Time for some February books! These are a very strong start to the month, yay!

Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean
Dead First by Johnny Compton
Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
The Body by Bethany C. Morrow
The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride

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Love Me Tomorrow by Emiko Jean
Published by Sarah Barley Books on February 3, 2026
Pages: 352
Format:ARC, eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

From the New York Times bestselling author of Tokyo Ever After comes a laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving rom-com about a girl who starts receiving letters from the love of her life—writing to her from years in the future.

What if your true love could write to you from the future?

Seventeen-year-old Emma Nakamura-Thatcher doesn’t believe in love, not after her parents’ bitter divorce. So when she attends the festival of Tanabata, her wish is simple: proof that love is real and can last.

Emma thinks little of her wish…until she finds a note from someone claiming to be her greatest love writing to her from the future. It has to be a prank, right? But as the notes pour in, each revealing secrets only she knows, Emma is forced to accept the impossible: This is really happening. Someone is actually reaching out to her from across time.

But who? Ezra, the musical prodigy who makes her pulse race? Theo, the literal boy next door who’s known her since childhood? Or Colin, the overly confident, overly handsome, overly rich kid she meets while cleaning his mega-mansion?

As Emma races to uncover the identity of the letter writer, she’ll discover that love is more than real—it’s the most powerful force in the universe. And it’s been waiting for her all along.

This book made my heart happy! Like- I hugged it when I was done (silly, but true), because it just left me with a good feeling. And frankly, do we not all need that these days? This was just really sweet- Emma is a firm love cynic ever since her parents’ divorce. She wants to believe, she just doesn’t. That starts to change when she gets a note from a future love… from the actual future. Obviously at first she is skeptical, but comes around to the idea, and then becomes a wee bit obsessed with figuring out who this mysterious writer is.

So there is that element of time travel, but for the most part, this is a coming of age contemporary novel about a young woman trying to navigate family responsibilities, figuring out her future path, managing friendships, and yes, maybe finding love. Emma is torn between her love of music and her mother’s deteriorating physical health, which Emma tries to ameliorate by taking on her mother’s house cleaning hours. So she’s running herself ragged, and thinking about giving up on her music dreams, which is sad. She’s also got several potential suitors: Theo, her lifelong bestie who she is starting to have more than platonic feelings for, Ezra the musician from her high school who she reconnects with at her music program, and Colin, whose big ol’ house she cleans for her mom, but ends up enjoying the company of. She looks at every clue to see if one of these gents could be her secret admirer, but she also needs to worry about her present, not just her future.

Now, this is supposed to be a duology, and I for one could not be more excited! I will one thousand percent be here for the next installment to see what the future holds for Emma, and also her family and friends and gentleman callers!

Bottom Line: This story was so uplifting, I fell in love with Emma, her friends and family, and her story. Cannot wait for more!

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Dead First by Johnny Compton
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on February 10, 2026
Pages: 368
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

From the Bram Stoker award-nominated author of The Spite House comes a bone-chilling new novel about a private investigator hired by a mysterious billionaire to discover why he can’t die.

When private investigator Shyla Sinclair is invited to the looming mansion of mysterious Texan tycoon Saxton Braith, she’s more than a little suspicious. The last thing she expects to see that night is Braith’s assistant driving an iron rod straight through the back of his skull. Scratch that—the last thing she expects to see is Braith’s resurrection afterward.

Braith can’t die, it turns out, but he has no explanation for his immortality, and very few intact memories of his past. Which is why he wants to pay Shyla millions to investigate him, and bring his long-buried history to light.

Shyla can’t help but be intrigued, but she’s also trapped by the offer. Braith has made it clear that he knows she’s the only person he can trust with his secret, because he knows all about hers.

Bold, atmospheric, and utterly frightening, Johnny Compton’s Dead First is spine-chilling supernatural horror about the pursuit of power and the undying need for reckoning.

Dead First was so atmospheric, and quite entertaining! Also, billionaires are terrible people! Shyla, our main character, is summoned to shitty person reclusive billionaire Saxton Braith’s house. Honestly even his name makes me mad. I digress. He has a secret, and he needs her help: He cannot die, and he wants her to figure out why. Well, that is a big ask for our private investigator, is it not? When Shyla’s ex-girlfriend and psychic/telepath Jihn joins the band (against Shyla’s will, initially), they set out to uncover the secrets of Braith’s (long) life, and why it can’t end. And, they try to not lose their own along the way.

Shyla’s backstory is quite compelling too, and I really enjoyed learning more about that. I also really loved her dynamics with Jihn, Braith’s hired hand Remy and without giving away too much, some of the folks who are involved in Braith’s situation (not the bad ones, come on guys). I was absolutely invested in the story- not just why Braith couldn’t die, but the whole story. My one minor complaint was that the pacing was a wee bit slow at times, but this is a minor gripe in an otherwise solid story.

Bottom Line: I was invested in both the plot and the characters, loved the atmosphere, and consider this one a win! 

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Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer
Published by Crooked Lane Books on February 10, 2026
Pages: 320
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

A "traditional wife" influencer allows a demonic creature to impregnate her in this unnerving horror novel, perfect for fans of Nightbitch and Mary, from the author of Serial Killer Support Group.

Every #tradwife needs a baby. She’ll get one at any cost.

When Camille Deming isn’t cooking, cleaning, or homesteading in her picture-perfect country farmhouse, she’s posting about her tradwife lifestyle for her online followers. She takes inspiration from other tradwives on social media, aspiring to be like them, but Camille’s missing a key component: a baby. And contrary to what she posts online, things with her husband Graham have been strained. Pressured by her eager followers, Camille fears that without a baby, her relationship will suffer and her social media will never grow out of its infancy.

When Camille discovers a mysterious, decrepit well in the wheatfield behind her house, she makes a wish for a baby. Afterwards, she has unsettling experiences that she convinces herself are angelic in nature, and when she’s visited one night by a strange creature, her wish comes true.

Camille’s pregnancy announcement gets more engagement than anything she’s ever posted—so what if Graham’s reaction is lukewarm? Camille’s life is finally falling into place. Never mind that her pregnancy is developing freakishly rapidly and she’s suddenly craving raw meat. Being a traditional wife is worth it.
Rosemary’s Baby for the digital age, this disturbing horror novel is one you’ll want to devour in just one bite.

This is a tough one because it will piss you off in the beginning. It is supposed to, of course! I don’t think you can read this kind of story without wanting to shake the main character into the realization that this is an asinine way to live. And yeah, I am going to say it, being a #tradwife is absolutely asinine. I would never judge a stay-at-home mom, or a housewife, that is not what I am saying. But the #tradwife movement is a different thing altogether. It’s disgusting, and if you have a fully functioning brain, you will be disgusted by Camille’s situation. Obviously, this story is very much not in favor of this movement either! Oh, and you know who you will hate most of all? The “husband”. Graham is just vile, and honestly the biggest thing that kept me reading at the start was the hope he’d get his comeuppance.

Camille thinks that a baby is going to fix all her problems, because of course a helpless tiny human who requires 24-7 care and attention will fix everything. Le sigh, Camille is neither the first nor the last woman who will think this, sadly. Thing is, the whole conception bit isn’t going great for these two. I blame Graham because I hate him. Anyway, Camille finds herself pregnant, and she is over the moon. But she also knows things are emphatically not suddenly fixed, and it becomes quite a wild ride finding out how very, very not fixed they in fact are.

I won’t give anything else away, but this book will make you mad, because it is supposed to. It is also quite entertaining, as I was absolutely invested in what the outcome of Camille’s pregnancy, her marriage, and her views on women’s roles would be. It’s definitely dark, and it’s very weird. Sometimes maybe just a tad weirder than it needed to be, but not to the point of true absurdity, so I could handle it. There were maybe a few moments where I wished the “burn the patriarchy” vibes would have been a little louder? Like maybe they got a bit muddled at the end, but guys, I am trying so hard to be vague here!

Bottom Line:  Alas, I will leave it at that, and say that this one is pretty good, and the concept of #tradwives is not.

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The Body by Bethany C. Morrow
Published by Tor Nightfire on February 10, 2026
Pages: 288
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The Body
is a pulse-pounding supernatural horror story from bestselling author Bethany C. Morrow, where one woman must survive a series of bizarre and escalating attacks on her marriage. Mavis broke from her parents’ congregation years ago, but she still hasn’t recovered. Their impossible expectations and soul-shredding critiques have dug deep into her mind, and she’s taunted by the knowledge that even when she’s done nothing wrong, she’ll never be right.

Now Mavis is afraid she’s about to lose the only thing she has: her husband, Jerrod. The man she’s always known was too good to be true. No one thinks she deserves him—not even after surviving the serial cheater they wanted her to stick by—and soon they’ll all find out they were right.

Mavis is already unraveling when a brush with death shows her what real fear looks like. Soon, she’s under constant attack from all directions. As the assaults turn increasingly vicious and bizarre, Mavis realizes that Hell isn’t reserved for the afterlife.
And sinner or not, no one is coming to save her.

Whew, where to start with The Body? Well. Main character Mavis has just been in a car accident, and when some other sketchy events occur around her and her husband, she’s convinced she’s been cursed by the congregation from their wedding. This is very oversimplified, but that’s the general gist. It’s a cool premise, and even though religious-based plots can be hit or miss for me, my curiosity was absolutely piqued here.

Mavis is next-level panicked that she is going to lose Jerrod, and at first it is kind of… well, it feels a wee bit dramatic, but also I felt kind of bad for her. Her parents clearly suck, and she seems a little unbalanced, so I felt some sympathy. Problem is, during the course of the book, I felt less and less toward her. View Spoiler »As such, it felt like the ending was really… unearned. I won’t say more than that, but it just didn’t sit well with me. « Hide Spoiler The story itself was cool, and I was definitely invested in how the whole supposed curse would play out, but I think that as Mavis made me madder, it was harder to root for her. But Jerrod seemed okay, so it was worth it enough to root for him, I suppose. Plus honestly I hated Mavis’s parents so much that I might have been rooting for Mavis just to piss off her mom?

Bottom Line: Interesting premise that kept me invested even when Mavis started to make me mad.

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The Forest on the Edge of Time by Jasmin Kirkbride
Published by Tor Books on February 3, 2026
Pages: 368
Format:ARC, eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley, Won

The Future of Another Timeline meets The Bone Clocks in this dazzling piece of time-travel climate fiction.

Recruited by the mysterious Project Kairos to change history and save the future from ecological disaster, Echo and Hazel are transported through time to opposite worlds. Echo works as a healer’s assistant in Ancient Athens, embroiled in dangerous politics and wild philosophy. Hazel is the last human alive, in a laboratory on a polluted island with nothing but tiny robots and an untrustworthy AI for company.

Both women suffer from amnesia but when they fall asleep, their consciousnesses transcend time and they meet in their dreams. Together, they start to uncover their past – but soon discover the past threatens humanity’s survival.

If Echo and Hazel have a chance of changing the future, they must remember to forget…

THE FOREST ON THE EDGE OF TIME is a novel about family and duty and the worlds we try to save along the way.

I love a good time travel story, and this one felt so fresh! We meet two time travelers: Echo, who is in 514BC Athens, and Hazel, who is in an unspecified future year in basically an unspecified place, but she’s all that remains of humanity. They’re supposed to work together to try to prevent the future that Hazel is in from happening- basically, they’re trying to prevent humans from, well, destroying humans. It tracks, obviously. I found this to be such an interesting take on time travel, and it appealed to my logical side- obviously, it would make sense to have someone in the future to let the folks in the past know if their tweaks are working!

The two can communicate in a dream-state, which did confuse me a little, but it’s fine. The robots helped Hazel figure it out, frankly they helped her figure a lot out, while Echo had some friends in Greece who were aware that she was a time traveler and were there to help her with the mission. First, I loved learning about the Greek time period! There were so many fascinating events and people I’d not heard of before and I had so much fun learning about it. Second, I loved the characters themselves- some who were real, some who were fictional, all who were well developed. I also enjoyed Hazel trying to interact with the clankers  robots and AI, and them her.

There’s a third point of view, located in London in 2020, that of Anna. I was very unsure of her role in things, but it did eventually make sense. I think maybe her chapters could have been a little less frequent, but again, not a dealbreaker. And I promise all things will be answered in time! (Get it? In time?)

Bottom Line:  I really enjoyed this high stakes take on time travel, the characters we met along the way, and how it all connected!

Have you read any of these books? Plan to? Let us chat about them!