Stories that haunt. Quotes that linger. Thoughts that bruise.
Dive into essays, reflections, and bookish devotionals. Expect love letters to fictional characters, meditations on melancholy, and musings written at midnight.
Fall 2025 Fantasies That Feel Like Home (And Love)
Fall is here, and with it comes a craving for books that ache and enchant. In this season’s reading guide, I’m sharing the top 5 trending romantic fantasy novels that will wrap around your soul like a velvet cloak—stories rich with love, lore, and longing. Whether you’re drawn to magical kingdoms or emotionally bruising love stories, this list was curated to haunt and heal in equal measure. Tap in and let the literary magic begin.
Magical Library with Floating Book
As the leaves turn and the air cools, there’s something magical about curling up with a book that whispers romance, mystery, and a whisper of danger all at once. Romantic fantasy—or “romantasy”—is my favorite escape, and this fall brings some of 2025’s most enchantingly tender reads yet.
For anyone longing for sweeping worlds, star-crossed love, or historical magic with heart—it’s Romantasy Season. Here are my top five picks that are capturing buzz and bookish hearts everywhere:
Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
1. Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros
The third installment in the explosive Empyrean series, Onyx Storm sends Violet Sorrengail beyond the walls of Basgiath War College to seek allies amid brewing war—and to face truths that could shatter everything she holds dear. With dragons, military intrigue, and an enemies-to-lovers storyline that scorches the page, this novel has become a global phenomenon. It’s the fastest-selling adult novel in 20 years, and for good reason—readers are hooked.
Why you'll love it: Massive world-building, swoon-worthy romance, and stakes so high they’ll leave you breathless—perfect for fans of Harry Potter, Twilight, and sweeping fantasy. Buy now!
Picture credit: Etched in time Photography; Flatiron Books
2. Alchemy of Secrets by Stephanie Garber
Set for release on October 7, this glittering adult debut spins Hollywood myth and dark academia into a spellbinding quest. Graduate student Holland St. James is told she’ll die at midnight unless she recovers the mystical Alchemical Heart. As she chases clues through a haunting Los Angeles folklore class, she must untangle truth from lies—and choose who to trust. With its slick, cinematic vibes and compelling mystery, this novel is already a must-read.
What makes it stand out: Think adult Caraval—rich, stylish, and cinematic storytelling with echoes of mythology and old Hollywood glamour. Buy now!
Picture Credit: Kathy’s Bookish Shop
3. A Forbidden Alchemy by Stacey McEwan
From TikTok’s favorite Romantasy voice comes a historical fantasy brimming with magic, baroque European settings, and emotional depth. Secrets permeate every page, and lovers are torn between duty and desire. McEwan’s lush prose and powerful female lead make this debut perfect for fans of star-crossed romance and immersive fantasy. Buy now!
4. The Rose Field by Philip Pullman
The long-anticipated conclusion to The Book of Dust trilogy, The Rose Field reunites readers with Lyra Silvertongue in a narrative rich with philosophical wonder, mystery, and magical realism. Pullman’s lyrical writing and deeply human characters make this one of fall 2025’s most anticipated literary events.
Why it matters: Eloquent, thought-provoking fantasy—crafted for readers who love meaning woven through magic.. Buy now!
Picture credit: Little Brown and Company; Courtesy of Kalie Cassidy
5. In the Veins of the Drowning by Kalie Cassidy
A debut novel drenched in mythology and identity, this story follows a siren escaping oppression who discovers her power may unite—or destroy—entire kingdoms. The emotional depth, mythic resonance, and romantic stakes are why readers are calling it a haunting, unforgettable fantasy romance. Buy now!
Why These Romantasy Reads Feel So Right This Fall
Escapism + Heart: Each of these novels delivers lush settings and emotional resonance—perfect for picking up when the world turns quiet outside.
New & Noteworthy: Whether it's a buzzy release (Onyx Storm), a beloved author’s return (Philip Pullman), or a TikTok fandom favorite (McEwan), these are the stories everyone’s talking about.
A Touch of Magic: From sirens and secret societies to dragons and alchemical hearts, they let you dwell in enchantment without leaving the warmth of your reading nook.
Pro Tip: Grab your favorite mug, get cozy under a blanket, and let the world outside fade while you fall in love with words that feel like home.
Let me know which one you’re diving into first—or if there’s a hidden gem you can’t live without. I love discovering new romantasy together.
Happy reading,
Mackenzie
Of Books and Bruises
Jane Eyre
Dear Jane, my sweet friend, you did not demand more than air to breathe, you only asked for love. Your trek for this love was long, winding, filled with loss, and gain. You are a reminder that true love does not come at the cost of yourself and instead requires knowing and loving yourself first. Be good Jane, as you always were.
To Jane, To Thornfield, To the Wind-Ravaged Moors:
How do I begin to write of a book that broke me open and stitched me back with thorns?
Jane Eyre is not just a novel. It is a haunting, a slow-burning hymn to selfhood, to moral courage, and to the kind of love that bruises before it heals.
Written by Charlotte Brontë, the quiet third of the Brontë sisters — daughters of a country clergyman, bound by stormy Yorkshire winds and imagination — Jane Eyre emerged in 1847 under the pseudonym “Currer Bell.” In an era when women’s voices were silenced, Charlotte roared. Her prose was fire hidden in lace.
“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.”
Jane whispered this — no, declared it — long before it was safe to say.
Born of Victorian constraint and gothic yearning, Jane Eyre follows an orphaned girl forged in the cold fires of loneliness, injustice, and repression. We walk with her — through the cruelty of Lowood School, the still ache of Gateshead, and the shadowed, flame-laced corridors of Thornfield Hall. Jane is not beautiful. She is brave. Not grand, but good.
Oh Jane, you did not have an easy life, you did not demand one, you did not even ask for one. You asked for something as essential as breath… love. Not even true love but unconditional love, love from a mother or a father, love from a sister or a brother, and okay my friend, love from a partner.
It is a love story, yes — but not one painted in pinks. It is love in ashen grays and blood reds, where desire wars with dignity. Rochester is no dreamy suitor; he is a Byronic storm: damaged, magnetic, cruel, tender. And Jane? Jane does not bend to love. She meets it eye to eye.
“Do you think I am an automaton? — a machine without feelings?… Do you think that because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!”
Reader, I am hers.
Brontë wrote not for polite society but for women like herself — intelligent, ignored, burning quietly. Jane Eyre is revolutionary not just because Jane loves, but because she refuses to lose herself in that love.
“I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.”
This is a lesson, dear reader we all, should take a page from. To maintain our selfness, to keep hold of our oneness, to forge forward in a partnership as two wholes versus halves. True love’s sacrifice is not ourselves, it is our close-mindedness.
And yet, it ends in something soft: not submission, but reunion — not possession, but choice.
This book lives in candlelight and thunder, in cracked windows and veiled secrets. It is an old soul’s gospel, stitched in moral ambiguity and moonlight.
It is the kind of story that leaves you walking slower, breathing deeper, and seeing something holy in the fog.
Forever haunted,
A Reader Bruised & Blooming
Never miss a quote that hurts so good.
