My Top 2025 Predictions for the Romance Genre
What's in, what's out, and why—with insights from other authors
Before I start pulling tarot cards for the new year, I have some quick news. I’m excited to announce that I have finally confirmed enough author events to have a dedicated events page!
Here’s where you can find me in 2025:
Feb. 6-9: San Francisco Writers Conference (San Francisco, CA). I’ll be speaking on two panels in the self-publishing track: “From Draft to Published” and “OMG I’m a Business Now!” I will also be signing books at the Sips & Stories After Dark soiree on Feb. 7, which is open to the public.
Feb. 18: Kiss & Tell Literary Salon (Alameda, CA). This free event will feature a reading and Q&A featuring yours truly, along with refreshments and mingling for romance book lovers.
Jun. 1: Bay Area Book Festival (Berkeley, CA). I’m super stoked to participate in the festival’s outdoor fair as a signing author. Come join for delicious food, live performances, and tons of bookish fun.
Jun. 20-21: Love & Devotion (Burbank, CA). I’ll be signing at this convention during the weekend of my husband’s birthday, so a massive green flag to him for supporting my author dreams.
Nov. 21-22: Love & Tech Book Fest (Santa Clara, CA). Hosted by Brittany Arreguin, whom I recently interviewed, this Silicon Valley signing will be the motivation I need to finish a Glam Fam holiday novella.
Alright, now on to the main event. I’m here to talk 2025 predictions for the romance genre.
I have a love/hate relationship with prediction content. Most of the time—at least in the corporate world—the predictions are way too generic to be useful. Or they’re heavily biased because they’re just trying to make money.
But it’s also fun to read the tea leaves on what’s to come in the months ahead. I don’t believe you can time the market as an author, but I enjoy researching the market to see if there are any overarching trends.
Making predictions is even more fun when you do it with friends. I surveyed romance authors, asking them what they expect to see more of and less of in the genre. Huge thanks to everyone who shared their thoughts!
Now, let’s get down to business. Here are my top 2025 predictions for romance readers and writers.
What’s In
1. Twilight nostalgia will reign supreme
If LEGO’s Cullen House announcement last week was an indication, Millennials are down bad for bloodsuckers. Nostalgia for “hoa hoa hoa season” has never been more apparent than with the resurgence of paranormal romance.
Ali Hazelwood’s Bride was one of the biggest releases last year, and you can see that traditional publishing is riding the wave:
Fang Fiction by Kate Stayman-London (Oct. 2024)
Fan Service by Rosie Danan (Mar. 2025)
Seas and Greetings by Julie Murphy and Sierra Simone (Jul. 2024) - not paranormal, but it pays homage to Twilight
“I think there will be more contemporary romance authors who will dabble into other genres, namely paranormal and monster. We’re in our feels about the shows we grew up with (The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf), and I think we’re gonna do something about it!” ~ Brittany Arreguin, author of Fielded Dreams
“Going into 2025, I think we are going to see more contemporary romance authors branch out into different romance genres, or even subgenres. Including many going for paranormal aspects when they've only written contemporary. This is evident with books like Fan Service by Rosie Danan, The Duplex Hex by Katie Golightly, Good Spirits by B.K. Borison, and the Sweetwater Peak novellas by Lyla Sage.” ~ Kayla Martin, author of A Thousand Sunsets
2. Romantasy isn’t going anywhere
You would think romance readers would be tired of the “A [Blank] of [Blank] and [Blank]” titles, but the appetite for romantasy knows no bounds.
In fact, I’ll be surprised if anyone cares about reading this article after the launch of Rebecca Yarros’ Onyx Storm yesterday.
Just like paranormal romance, romantic fantasy gives readers an escapist outlet when reality is bleak. I’d much rather hang out with fae lords and dragon riders these next four years than deal with the consequences of another Trump administration.
“I think we will see more romantasy for a while. Escapist fiction allows us a little rest from the demands of life. Fantasy plus romance means you can take your fae, your dragons, your elves, your griffins, your hot and exciting heroes, and your plucky and complex heroines to your favorite place to read and enjoy to your heart's content. It has been hot for a while, but I think it will continue.” ~ Carolina Montague, author of The Scarlet Oak
3. Move over Reylo—it’s the era of Dramione
Fanfiction is being reimagined like never before. After a wave of Reylo-inspired romances (based on Rey and Kylo Ren from Star Wars), the obvious new ship in town is Harry Potter’s Draco and Hermoine, aka Dramione.
What feels different this time is how fast and fervently these fics are getting pulled and reworked to publish.
Here are some of the most anticipated Dramione-inspired romances in 2025:
Rose in Chains (Jul. 2025) by Julie Soto, author of the fanfic “The Auction”
The Irresistible Urge to Fall in Love With Your Enemy (Jul. 2025) by Brigitte Knightley, author of the fanfic “Draco Malfoy and the Mortifying Ordeal of Being in Love”
Alchemised (Sep. 2025) by SenLinYu, author of the fanfic “Manacled”
While I enjoy reading fanfiction and respect it as a form of creative expression, what fanfic writers need to keep in mind is that it’s only a matter of time before a publisher gets sloppy in the pursuit of profit and flies too close to the sun, triggering a gnarly lawsuit from the creator of the original work.
Harry Potter fanfiction, in particular, is at risk of unleashing a legal quagmire. As seen with her rampant transphobia, J.K. Rowling is not above picking a fight for the hell of it. And the ones who will bear the brunt of that wrath are the fanfic writers—not the publishers that just want to make a quick buck.
I have no horse in this race—if anything, I always shipped Snape and Hermione because I am a sucker for a taboo, age-gap romance.
Author Victoria Aveyard has spoken more eloquently on the subject of reworked fanfiction, so I’ll direct you to this video of hers to better understand the nuances and caveats of this 2025 prediction.
4. Things are about to get *weird*
Between the “hear me out” cake trend on TikTok and the virality of romance authors like C.M. Nascosta and Vera Valentine, readers are getting horny on main, and nothing is off-limits.
As young women become more empowered and young men become more radicalized as a reaction to that empowerment, I predict that more romances won’t feature human men at all.
I anticipate that more monster and sentient object romances will go mainstream in 2025, especially to combat the rising conservatism and censorship in the U.S. We’re giving the middle finger to book banners everywhere and saying they can take our minotaur and balloon animal smut out of our cold, dead hands.
“More people are writing the stories they want to tell in defiance of the repression we're seeing in Project 2025 and beyond. That said, I think we'll see more repression and censorship too.” ~ Katta Kis, author of Love at the Rock Show
“If Nosferatu's popularity taught us anything, it's that audiences are ready for more monstrous peen. I predict it will just get weirder, wilder, and more adventurous this year than we've seen in the monster romance genre thus far. I also think romance will get gayer and louder in response to growing conservatism in the U.S.” ~ Kel Bruem, author of Never Gonna Dig You Up
“We may see major changes because of the election, but I don’t think it will be reflected in trad.” ~ R.L. Merrill, author of Sundowners
What’s Out
1. The hockey romance bubble will burst
Considering how many readers I’ve seen online asking for sports romance recommendations that aren’t about hockey, it’s safe to say that this trend is on the decline. We may have reached a limit on “pucking” puns, at least for now.
Romance readers are always looking to dive into new worlds and experiences, so I predict a higher appetite for adventure sports and adrenaline junkies—especially when women are put in the driver’s seat.
“I think the hockey romance bubble will eventually pop, and we’ll see the sports romance industry be less dominated by hockey romances and more of Formula 1.” ~ Brittany Arreguin, author of Fielded Dreams
“I think after the push women in sports got in 2024, we will get a lot of female athlete representation! Sport romances that are both accurate and in-depth to the sport but also offer women being involved in the sport, whether that's coaching, managing or playing!” ~ Meg Jones, author of Clean Point
2. More historical romance authors will go indie
As much as it pains me to make this prediction, the writing is on the wall:
Sarah MacLean is expanding into contemporary this year with These Summer Storms
Harper St. George announced that Berkley isn’t offering her another contract
Joanna Shupe declared that historical romance “needs a rebrand stat”
It’s clear that histrom authors must adapt or risk getting left behind. And that means more will be pivoting into other romance subgenres or going indie.
Author Alexandria Bellefluer conducted a fascinating survey about why readers aren’t falling head over heels for histrom, despite the popularity of Bridgerton on Netflix. The TL;DR is the perception that historical romance is slow, stuffy, and old-school.
This is obviously not the case! But bias is hard to combat, and I hope histrom authors can reach more readers and continue to uphold such an important pillar in romance.
“This one hurts me, but historical romances. I've been making an effort to read way more of it, but I also get that it's not everyone's cup of tea, and with the way that a lot more writers are going indie, I fear people might not discover them the same way, and we'll get less and less.” ~ Gissane Sophia, author of A Certain Step
3. Rom-com marketing will hit a wall
The chick-lit era of the early aughts walked so today’s rom-com era could run. But I believe we’ve hit peak saturation—and this time, the blame is on overzealous marketing departments.
There are wayyyyy too many so-called “rom-coms” out there that barely garner a chuckle. I’ve complained before about women’s fiction being marketed as romance, and the result when everything is called a rom-com is that the term loses all meaning.
There is absolutely no shame in categorizing books as contemporary romances, and I urge publishers to stop overpromising and underdelivering on the comedy in romantic comedy. If they don’t meet reader expectations, they can expect those readers to bail.
“I've sadly heard we'll be seeing less contemporary romantic comedies. I hope this isn't true! The idea is supposedly the market became oversaturated with the contemp romcom […] Publishers acquired and acquired, and they have enough for 2025 and 2026. But who knows what is true and what is speculation.” ~ Taleen Voskuni, author of Sorry, Bro
What We Wish 2025 Would Bring
Predictions are about what is likely to happen—not necessarily what we want to happen.
So, to wrap up this post, here is a shortlist of what authors are hoping to see more of in romance books this year:
Genre mashups
Unlikable heroines
Softer men
Older protagonists
Interracial relationships
Sapphic and bisexual characters
Diversity in family structures
Childfree couples
Mental health and disability representation
Ethical wealth and consumption
“I think we’ll see a boom in romance comparable to the one we saw in 2020. People need an escape, and there’s no better place to find it than in a story with a guaranteed HEA.” ~ Lindsay Hameroff, author of Never Planned on You
“I hope that seasoned writers and debut authors don't lose hope. Right now it feels like everyone is working against us, trying to suppress our voices and ban our books. But don't let that stop you from writing your story, because you never know who is going to connect to it and need to hear your words. After all, everyone book is someone's favorite.” ~ Kayla Martin, author of A Thousand Sunsets
“I've had the privilege to read several of the 2025 debuts, and they are STELLAR. It's going to be a great year for romance.” ~ Gina Banks, romance writer
What do you think of these predictions? Do you agree or disagree, and why? What others would you add to the list? Sound off in the comments below.
Your Moment of Sunshine ☀️
Every month, I share the things I loved most to bring a ray of warmth wherever you are.
Reading 📖
Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas
2025 is quickly devolving into chaos, but at least I started this year with a 5-star read. Even before I noticed historical romance on the decline in traditional publishing, I set a goal to read more of it. And you can’t talk about histrom without bringing up Lisa Kleypas.
Devil in Winter is my first Kleypas novel and certainly not my last. Sebastian St. Vincent has one of the most satisfying redemption arcs I’ve seen in a long while. He goes from being a selfish, vain prick to a leading man worth rooting for.
Just a heads up that this story contains some dubious consent in the beginning, but if you’re willing to give a reformed rake a chance, then you’re in for a hell of a good time.
Watching 🍿
Rivals on Hulu and Disney+
Dear reader, I made a grave mistake: I shared my top reads & watches of 2024 with 13 days remaining in the year. I didn’t expect to consume any media that would have made the cut in that time, but I was very, very wrong.
Rivals is, hands down, the best show I’ve seen since Succession—and that’s saying something. It has everything I could possibly ask for: gorgeous men with accents, rich people problems, and an age-gap romance for the ages.
I plan on writing a whole essay on why this show checks off all my boxes, but until then, you neeedddd to watch it. It’s campy, it’s raunchy, it’s romantic AF—it’s perfect.
Listening 🎧
Bad Omens
Of all the things I love about BookTok, at the top of the list is discovering what I call “slutty rock bands” like Bad Omens.
They’re most famous for their sultry song, “THE DEATH OF PEACE OF MIND,” which served as the soundtrack to so many dark romance thirst traps.
But my favorite has to be “Limits” with its badass chorus:
If you're throwing me to the lions
You should know I'm not scared of dying
I wouldn't take back one thing I did, one word I said
But I'm gonna make you wish you did
What else should I be reading, watching, and listening to? Leave your recommendations in the comments!
This list feels pretty spot on. And yes please to older protags!
"We’re giving the middle finger to book banners everywhere and saying they can take our minotaur and balloon animal smut out of our cold, dead hands." LOL... you're not holding back, Alyssa! What a fun and fascinating list. BRIDE has been on my radar, might have to make 2025 the year!