eat, under the condition that she won’t call the police. But after the storm cuts off the power and phone lines, their uneasy truce quickly unravels when Casey makes a grim discovery that suggest Eleanor is keeping a deadly secret that she’ll do anything to protect.

The tension builds with alternating chapters between the present and Eleanor’s past, including her life under the care of a neglectful mother, and her friendship with a fellow outcast, Anton. This changing narrative builds empathy for each of the women even as the suspense deepens, giving us a psychological thriller filled with unexpected twists. | Buy From Amazon

 

 

 

 

No Rest For The Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams

A murder mystery / thriller that takes place in a Halloween obsessed town? Absolutely a must read this time of year! A forensic pathologist returns home after her father goes missing. As a former U.S. Senator, his disappearance makes waves and his last words to her were “Trust No One.” 

Now, Dolores must unravel clues about her father’s disappearance, confront painful family estrangements and resurface buried traumas in a town where everyone has something to hide. On top of this, the town has a long history of brutal deaths tied to it’s Halloween celebrations…and October 31st is right around the corner. This is a debut novel, but it’s received rave early reviews! I love that she’s leaning in to the eerie, Halloween theme and giving readers a twisty, spooky mystery. | Buy From Amazon

 

Which of these books are you going to add to your Fall Reading List?