October 2025 Book Releases
I am so excited about the October 2025 book releases, and I cannot wait to get my hands on these books. It is always so much fun finding the upcoming new books.
This month, there are some fantastic picks… October is the time when these books are published to establish themselves before Halloween but also before Christmas! I also have a list of September 2025 book releases by genre.
It is also exciting to see so many multi-genre novels on this list. It has been so fun to select the October 2025 book releases (with tons of help from Kirsten) with only the books that Kirsten and I want to read.
You can help authors by going into your favorite reading app and adding these books to your To Be Read pile. You can also head to your local indie bookstore and pre-order the books you know you will love. This helps the authors a lot. All the books on this list are linked to Libro.fm and Bookshop.org. Both of these sites are associated with independent bookstores!
Most Anticipated October 2025 Book Releases
Most Anticipated Fiction
Wreck by Catherine Newman – Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October 2025 book releases
Most Anticipated Historical Fiction
Boleyn Traitor by Philippa Gregory – Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October 2025 book releases
Most Anticipated Fantasy/ Sci-Fi
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow – Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October 2025 fiction book releases
Most Anticipated Thriller
The Water Lies by Amy Meyerson – Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October 2025 thriller book picks
Most Anticipated Mystery
The Secret Christmas Library by Jenny Colgan – Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October 2025 mystery book releases
Most Anticipated Romance
Some Kind of Famous by Ava Wilder- Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October romance books
Most Anticipated Nonfiction
That’s a Great Question, I’d Love to Tell You by Elyse Meyers- Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October 2025 nonfiction book releases
Most Anticipated YA
A Riddle of Thorns by Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua – Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the Young Adult October 2025 book releases
Most Anticipated Holiday Books
Yours for the Season by Emily Stone – Click here to read the synopsis and see more of the October 2025 holiday book releases
*October 2025 Book Releases Post contains affiliate links. Purchases made through links result in a small commission to us at no cost to you.
October 2025 Fiction Book Releases
Wreck
Author: Catherine Newman
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: October 28, 2025
More info: Sequel to Sandwich
Plot
This story takes place two years after the events of Sandwich at Rocky’s family home in Massachusetts. Willa is home from college, and Rocky’s dad, now a widower, has moved in with her and Nick. When a local accident takes all of Rocky’s attention, a new obsession for her begins to unfold with Newman’s signature wit.
The Ten Year Affair
Author: Erin Somers
Genre: Literary Fiction
Release Date: October 21, 2025
Plot
This literary fiction book is for fans of the movie Sliding Doors. In it, two new parents meet at a baby class. Each is happily married but is wildly attracted to the other. As the book unfolds, we see two diverging plot lines. One in which we see them have an affair, and one in which their lives continue as they are.
The Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee
Author: Saki Kawashiro
Genre: Fiction
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Plot
Momoko is heartbroken after being dumped by the love of her life. She ends up drunk and crying in a cafe, where the manager allows her to cook up her ex’s favorite dish while telling their story. It stops her from crying and causes the manager to create the “Ex-Boyfriend’s Favorite Recipe Funeral Committee,” an unconventional group therapy.
A Wooded Shore: And Other Stories
Author: Thomas McGuane
Genre: Short Stories
Release Date: October 14, 2025
More info: Award-winning writer
Plot
In this collection of short stories, award-winning Thomas McGuane has compiled 9 stories that showcase his talents. From a story about a family boating trip to a doctor’s affair, this collection will be sure to entertain.
October 2025 Historical Fiction Book Releases
The Boleyn Traitor
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: October 14, 2025
More info: The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels #11
Plot
Finally! Philippa Gregory’s long-awaited return to the Tudor court is coming and I know Kirsten is excited about this one! This story takes us back to Anne Boleyn’s court as Jane, her sister, is examined.
The White Octopus Hotel
Author: Alexandra Bell
Genre: Historical Fantasy
Release Date: October 28, 2025
Plot
If I know Kirsten, I know she will be jumping to read this hotel novel! This dual timeline story takes place at a gorgeous hotel in the Swiss Alps when Eve Shaw, an art appraiser in 2015, meets Max Everly, who has the same name as her favorite composer who was born over 100 years before. In 1935, Eve and Max are wandering the halls ofthe hotel, falling in love.
The Last Spirits of Manhattan
Author: John A. McDermott
Genre: Historical Fiction
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Plot
Based on a true story, this historical fiction novel tells the story of a star-studded party hosted by Alfred Hitcock in a haunted house in 1956. There, Carolyn is encountering ghosts while learning about family secrets and mingling with Hollywood’s elite.
The Hong Kong Widow
Author: Kristen Loesch
Genre: Historical Fiction Horror
Release Date: October 7, 2025
Plot
In 1950s Hong Kong, Mei is chosen to compete with 5 other mediums at one of the most haunted houses in the city. She wants to refuse, but the hostess is the wife of the man who destroyed her life – and she wants revenge.
October 2025 Fantasy/ Sci-fi Books
The Everlasting
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: October 28, 2025
More info: Bestselling Author of The Starling House
Plot
Alix Harrow is back with another fantastical fantasy about a female knight, Una Everlasting, who died for her country, and a scholar centuries later who is obsessed with her story. Owen is struggling as a former soldier turned scholar, and Una’s story gives him something to be connected with – literally, when he is sent back in time and his story becomes entangled in hers.
Alchemy of Secrets
Author: Stephanie Garber
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: October 7, 2025
More info: Bestselling author of Caraval
Plot
Stephanie Garber’s highly anticipated adult debut is here, and it’s a contemporary fantasy! Holland St. James took a Folklore class with others, but while they believe the stories are just stories, Holland thinks they are real. When she goes to find the legendary Watch Man, she learns she will die in 36 hours unless she finds Alchemical Heart. With time ticking, Holland delves deeper into the magical world in the heart of LA.
Plot
Ali Hazelwood returns with the second in her paranormal romance series. In book 2, a Serena, a human-were hybrid, is alone and a target for Weres, Vampyres, AND Humans. Meanwhile, Koen is the Alpha Were who realizes he’s fated to be with Serena, despite the fact that she wants nothing to do with him… and she certainly doesn’t want his protection.
The Women of Wild Hill
Author: Kirsten Miller
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: October 7, 2025
More info: Best-selling author of The Change
Plot
I love that authors this year are writing badass women who are fighting the patriarchy. Kirsten Miller tackles that theme with this tale of modern witches on Wild Hill, Long Island, where the ghost of a witch burned at the stake stopped everyone from staying, until Sadie from Scotland. For generations, Sadie’s descendants thrived on Wild Hill as each generation’s power grew. Now, Brigid, Phoebe, and Sibyl have been called back to Wild Hill to deliver a reckoning to mankind.
The Princess Knight
Author: Cait Jacobs
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: October 14, 2025
More info: Debut Fantasy
Plot
Princess Clía is devastated when her intended, Prince Domhnall, refuses to propose, so she decides to force his hand by joining him at a military training camp. She’s determined to win his proposal by training by his side. But fellow attendee, Ronan, might just be too much of a distraction for her.
Plot
Where are the BUFFY fans? Because this book sounds like Buffy meets Golden Girls in the match-up of my dreams. When three retired Chosen Ones turned bookstore owners discover their basement might be the opening to the underworld, they might just need to come out of retirement to save the world.
Thrillers for October 2025
Plot
In this thrilling mystery, pregnant Tessa is struggling with her tantruming toddler, who is screaming “Gigi” at a stranger – a stranger who drowns overnight. Meanwhile, Barb doesn’t believe her daughter died by accident. As the two women team up to figure out what really happened, danger lurks all along the canal.
Gone Before Goodbye
Author: Reese Witherspoon and Harlan Coben
Genre: Thriller
Release Date: October 14, 2025
More info: Reese’s fiction debut
Plot
Reese and Harlan have teamed up to write a thriller novel about Maggie, an Army combat surgeon who is now without a license. On the brink of total failure, Maggie receives an offer from a former colleague who needs a skilled nurse to watch a VIP patient post-op. When the patient disappears under her care, she needs to become a fugitive until she can find the missing person.
Plot
Bestselling author Olivie Blake is back with a dark academia thriller about a sorority (The House) and what it’s members and alumni will do to succeed. Nina is a sophmore recently accepted into The House, while Sloane is get to be it’s teacher liasion – but the deeper they go into the sorority, the darker they learn that it is.
Mysteries for October 2025
Dead & Breakfast
Author: Kat Hillis & Rosiee Thor
Genre: Cozy Fantasy Mystery
Release Date: October 14, 2025
More info: Dead & Breakfast #1
Plot
Vampires Arthur and Sal just want to run their cozy B&B in peace as they blend-in with the humans in their cute town. But when the local mayor is found dead with puncture marks on his neck, they need to solve the mystery before they become suspects to a crime they didn’t commit!
The Dysfunctional Family’s Guide to Murder
Author: Kate Emery
Genre: YA Mystery
Release Date: October 21, 2025
Plot
On her family vacation, Ruth did not expect her stepgrandma to be murdered by a typewriter! With her family friend to help her, this teenager is prepared to solve a crime as good as any of her favorite mystery books.
The Secret Christmas Library
Author: Jenny Colgan
Genre: Holiday Mystery
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Plot
One of our favorite authors, Jenny Colgan, is back with a holiday story set in the Scottish Highlands! Mirren Sutherland is an antiquarian book hunter who has been hired by Jamie McPherson to find a book worth so much that it could save his crumbling estate. But his grandad was known for both collecting rare books AND being a lover of treasure hunts. Together, the duo, plus Mirren’s rival book hunter, Theo, must work to find the book!
Romance: October 2025 Book Releases
Plot
The rise of pickleball romance is not a trend I saw coming, but it doesn’t mean I’m not eager to read it! Lulu is a single parent and former tennis star who made an error that puts her job in jeopardy. She needs to relax – desperately, so she accepts an all-expenses paid pickleball vacation in Costa Rica. She immediately regrets her decision when she sees Tyler, a pro-pickleballer and her former fling.
Overdue
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Genre: Romance
Release Date: October 7, 2025
More info: Adult Debut of the Bestselling Author of Anna and the French Kiss
Plot
Ingrid, a small town librarian, has been with her boyfriend for 11 years, and they’ve never talked about marriage. When external pressure gets to them, they decide to take a one-month relationship hiatus to date other people. Until things don’t turn out the way they expected at the end of their month apart.
Plot
In this steamy small town romance, a local handyman and a celebrated former singer find love. Merritt has been hiding in her Colorado town after her disastrous public breakdown, when she develops a crush on the grumpy Niko, who has a heart of gold but is wary of a new romance.
And Then There Was The One
Author: Martha Waters
Genre: Historical Romance Mystery
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Plot
Martha Waters is known to me for her Regency era romances, but now she’s back with a romance set in 1930s in the Cotswolds – and it’s a mystery to book! I love a RomCozy! Georgiana solved four murders in a year in her community and is now known as a bit of a detective. But now there are murder tourists all over and Georgiana wants to know WHY people are getting murdered in her area. When she reaches out to a famous detective, he sends his secretary, Sebastian, to help her instead. Can she resist his charms and solve the mystery?
October 2025: Best Non-Fiction Book Releases
That’s a Great Question, I’d Love to Tell You
Author: Elyse Meyers
Genre: Memoir
Release Date: October 14, 2025
More info: Written by The Internet’s Best Friend
Plot
Elyse is known on the internet for being funny, relatable, and honest about her struggles. From being nuerodivergent to parenting, her stories connect with millions of people the world over and now she’s written a debut collection of stories and experiences from her life.
Writing Creativity and Soul
Author: Sue Monk Kidd
Genre: Nonfiction
Release Date: October 21, 2025
More info: Bestselling author of The Secret Life of Bees
Plot
Part memoir, part guide to writing, Sue Monk Kidd reflects on her journey as a writer. From her high school experience of being told women couldn’t write to her success as an acclaimed author, she teaches the lessons she’s learned along the way.
Told You So
Author: Mayci Neeley
Genre: Memoir
Release Date: October 7, 2025
More info: From the hit show, The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives
Plot
Many people know Mayci from her TikToks or hit Hulu TV show. But now you can hear from Mayci herself about growing up Mormon, her abusive relationship, her IVF journey, and how she got started on MomTok.
It Girl: The Life and Legacy of Jane Birkin
Author: Marisa Meltzer
Genre: Nonfiction
Release Date: October 7, 2025
Plot
Jane Birkin was the IT girl of the 70s – and the icon that inspired the classic Hermès Birkin bag. This biography tracks her life and rise to celebrity, exploring her home life and career in the process.
Best YA October 2025 Book Releases
A Riddle of Thorns
Author: Sarena Nanua and Sasha Nanua
Genre: YA Fantasy
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Plot
Billed as perfect for fans of Divine Rivals and The Inheritence Games (say less) this book looks prime to be a bestseller for YA fantasy fans. Sana is returning to her ancestrral home in Paris to solve her mother’s riddles and win her inheritance. There, sshe finds 3 strangers who have also been invited to try to solve the riddles and win the same prize.
Plot
When Gwen’s sister Izzy comes home from her prestigious finishing school, she’s an entirely different person – docile and eager to marry, which is not the sister Gwen knew. So Gwen decides she also needs to go Delphi School for Girls to find answers. There, she finds a library filled with books – each with the name of a graduate on the spine. Books she’s forbid to read and which she knows hold the clues to what is happenening.
Plot
Jamie is ready to head to an influencer conference for all the tips on how to manage her grandmother’s influencer account. But when she finds out a competitor granfluencer and her grandson, Ethan, are also there, she can’t seem to relax, until she realizes she need Ethan’s help.
The Leaving Room
Author: Amber McBride
Genre: YA Fantasy Romance
Release Date: October 14, 2025
More info: National Book Award Finalist
Plot
When young people die, they head to the Leaving Room where Gospel, a Keeper, is there to help guide them into the beyond. But when a second keeper appears, Gospel begins to fall for her and she’s not sure she’s allowed to love Melody. This novel takes place over just 4 minutes and is told in verse.
October 2025 Holiday Book Releases
Yours for the Season
Author: Emily Stone
Genre: Holiday Romance
Release Date: October 7, 2025
More info: Look for more by this author in Emily Stone Books Ranked
Plot
Go-to holiday romance writer, Emily Stone, is back with another heartwarming story set in Scotland! After a rough year, the last thing Melanie expects is to see her ex-boyfriend, Finn, on her doorstep begging for her help. He needs her to fake that they are still together to give his mom her perfect Christmas wish. In exchange, she gets to publicly dump him after the holiday. Will she get the ultimate revenge or will she confuse her fake feelings for real ones.
Grace & Henry’s Holiday Movie Marathon
Author: Matthew Norman
Genre: Holiday Romance
Release Date: October 14, 2025
Plot
Grace and Henry both lost their spouses shortly after the start of the new year. Now, it’s been a year, and they’ve become friends because they understand one another, despite their mother’s meddling schemes. Together, along with 2 neighborhood kids, they decide to tackle a tradition Henry had with his wife – an annual holiday movie marathon.
The Eight Heartbreaks of Hanukkah
Author: Jean Meltzer
Genre: Holiday Romance
Release Date: October 21, 2025
Plot
Evelyn is ready to spend her Hanukkah directing the live TV musical A Christmas Carol until she ends up in the on-set hospital with her ex-husband subbing for the doctor. They’ve been divorced for two-years because of her workaholic ways but now she’s hallucinating ghosts that keep bringing her back to David. Might they have a second chance at love?
Anne of Avenue A
Author: Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding
Genre: Holiday Romance
Release Date: October 28, 2025
More info: For the Love of Austen #3
Plot
Persuasion lovers rejoice! This modern retelling of Austen’s classic takes readers to Manhattan at Christmas when Anne Elliot and Freddie Wentworth are reunited after she broke his heart years ago. Imagine her shock when she finds out he’s living in her childhood home!
My Favorite Holidate
Author: Lauren Blakely
Genre: Holiday Romance
Release Date: October 7, 2025
More info: New York Times Bestselling Author
Plot
This pick from October 2025 book releases is a rerelease of a novel that Blakely self-published last holiday season, now from a major publisher. Fable places an ad for a billionaire to fake-date her for the holiday season to make her ex jealous. She’s surprised when her boss answers the ad and wants a favor in return – a plus-one for an upcoming wedding. I can’t wait for this fake-dating romance!
More October 2025 Book Releases
Expert Tip
Looking through 30 books can be daunting if you are trying to add some books to your TBR. Remember that this list is for fun. You may add books to your TBR stack and never read them. That is OK! I have two tips to help narrow down the choices for you.
- If you do not want to look through 30 descriptions, I selected a top pick from each genre. I narrowed it down for you!
- If you have a favorite genre that you like to read, head over to that section and pick from those books.
What are the most anticipated October 2025 Book Releases?
There are so many books I cannot wait to read. These are the most anticipated: Slayers of Old, Anne of Avenue A, and The Everlasting!
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Epilogue
Which October 2025 book releases are you most looking forward to reading?
