October 2025 Reads: A Month To Ruin The Friendship

My advice is always ruin the friendship. Better that than regret it for all time. – Taylor Swift

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October has always belonged to me. Ever since I was a kid, I felt the month in my heart and soul. The witchy, spooky, pure bliss of play and make-believe. But as an adult Halloween took a slight backseat and LOVE slid behind the wheel of my October obsession.

When my husband and I first met, we were just friends.

“We’re buds, I like it,” he said once with this casual certainty that still reverberates in my memory. For six months we were “just friends.” You know, that slow burn kind that always feels seconds away from catching fire.

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And then came October.

He decided to ruin the friendship, and it gave us an anniversary that we still celebrate thirteen years later. He chose my month intentionally, knowing what it already meant to me. From then, October became ours.

The Boys of Tommen Took Over My Heart (And My Month)

When Friendship Catches Fire, Friends To Lovers, When The Line Between Friendship and Fire Blurs… so many options, but the official title for my October reads hadn’t been pinpointed yet.

But then Taylor Swift released her 13th album with “Ruin the Friendship” echoing through my headphones and, well — it felt fated. The official name for my October reads was set. Ruin the Friendship.

(And the acoustic version of that song? 10000/10 recommend.)

I went into October with plans: read Binding 13 and Keeping 13, then move on to an overly ambitious list (A Thousand Boy Kisses, People We Meet on Vacation, Every Summer After, Beach Read, you understand the stack).

But the Boys of Tommen had other plans for me. After Keeping 13 I surrendered all other intentions.

This series wrecked me. Especially book six, Releasing 10. I almost skipped it! I thought “how could anything compare to Johnny and Shannon, Joey and Aoife, Gibsie and Claire?” Spoiler: it does. And in all the tragic, beautiful, visceral ways a love story can.

I inhaled Releasing 10. And then I read it again.

Binding 13 & Keeping 13

by Chloe Walsh

Why I Picked It:

I saw Binding 13 circulating on TikTok and tucked it into my mental TBR. When Friends to Lovers became my October theme, it was the perfect chance to finally give in to another TikTok recommendation.

My Thoughts:

Absolutely engrossing. And realizing Johnny and Shannon had even more story in Keeping 13? That was it. I was done for. These books owned my first week of October. I wanted to cancel all plans for the beginning of the month and just stay submerged in their story, not coming up for air until I knew every intimate detail of their lives.

Saving 6 & Redeeming 6

by Chloe Walsh

Why I Picked It:

After Binding 13 and Keeping 13 I had to read Saving 6 about Joey and Aoife who seemed to have such an intense and effortless love (or so I thought) amid all the heavy and dark.

My Thoughts:

I was correct, Joey and Aoife’s love is intense. And that’s where my correct assumptions ended. Their love was raw, consuming, anything but easy and I loved them for it. I was more attached to their story than I ever expected to be. Redeeming 6 was an immediate read. Again, goodbye plans! I just want to live in this Boys of Tommen universe.

Taming 7

by Chloe Walsh

Why I Picked It:

I was SO excited to finally get to book 5, Gibsie and Claire! My sunshine couple! Such chaos and light whose characters literally made me laugh out loud in the first four books. I fell in love with them in those first four books and I was physically pained until I got to know them more.

My Thoughts:

The only downfall? It wasn’t nearly long enough. I am starving for more of them, and when Chloe Walsh decides to give us another glimpse into their world you can be sure I’ll be there, preordering immediately.

Releasing 10

by Chloe Walsh

Why I Picked It:

Releasing 10 by Chloe Walsh: A Chemtrails Over the Country Club Inspired Book Review

When my best friend asked why I was thinking of skipping it I said 1. I don’t think I’ll have enough time to finish it and 2. Lizzie and Hugh have been such sideline characters that I hadn’t had much of an interest so far.

My Thoughts:

Two days later and more than halfway through the book, I told my best friend this book wasn’t nearly long enough. OBSESSED doesn’t even cover it. It’s haunting. It’s heavy. And it is absolutely unforgettable. I couldn’t help but see the similarities between this book and Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over The Country Club.

My advice is always ruin the friendship and then read the Boys of Tommen series.