What better way to celebrate Valentine’s Day this February than with these latest rom-com reads?
Join us as we highlight notable romance book releases each month to add to your never-ending TBR pile. These lists will include a range of adult, young adult, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC novels to put on your radar. They could be standalone books or new releases in a best-selling series.
Our February rom-com picks include a paranormal romance, high-school basketball coaches, all-male roommates in a London flat, and so much more.
In order of release date, here are 6 rom-com novels we are looking forward to reading in February:
1. Bride by Ali Hazelwood — February 6
After dominating the rom-com genre with bestsellers like The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood trades in fake dating tropes and college research labs for the paranormal. This anticipated team-up of rom-com and supernatural lore features an arranged marriage between a vampire of high political status and an Alpha werewolf loyal only to his pack.
With alliances to uphold and vows to honor, the two creatures of the night will have to learn to trust each other before their secrets threaten to destroy the union between Vampyres and Weres. Bride hits shelves on February 6.
Book Description: A dangerous alliance between a Vampyre bride and an Alpha Werewolf becomes a love deep enough to sink your teeth into with this new paranormal romance.
Misery Lark, the only daughter of the most powerful Vampyre councilman of the Southwest, is an outcast — again. Her days of living in anonymity among the Humans are over: she has been called upon to uphold a historic peacekeeping alliance between the Vampyres and their mortal enemies, the Weres, and she sees little choice but to surrender herself in the exchange — again.
Weres are ruthless and unpredictable, and their Alpha, Lowe Moreland, is no exception. He rules his pack with absolute authority but not without justice. And, unlike the Vampyre Council, not without feeling. It’s clear from the way he tracks Misery’s every movement that he doesn’t trust her. If only he knew how right he was. Because Misery has her own reasons to agree to this marriage of convenience, reasons that have nothing to do with politics or alliances.
2. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams — February 6
Are you looking for something a little more contemporary and poeticly devastating? Ricki Wilde’s dreamy career change from a dreary funeral home to a flower shop in this romantic Renaissance tale creates a rich, emotional, slow-burn.
A love letter to New York City and Harlem, this novel will pull at your heartstrings with a mixture of unique takes on the genre and time-traveling magic. A Love Song for Ricki Wilde will be released on February 6.
Book Description: Ricki Wilde has many talents, but being a Wilde isn’t one of them. As the impulsive, artistic daughter of a powerful Atlanta dynasty, she’s the opposite of her famous socialite sisters. Where they’re long-stemmed roses, she’s a dandelion: an adorable bloom that’s actually a weed, born to float wherever the wind blows. In her bones, Ricki knows that somewhere, a different, more exciting life awaits her.
When regal nonagenarian Ms. Della invites her to rent the bottom floor of her Harlem brownstone, Ricki jumps at the chance for a fresh beginning. She leaves behind her family, wealth, and chaotic romantic decisions to realize her dream of opening a flower shop. And just beneath the surface of her new neighborhood, the music, stories, and dazzling drama of the Harlem Renaissance still simmer.
One evening in February, as the heady, curiously off-season scent of night-blooming jasmine fills the air, Ricki encounters a handsome, deeply mysterious stranger who knocks her world off balance in the most unexpected way.
3. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You by Ann Liang — February 6
A cathartic love letter to the people pleasers and academic over-achievers who struggled through high school, this YA rom-com offers a healing dose of teenage romance tropes reminiscent of To All the Boys I Loved Before.
Sadie Wen pours her ugliest thoughts into email drafts. When those emails are sent out, they threaten to invoke an epic academic enemy-to-lovers relationship between Sadie and Julius, her class rival. I Hope This Doesn’t Find You hits shelves on February 6.
Book Description: Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a “pleasure to have in class.” It’s not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She’d never send them, of course — she’d rather die than hurt anyone’s feelings — but it’s a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie’s work.
All her most vehemently worded emails are directed at her infuriating cocaptain, Julius Gong, whose arrogance and competitive streak have irked Sadie since they were kids. Sadie doesn’t have to hold back in her emails because nobody will ever read them… that is until they’re accidentally sent out.
Overnight, Sadie’s carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It’s her worst nightmare — now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they’re not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there’s one person growing to appreciate the “real” Sadie — Julius, the only boy she’s sworn to hate.
4. Girl Abroad by Elle Kennedy — February 13
Rock star fathers, a year abroad in London, and a flat full of all-boy roommates.
If you’re a fan of New Girl and European settings, Abbey’s tale of no-dating packs and royal scandals will be the perfect dose of high-octane rom-com this February. Did we mention there’s also a rugby player and a broody musician? Girl Abroad releases on February 13.
Book Description: When nineteen-year-old Abbey Bly gets the opportunity to study abroad for a year in London, it’s the perfect chance to finally slip out from under the thumb of her beloved but overbearing retired rock star father. She’s ready to be free, to discover herself―but first off, to meet the girls she’s rooming with. That is until she arrives at her gorgeous new flat to discover those roommates are actually all boys.
Charming, funny, insufferably attractive boys. And off-limits, with a rule against fraternizing between housemates after the unwanted drama with the previous girl. Abbey has never considered herself a rulebreaker. But soon, she’s lying to her father about her living situation and falling for not one, but two men she can’t have; her rugby-player roommate and a broody musician with a girlfriend. Not to mention, her research for school has gotten her tangled in a deeply hidden scandal of a high nobility family, surrounding her with secrets on all sides.
If there’s any hope of Abbey finding love, answers, or a future in London, she’ll have to decide which rules―and hearts―might be worth breaking.
5. How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly — February 13
A workplace rom-com set in the world of high-school basketball with a Taylor Swift-inspired title? Put us in, coach!
This novel follows Julie’s insecurities about dating as she grows closer to former university basketball star Elle. As the two learn how to coach their team in harmony, they face the choice to hide on the sidelines or brave the court together. How You Get the Girl hits bookstores on February 13.
Book Description: When smart-mouthed Vanessa Lerner joins the high school basketball team Julie Parker coaches, Julie’s ready for the challenge. What she’s not ready for is Vanessa’s new foster parent, Elle Cochrane — former University of Tennessee basketball star. While star-struck at first, Julie soon persuades Elle to step into the unfilled position of assistant coach for the year.
Even though Elle has stayed out of the basketball world since an injury ended her short-lived WNBA career, the gig might be a way to become closer to Vanessa — and to spend more time with Julie, who makes Elle laugh. As the coaches grow closer, Elle has a hard time understanding how Julie is single. When Julie reveals her lifelong insecurity about dating and how she wishes it was more like sports — being able to practice first — it sparks an intriguing idea.
While Elle still doubts her abilities as a basketball coach, helping Julie figure out dating is definitely something she can do. But as the basketball season progresses and lines grow increasingly blurred, Julie and Elle must decide to join the game — or retreat to the sidelines.
6. This Day Changes Everything by Edward Underhill — February 13
One crisp fall day in New York City will change Abby and Leo’s life forever with a teen rom-com reminiscent of whirlwind tales like Dash & Lily and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
As Abby takes in the setting of her favorite romance novel and her decision to tell her best friend how she feels about her, Leo struggles to enjoy a day of sightseeing with the fear of being outed as trans. However, everything changes when Abby and Leo get lost in Manhattan together.
This Day Changes Everything releases on February 13.
Book Description: Abby Akerman believes in the Universe. After all, her Midwest high school marching band is about to perform in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City — if that’s not proof that magical things can happen, what is? New York also happens to be the setting of her favorite romance novel, making it the perfect place for Abby to finally tell her best friend, Kat, that she’s in love with her (and, um, gay). She’s carefully annotated a copy of the book as a gift for Kat, and she’s counting on the Universe to provide an Epic Scene worthy of her own rom-com.
Leo Brewer, on the other hand, just wants to get through this trip without falling apart. He doesn’t believe the Universe is magical at all, mostly because he’s about to be outed to his very Southern extended family on national TV as the trans boy he really is. He’s not excited for the parade, and he’s even less excited for an entire day of sightseeing with his band.
But the Universe has other ideas. When fate throws Abby and Leo together on the wrong subway train, they soon find themselves lost in the middle of Manhattan.
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What will you be reading in February? Share your picks in the comments below!
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Alicia Gilstorf
Alicia is a writer from Canada. She credits her passion for TV and film to superheroes, workplace comedies, cheesy holiday movies, and coming-of-age stories.
