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I set out to put together a list of new books out in June that complete 2025 Read Harder Challenge tasks, but I kept coming back to just one task: Read a genre-blending book. It turns out, there are lots of great genre-blending books out this month, so I decided to focus on them. Romance, especially, is a heavy hitter when it comes to genre-blending books: is there any genre we can’t add a love story to?
Whether you’re looking for something that mixes mystery and romance, sci-fi and horror, spy thriller and romance, or literary and paranormal, I have the new releases for you.
Alice Chen’s Reality Check by Kara Loo and Jennifer Young (Mystery + Romance)
The murder mystery rom-com is apparently here to stay, because this isn’t the only one out this month. In this one, Alice goes on a reality show with her fiancé, but gets broken up with just a couple of weeks in. When she and her high school rival (who is also newly single) decide to fake date to get through the rest of the show, they don’t expect they’ll also have to solve a murder mystery when a dead body is found on set. Nothing like a shared goal to bring out those feelings! —Jessica Pryde
Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove (Sci-Fi + Horror)
Vampires! In! Space! In this queer sci-fi horror, humans can travel between Earth and Alpha Centauri, and Demeter is one of the spaceships that makes the journey. But when Demeter’s passengers start dying mysteriously, Demeter discovers the cause: a vampire. To stop the killings and keep from being shut down, Demeter has to put together her own monster squad to try to take down Dracula, the most powerful vampire of all time. —Liberty Hardy
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The Ghosts of Gwendolyn Montgomery by Clarence A. Haynes (Urban Fantasy + Horror + Romance)
NYC publicist Gwendolyn Montgomery is at the top of her game when a terrible event shakes her life. After a horrific event at a museum, Gwendolyn begins to suspect that it has ties to her past. This brings South Bronx psychic Fonsi Harewood back into her orbit. Fonsi is dealing with a love triangle between himself, a ghost, and his ex. But he still manages to warn Gwendolyn that the line between the living and the dead is growing weak, and she needs to face her past if she wants to secure the future. —Liberty Hardy
Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon by Annie Mare (Sci-Fi + Romance)
When I read Remember Me Tomorrow by Farah Heron, I thought the one thing that would improve it would be if it were queer, so I’m glad to pick up a book with a similar premise—especially written by the person who once wrote as Mary Ann Rivers! The Story Guy, amirite? (Sigh.)
Anyway, Tressa Fay leads a pretty unremarkable life, until a wrong number text leads to an exchange with Meryl. They decide to meet up, but Meryl never shows. She couldn’t have: she’s been missing for a month. Turns out they’ve been texting five months apart from each other. So Tressa Fay and her friends, with the knowledge they have, try to help Meryl not go missing. —Jessica Pryde
Meet Me at the Crossroads by Megan Giddings (Literary Fiction + Paranormal)
Everyone has different reactions when suddenly, all across the world, seven doors open up portals to another world. It’s a world that seems like a beautiful paradise. But what’s the catch? For twin sisters Ayanna and Olivia, the world beyond means different things, but for each, it offers a chance for exploration. Then one of the sisters goes missing, and it soon becomes clear that the world beyond is filled with danger. —Emily Martin
I Think I’m In Love With an Alien by Ann Aguirre (Sci-Fi + Romance)
Do you need anything to put this on your list besides the title and the author? This isn’t Ann Aguirre’s first foray into alien romance (if you haven’t read Strange Love, you MUST!), but it seems to be even quirkier than the last ones. Seeker is stranded on Earth, and a little hopeless about being able to make his way off again. But he’s made a lot of friends online, and is looking forward to meeting some of them (okay, one in particular) at Space Con. Jennette has been obsessed with aliens since she was a kid, and she’s excited to share that obsession with her online crush, Seeker—who she will finally get to meet at Space Con! —Jessica Pryde
If I Told You, I’d Have to Kiss You by Mae Marvel (Spy Thriller + Romance)
When you say “Ms. and Ms. Smith” and “The Pairing,” you bet my behind is going to be right there. A sapphic, spy action, relationship-in-trouble masterpiece by an author who is half Ruthie Knox? Yes, friend. Yes. KC and Yardley have both worked for “the agency” for years. They are also in a long-term, suffering relationship that is on its last legs. They are also each keeping the secret of their work from each other. So when the truth does in fact out, they have to work together to set things right—both their work issues and the ones at home. —Jessica Pryde
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