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0 For fans of Caribbean literature, there’s nothing quite like the anticipation of a new literary season. To help you stay ahead of the curve, we’ve curated a list of the most highly anticipated Caribbean releases set to debut in 2025. Whether you’re a seasoned fan of Caribbean literature or just beginning your journey, these upcoming titles are sure to add diversity to your TBR stack. And yes, the links included may earn a small commission—but they’re also a great way to directly support these talented authors. So, let’s dive into what’s shaping up to be an exciting literary year!
North by Ann Michelle Harris | January 6, 2025 (Jamaica)
A boy who can heal from any injury is destined for a lot of suffering. Kai is orphaned and illegally trapped in slavery. As someone who’ s lost everything, nothing is as annoying as the spoiled rich girl who walks into the path of his crossbow when he’ s trying to hunt. A girl with a murdered father and absent mother has a lot to deal with, especially when Cara is a princess whose uncle wants to trap her in a political marriage. But Cara is a fierce warrior determined to prove her worth as she helps her kingdom defend continuing attacks from the North. Kai’ s sharp weapons skills and rapid healing power make him just the fighter Cara needs. In the beautiful South Kingdom, Kai’ s chance encounter with the royal children leads to a very different kind of fairy tale. Life at the palace means danger, prejudice, and political intrigue. But when Kai suddenly disappears, will Cara risk everything to save Kai, and her kingdom, from the queen of the North?
The Starlight Heir by Amalie Howard | January 7, 2025 (Trinidad and Tobago)
When Suraya Saab receives a gold-dusted court invitation from King Zarek, she thinks it’s a joke. As a skilled bladesmith who uses precious jadu, she’s unprepared for an adventure in the capital city her late mother loved. Upon arrival in Kaldari, she faces unexpected danger. It’s not the crown prince but his illegitimate half-brother, Roshan, who intrigues her. The invitation hides a hunt for the Starkeeper, a girl with star magic in her blood. As unrest brews and rebels attack, Suraya and Roshan must navigate secrets, simmering attraction, and a dark god’s interest. Will they survive and embrace their destiny?
Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis Kindle Edition by Tao Leigh Goffe | January 21, 2025 (Jamaica)
Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis by Tao Leigh Goffe is a groundbreaking investigation into the Caribbean’s history as both an idyllic paradise and a site of Western exploitation. Goffe explores how the legacy of slavery, indentured labor, and forced toil of Chinese and enslaved Black people shaped the islands’ ecologies and contributed to the climate crisis. The book challenges entrenched imperialist thinking and offers solutions based on island ecologies.
Danilo Was Here by Tamika Burgess | January 21, 2025
Danilo Osorio Jr. was once the pride of El Chorrillo, Panamá, until 1989’s Operation Just Cause left his neighbourhood in ruins and his father gone. Now focused on keeping his family safe, baseball is the last thing on his mind—until a recruiter offers him a chance to train in California, where his father was last seen. With his family’s future at stake, Danilo heads to the U.S., navigating a tough coach, fierce teammates, and culture shock. As the pressure builds, he must decide what—and who—he’s really fighting for. A story of resilience, family, and second chances, this is a journey you won’t forget.
Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson | January 28, 2025 (Jamaica)
When ten-year-old Ebby Freeman heard the gunshot, her world stopped. Finding her brother, Baz, lifeless amid the shattered remnants of a centuries-old family heirloom, her life was forever changed. The crime was never solved, leaving her family to bear the weight of unanswered questions and relentless public scrutiny as one of the only Black families in an affluent New England enclave. Eighteen years later, after a high-profile breakup thrusts her back into the spotlight, Ebby flees to France in search of solace. But the past follows her, leading her to reflect not only on her brother’s tragic death but also on the loss of the ancestral stoneware jar, a symbol of her family’s resilience. In Charmaine Wilkerson’s evocative novel, Ebby uncovers the jar’s hidden secrets, weaving together her family’s history with her own future in a poignant exploration of legacy, identity, and the power of reconciliation.
Buy: Hardcover, Paperback, E-book
This Ends In Embers by Kamilah Cole | February 4, 2024 (Jamaica)
Faron Vincent was once the saint of San Irie. Now, she’s done the unthinkable: betrayed her country. Alone, disgraced, and kidnapped, Faron is forced to help Iya grow his bloody empire. With her soul bonded to a ruthless killer, Faron has become an enemy to her people… and she fears they might be right. Elara Vincent—the new Empyrean—must undo the damage her sister has caused. San Irie has been brought back to the brink of war as Iya proclaims no nation will be safe from his brutal invasion. But how can Elara save her sister, her best friend, her country, and her world when she’s already cracking under the pressure? This heart-pounding conclusion to the Divine Traitors duology pushes these unforgettable heroines to their breaking point and beyond. Because when the lines between hero and villain are blurred, deadly sacrifices must be made.
Ibis by Justin Haynes | February 11 2025 (Trinidad and Tobago)
Ibis by Justin Haynes is a captivating novel set in the Caribbean, weaving a tale of migration, superstition, and family. In the small village of New Felicity, Milagros, an 11-year-old Venezuelan refugee, encounters bad luck and supernatural events after the death of a local witch. As an American journalist’s arrival stirs the village, superstitious fishermen take drastic measures. The novel spans from the town’s days as a sugar plantation to Milagros’s adulthood, highlighting the migrant crisis and exploring the bonds between mothers and daughters. With vivid language and a powerful voice, it examines how our origins shape who we become.
A House For Miss Pauline by Diana McCaulay | February 25, 2025 (Jamaica)
A House for Miss Pauline centers on a fierce 99-year-old Jamaican heroine navigating her past and the land that shaped her identity. When the stones of her home whisper secrets, Pauline Sinclair knows she must confront buried truths before her 100th birthday. From building her house on former plantation ruins to hiding the truth about a missing American man, Pauline’s life is rich with resilience, loss, and secrets. With help from her American granddaughter and a tech-savvy local teen, she seeks redemption while uncovering even deeper mysteries. Lyrical, funny, and profound, this novel weaves Jamaica’s beauty and history into a timely tale of identity, colonialism, and legacy.
Beyond the Watershed by Nadia Alexis | March 4, 2025 (Haiti)
A hybrid collection of poetry and photography, Beyond the Watershed explores the various experiences of a Haitian American daughter and her Haitian immigrant mother. Nadia Alexis crafts a moving portrayal of generational trauma, domestic violence, survival, and reclamation, using stunning imagery drawing from the body, spirit, nature, and cityscapes. Alexis traces journeys to break free–documenting pain, making space for light, becoming a reckoning, connecting with spirit, and writing oneself into new seasons of safe waters, healthy love, and transformation.
Buy: Paperback
A Girl Within A Girl Within A Girl by Nanda Reddy | March 4, 2025 (Guyana)
Maya’s perfect life in suburban Atlanta shatters when her husband asks: Who is Sunny? The question—and a letter from her long-lost sister—forces Maya to confront a buried past in Guyana, where Sunny was her only name. As her carefully crafted identity unravels, Maya relives her harrowing journey to America, the abuse she endured, and her fight to survive and reinvent herself. From Guyana’s sugar fields to Miami’s immigrant communities and Atlanta’s affluent suburbs, this powerful debut explores identity, resilience, and the price of keeping secrets.
Buy: Hardcover, Paperback, E-book
Vanishing Daughters by Cynthia Pelayo | March 11, 2025
After her mother’s death in their eerie Chicago mansion, journalist Briar Thorne is plagued by haunting visions and sleepless nights. When a serial killer terrorizing the city claims his 51st victim, Bri discovers her nightmares may hold the key to stopping him. Guided by a mysterious stranger, she must confront the ghosts of her past and the killer hunting her down. From a Bram Stoker Award–winning author, this gripping tale blends supernatural suspense with chilling real-world terror. Will Bri uncover the truth in time, or become the next victim?
ager At Midnight by Vanessa Riley | March 25, 2025 (Trinidad and Tobago)
In this captivating Regency romance by award-winning author Vanessa Riley, a clever duke wagers for a second chance with the widowed Viscountess he loves: he must find suitable husbands for her two sisters—or live forever longing. Scarlett Wilcox, determined to remain a spinster to pursue her medical research, dresses as a man to attend Royal Academy lectures. When unmasked, she’s rescued by Trinidadian physician Stephen Carew, who poses as her cousin. Despite his disdain for privileged women, Stephen finds Scarlett anything but frivolous. As marriage pressures mount, their undeniable chemistry tests their hearts and intellects in A Wager at Midnight.
Before Dawn (Timeless Love Book 2) by Jada West | March 30, 2025 (Jamaica)
After leaving San Francisco and its suffocating memories behind, Abigail-Ann Asher moves to the city that never sleeps, hoping to find herself. But the ghosts of her past linger, whispering she’ll never be enough. Then she meets Mikkel Suarez—charismatic, older, and untouchable. His confidence is intoxicating, and the magnetic pull between them is undeniable. Mikkel’s life was orderly and predictable until Abigail disrupted it with her fiery spirit and hidden vulnerability. He’s determined to prove that she belongs in his world—and in his heart. Can two souls scarred by the past find the courage to embrace the future together, or will fear keep them apart?
Buy: E-book
The Book of Possibilities by Bee Quammie | April 2025 (Jamaica)
Bee Quammie, a successful Black woman in media, challenges the idea of being a role model. Instead, she embraces being a “possibility model,” showing others the limitless opportunities life offers. In The Book of Possibilities, Bee shares how courage and self-awareness can unlock a fulfilling, unconventional path for anyone.
A Summer To Start Over by Sera Taíno | April 29, 2025
Single mom Indya Linares has always been Ms. Independent—especially when her family’s hurricane-ravaged resort is at stake. But when Indya’s boat breaks down at sea, she’s forced to accept help from a handsome stranger who immediately makes her heart beat faster. Who would have imagined that he’s also her stubborn mother’s pick for a new facilities manager extraordinaire? After Santiago Pereira left Venezuela to begin again in Soledad Bay, he’s got something to prove to his family…and a mission to bring his daughter back to him. But when Santi just can’t stop thinking about his new boss, will hospitality take on a new meaning for them both?
The Possibility of Tenderness: A Jamaican memoir of plants and dreams by Jason Allen-Paisant (Jamaica)
The Possibility of Tenderness is a personal and people’s history narrated through the lens of ‘grung’ and plants. It chronicles a young Jamaican scholar’s migration to Britain, exploring class aspirations and new ways of living inspired by his native Coffee Grove. The book weaves local and global histories, revealing the interconnectedness of a rural Jamaican village and modern Britain. Central figures like the author’s grandmother and local herbalists paint an intimate portrait of Coffee Grove, highlighting themes of land, leisure, and the transformative power of plants.
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When The Tides Held The Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley | April 29, 2025
In 1910s New York, orphaned blacksmith Benny Caldera’s iron tank for Coney Island’s Luna Park astonishes everyone, earning him a place among the performers. But the tank holds a living merman, Río, who captivates Benny’s heart. Torn between love and loyalty, Benny must find the strength to free them both.
he’s An Anchor- Tember Sapphire | May 25, 2025
Imagine this: Alexandre Pierre, the irresistible exotic dancer from my sister’s bachelorette party and my unforgettable one-night stand, suddenly reappears years later—right when I’m facing the biggest competition of my career. But there’s a twist: he’s coaching my rival. Our undeniable chemistry is back, but so are complications. With a secret that could change everything, can we make it work, or will our past and opposing sides keep us apart?
Buy: E-book
long Came Amor- Alexis Daria | May 27, 2025
After Ava Rodriguez’s ex-husband leaves to “follow his dreams,” she’s ready for a carefree, no-strings fling. Enter Roman Vasquez, a driven hotelier who’s perfect for a one-night stand. But when their connection deepens and he appears at her cousin’s engagement party, Ava must rethink her no-love rule.
Wild Life by Victoria Woods | May 27, 2025
Wild Life is a sizzling, laugh-out-loud contemporary romance where Tarzan meets a sharp-tongued, sarcastic bat scientist. Stranded on a deserted tropical island, a grumpy, mysterious jungle-dweller and a fierce, paranoid bat biologist must navigate their explosive chemistry and witty banter. With enemies-to-lovers tension and plenty of on-page spice, opposites attract in the wildest ways.
Buy: E-book
Love Forms by Claire Adam | July 29, 2025 (Trinidad and Tobago)
For much of her life, Dawn has felt as if something had been missing. Now, at the age of fifty-eight, with a divorce behind her and her two grown-up sons busy with their own lives, she should be trying to settle into a new future for herself. But she keeps returning to the past and to the secret she’s kept all these years. At just sixteen, Dawn found herself pregnant, and—as was common in Trinidad back then—her parents sent her away to have the baby and give her up for adoption. More than forty years later, Dawn yearns to reconnect with her lost daughter. But tracking down her child is not as easy as she had thought. It’s an emotional journey that leads Dawn to retrace her steps back home and to question not only that fateful decision she’d made as a teenager but every turn in the road of her life since.
Love Forms is a powerfully moving story of a woman in search of herself—a novel that rings with heartfelt empathy through the passages of a mother’s life, depicting the enduring bonds of love, family, and home.
Gabriela and His Grace (The Luna Sisters Book 3) Kindle Edition by Liana De la Rosa | August 26, 2025
Gabriela Luna Valdés has always been the firebrand of the Luna family, the youngest daughter with an unquenchable thirst for freedom. Determined to escape her father’s relentless expectations and a sea of hapless British suitors, Gabriela embarks on a windswept journey back to her homeland, Mexico. But even on the open sea, she can’t outrun the weight of tradition—or her refusal to settle for a “proper” husband. Enter Sebastian Brooks, the enigmatic Duke of Whitfield, who is also on this voyage of last chances. For Sebastian, the trip represents an opportunity to salvage his family’s failing estate and replenish their coffers. Yet, his focus is quickly tested by Gabriela’s quick wit, fierce spirit, and undeniable allure. As their paths collide on the high seas, adventure and passion ignite. Will their shared journey lead to a partnership that defies expectation, or will duty and desire tear them apart?
Just in case you missed it, our 2025 list of Caribbean Romance Authors to read is here. If you are an author with a release coming in 2025, email us at pr[at]thekaribbeankollective[dot]com.
[…] What better way to embrace the season than with a few perfect holiday reads? We put out a call for 2025 Caribbean author releases and received an exciting lineup of books to look forward to in 2025. But the festive cheer doesn’t […]