11 Books Coming Out in February You’ll Fall in Love With
It’s February, and you know what that means…
Whether you’re a fan of delivering hand-crafted Valentines’ cards and dispensing conversation hearts and chocolate kisses to everyone you know or, conversely, you take more of a bah-humbug approach to Valentines’ day, there’s certainly one type of love we can all get behind.
And that love, is a love of books.
I mean, let’s face it, you wouldn’t be here if you didn’t love books. There are LOTS of other places you can look at moderately professional pictures of booze and read acerbic posts featuring scattered profanity.
No, my friend, you’re here because you, like me, absolutely adore reading novels.
And so, I think I can safely say, this February is going to be a good month for you – because it’s CHOCK-FUCKING-FULL of must-read books.
Check out the books hitting shelves this month that we’re eagerly anticipating.
The Great Alone
by Kristin Hannah
Release Date – February 6, 2018
Genre – Women’s Fiction
I’m outdoorsy in that I like getting drunk on patios, so living off-the-grid in rural Alaska is just about the last thing I’d want to do.
Unfortunately for the protagonists in this Kristin Hannah new-release, however, some find the appeal of rural and rugged Alaska impossible to resist.
Set in 1974, The Great Alone follows the relocation of a family to one of America’s last great unexplored frontiers.
While some families may possess the internal strength necessary to stand up to the challenges of living in a place where – let’s face it – human’s weren’t really meant to live, this family certainly doesn’t. Headed by a man who still bears the scars of a difficult stint as a Vietnam War POW, the Albrights have some demons in their closet that make keeping their family together difficult, even in the most hospitable locales.
Place this already-on-the-edge family in a decidedly-on-the-edge landscape and you have a recipe for drama – and that’s what this Hannah novel delivers.
How to Stop Time
by Matt Haig
Release Date – February 6, 2018
Genre – Science Fiction / Romance
Everyone has their little quirks. I, personally, can touch my tongue to my noise – which is a moderately cool party trick, but not good for much else.
Like me, Tom Hazard, the protagonist in this Matt Haig novel, has a special skill. Though his is decidedly more useful as it enables him to escape the inescapable sands of the hourglass and live…forever.
Living through events that most people can only experience by diving into a book has its advantages. For one, it makes Tom ideally suited to work as a history teacher – a job he takes on with gusto.
But there are also disadvantages to continually flouting the Grim Reaper. Namely, you can’t – or at least shouldn’t – form attachments. But – obviously – our protagonist breaks this rule, falling for a fellow teacher.
What ramifications will violating this essential code have for Tom?
Will falling in love be as much of a mistake as he was always told it will be?
By magnifying the always present complexities of romance with his protagonist’s distinctive predicament, Haig entertains and explores complex concepts in this fancifully original work.
Force of Nature
by Jane Harper
Release Date – February 6, 2018
Genre – Thriller
When five people go into the woods, ideally, five should come out.
When this equation becomes imbalanced, with only four hikers ever leaving the cover of the trees, drama ensues in this Jane Harper novel.
Fortunately for the missing hiker – should she still be alive – Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk is on the case. Falk was first introduced in Jane Harper’s mega-hit The Dry – A book that I have, somehow, never read despite seeing it literally-fucking-everywhere last year.
As it turns out, the missing hiker isn’t just any missing hiker. She’s the whistleblower in a case that Falk is currently working, making her whereabouts important and her disappearance even more suspicious.
Mysteries are revealed, and scandals uncovered, as Falk embarks on his hunt for both the missing hiker and the truth of what happened to her.
An American Marriage
by Tayari Jones
Release Date – February 6, 2018
Genre – Literary Fiction
Navigating life as a newly married couple presents an assortment of challenges – fights over both the thermostat setting and the remote control come immediately to mind. Rarely, though, is newlywed life as complex as it is for Celestial and Roy, the couple central to this Tayari Jones work.
When they married, it seemed that they would have it all. Great careers, a beautiful home and true, authentic love. But all of that changes when Roy is convicted of a crime – one that Celestial is sure he didn’t commit – and sentenced to twelve years in jail.
Just as Celestial is beginning to figure out how to handle this life that she’s been dealt – one that’s so different from what she’d planned – everything changes again, when Roy is released early from jail.
A sincere a timely love story, this novel explores the meaning of love and the impact that life’s complications can have on even the strongest of bonds.
Look For Me
by Lisa Gardner
Release Date – February 6, 2018
Genre – Thriller
Police are called to a home and faced with a grim scene. Four members of the family of five lay murdered. The final member – a sixteen year old girl – is nowhere to be found.
Is she an innocent victim who is in desperate need of rescue?
Or, could she possibly be the perpetrator of this crime?
Either way, law enforcement needs to find her, and quickly.
Aiding in this search are detective D.D. Warren and Flora Dane, both of whom endeared themselves to Gardner fans in her 2016 novel, Find Her.
With a tight narrative and plenty of twists, this Gardner work will likely be yet another that readers simply can’t put down.
My penchant for Dateline has been no mystery – no pun intended. So this novel, with a plot that could almost have been pulled directly from this 1-hour docu-drama, was one that I, personally was eagerly anticipating – and rapidly devoured.
The Reunion
by Samantha Hayes
Release Date – February 9, 2018
Genre – Thriller
In all honesty, it was the cover of this Samantha Hayes novel that first drew me to it. It was something about the stark white, the bold black and the vivid red. And probably the mutilated butterfly. Really, my attraction to this cover probably says something about my emotional stability, but that is a conversation for another day and another blog post.
Speaking of lingering emotional issues, the protagonist in this novel likely had her own residual challenges due to a dark event in her past. When Claire was young, she was put in charge of her little sister during a beach trip. Knowing how much her younger sibling, Eleanor, wanted just a taste of freedom, Claire let her take a solo stroll to the ice cream shop.
As you could likely predict, Eleanor never came back.
As unfortunate as this event is, it’s something that happened in the past and can stay in the past, right?
Well, if you’ve ever read a thriller, you know the answer to that question.
Claire is forced to relive the occurrence when, just as she’s organizing a reunion of friends who were with her on the day Eleanor disappears, another girl goes missing.
So, basically, one of these friends is likely guilty AF.
Promising Gone Girl level twists and turns, and a twist you won’t see coming, this Bookouture novel will likely keep readers up past bedtime come the February 9th release.
Queen of Hearts
by Kimmery Martin
Release Date – February 13, 2018
Genre – Women’s Fiction
I’ve been re-watching ER from the beginning – making it a semi-full-time occupation for around two weeks now. I’ve undertaken this endeavor for three major reasons.
1. It was added to Hulu
2. Um… George Clooney is in it
3. Hospital romance/dramas are literally amazing
So, logically, I’m pretty amped to have this novel, which centers around the relationships between doctors and med students, on my to be read list this February.
Dual protagonists, Zadie – A pediatric cardiologist – and Emma – a trauma surgeon – pretty much have their lives in order (I mean, obvi they are both doing pretty well on the career front #JustSaying)
But that order is threatened when chief resident Nick Xenokostas (why an author would pick a last name that is that hard to spell, don’t ask me) returns to the hospital.
Unfortunately for Zadie and Emma, they have a complicated past with Dr. Xenokostas. And his return forces them to face this past, which they’ve been avoiding confronting, head-on.
Not only does this plot make we want to slip in to some scrubs and read it right-fucking-now, the cover is also legit beautiful, making it a book I would love to literally just look at – because that’s a normal thing that normal people do, right?
Surprise Me
by Sophie Kinsella
Release Date – February 13, 2018
Genre – Literary Fiction
In my opinion, there aren’t many surprises once you’re married.
I mean, once your partner, on a regular basis, literally takes a shit in the bathroom while you’re showering, the mystery is pretty much gone.
The couple at the center of the Sophie Kinsella novel are unwilling to believe that you have to live a mundane life, free of surprise and intrigue, simply because you’ve decided to settle down. So they decide to do something about it.
They begin Project Surprise Me – which is like a really fucking organized way to bring the spice back into a marriage. I would settle for Project Use-The-Hall-Bathroom. As you could likely guess from the name, the whole point of this project is for the couple to mix it up… surprise each other… and, in doing so, keep the spark alive.
As you would expect, things don’t go as smoothly as our protagonists had hoped. When a scandal from the past is revealed, it becomes clear that they might have more problems in their marriage than that whole “there is no surprise left,” thing.
One of the strengths of the relatively prolific Kinsella is her ability to build a robust and realistic cast of characters – and she manages to do that again here, making this February new release one to check out.
Sunburn
by Laura Lippman
Release Date – February 20, 2018
Genre – Thriller
When Polly and Adam meet in a tavern, they both claim to be just passing through Belleville, Delaware.
But plans change.
Adam feels drawn to Polly, and they both decide to settle down – at least temporarily – in this tiny town.
Though all seems to be going well as they make the already hot summer even more steamy with their burning-hot affair, neither is being entirely honest with the other.
Then, as in all thrillers, someone dies – listen, if you don’t want to die, being a character in a thriller novel isn’t the job for you.
What does this death mean to Polly and Adam? Can they extricate themselves from the couple they have become? Or will their love, born from lust, survive the challenges they face.
Playing with noir tropes, Lippman weaves a taut tale that will capture readers’ interests this February – and inspire first-time Lippman readers to explore her impressive existing catalog.
The Initiation
by Chris Babu
Release Date – February 27, 2018
Genre – YA Dystopian Fiction
For me, it started with The Giver.
My affinity for Dystopian fiction, that is.
Fortunately, my hunger for what-would-the-world-look-like-if-we-literally-fucked-everything-up-as-badly-as-we-possibly-could books is continually satiated, as there is no shortage of wonderful books of this type.
The Hunger Games. Uglies. A Handmaid’s Tale.
And now, add to the list The Initiation.
In the world of Chris Babu’s creating, Manhattan has become New America, a society that is all about equality.
Though this sounds great, if you’ve ever even thumbed through a dystopian fiction novel, you know that all is not as rosy as it looks in the glossy brochures.
Protagonist Drayden learns this for himself when his mother is exiled.
Obviously, he’s pretty pissed about this, so he goes on a hunt for answers.
What he discovers is – as you would expect – unsettling. And this discovery sends him on a difficult journey called the initiation, where he must move through now-empty subway tunnels, solving puzzles and facing trials at each turn.
Will Drayden come out relatively victorious like The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen? Or will his fate be more like that of The Givers’ Jonah – who obviously died in the snow… I don’t care what you’re trying to feed me in those follow-up books, Lois Lowry #NotReallyBitter #OkayYesIAmReallyBitter
This February, readers will be plowing through The Initiation, eager to find out.
The Bad Daughter
by Joy Fielding
Release Date – February 27, 2018
Genre – Thriller
Never having had a father, personally, I can’t attest with much certainty as to what I would do if he hooked up with my best friend, but I can only assume my response would be less than favorable.
It probably wouldn’t be that different from the response Robin, the protagonist of this Joy Fielding book, chooses when she simply stops talking to all of them.
She’s forced to abandon this vow of no communication, however, when she gets a call from her sister telling her that her father, his second wife and his stepdaughter have all been shot in what appears to be a home invasion.
Against her better judgment – and, probably, against her wishes – Robin heads home to be with her father as he fights for his life. This puts her smack-dab in the center of the mystery.
Who did this?
Why did they do it?
And why does everyone seem to have secrets?
Thriller fans will appreciate the complex relationships, intense drama and – literally – life and death consequences the characters face in this Fielding novel.
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