November 2025 brings a spectacular lineup of highly awaited releases that will satisfy every reading mood imaginable. Whether you’re a fantasy enthusiast, romance lover, thriller devotee, or mythology fan, this month delivers some of the year’s most talked-about titles. From epic fantasy conclusions to intimate contemporary love stories, here are the 15 most anticipated books hitting shelves this November that deserve a spot on your TBR list.
15 Most Anticipated Books Of November 2025
Brimstone by Callie Hart
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Following the runaway success of Quicksilver, Callie Hart returns with Brimstone, the second installment in the Fae & Alchemy series. After her unexpected coronation as queen of the Blood Court, Saeris Fane discovers that royal life comes with crushing responsibilities. Bound by her weakened state, she cannot return home through the treacherous Quicksilver, forcing her to send an unlikely ally instead. Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate must journey through dangerous silver cities with the irrepressible Carrion Swift while uncovering hidden threats to their realm. As darkness descends upon Yvelia, Saeris and Fisher must navigate both external dangers and internal conflicts to save everything they hold dear.
The Strength of the Few by James Islington
Release Date: November 11, 2025
James Islington’s highly anticipated sequel to 2023’s bestselling The Will of the Many plunges deeper into the Hierarchy universe with breathtaking complexity. Vis Telimus faces his most devastating challenge yet when the ancient device beyond the Labyrinth inexplicably replicates him across three separate worlds. Now existing simultaneously in Obiteum, Luceum, and Res, Vis must navigate three different lives while hiding an impossible secret that could alter the course of history across alternate dimensions. With characters torn apart by betrayal and facing an impending Cataclysm, Islington weaves together multiple perspectives to explore themes of identity, destiny, and the weight of impossible choices. This epic continuation is widely considered one of 2025’s best fantasy releases.
I, Medusa by Ayana Gray
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Ayana Gray transforms the tragic mythology of Medusa into an empowering origin story that challenges everything we thought we knew about Greek legends. Meddy, a minor goddess’s daughter, seizes an opportunity to escape her family’s obscurity by becoming Athena’s favored priestess. Flourishing in Athens’ vibrant temple, she discovers purpose and power until Poseidon’s drunken violation shatters her promising future. Transformed into a monster as punishment for a crime she didn’t commit, Medusa must reclaim her narrative as a vigilant force. Through raw emotional depth and lyrical prose, Gray explores trauma, resistance, and the courage required to write one’s own mythology. This lush retelling celebrates Black women’s resilience and examines how history silences victims while glorifying perpetrators.
The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer
Release Date: November 4, 2025
Marissa Meyer, the “Queen of Fairytale Retellings,” reimagines the legend of Bluebeard in The House Saphir, a gothic romantasy and murder mystery wrapped into one atmospheric tale. Mallory Fontaine and her sister have survived by selling fraudulent spells and conducting tours of the infamous mansion where Monsieur Le Bleu murdered three wives over a century ago.
When the wealthy heir Armand Saphir offers substantial payment to exorcise his ancestor’s ghost, Mallory accepts, hoping to solve their financial troubles. However, when fresh murders plague the estate, Mallory finds herself at the center of a complex investigation while attempting to maintain her magical charade. As she grows closer to the enigmatic Armand, Mallory must determine whether to trust her heart or her instincts, all while uncovering whether the killer truly is supernatural or disturbingly mortal.
Brigands & Breadknives by Travis Baldree
Release Date: November 11, 2025
Travis Baldree returns to his beloved cozy fantasy universe with Brigands & Breadknives, featuring Fern, the foul-mouthed rattkin bookseller readers adore. Fern moves to the city of Thune to open a bookshop alongside her old friend’s coffee shop, hoping a fresh start will cure her mid-life crisis and emotional ennui. After a drunken night goes awry, she accidentally joins a legendary elf bounty hunter and an imprisoned chaos-goblin on an unexpected adventure.
As they navigate deadly threats and rogues determined to claim the goblin’s bounty, Fern embarks on a transformative journey that reconnects her with her true self. More action-packed than previous installments while maintaining the heartwarming found-family dynamics fans cherish, Brigands & Breadknives explores how life-changing adventures don’t always come from running a business.
Fallen City by Adrienne Young
Release Date: November 4, 2025
Adrienne Young’s highly anticipated Fallen City opens the Fallen City Duology with an epic tale of forbidden love and political upheaval. Set in the walled city of Isara on the brink of rebellion, the story follows Luca Matius and Maris Casoeria, two heirs from rival families destined by fate to transform their world. Luca’s position with the city’s Philosopher places him at the catastrophic center of revolution, while Maris, raised in the shadowy halls of political power, envisions a different future for their corrupt city.
When their forbidden romance ignites a chain of events that divides their society, Luca and Maris find themselves thrust onto opposite sides of a holy war. Through lyrical prose and intense emotional stakes, Young explores themes of destiny, sacrifice, and whether love can survive when everything else crumbles.
Dawn of Chaos and Fury by Melissa K. Roehrich
Release Date: November 25, 2025
Melissa K. Roehrich concludes The Legacy Series with the epic final installment, Dawn of Chaos and Fury, bringing the dark fantasy romance to a climactic conclusion. Tessalyn Ausra has endured countless betrayals and now faces the consequences of her own choices, ultimately refusing to let others dictate her destiny. Meanwhile, Theon St. Orcas prepares to face the Fates, and Axel St. Orcas builds alliances while battling deception within the Underground. With morally gray characters, complex relationships, and themes of redemption versus destruction, Roehrich delivers the chaos readers have been anticipating. This dark new adult fantasy combines emotional depth with thrilling stakes, exploring whether balance truly exists or if some must fall for others to rise.
Seven Deadly Thorns by Amber Hamilton
Release Date: November 4, 2025
Amber Hamilton’s debut Seven Deadly Thorns combines dark academia with enemies-to-lovers romance in a fantasy inspired by Snow White. In the cursed Kingdom of Aragoa, magic means death, even for academy students. When Viola Sinclair’s shadow magic is discovered, the queen’s assassin, Roze Roquelart—her most hated fellow student—receives a cursed tattoo marking seven days to kill her or die himself.
Despite their hatred, Roze desperately needs Viola’s magic and offers a dangerous bargain: he’ll spare her life and fake an engagement to gain her cooperation. Forced to work together while confronting deadly secrets and undeniable attraction, Viola and Roze must navigate whether giving in to their desires means destroying Aragoa itself. This gorgeous deluxe edition features stenciled edges, patterned endpapers, and a designed case cover that captures the book’s gothic atmosphere.
Empire of the Dawn by Jay Kristoff
Release Date: November 4, 2025
Jay Kristoff concludes the epic Empire of the Vampire trilogy with Empire of the Dawn, the international bestselling series’ highly anticipated finale. Gabriel de León has lost everything—his family, his faith, and his surrogate daughter, Dior—leaving him with nothing but vengeance. Alongside loyal brothers, he journeys into war-torn Elidaen to claim the life of the Forever King. The Grail still lives, racing toward the besieged capital of Augustin with fragile hope of ending the endless night.
As Gabriel and Dior are drawn into a final battle determining the Empire’s fate, deadly treachery erupts within halls of power and the Forever King’s legions advance relentlessly. With no one left to trust—not even each other—this tragic, magnificent conclusion delivers the gut-wrenching finale Empire fans have anticipated since the trilogy began.
Nash Falls by David Baldacci
Release Date: November 11, 2025
David Baldacci launches a pulse-pounding new series with Nash Falls, introducing Walter Nash, a seemingly ordinary businessman whose perfect world shatters when the FBI arrives on his late father’s funeral day. Never having fired a gun or lifted a weight, Nash’s comfortable life at prestigious investment firm Sybaritic is disrupted when federal agents reveal his company launders money for international criminal mastermind Victoria Steers.
Coerced into becoming their inside man, Nash accepts the dangerous mission. However, when Steers discovers his betrayal, she turns the tables in ways Nash couldn’t anticipate, forcing him to transform into something he never imagined—a weapon of justice and revenge. Baldacci crafts a compelling everyman hero whose gradual hardening into a violent vigilante feels entirely earned.
We Fell Apart by E. Lockhart
Release Date: November 4, 2025
E. Lockhart returns to the world of We Were Liars with We Fell Apart, a psychological suspense novel that ramps up intrigue and mystery within the same atmospheric universe. An unexpected invitation introduces Matilda Klein to her estranged father, legendary reclusive artist Kingsley Cello, who invites her to spend summer at Hidden Beach, his seaside sanctuary. Instead of the self-discovery she anticipates, Matilda encounters her long-lost open-hearted brother Meer, former child star Brock battling personal demons, and brooding Tatum whose presence complicates everything.
With Kingsley mysteriously absent, Matilda must unravel the twisted secrets shrouding Hidden Beach, discovering that everyone harbors lies. Through interconnected stories exploring privilege, family legacy, and abandoned parental bonds, Lockhart weaves her signature beachy gothic atmosphere with high-stakes family drama and hidden mysteries.
Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore by Emily Krempholtz
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Emily Krempholtz’s charming debut Violet Thistlewaite Is Not a Villain Anymore celebrates redemption and second chances through cozy fantasy romance. After serving the dark sorcerer Guy Shadowfade, Violet Thistlewaite is determined to reinvent herself as someone kind, someone good—someone entirely different from the fearsome Thornwitch she once was. She opens a flower shop in the quaint town of Dragon’s Rest, keeping her sentient, mildly homicidal houseplant in check while pruning dark magic from her twisted past.
When she shares a greenhouse with prickly alchemist Nathaniel Marsh, their grumpy-sunshine dynamic ignites unexpected sparks. When a mysterious blight threatens Dragon’s Rest’s plants, Violet and Nathaniel must work together through their fears and shared trauma to save their community. As figures from Violet’s past threaten everything she’s built, she must confront whether former villains truly deserve happily-ever-afters.
The Burning Library by Gilly Macmillan
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Gilly Macmillan crafts a haunting dark academia thriller in The Burning Library, set in remote St Andrews, Scotland. Eleanor Bruton’s body is discovered on a windswept shore, harboring secrets about a fragment of medieval embroidery sought by two rival women’s organizations for over a century. The Order of St Katherine operates through shadow influence, while the Fellowship of the Larks pursues overt power, both willing to commit violence to secure the artifact.
When Dr. Anya Brown earns international recognition for translating cryptic manuscripts, she’s handpicked to join the exclusive Institute of Manuscript Studies while simultaneously, Detective Clio Spicer privately investigates Eleanor’s death. As circumstances spiral dangerously out of control, both women become entangled in an ancient web of obsession, secrets, and ruthless ambition, uncovering how far people will go to control history’s narrative.
Daddy Issues by Kate Goldbeck
Release Date: November 18, 2025
Kate Goldbeck’s Daddy Issues explores unexpected modern romance when neighbors’ lives collide in surprising ways. At twenty-six, Sam Pulaski expected academic success and independence, but instead finds herself living in her mom’s condo with student debt, a dead-end job, and a toxic situationship. Her neighbor Nick embodies the opposite—a grounded single father whose entire adult life revolves around ensuring his nine-year-old daughter’s happiness. Sam initially dismisses the “ultra-dependable guy pushing forty,” but their thin-walled proximity makes him impossible to avoid.
Nick’s quiet confidence challenges Sam to confront the emotionally derelict men in her life, including her actually-absent father and toxic situationship partner. As their connection ignites and intensifies, Sam discovers herself falling for someone whose life is settled and steady while hers remains fractured and uncertain. Goldbeck tackles age gaps, parental abandonment, and adult compromise with emotional honesty and witty, relatable banter.
Honeymoon Phase by Amy Daws
Release Date: November 11, 2025
Amy Daws concludes the Mountain Men Matchmaker trilogy with Honeymoon Phase, delivering the heartwarming friends-to-lovers marriage of convenience romance readers crave. When Addison “Roe” Monroe announces she’ll attend a lumberjack competition seeking a husband to inherit her father’s lumberyard, Luke Fletcher desperately proposes first—determined to protect his best friend from potential serial killers. What starts as convenience transforms into something deeper as they move to Fletcher Mountain to build their marriage of convenience into something genuine.
Luke harbors deeper feelings, while Roe wrestles with childhood trauma making commitment terrifying. Despite these obstacles, their friendship’s foundation strengthens their bond as they navigate family drama, building trust, and discovering whether their convenient arrangement can become forever. Daws balances laugh-out-loud moments with genuine emotional vulnerability, creating a spicy, charming small-town romance that concludes the beloved series beautifully.
