<p>What was 2025, really? What did we say we were going to do—and did we do it?</p><br><p>In this Year-in-Review episode, we take stock of the year with clear eyes. We revisit the wins, the misses, and the pacing problems from our shelf this year—from Ali Hazelwood’s <em>Deep End</em> to the dark-romance chaos of <em>Nocticadia</em>. We did a shadow-daddy bracket <em>(a rigorous, peer-reviewed process; dissenting opinions noted for the record) </em>that functioned as a useful tool for Isabeau, and found time to accidentally fall head first into the zeitgeist.</p><br><p>Who earned the hardest <strong>Whoa!</strong>? Who took home the most definitive <strong>No</strong>? And which couples earned space on our mental shelves forever?</p><p>We close by looking ahead to 2026: what we’re pursuing, what we’re done negotiating, and what we’re leaving behind—because not every arc deserves a redemption.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>