New Book Releases | February 17
Including print, ebook, and audiobook editions
February’s new book releases bring a compelling mix of literary fiction, romance, fantasy, and genre standouts worth adding to your TBR. Below, you’ll find new books coming out February 17, 2026, thoughtfully curated and sorted by genre with options for readers who prefer print and e-book editions, as well as listeners looking for standout audiobooks to enjoy on the go.
Looking for more new releases? You can also browse last week’s curated list of new books that came out February 10 to catch anything you might have missed.
Shopping for this week’s releases?
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⭐ Featured February 17 Release⭐
And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison
Genre: Contemporary Romance / Romantic Comedy
A rivals-to-lovers newsroom romance set during a record-breaking snowstorm, Borison’s latest pairs professional tension with emotional vulnerability in a way that feels sharp, timely, and irresistible.
Jackson Clark and Delilah Stewart have had their fair share of run-ins over the years, often ending in disaster. While Jackson thrives on routine and organization from the comfort of his radio booth, Delilah loves the spontaneity and adventure out in the field. When they’re partnered against their will to cover a once in a life time snowstorm, they find themselves scrambling to figure out how to work together.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- forced proximity during live storm coverage
- competitive banter with real emotional payoff
- perfect for fans of workplace romance with heart
This was one of my favorite ARC's of last year and I cannot wait to listen to the audiobook.
If rivals-to-lovers tension is your favorite trope, don’t miss our deep dive into a true enemies-to-lovers done right.
Literary Fiction & Book Club Picks
Bad Asians by Lillian Li
Genre: Literary Fiction
Four Chinese American friends graduate into the Great Recession, stuck under their parents' roofs. When a former classmate's documentary about their crew goes viral on early YouTube, millions see them as cruel caricatures. Wry, sharp, and deeply felt.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- generational identity and immigrant family dynamics
- early YouTube-era cultural commentary
- sharp, wry tone perfect for book clubs
Evil Genius by Claire Oshetsky
Genre: Literary Fiction / Dark Psychological
A 1974 coming-of-age story about a young woman trapped in an abusive marriage whose inner monologue begins to blur fantasy and violence.
What would that be like, Celia wonders, to die for love, or to kill for love? What would it be like to live each moment passionately and with full awareness that each breath is bringing her closer to her last?
It’s all pretend, though, until the night comes when Celia finally goes too far, and she and Drew are set on a deadly collision course.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- unsettling, darkly funny narration
- domestic power dynamics
- for readers of Eileen and morally ambiguous heroines
Where the Wildflowers Grow by Terah Shelton Harris
Genre: Upmarket Fiction
After surviving a prison transport crash, a woman hides at an Alabama flower farm under a new identity. But secrets rarely stay buried.
When the transport bus taking her to prison careens off the road, killing everyone onboard except her, Leigh does what’s in her nature. She survives.
While searching for a place to hide, Leigh stumbles upon an unexpected sanctuary: a flower farm in rural Alabama tucked away from the world. What Leigh doesn’t expect is the found family there who have built something from the wreckage of their own lives. Especially Jackson, the farm’s owner, who sees through Leigh’s defenses, offers her small moments of tenderness, encourages her to face her own tragedies.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- reinvention and second chances
- Southern setting with emotional depth
- character-driven storytelling
Hot Chocolate on Thursday by Michiko Aoyama
Genre: Literary Fiction / Slice of Life
Interconnected characters gather at a Tokyo café, sharing quiet moments that ripple through their lives.
Across a bridge in a quiet neighborhood in Tokyo, a seasonal cherry blossom sits on the river. Nearby is the Marble Cafe, where a woman writes in a notebook and a young waiter prepares her favorite hot drink. Both wonder about each other and about the other lives of the clientele who frequent this charming little cafe behind the trees.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- gentle, contemplative storytelling
- interconnected narratives
- perfect for readers who loved cozy Japanese fiction
Historical Fiction
The Blood Countess by Shelley Puhak
Genre: Feminist History / Biography
A revisionist reexamination of Elizabeth Báthory, arguing the infamous legend was a political smear campaign against a powerful woman.
There have long been whispers, coming from the castle; from the village square; from the dark woods. The great lady-a countess, from one of Europe's oldest families-is a vicious killer. Some even say she bathes in the blood of her victims. When the king's men force their way into her manor house, she has blood on her hands, caught in the act of murdering yet another of her maids. She is walled up in a tower and never seen again, except in the uppermost barred window, where she broods over the countryside, cursing all those who dared speak up against her.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- feminist historical reframing
- archival research and myth-busting
- power, propaganda, and reputation
The Halifax Hellions by Alexander Valesti
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Romance
The Halifax twins have always defied convention. But when one runs off with a scandalous marquess, her sister enlists the help of a hopelessly-in-love solicitor to chase her down.
Road trip to Scotland. Secret identities. Feral cats. Pining. Chaos.
This collection brings together the novellas in print for the first time, with a new epilogue for readers who love their historical romance witty and swoony.
This was such a fun read.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- road trip romance energy
- pining hero meets unconventional heroine
- witty, swoony historical vibes
Fantasy, Romantasy & Speculative Fiction
The Astral Library by Kate Quinn
Genre: Fantasy / Portal Fantasy
A magical library allows a woman to step into classic literary worlds, until dark forces begin hunting her across realities.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- bookish fantasy premise
- genre-blending adventure
- for readers who love stories about stories
Half City by Kate Golden
Genre: Dark Academia/ Fantasy
A secret academy trains demon hunters, but one student hides a deadly secret tied to her past.
Viv Abbot is an average twenty-one-year-old girl. She lives in an expensive city where the rent is too high, works long hours at a thankless job, and is dating a guy she doesn’t even like in the hopes of winning her prickly mother’s approval.
She also happens to be a demon hunter.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- gothic campus atmosphere
- morally gray romantic tension
- first in a new fantasy trilogy
The Fox Hunt by Caitlin Breeze
Genre: Dark Academia/ Fantasy
A ritualistic hunt transforms a student into prey inside the shadowed Night City. When practical, unassuming second-year student Emma Curran wins an exciting research fellowship, she is ushered into the glittering debauchery of the University elite.
Torn from her ordinary life and trapped in a dangerous, otherworldly realm, Emma awakens transformed. No longer mortal, she's become something beastly. And now she must summon every ounce of cunning and ferocity to save herself.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- atmospheric and dangerous
- transformation and survival themes
- secret society intrigue
For more stories where ritual and spectacle become tools of control, see our discussion of Operation Bounce House.
Romance
A Little Buzzed by Alys Murray
Genre: Workplace Romance / Romantic Comedy
A product engineer at an adult wellness startup decides it’s time to gain some long-overdue personal experience. Strictly to quiet office gossip and keep her team focused before a major launch of course. When she teams up with the charming developer building her latest app, what starts as a practical arrangement quickly turns complicated.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- workplace romance set at an adult product startup
- “for research” hookup energy with emotional payoff
- nerdy, earnest hero meets guarded heroine
- high-heat rom-com with humor and heart
If Only You Knew by Ellie K. Wilde
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Summer Prescott and Parker Woods have been best friends since they were three years old. Now thirty, neither of them feels like they have a good handle on adulthood. On a whim, Summer decides to hand over her love life to Parker. After all, who better to help find her soulmate than the person who knows her best?
But when the date Parker introduces her to goes from husband material to dead end in one publicly humiliating swoop, Summer decides to embrace a fresh start away from home by entering a surf competition that’ll have her chasing waves around the world.
The highly anticipated final installment of the Oakwood Bay series.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- friends-to-lovers tension
- small-town surf setting
- emotional and spicy payoff
The Ex-Perimento by Maria J. Morillo
Genre: Romantic Comedy**
Sparkling rom-com set in Venezuela. Marianto loses her boyfriend and her job, then devises a plan to win both back through a series of romantic experiments with the help of the lead singer of her favorite indie band
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- playful, cinematic rom-com energy
- enemies-to-lovers workplace dynamic
- vibrant Venezuelan setting
Vicious Secret by Morgan Bridges
Genre: Dark Romance
The Obsidian Order only cares about three things: secrecy, loyalty, and power. A missing foster brother leads a heroine into a dangerous campus order and into the arms of a morally gray man who claims her.
This has been blowing up online with the stalker-falls-first and "touch her and die" tropes.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- stalker-falls-first trope
- shadowy power dynamics
- cliffhanger ending
Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense
The Hard Line by Mark Greaney
Genre: Action/ Thriller
Family means different things to different people, but in the Gray Man’s world, family is defined by blood. The blood you share with some and the blood you shed with others.
Court Gentry must protect his team’s families in the 15th Gray Man installment.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- globe-spanning action
- high-stakes mission
- long-running fan favorite
The Devil’s Bible by Steve Berry
Genre: Historical Thriller
The latest Cotton Malone adventure. A tale of mystery and intrigue stretching back over four centuries.
A kidnapped princess and the legendary Codex Gigas collide in the 20th Cotton Malone adventure.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- historical conspiracy
- fast-paced suspense
- series momentum
Adrift by Will Dean
Genre: Psychological Thriller
An isolated canal boat becomes the backdrop for gaslighting, ambition, and domestic unraveling.
Peggy and Drew, both aspiring writers, move to an isolated canal boat with their fourteen-year-old son. Peggy is the glue that holds their family together, even as their son is bullied relentlessly for his physique and his family’s lack of money. But when Drew becomes frustrated by his wife’s sudden writing success, he moves their boat further and further from civilization.
When Drew’s gaslighting becomes too much for Peggy to take, it sets off a catastrophic series of events.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- claustrophobic setting
- character-driven tension
- slow-burn psychological descent
A Sociopath’s Guide to a Successful Marriage by MK Oliver
Genre: Dark Comedy Thriller
A wife hosting a birthday party must simultaneously dispose of a body.
Meet Lalla Rook. Lalla has a lot on her plate: She needs to guarantee her husband makes partner, secure her dream house in Hampstead, and get her daughter into a prestigious prep school. And on the afternoon she stabs a stranger seven times after he breaks into her living room, she has a four-year-old’s birthday party to host.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- wicked humor
- unreliable narrator
- domestic satire
Nonfiction & Essays
Good Daughtering by Allison M. Alford
Genre: Cultural Nonfiction
A transformative look at the hidden work of all adult daughters who share the invisible load, from the eldest to the youngest, offering a fresh perspective on care, emotional resilience, and the power daughters have to shape healthier, more fulfilling family connections
An exploration of emotional labor and “Eldest Daughter Syndrome,” offering both validation and practical tools.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- timely family dynamics discussion
- boundary-setting guidance
- relatable cultural commentary
Traversal by Maria Popova
Genre: Cultural Nonfiction / Biography
An exploration of meaningful lives across history, weaving together science, art, and philosophy. Told through the intertwined lives, loves, and legacies of visionaries both celebrated and sidelined by history.
People like Mary Shelley, Walt Whitman, Frederick Douglass, Fanny Wright, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin, Marie Tharp, Alfred Wegener, Humphry Davy, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead.
📌 Why you’ll love it:
- expansive intellectual scope
- literary prose nonfiction
- interconnected historical narratives
Looking Ahead
If you’re already planning your TBR, come back next week to check out our full guide to February 17th 2026 new book releases to see what else is coming this month.
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Final Thoughts
February 17’s new releases span romance, dark academia, literary fiction, action thrillers, and bold nonfiction.
Whether you’re chasing demon hunters, snowstorm banter, or historical revisionism, this week’s books prove once again: there’s no single way to tell a powerful story.
Which one are you adding to your TBR?
Frequently Asked Questions
What books are coming out February 17?
New books releasing February 17, 2026 include And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison, The Astral Library by Kate Quinn, Bad Asians by Lillian Li, and multiple romance, fantasy, thriller, and nonfiction titles.
What is the most anticipated release this week?
And Now, Back to You by B.K. Borison is the standout contemporary romance of the week, pairing rivals-to-lovers tension with storm-driven forced proximity.
Are there new romance books releasing this week?
Yes! February 17 brings contemporary romance, dark romance, historical romance, and romantic comedy options.
Are there fantasy books releasing this week?
Absolutely, including portal fantasy (The Astral Library) and dark academia demon hunter fantasy (Half City).
