Hi <3
I love wrapping up this way at the end of the year, but this newsletter will be lengthy, so I’m going to get straight to it.
7 Fav books of 2025 in no particular order:
This was hard. I read so many amazing books this year. But if I have to pick-
Shield of Sparrows by Devney Perry. I aspire to write a fantasy book like this some day. Top 5 Romantasies for me of all time, I think. The yearning between the MCs, the slowww burn, the monsters and the world building, the FMC. I just love her. I already want to reread and I hardly ever reread books.
One Summer in Savannah by Terah Shelton Harris is raw and moving. One of the best books I’ve ever read. It’s not a romance, but it is a love story about finding your way back to yourself after trauma, and making decisions that feel impossible but that’ll allow you to open yourself up to love in its many forms.
Left of Forever by Tarah DeWitt. Tender, funny, very sexy. I love a second chance romance and think about Ellis and Wren finding their way back to each other all the time. This is my fav book of Tarah’s so far. Though, I have a feeling Lost and Found might beat it next year.
August Lane by Regina Black. Woof. This is not your typical romance. I say that in the best way possible. Regina’s characters feel as real as you and me. She’s a master at craft and this book has dual pov and timeline + narration through a secondary character with gorgeous prose.
These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean was so fun. It was like the adult version of The Inheritance Games and I loved every moment of it. Suspenseful, beautifully written, sexy, and with a complicated family you end up rooting for by the end.
Phantasma by Kaylie Smith. This was giving if Squid Games was a romantasy book with lots of spice and a morally gray MMC that made me giggle and kick my feet. This was also the first time I read OCD with intrusive thoughts in fiction and it made me feel seen.
I, Medusa by Ayana Gray was one of the best retellings I’ve ever read. It was fast paced, interesting the whole way through, a compelling take on Medusa’s lore that I fully believed in while reading. I loved it so much.
7 Songs:
A Couple Minutes by Olivia Dean. This is my top song of the year. Ugh. I listen to it so much my teens are sick of me. I had a break up back in February and I feel like my listening year reflected that haha.
Lovers by Anna of the North. An old fav that came back strong. It always lights me up. Makes me want to dance and sing and maybe get back on the dating apps (LOL not enough but still…)
Dress by T-Swift. My renewed obsession with this was because of Conrad and Belly from TSITP but it also makes me think of Laniah and Issac from A Love Like the Sun. If you’ve read it, there’s a scene when Laniah buys a dress for Issac and he later helps her out of it… so yeah.
DtMF by Bad Bunny. This whole album was perfection, but I love that this song is about capturing memories of loved ones and moments through photographs.
Baby Steps by Olivia Dean (I’m obsessed with her). This one has helped me write my current romance novel, which features a FMC who has kids and is in the midst of divorce.
Luther by Kendrick feat Sza. Kendrick’s whole latest album was incredible, but this is the one for me. And including Sza? Perfection.
Back to Friends by Sombr. My achy heart. I imagine Olivia Jones from The Bridge Back to You playing this on repeat while working in the kitchen with Carmello Rodriguez, thinking he’s feeling nothing for her while he’s feeling absolutely everything.
7 Shows/films:
Sinners. It’s the type of movie that gets better with each watch because you find new things to analyze, but that first one in the theater was so powerful.
The Summer I Turned Pretty. Like every year before it. But I really think that Jenny Han did something special and masterful with these last episodes & I can’t wait for the movie.
Doc. I don’t know why, but I just love this. Even with all of its corny moments, it feels refreshing?
20th Century Girl. I knew I’d be absolutely gutted, but I didn’t know I’d cry myself to sleep. One of the best films I’ve ever watched. Though, I don’t know that my heart can handle watching it again so soon. But please put it on your list!
I didn’t watch a lot of new anime this year and instead leaned on my all time comfort which is Fruits Basket.
Heated Rivalry. As a writer, I loved reading a breakdown by author Adriana Herrera (you can find this on threads) where she uses a workshop by Jennifer Lynn Barnes who lists 5 elements that make media a hit. This thread can explain the addicting quality of HR better than I can, but I’m just gonna say Gahhh. Happy we get a season 2, sad we have to wait.
I love them all sm. Kip and Scott in episode 3. Ilya and Shane every single scene lol. The friendship between Shane and Hayden and the wonderful, supportive women in Shane and Ilya’s lives. I love the ease of the time skips in this show. That we can have the yearning and the explicit sex and we don’t have to sacrifice one for the other. And as a cinematography nerd: it’s all shot so beautifully. Episode 5 for instance: the lightning during Ilya’s phone call confession scene, the tight shots and the way the camera pans on Shane’s face when he’s closing his eyes and feeling words he doesn’t understand. Maybe I’ll write a whole newsletter on the cinematography if anyone’s interested. Anyway, episode 5 was a masterpiece, and I’m already at the cottage waiting.
Stranger Things. That scene with Will at the end of Sorcerer/ Episode 4?
One of the best moments in TV history imo. Mostly because of the build up since season 1. I love my boy and all of them. And I’m so sick of hearing people talk about these kids dying. I just don’t want to live in a real world where our fictional main 5 don’t get to live a happy, peaceful life together after all of this. (And with Max being there to talk shit and with Steve being there to watch over them. Ok. I just hope no one dies. Call me soft idc.)
Miscellaneous-
Outfits:
I did the 75 day style challenge with some author friends and it was so damn difficult to get dressed everyday for 75. Especially that time of the month. I think I made it through 65 days, which I call a win. I’m also an outfit repeater with no shame.
Foods/drink: coconut shrimp curry, Korean fried chicken sandwich, homemade Portuguese soup, spicy Shin ramen haha (I’m a huge ramen girl but didn’t do a lot of restaurants), shepherds pie, boxed yellow or chocolate cake, banana bread from Cafe Ava, and making my own iced vanilla chai with cold foam>
Sky pic:
Photo of Zara smiling:
New favs for annotating books:
& a few moments from the last third of the year because the rest of it was rough:
riding the train to Salem with my besties and our babies, bullshitting in Chili’s with my guy friends and my other bestie, walking through downtown Providence at night with my teenagers, spending a week with my momma after her surgery, receiving the The Bridge Back to You arc in the mail, watching my youngest play Annabeth in Percy Jackson (she’s so talented), putting pink dye in my oldest’s hair, watching our bunnies Casper and Michael bond after we were scared it would never happen, the magic of that first snow of the season, & the moment that I fully realized I am healing and happy after a traumatic 8 months.
Ok, that is all. Let me know if we have any favorite things in common this year or some on your list.
Happy holidays!
Xo, Riss
ps: want to make my day and have a book for your 2026 tbr?
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