Season's Greetings! Our new monthly selections are here, and for December, we’ve decided to spotlight six 2025 releases we think are worthy of adding to your TBR.  From artful historical fiction to corporate chaos and one sizzling, life-changing summer, we’re closing out the year with a selection of titles we truly love.

December Hardbacks

The Original by Nell Stevens  

This slow-burn historical fiction has many layers we think readers will love. Set in 1899, we meet Grace, a young copyist painter living with her aunt and uncle after her parents are committed to an asylum. She suffers from prosopagnosia, a neurological condition which means she cannot recognise familiar faces.

When her uncle passes away, her cousin Charles, who has spent years at sea, now intends to return home. But when the man claiming to be Charles arrives, something feels off. Is the man who returns really Charles? Or is he an imposter? The Original celebrates the value of love, art and authenticity.

Ordinary Saints by Niamh Ni Mhaoileoin

Okay, we think this is our favourite book of 2025. This debut novel has an original, well-crafted plot that we have recommended to everyone. It was an obvious decision to include this story as one of our December picks!

Raised in a devout Irish Catholic household, Jay is a queer Irish woman building a new life for herself in London. However, when Jay discovers that the Catholic Church has initiated the canonisation process to make her older brother, who was training to be a priest and died in a tragic accident, a saint, she is forced to return to her family, faith, and childhood that she has been trying to forget.

This debut novel draws on the author’s own deeply religious upbringing, and we cannot wait to see what she releases next.

What A Time To Be Alive by Jenny Mustard

Following on from her debut novel, Okay Days, Jenny Mustard has returned with What A Time to Be Alive, a coming-of-age novel set in Stockholm that explores young womanhood, grief and loneliness.

We meet Sickan, a twenty-one-year-old lonely student who arrives at Stockholm University longing for a fresh start. Her upbringing in a small town has left her unprepared for life in the city. Just as she’s finding her first-ever friends, she meets Abbe, beautiful and charming, who wants her too. A solid foundation, then, on which to build a relationship? Maybe.

What A Time to Be Alive is all about figuring out who you are, the messiness of university life and a story of firsts: the first party you're actually invited to, the first moment you fall in love and the first time you betray a friend. The first time you ask yourself, how much of myself am I willing to sacrifice to finally fit in?

December Paperbacks

The Wedding People by Alison Espach

This is one of the buzziest books of 2025, and for good reason. It is also our first rom-com pick! This debut novel follows our main protagonist, Phoebe Stone, who is at rock bottom and grappling with the end of her marriage. Intending to end her life, she checks into Cornwall Inn, but unbeknownst to her, she is the only guest not part of a week-long wedding. What follows is a story about self-discovery, new beginnings, and the unexpected paths that lead to happiness.

Slanting towards the Sea by Lidija Hilje

Spanning two decades, Slanting Towards The Sea is an evocative meditation on longing and buried resentment, set in the beautiful Croatian city of Zadar. Ivona walked away from her husband and love of her life, Vlaho. They first met as university students at the turn of the new millennium, a time when democratic Croatia pulsed with optimism.

Years later, Ivona has returned to her childhood home to care for her elderly father. While there, she reconnects with Vlaho and finds herself welcomed into his family life by him and his wife. However, the arrival of a new man disrupts the trio's carefully crafted dynamic, unveiling long-buried truths.

Slanting Towards The Sea is another stunning debut that explores enduring love, heartache and the long-lasting impact of the decisions we make that completely reshape our future.

Discontent by Beatriz Serrano 

Beatriz Serrano's Discontent is a witty and hilarious Spanish bestseller that explores how a young woman's office persona crumbles when she must attend her company's annual retreat.

On the surface, Marisa’s life looks good. She lives in a gorgeous apartment in the centre of Madrid; her friendly neighbour and lover, Pablo, lives downstairs, and she’s risen quickly through the ranks at a successful advertising agency.

But the truth is, Marisa hates her job and everything about it. Over one hot summer she finds herself in danger of being exposed when she’s forced to deliver a talk on creativity at a horrendous team-building retreat. Surrounded by psychopathic bosses, flirty facilitators, and an excess of drugs, Marisa finds herself on the verge of a complete spiral.

Discontent is a razor-sharp, bold novel featuring a chaotic main character that explores burnout, the disillusionment of modern working life, and what it takes to reclaim our lives from work.