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.
“Anna Lynn’s” favorites
Nothing Special IX: Fire and Smoke by A.E. Via – Buy Link
For those who are missing our favorite boys from the special task force in Atlanta, this new book will definitely make your day as it reunites us with them and we get to meet the two newest recruits, Wes and Law! Pyro experts who have been temporarily banned from Hollywood for having made a huge mistake, they are now back home trying to get back to a normal life waiting for all the chaos to die down. But along the way, they get to meet God and Day (actually save them from dying) and forcibly (at first) join the task force to finally stop one Drug Lord from further destroying the streets of Atlanta.
Gravity (Genesis – Savage Warriors Book 2) by Reese Knightley – Buy Link
Finally, the story of Dave and Stone! Long awaited and definitely worth the wait and the angst it has put us all through. Dave and Stone have been attracted to each other for so long but they haven’t acted on it may be due to their positions or their actual jobs, or just plain stubbornness of both their sides. But they definitely belong together, and this book will finally shed light on that. If you have been following the different series penned by Ms. Reese Knightley then you definitely know that these two have been there for each other through all of that.
Executive Suite Series by Jocelynn Drake –Buy Link
This series is dedicated to four friends who are executives in their own rights and looking for their special someones. We have Millionaires who work hard and thus not having time for their personal lives. If you are fond of men who are strong but are willing to get down and dirty for their loved ones, then you have to read the whole series. You will love them, I swear!
Breathe ( Genesis – Savage Warriors Book 1) by Reese Knightley – Buy Link
The first book in another spinoff from Ms. Reese Knightley about a new group of young Assassins and their pursuit of their own happiness after experiencing horrors that we can never imagine.
Azrael has set his eyes on Real from when they first met. Although the older man has put up all the reasons why they cannot be together, Azrael cannot be dissuaded. The age difference doesn’t really matter to Azrael, for him what is more important is who the real person is underneath and what that person truly feels about him.
Exhale (Operation Justice Force Book 8) by Reese Knightley – Buy Link
Techie Jordan Thomas and former US Army soldier Owen Gray had been skirting each other for quite some time now. Jordan has his misgivings on starting anything with Owen but he knows he has to make a decision soon or else he might lose Owen for good. But just when they have started on this, an unexpected news came for Owen. Bowing to be by Owen’s side, Jordan went with him to settle whatever needs to be settled. What comes about both surprised them, but such a welcoming one!
Belladonna : A Gay Romance Soap Opera by A.E. Via – Buy Link
Something new for me, the format anyway. It tells of a house of healing called Belladonna, where men who have been hurt before come to heal and where they sometimes find the ones they have been looking for in their lives. It tells of healing and finding oneself after the pain and suffering.
Demon Dating Service by Jocelynn Drake – Buy Link
A house full of demons who have not gone back home, somehow stranded in our world after they were summoned and the humans who summoned them didn’t know how to send them back. So while they are here in our world, they came up of an idea to entertain themselves, finding someone to rent one room in their house and for them to torment that human by scaring him. Unfortunately for them, they rented it out to someone who is desperate for a cheap place to stay in while he is finishing his graduate studies and who is not easily scared. What follows is that instead of scaring Luke, the demons ended up helping him land the young man he has been pining for.
Forever Rebel (Rebel Kings #11) by Garrett Leigh – Buy Link
This series is one of my favorites among all the books that I have read in this genre. Garrett Leigh has created these beautiful characters in this universe with heart. I have cried numerous times while reading these books. They have a very special place in my heart especially Cam, Alexei, Saint, Rubi, Folk, Decoy, Nash, Locke and Ranger. They are all perfect in their imperfections and I love them with all my heart!
