2025 Reading Wrapup + January 2026 Writing Update

Photo by Wout Vanacker on Unsplash

Happy New Year Everyone!

Wow! What a year for writing! In 2025, I completed my second novel, a vampire coming-of-age story. I also revamped my outline for The Secrets We Keep, Book 2. I completed a sci-fi romance micro-drama script. And I began (and completed today in fact) another micro-drama script, in the institutionalized / mentor institution genre, a first for me. So, that’s four projects I focused on in 2025. Not bad.

This year? 2026? I’ve got plans. Since I’ve finished my 2nd micro-drama, which was first on my 2026 Goals list (and we’re only nine days in, woo-hoo!), I’m on to my next project. I’ll be writing one more romantic micro-drama script.

And then finally… I will be diving into Book 2 of The Secrets We Keep series.

That’s not all, though. And I know I’m being ambitious here, but I’d also like to finish a middle-grade book I started a while back, a sci-fi adventure story. Currently, I’m about halfway done with it, so I’m hoping I can complete the second half pretty quickly. So that I can then focus on Book 2 of my vampire series, if you can believe it. Possible? Crazy? Check in with me at the end of the year!

Let’s do a quick December reading roundup. In December 2025, I read 12 books. Of those 12, I thoroughly enjoyed 4 of them. Let’s get into the reviews!

Can’t Get Enough (Book 3 of The Skyland Series) by Kennedy Ryan

I switched between the library hard copy and the Kindle version. You can read my review for Before I Let Go (Book 1 of the series) here and This Could Be Us (Book 2) here.

This one was a fairytale. A black billionaire fairytale. Hen was a little ghetto, a little silly, a little freaky. And Mav was just perfect in every way. He was there for her when she needed him. Their assistants even got a little love story I wouldn’t mind reading if they ever got their own book.

It was interesting how the racist lawsuit wasn’t resolved in this novel because it isn’t resolved in real life either. I appreciated how the author addressed this in her notes. Black people are often forced to be better because we have to be. It’s ludicrous to think, in the opposition’s arguments in this fictional lawsuit, that blacks got anything they didn’t deserve, because we deserve everything.

Their sex was hot. I loved that she was thick and he still wanted her. Always. Accepted her for who she was. It was silly how she didn’t trust him fully after that racist partner guy went after her company. Why the hesitation? Girl, he loves you.

Lastly, I loved how the author addressed Alzheimer’s and how scary it can be.

4.5/5 stars

The Predator (Book 1 of Dark Verse Series) by Runyx

I listened to this on Audible. There was so much description and not a whole lot of dialogue. At times, it felt long. So many rhetorical questions. The MMC got one chapter from his POV, and it was a flashback from his past, which I didn’t see coming. He was a badass, alright. No one could best him. I won’t spoil what he did in his past, but wow! Brilliant.

The FMC befriending Amara. Nice. I really want it from his POV. Yes, I’ll be reading book 2 to see them develop further. Slow burn. True enemies to lovers. He was unreadable throughout. I need more. And when he finally kissed her, just his lips, no hands. And with a gun pressed against her, rocking her world. The sexy parts left me wanting more. More intimacy. More confessions. They’d better bring it in book 2.

4/5 stars

Mate by Ali Hazelwood

This isn’t necessarily book 2 of a series, but it’s related to Bride by this author. I listened to this one on Libby.

there was some mystery there. The two leads were a good match. Serena was quirky. The way they described how Koen got mad when her aunt shot her in the arm. And getting mad means murdered. That was funny. He wouldn’t express himself. Would push her away. But we had some clues as to his true feelings for her. It kept my interest.

The plot and villain were barely an inconvenience, and I never thought they’d win. They didn’t even have enough weapons. And they always treated Serena more or less pretty good when they had her in their custody.

None of the sex was hot, unfortunately. It was clumsy and hard to understand. I don’t think I like werewolf sex. I mean, they did it in human form, but it just wasn’t sexy to me. And she was in heat, but he couldn’t touch her at first. She tried to fight the mate thing. She said she’d go to someone else to help her get through her heat, and Koen was like, fuck that.

It was interesting how the alpha world works. Overall entertaining. I liked the vampire relationship, too, between Serena and Misery. Misery was fun. And sarcastic.

4.25/5 stars

Encounter at Owl Rock by Rucker Moses

I read the signed hard copy and listened on Audible. This was a cute, action-packed story. Lots of lively characters. I liked Oakley the best. He was misunderstood. An underdog. Super cute alien friend. I’m grading this based on the target audience, which I’m technically not a part of, since it’s a middle-grade book. But for the audience and the good times I had reading this…

4.5/5 stars

And since 2025 just ended, I normally like to highlight the books I loved. And this year is no different. I read 112 books total, 3 of which I DNF’d. Many of which were novellas. And many of which were audiobooks. All the books listed below, I rated at least four stars, and even if, in my opinion, they were a little flawed, it didn’t matter; I still enjoyed them thoroughly! Here goes!

Thank you so much for reading!