6 YA Worlds to Explore This Season

18 Dec 2025

6 YA Worlds to Explore This Season

From enchanted realms to high-stakes quests and swoon-worthy romance, these six YA reads offer the perfect escape for winter evenings and holiday downtime.

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The City of Arches (The Sitnalta Series Book 3)

by Alisse Lee Goldenberg

Release Date: December 12

After the explosive events of The Kingdom Thief, Sitnalta accidentally unearths a long-buried connection to the wizard Kralc. Upon discovering this dangerous secret, the truth about the Princess’s connection to the magical coin, her mother’s past, and a doomed love affair may finally come to light.

Buy on Amazon

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Anchors & Alibis

by Emily Bellford

Release Date: December 8

I promised Brooke I’d keep my celebrity influencer life on lockdown. No cameras. No drama. No posts. Her wedding is private, otherwise her in-laws could cancel everything. The only thing more terrifying than a tabloid leak is failing the food bank match I fought for. My career rides on total secrecy, while a gossip account starts circling like a hungry gull.

Buy on Amazon

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Cloaks and Daggers

by Jeanne Roland

Release Date: December 15

When Fiora di Rossi’s father, Alessandro, falls ill, she’s thrust into a position she never wanted. She must serve as the temporary head of her father’s rapier fencing academy, the Cloaks, and watch over her irresponsible brother, Giovanni.

Buy on Amazon

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I Don’t Need Your Romance (Harrington Bay Academy Book 3)

by Emma Dalton

Release Date: November 18

I Don’t Need Your Romance is the third book in the Harrington Bay Academy series. If you like sweet YA romances that make you swoon, laugh, and cry, this book is for you!

Buy on Amazon

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Crowntide

by Alex Aster

Release Date: December 2

Isla Crown has charted a new destiny and leapt into the unknown, determined to defeat her insidious ancestor, Lark, no matter the cost. But Skyshade is nothing like she anticipated, and she’ll have to use all of her skills just to survive, let alone end Lark for good.

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Persephone’s Curse

by Katrina Leno

Release Date: December 2

Are the four Farthing sisters really descended from Persephone? This is what their aunt has always told them: that the women in their family can trace their lineage right back to the Goddess of the Dead. And maybe she’s right, because the Farthing girls do have a ghost in the attic of their New York City brownstone —a kind and gentle ghost named Henry, who only they can see.

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