February is the shortest month of the year and I take that as a personal challenge to read more books. The weather certainly allows me to do so as there is no need to go outside and this month’s slate of releases inspires me to do so. There are some really great books coming out this month.
It’s a new year and there are some new series starting as well. The Oak Park Village Mystery series will kick off with Murder in the Park and that looks like a great historical cozy mystery. We recently said goodbye to the long-running The Expanse series, but one of the co-authors, Daniel Abraham, is starting his new fantasy series with Age of Ash. If sci-fi is more your speed, Hunt the Stars will be the start of a new series about a bounty-hunting crew in space. We also have a new Tijan novel as they return to the Insiders series.
Of course, there are plenty of returning series and standalone novels this month as well. The Country Store Mystery series will have it’s tenth entry this month with Batter Off Dead. The new Lucy Foley book, The Paris Apartment, looks like a must read. While Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt looks terrifying.
A lot of great stuff to get too this month so let’s get to it. This is my list of the best upcoming books for February 2022.
Best Upcoming Cozy Mystery Books: February 2021
The Verifiers by Jane Pek: This book will introduce a new amateur sleuth by the name of Claudia Lin. She works for a dating detective agency where she verifies the stories people tell online. The job is a dream come true and seems to be an ideal fit. Then one of her clients goes missing and she decides to break protocol and investigate what exactly happened to them.
Murder in the Park by Jeanne M. Dams: The beginning of a brand new series which will be called the Oak Park Village Mystery series. The book takes place in June of 1925 as a widowed Elizabeth Fairchild now lives at home with her parents in Oak Park Village, Illinois. She does her best to avoid entanglements, but she is drawn to Mr. Anthony and forms a close friendship with him. When Mr. Anthony is found dead and one of her father’s friends is accused of the crime, Elizabeth sets out to solve it herself.
Antique Auctions Are Murder by Libby Klein: This will be the seventh entry in the Poppy McAllister Mystery series. Poppy is a B&B owner and gluten-free baker who finds herself busy in the peak summer season. Poppy and her Aunt Ginny head to an auction in hopes of acquiring an armoire for the B&B when they are shocked to see a dead body fall out of it. The two then put themselves on the case of solving the antique show mystery.
Batter Off Dead by Maddie Day: Maddie Day is an Agatha-award winning author and it is exciting to see her Country Store Mystery series continue here with the tenth novel. The story takes place in South Lick, Indiana where Robbie’s country store not only sells pans and pancakes, but also solves murders. A woman from a senior knitting circle is found dead with a puncture wound in her neck. To find the killer, Robbie will get deep into the relationships of the victim’s past.
Jane and the Year Without a Summer by Stephanie Barron: The Being a Jane Austen Mystery series continues with its fourteenth entry. This is quite a unique series as Barron has went through Austen’s writing, letters, and all the biographical information she could find to paint a realistic portrait of Jane Austen whole also having her solve mysteries.
Best Upcoming Fantasy/Sci-Fi Books: February 2021
Age of Ash by Daniel Abraham: This will be the first book in the promised Kithamar Trilogy. The book is by one of the co-authors of The Expanse and will be the start of an epic fantasy story that takes place within the walls of a single city. Alys makes her home in Kithamar and she has just lost her brother to murder. She sets out to find out who did it and why, leading her to learn things she never knew about her brother. Things that could get her killed.
Hunt the Stars by Jessie Mihalik: The author of Polaris Rising is back with a brand new series. The story follows Octavia Zarola and her tight-knit bounty hunting crew as they accept a mission from her sworn enemy, Torran Fletcher. It’s an offer they can’t refuse and Torran insists on coming along for the ride. Their mission will lead to them uncovering information that threatens the peace between humans and Valoffs. Tavi fears that Torran has been using her to start a new war. Now, she must decide where her loyalties lie – with the Valoff or the human leaders who did them wrong.
House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas: The second book in the Crescent City series and the sequel to House of Earth and Blood. I really enjoyed this sexy fantasy series and am excited to see what Maas has for us next.
The Employees by Olga Ravn: The human and humanoid crew members of the Six-Thousand Ship all complain about their daily tasks, but they do them anyway. Things change for them when a trip to New Discovery sees them loading up with a number of strange objects and the crew all become strangely obsessed with the items. A very funny book, it takes a deeper unique look at the late-capitalist workplace and what it means to be human.
A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross: This will be the first in the Elements of Cadence series and the first adult fantasy book from Rebecca Ross. The story is set on the magical island of Cadence where two childhood enemies must team up in order to find out what exactly is making girls go missing from their clan.
Best Upcoming Horror Books: February 2021
The Book of the Most Precious Substance by Sara Gran: A former novelist named Lily has resigned herself to a sexless life as a dealer of rare books. She believes that everything could change if she gets her hold on The Book of the Most Precious Substance, a 17th century manual on sex magic, that she has just gotten a lead on. She has huge money offers if she can find it. The wealthy are using black magic to fulfill their desires. Will she join them? Or lost it all searching?
Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt: A mountaineer named Nick awakens from his coma to find that his friend Augustin has gone missing and is presumed dead. Nick’s own injuries are horrifying and he is claiming amnesia. The truth is he remembers everything. He remembers climbing the Maudit and he remembers what was waiting for them as they climbed. Worse than his injuries or his memories is what he feels inside of him. Something that endangers everyone around him.
Dead Silence by S.A. Barnes: Claire Kovalik and her beacon repair crew, with nothing else to do after being made obsolete, decide to investigate a strange distress signal. What they find is a shocker: a famous luxury space-liner that vanished on its maiden tour of the solar system years ago. The salvage claim could make them all rich, but there is something not right on this ship. Whispers, movements, words scrawled in blood, and a fight with their own sanity. To make it out alive, Claire will have to keep things straight and find out what really happened all those years ago.
Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin: Beth and Fran travel the New England coast, hunting feral men and harvesting their organs. Their goal is to avoid meeting the same fate. While Robbie lives by his gun and has gotten this far by never trusting others. The three find themselves entwined and now must do what it takes to stay alive.
Beneath the Stairs by Jennifer Fawcett: Twenty years ago, Clare and Abby ventured into the Octagon House, hidden deep in the woods. The house was once home to a brutal crime and few have been brave enough to enter. The girls did, but a part of Abby never did. Twenty years later, Clare learns that her old friend has attempted suicide at the Octagon House and now lives in a coma. To find out what happened to her friend, Clare will return to her roots in an attempt to uncover the darkness.
Best Upcoming Mystery/Thriller Books: February 2021
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley: This author is almost always a must-buy from me after The Guest List and The Hunting Party. Her latest is a locked room mystery where Jess makes her way to Paris to stay with her half-brother Ben. Only he’s not there when she arrives and then stays missing after. She decides to dig in to her brother’s situation, but finds more questions than answers. She looks into the neighbors and finds that everyone’s a suspect as they all know something they aren’t telling.
The Berlin Exchange by Joseph Kanon: At the height of the Cold War in 1963, a spy swap takes place. The Communists give up two American students and an MI6 operative in exchange for Martin Keller, a physicist who once spied for the KGB. Martin is happy to be released, but has many questions. Who asked for him and why? He knows that nothing happens by chance and they want something from him. He’ll head to East Berlin to find out what.
The Violin Conspiracy by Brendan Slocumb: Ray doesn’t appear to have much of a future as a Black man growing up in rural North Carolina, but he has a gift. He is a great violin player and nothing will stand in his way of becoming a world-class musician. He doesn’t have a good violin until he finds that his great-great-grandfather’s beat-up old fiddle is actually a priceless Stradivarius. He now has what he needs to compete in the Tchaikovsky Competition, but on the eve of the competition it is stolen and a ransom note is left behind. The clock is ticking and he’ll need to find it before it’s too late.
A Tangled Affair by Anne C. Scardino: Clair makes the decision to divorce the only man she’s ever loved after twenty-five years, but before she can tell him – he’s found dead. He is shot in his car with no immediate suspects. Clair is haunted by his death and decides to help the police find his killer. What she finds is a secret life she never knew about and a man that wasn’t who she thought he was.
Our American Friend by Anna Pitoniak: Sofie decides to leave the world of politics behind and quit her job as a White House correspondent when she gets a call from the First Lady. Lara Caine asks for a private meeting as she wants Sofie to write her official biography. She agrees and the two begin working together, growing closely as they do. As she begins telling the story of her past, she shares sensitive information about her family’s work with the KGB. Sofie wonders why Lara is sharing this information with her and why, and now finds herself caught up in the middle of a game of cat and mouse.
Best Upcoming Romance Books: February 2021
One Night on the Island by Josie Silver: Cleo Wilder is a dating columnist, but she’s no expert in her own dating life as she’s spending her thirtieth birthday alone. The good news is she is heading to a remote Irish island and spending time in a luxury cabin. Mark Sullivan is a man looking to do the same and heads to Ireland as well. A booking mix-up sees the two reserve the same one-room hideaway on the same days. The two are instantly at odds with no idea how they’re going to manage staying with each other, but as the days go on they manage to get closer.
Group Therapy by BB Easton: I loved BB Easton’s 44 Chapters About 4 Men and her latest seems like another hit. The story is a forbidden romance romantic comedy about an inexperienced psychologist and her famous client.
Good Girl Complex by Elle Kennedy: Mackenzie “Mac” Cabot has always been a people pleaser for everyone around her. It can be exhausting to always be the good one and she wants to focus on her internet business, but her parents want her to finish college first. This takes her to Avalon Bay. She has always been good at suppressing her wild impulses, but that is all about to be tested when she meets Cooper Hartley. The two strike up a friendship and it becomes the realest thing in her life. Cooper falls for her hard, but he’s also keeping a secret that threatens everything.
My Fiery Valentine by Donna Grant: Valentine’s Day is the perfect time to tell someone you love them and V and Claire aim to do just that. They want to show each other just how much they mean to them and they will do just that with the help of their family. It is set to be a night they will never forget.
The Damaged by Tijan: This will be the second book in Tijan’s Insiders series and another action-packed, emotional story. Bailey now has a family and love. Kash will do whatever it takes to protect his family and his woman. If you think that’s everything wrapped up, you have another thing coming as explosive secrets continue to unfold.
February is a short month, but there are still plenty of good books to read. These are some of my favorites for this month. What are some of yours? Let me know in the comments below!
