Welcome to the Love Bytes Reviewers’ Best of 2025
Another year has passed in which books have brought all of us a much-needed escape and sense of comfort. Our Love Bytes team reviewed approximately 800 LGBTQ+ books in 2025, from contemporary romance to fantasy, paranormal, historical, adventure, mystery, comedy, and everything in between. Each day for the next weeks, we will feature one of our reviewers’ top picks from books and audiobooks published in 2025. These lists highlight how diverse our tastes in reading are, and offer something for everyone. With thousands of fantastic new books each year, written by hundreds of creative and talented authors, it’s so difficult to narrow our lists down. We all have many favorite authors not featured here and wish we could acknowledge them all.
“True” favorites
Flagrant Foul by Jesse H Reign – buy link
I adore this author’s writing, every single story is just more than amazing, yup this one is a must-read!
Nate and Sev are best friends, they are super protective of Teddy, Nate’s younger brother, no one will hurt him, ever (again).
It’s their mission to always keep an eye on him.
By the way, Teddy is off limits, Nate made sure of that!
The details were so impressive, it was breathtaking, revealing, super duper intense, precious, romantic, full of longing, pining, hurt, and with a mountain of sensuality!
With all these details we get to know Teddy and Sev on a deeper level, it’s quite overwhelming!
Altogether it’s a more than wonderfully written, deeply moving story!
This belongs on my 5+++ shelf!
Just Like You by Sophia Soames – buy link
What a breathtaking story, I was floored by the uniqueness. Everything was good, I can’t find one thing I didn’t love. Julian and Kieron are so incredibly lovable, my heart was so sooo happy!
It was super duper romantic and equally sexy!
Hundreds of wonderful WONDERFUL moments to enjoy, things to know. Not one superficial moment! It was absolutely breathtaking!
Cup of Tea? Yes please!
Up on my 5+++ shelf
Second Story by Con Riley – buy link
My heart, what a story, it’s impossible to keep your heartbeat stable and your eyes dry.
What a precious, PRECIOUS, and overwhelming story. So immensely beautiful!
Highly recommended!!
Up on my 5+++ shelf
Bratva’s Undoing duet by Gianni Holmes – series buy link
Bratva’s Intern
While the (very satisfying) main focus is on Wren and Maxim’s interactions, there’s way more to this story. The mafia world is one of them, and all the other aspects are interesting and super duper captivating!
There are some bloody scenes, there’s manipulation, some hurt comfort, but there are also very scorching, and delicious sexy stuff to enjoy!!
The flow of this narrative was excellent, it reads so smoothly!
Bratva’s Vow
There are threats, it’s a big part of this world. Watch how everything unfolds. There’s so much to discover!
It’s intriguing AF!
I adored Maxim, this big boss who loved Wren with all his heart, who isn’t afraid to show it!
And of course I loved Wren, this softhearted (slutty 🙂 man with his big innocent eyes! He did grow in this story.
Again, it was an overwhelming story, and I enjoyed it immensely!
The very last line gave me all the goosebumps!!
ALL the stars!
Far from Ruined series by Nik Knight – series buy link
Every Broken Thing –
link to Love Bytes full review
Family, friends, enemies, school, parties, traumas, hurt, all this is part of their lives and intriguingly put into this story. Everything was interesting and convincing executed.
What a way to put these ingredients into this narrative. I was reading and reading and reading, it was absolutely amazingly done!
Every Hidden Truth
link to Love Bytes full review
The story also has hundreds of other moments and matters of their lives. You’ll find humor, sarcasm, support, sweetness, sexuality, romance, banters, hurt, threats, insecurities, jealousy, doubts, fights, and horrible acts, it’s all here to be amazed about (or shudder)!
It’s a sublime story, super fascinating, enthralling, and quite heavy weighted!
I had smiles, goosebumps and tears for the endearing, lovable and upsetting moments.
Every Menden Heart
link to Love Bytes full review
There are many significant moments I won’t reveal. Read it yourself. Moments I wept until I had no tears left. But there’s also refreshing sarcasm and downright absurd silly humor, I smiled hard.
It was harsh at times. But don’t fear, there’s light at the end of the tunnel, and life really does go on!
The writing was superb, vivacious, and compelling, nothing sugar-coated, it was real, and every high and low was palpable.
The trauma both boys have been through felt as it should, oppressive, and burdensome, the author did an amazing job!
The characters and story development, in other words, the whole story were excellently developed.
Highly recommended!!
Alfie Duet by Cara Dee – buy link
Part 1
So many lies.
Watch them, together, apart, with their two kids, their work, family, the hurt, and struggles.
It was an impressive story, and not done yet.
Leave it to this author to make this a heartfelt story.
Part 2
Alfie and West have been separated for years, they co-parent their kids. They still love each other deeply, but circumstances made it too difficult to communicate and continue.
Alfie wants a second chance, West wants Alfie happy, and it can’t be him.
West has difficulty letting Alfie go, the nail in his coffin is Alfie telling him to turn his name back into O’Dwyer.
In book one we saw how Alfie committed himself to his mob family. In book two we understand what this means.
The Gospel According to Gray Collins by Lance Lansdale – buy link
This author has a super duper compelling way of storytelling.
With a sweet and disarming tone. This was something from a whole different category!!
The horror of the insane christianity was devastating.
While all the other stories of this author made me smile, this one wrecked me. Fucking hell what a read!!
Do you know what I’m doing next, read We Burn Beautiful. That’s where they get their hea
That One Moment by C.S. Autumn – buy link
link to Love Bytes full review
Without spoiling, I can say: that what follows is hard, tragic, hurtful, and heartbreaking, but also heartwarming, beautiful, and hopeful to watch.
I cried out loud, it’s all so real and emotional!
Was it an easy read, no, but I found it a very impressive, profoundly moving story, it was wonderfully executed, and very engaging, with the feelings all over the place and palpable!
The end was amazing!!!
Friendzone Hockey by S. Legend – buy link
My goodness the hurt, the pining, my heart stuttered more than once.
I wanted to grab them by the heads and smash them together. Helloooo, you belong together!
Alternatively between past and present we get the whole picture. And what a picture it is!!
It was a convincingly written story, very captivating, real, with lovable characters and feelings all over the place.
It was hurtful, sweet, devastating, fun and much more of everything!
Thank goodness they have their HEA together or else I would burn my iPad down.
The Thorn and the Spire by Katherine McIntyre – buy link
What a fabulous story this was! I was plastered to the pages!
You can find the most impressive creatures in this story, demon, witch, vampire, cecaelia, imp, dragon shifter, wolf shifters, and more.
The story had all the feels, with quite lovable characters and scorching moments that were breathtakingly written.
This was an amazing read! I loved everything about this story, literally everything!
It was so beautifully described, I didn’t have enough eyes, a joy to experience!
Colliding Hearts by Jax Calder – buy link
Felix, my heart, he is such an amazing man. Felix knows they will never be more, or else they would have been already. He understands that his features aren’t the best, even though Jared calls him beautiful.
Sadly, Jared keeps Felix in the benefits zone. There’s more to this story, way more, you have to read and experience this for yourself. It was quite an emotional rollercoaster. It was an amazing narrative, stunningly written, and full of feelings. The characters are beautifully layered, and there’s nothing superficial to find in this story. Certain parts I kept rereading again and again.
Highly recommended!
