20 Romance Books That Will Heat Up Your February

When a woman is swept off her feet by a mysterious man who marries her and takes her away from her working-class life, everything seems perfect. But in Erica Spindler's The First Wife, things aren't as they seem for the new bride, and her husband's past begins to haunt the present.

Out Feb. 10

Self-proclaimed introvert Issa Rae navigates work, life, and love in a series of hilarious and often self-deprecating essays that make up her memoir, The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl.

Out Feb. 10

Nick Hornby — author of High Fidelity and About a Boy — has returned with Funny Girl, a novel about a young woman in the 1960s who deviates from her original path to be a beauty queen in order to pursue a career in comedy.

Out Feb. 3

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Tyler's latest novel, A Spool of Blue Thread, builds a rich story about four generations of a family going through the ups and downs of life together, all set against the backdrop of a sprawling Baltimore estate.

Out Feb. 10

Katherine Heiny's debut book Single, Carefree, Mellow: Stories is a laugh-out-loud-funny look at the ways that we all are unfaithful to each other — both on purpose and accidentally.

Not That Kind of Girl author and Girls star Lena Dunham says Heiny's work "does something magical: elevates the mundane so that it has the stakes of a mystery novel, gives women's interior lives the gravity they so richly deserve — and makes you laugh along the way."

Out Feb. 3

In The Nightingale, Kristin Hannah captures the essence of WWII Europe while telling the story of a brave young woman who is betrayed by love, then joins a resistance within France to save the lives of those suffering under the Nazis.

Out Feb. 3

Megan experienced something so terrible, she refuses to speak about it — or at all. In Abbie Rushton's YA novel, Unspeakable, a girl torn apart by a secret is befriended by someone who brightens her days and who not only can help her recover, but will love her as she is.

Out Feb. 5

Two love affairs: one in the past and one in the present. William Nicholson's Amherst follows parallel passionate tales occurring in the same city, but at different times.

Out Feb. 10

When Felicity Wright inherits the hotel where she works as a chef, she will do anything to keep it running — including getting mixed up with the former owner's attractive nephew. Gerri Russell's Flirting With Felicity is a sweet story about a romance that's a recipe for disaster.

Out Feb. 1

In this tender YA tale of an unlikely friendship between two girls coming of age together, Walking on Trampolines captures the essence of youth and the heartaches of growing pains.

Booklist says that readers will adore author Frances Whiting's "heart wrenchingly honest and utterly earnest tale of female friendship, unbreakable bonds, and learning to let go."

Out Feb. 3

The magic and mortal worlds collide in a London now ruled by a new king in Ryan Graudin's romance novel All That Burns, the fantastical sequel in the All that Glows series.

Out Feb. 10

In Holly LeCraw's The Half Brother, a love triangle evolves between a man, his half brother, and the woman they both have fallen for.

Out Feb. 17

Juliet's perfect life is shattered when her dad moves out and her mom falls apart, and she begins to question all she's ever known. Then, enter Declan — an attractive (and very off-limits) boy. In Melissa Kantor's Better Than Perfect, a young girl must choose between the life she had and one she never ever thought possible.

Out Feb. 17

Anna Todd's successful One Direction-based fan fiction series continues to thrive with the release of its fourth installment, After Ever Happy, which picks up where lovers Tessa and Hardin last left off.

Out Feb. 24

Two women "at opposite ends of the beauty spectrum" face the same same problem: each fears she won't find someone to love her who can overcome her looks. Amanda Filipacchi's The Unfortunate Importance of Beauty explores the complexities of relationships amid beauty, love, desire, and personal identity.

Out Feb. 16

In Never Sleep Alone, comedian and author Dr. Alex Schiller (not a real doctor) presents an interactive sex and dating guide that will entertain and inform readers.

Out Feb. 3

In a world divided by blood — Red for the lowly and Silver for the elite — Mare Barrow, a Red, must adapt quickly when she is thrown into the royal palace and forced to pretend she is something she isn't. In Victoria Aveyard's Red Queen, power, position, and passion are all part of this world's deadly dance.

Out Feb. 10

This YA novel touches on the sensitive subject of suicide — something that both the male and female protagonists bond over as they plan their own. In My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Warga, two young people begin to find a reason to live in each other, but is it enough for them?

Out Feb. 10

We all know that Shakespeare was a genius, but where did he get inspiration? Andrea Chapin's The Tutor is a historical fiction that imagines what a year as Shakespeare's muse would have been like for one woman.

Out Feb. 5

Kate Alcott's novel A Touch of Stardust takes readers behind the scenes of filming Gone With the Wind and delves into detail about the romances of the real-life Rhett Butler, Clark Gable.

Out Feb. 17