The Best New and Upcoming Releases of 2025!

We are only halfway through 2025, and we already have dozens of amazing new and upcoming releases! I’ve had the honor of joining several pre-release street teams and getting a behind-the-scenes look at many of these exciting new releases.

I just can’t keep the goodies to myself, so let’s skip the pleasantries and dive right in!

The Unraveling of Emlyn Dulaine:

Emlyn DuLaine lives an unfortunate life. As a child she watched her older sister unravel…

That’s the only word she has to describe it. She turned to ribbons, unraveled, and disappeared.

No one believes her, and dozens of therapists later, she almost believes her mind tricked her into seeing this. As a result, her writings of a fantasy world remain untouched… until she gets a sudden burst of inspiration…. and unravels herself too. She enters the world she thought she had written, only to find out it’s real and that her writing might be her mind remembering it.

This book was fantastic! I love how it draws on fiction as a whole to create a new story. In this tale, stories are glass spheres that hold the foundations of the world (what an amazing metaphor, right?). The ‘knights’ of this world, if you were to call them that, have a job of protecting the sacred story plots, and if something goes wrong, they must enter the sphere to fix it. But… are they doing the right thing? You have to read the story to find out! I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves fantasy and fiction!

Scoresheet:

• Category: YA Fantasy
• Spice/Romance: Clean read. Budding romance but no spice
• Violence: Almost none to note. People unravel and fight, but nothing graphic.
• Morals/Worldview: Christian worldview.
• Recommended reading age: 12+
• Language: None

Embergold:

Gilde only knows the wet, sticky life of the marsh and the cold shoulders of her small family. Once, she saw the great dragon gliding over her head in search of her father. Then she knew why they had to hide in the wetlands. Because dragons hate water, and this marsh is the only place they can be safe.
One day, her father declares they are going to meet with the dragon at his castle and trade something for their freedom. Little does Glide know it’s her he’s trading, and the dragon will surprise her in more ways than one.

This Beauty and the Beast style twist on a dragon tale leaves you guessing and begging for more. I enjoyed Rachel’s elegant and soulful storytelling. She made me fall deeply in love with the characters and their journey through fire, water, and chains. I thoroughly enjoyed the Sky of Seven Colors, and this book is as similar to it as it is different! We have creatures, who we think we should fear, protecting us, and beautiful people whom we think we can trust, but are pulling the strings.
I also enjoyed the nod to an Aslan character and the graceful weaving of this slow-burn love story as well as the fight for personal redemption.

Scoresheet:

• Category: Cozy YA Fantasy/Romantic Fantasy
• Spice/Romance: Clean read/No spice
• Violence: Mild violence and descriptions of burn wounds
• Morals/Worldview: Christian worldview in allegorical form
• Recommended reading age: 14+
• Language: None

Rune:

Rune’s parents have five strong Viking daughters who can best any man, then they have her, a sickly, fragile girl who can’t seem to do anything right.
She has a plan. If she can make a deal with the gods of Asgard and marry the man she loves, not only will she earn happiness, but she will also gain respect as wife to the next chief.
After making her offering, the chief’s son takes a woman as his wife, but it’s not Rune. It’s her sister who already bears the mark of Odin’s blessing.
Distraught, she defies the gods, but after eating from their sacred vine, she becomes entangled in their affairs. They think she is one of them, and they welcome her into their courts, but their bloodthirsty games and brutal sense of justice may be more than Rune can bear. Will she keep up the charade that she is the god Ruin of destruction and determination… or will she be killed in her quest to protect her sister who is now in harm’s way?

My word, what a story! I deeply enjoyed Victoria’s Mortal Queens and Lethal King Dualogy, but this book brought out even more of her artistic abilities. The cunningly deceitful gods and their ruthless sense of integrity. The constant questions of Rune’s true past and her future fate. Ah! A simply must-read!

Scoresheet:

• Category: YA Fantasy
• Spice/Romance: Clean read/No spice. Sweet embraces and kisses between couples.
• Violence: No excessive gore. Death, broken bones, and some blood prevalent.
• Morals/Worldview: Clean/Good morals.
• Recommended reading age: 15+
• Language: None

And last but definitely not least is the upcoming new release….

Caligo:

A handsome and sarcastic rogue, a beautiful yet hideous werebeast, and a colorful chicken embark on a unique adventure into the bone lands.
Cassius Vera decides the best way to heal his rejected heart is to return to the seas and find a new life, away from women and the strange alter that seems to enjoy shipwrecking his life.
Zaire Delmar flees her new kingdom to mourn the death of her only love. She stows away on a ship with the last gift he ever gave her, a chicken-like bird said to be gifted in telling prophecy.
These two gray-hearted souls encounter each other, and though they would rather leave the other marooned, they are forced to work together to keep their alter abilities secret, so they won’t end up enslaved yet again to power-hungry mercenaries.
Their journey takes an unexpected twist when they find an old enemy among a tribe of women in the bone lands.

Caligo is a standalone novel tied to the Nightingale trilogy. You do not have to read the trilogy ahead of time, but you may get a few spoilers if you start with this book.
I thoroughly enjoyed this sequel and following Cass on his seemingly never-ending journey to find his place in the world. His sarcasm and charm always leave me spell bound but now that Zaire is in the mix, he is about to get a run for his money!
I am so happy J. J. Fischer wrapped up these and other characters’ stories that were left slightly ambiguous at the end of Memoria. I do have to say, though, that end dedication made me choke up.
J.J. Fischer, like me and so many other women, deals with infertility and decided to weave her story into her characters in a beautiful way that encourages and strengthens those on this seemingly never-ending struggle.
Thank you for sharing your story as well as Cass and Zaire’s!

Scoresheet:

• Category: YA/NA Dystopian fantasy
• Spice/Romance: Clean read/No spice. Only a brief mention of intercourse without marriage from a character’s past.
• Violence: No excessive gore. Death, broken bones, and some blood prevalent.
• Morals/Worldview: Christian worldview. Good morals.
• Recommended reading age: 16+
• Language: None

If you love Ya/NA fantasy, I recommend you give each of these books a test run. I know at least one of them will sweep your heart away to an amazing adventure!

Happy travels!