tales of Suchita

I love reading about love and love stories are my favourite things to read. I think I read at least five to seven every month. So, here are some of my favourite love stories from 2025.

1. #1: Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun
2. #2: When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley
3. #3: The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells
4. #4: Heated Rivalry & The Long Game by Rachel Reid
5. #5: The Darkness Outside Us and The Brightness Between Us by Eliot Schrefer

#1: Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun

Trope: Ex-friends to Lovers
Pairing: FF
Spice: maybe 2 mirchi?

Logan and Rosemary are high school teachers who don’t like each other, even though they were friends as teenagers. On the surface, they have nothing in common apart from a teacher who made them feel like they belonged as kids.

So when this teacher expresses his dying wish of going on a road trip, the two of them move heaven and earth to fulfill his wish.

Through the road trip, we get glimpses of their friendship, why it ended, how that informed their choices and who they are as adults.

This book made me cry especially because it celebrates the importance of good teachers.

#2: When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley

Trope: Strangers to Lovers
Pairing: MM
Spice: no mirchi

I don’t know how to talk about this book, honestly. The language was gorgeous and it had a dreamy folktale quality to it that I adored.

The story is about a Puerto Rican young man who finds himself in New York because his grandmother told him it’s the promised land and anything is possible.

Though he’s a skilled blacksmith, his skin colour is just brown enough for people to be uncomfortable by his presence. He gets roped into kidnapping a merman for a show.

What happens next is exquisite.

#3: The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells

Trope: Strangers to Lovers
Pairing: MF
Spice: no mirchi

Moon, our protagonist is a Raksura, which is a made-up name of a creature that is half dragon and half human. I really enjoyed how the books (its a series) dives into Raksuran culture, how they live, and how they don’t believe in monogamy or marriage or gender-specific pairings. Which made the reading experience a breath of fresh air.

Moon is a solitary and he thinks he is the last Raksura until he runs into one of his own kind. Stone takes him to his nest and well adventures ensue.

Moon suddenly has people who rely on him, like him and go after him when he is in trouble. As a lone Raksura in the wild, he is so used to being hyper-independent, he doesn’t know what to do with all the love he receives.

Something about Moon made my heart ache in the best of ways.

#4: Heated Rivalry & The Long Game by Rachel Reid

Trope: Rivals to Lovers
Pairing: MM
Spice: all the mirchi (seriously, so much mirchi)

Ugh I have been obsessing over these two books, these two characters and the show that is going to air in November for almost all of October. Suffice to say, I am now an expert on ice hockey and yearning.

What to say about this book? There is Ilya who is Russian and in America to play a sport he loves. He wears his heart on his sleeves and wishes he could hide how much he likes Shane behind his caustic humour and monosyllabic answers. There is Shane who is a golden-retriever but is so high strung and has put so much pressure on himself to play the sport he loves, the only time he seems to be able to breathe or relax is when he is with Ilya.

If you don’t mind spice, please read this!

#5: The Darkness Outside Us and The Brightness Between Us by Eliot Schrefer

Trope: Strangers to Lovers
Pairing: MM
Spice: no mirchi

Let me just say, I loved these books. For a change, the Goodreads review actually prepared me for it because most of them say: it’s not what you expect from the cover or the blurb and they’re so right.

The book starts with a simple premise. We have two space farers from opposing countries who have been handpicked to make their way to Titan, Jupiter’s moon, to rescue another space farer. But what gets revealed as you read is…stunning.

I absolutely do not know how to talk about this book without spoiling it so I’m just going to tell you to please, go read it.

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Now over to you, recommend some swoon-worthy love stories to me – genre and spice-level no bar.

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This is written as part of #BlogchatterHalfMarathon