February TBR
Happy Black History Month! It’s also the month of love, so I’ve added some variety to my February TBR to account for both. There are nine books in total, which might be a lot for a short month, but we’ll see how I do!
Four of the books on my February TBR are books I’m trying to read for my Black Romance Book Fest TBR, and one of those is also on my Most Anticipated 2025 Releases list. One of them is a part of my goal to start finishing series. And another is a book I previously DNFd that I’d love to finish.
This is the month I read my first Toni Morrison book, and I’m excited to see what I’ve been missing. Four of the books on this list I own physical copies of, three of the books are eBooks (2 ARCs and 1 eBook from Libby), and one of them is an audiobook from Libby. I’ve been enjoying mixing up the format I read books, especially since I prefer to only read physical books before bed.
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Staring unflinchingly into the abyss of slavery, this spellbinding novel transforms history into a story as powerful as Exodus and as intimate as a lullaby.
Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement by Nobel Prize laureate Toni Morrison.
This Could Be Us by Kennedy Ryan
Soledad Barnes has her life all planned out. Because, of course, she does. She plans everything. She designs everything. She fixes everything. She’s a domestic goddess who’s never met a party she couldn’t host or a charge she couldn’t lead. The one with all the answers and the perfect vinaigrette for that summer salad. But none of her varied talents can save her when catastrophe strikes, and the life she built with the man who was supposed to be her forever, goes poof in a cloud of betrayal and disillusion.
But there is no time to pout or sulk, or even grieve the life she lost. She’s too busy keeping a roof over her daughters’ heads and food on the table. And in the process of saving them all, Soledad rediscovers herself. From the ashes of a life burned to the ground, something bold and new can rise.
But then an unlikely man enters the picture—the forbidden one, the one she shouldn’t want but can’t seem to resist. She’s lost it all before and refuses to repeat her mistakes. Can she trust him? Can she trust herself?
After all she’s lost . . .and found . . .can she be brave enough to make room for what could be?
Only for the Week by Natasha Bishop
You are cordially invited to the wedding of Amerie Cross and Arnold Hightower.
And now a toast from the maid of honor, Janelle Cross!
Hi everyone, thank you for being here.
Some of you may know me as the sister of the bride.
Some of you may know me as the ex-girlfriend of the groom.
But I’m willing to bet none of you know me as the woman secretly sleeping with the best man.
I am.
I know, I’m just as surprised as you.
It was only supposed to be for the week; but every kiss, adventure, and stolen moment with Rome Martin feels like it could last forever.
Oh well. What happens in Tulum stays in Tulum.
Right?
I Think They Love You by Julian Winters
With his funny, big-hearted adult rom com debut, bestselling, award-winning YA author Julian Winters shows sometimes fake dating your ex can turn into a second chance.
When Denzel “Denz” Carter’s workaholic father and CEO of 24 Carter Gold unexpectedly announces his retirement, the competition is on for who will become his successor. To convince his family members that he’s capable of commitment, Denz impulsively lies about being in a serious relationship.
Now Denz needs to find a fake boyfriend to seal the deal on the CEO position. Denz is forced to turn to the last person he wants to be in a pretend (or any) relationship with: Braylon, the man who broke his heart.
Braylon’s sudden reappearance in Denz’s life turns everything upside down. But, apparently, he needs Denz’s connections to the mayor to win his own promotion. So, they strike a deal. It’s all business until the funny texts and the confusing kisses leave Denz struggling to separate this temporary arrangement from the affairs of his heart.
I Think They Love You is a celebration of love, queer communities, big families—in all their beautiful complications— healing, and, most importantly, falling in love with the person you’re becoming.
Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle
Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers—or so it seems. After all, at seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show, Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted.
Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. But being the main caretaker for his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and his little brother means his dreams will stay just that and the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners. Until he meets Dani Ford.
Dani isn’t checking for anybody. She’s focused on her plan: ace senior year, score a scholarship, and move to New York City to become a famous author. But her college essay keeps tripping her up and acknowledging what’s blocking her means dealing with what happened at that party a few months ago. And that’s one thing Dani can’t do.
When the romantic DJ meets the ambitious writer, sparks fly. Prince is smitten, but Dani’s not looking to get derailed. She gives Prince just three dates to convince her that he’s worth falling for. Three dates for the love expert to take his own advice, and just maybe change two lives forever.
Faye and the City in the Sea by Nicole Bailey
Faye can never be free from the blood that stains her soul.
Haunted by the horrific traumas of battle, Faye struggles to move past the bloodshed she witnessed that fateful day. No amount of magic can erase from her mind the images of the lives lost.
She can’t breathe.
Can’t sleep.
Can’t focus on anything but the terror she’s drowning in.
Yet she isn’t the only one plagued by trepidation. As a co-council, anxiety is a part of Daron’s daily life. But never before was it like this. Crippled by fear, he hunts for a way to keep Faye and Alec safe as the threat of Typhon draws near.
Traveling to the mercity for the full moon revelry, Faye uncovers a sinister new threat that could endanger life for all merfolk. Can she and Daron work together to protect their new allies? Or will the losses suffered sink their enchanting world to the depths?
Something Cheeky by Thien-Kim Lam
A steamy new rom-com from the popular author of Happy Endings and Full Exposure, where two friends get the opportunity to work together on their dream project—a Cinderella rock musical with an all-Asian cast—and discover that falling in love was the easy part…
Zoe Tran is living her best life, designing plus-size lingerie at her own award-winning clothing boutique, when suddenly her college best friend reenters her life. Derek Bui is offering a tantalizing chance to recapture a forgotten dream: designing costumes for the musical they created together years ago.
Derek has loved Zoe since freshman year but never had the guts to confess his true feelings. Now he’s directing the Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical they dreamed up in college. The stakes are high: it’s the first production with an all-Asian cast and creative team at Washington, D.C.’s largest theatre and if they can make it work, they’ll head to Broadway. But his real goal: get Zoe back in his life.
A proud demisexual, Zoe only ever saw Derek as her best friend, but working on their dream production together brings them closer than ever. Sparks ignite under the hot spotlights. But when the theatre’s artistic director pressures Derek to make the musical “less Asian,” he and Zoe clash on whether to stay true to their vision or compromise to keep the production alive.
Will Zoe and Derek finally let love take center stage or will their creative differences close the curtains on them forever?
Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven
The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue meets This is How You Lose The Time War in this fantastical love story that defies death as two souls reincarnate through the centuries.
They’ve loved each other in a thousand lifetimes. They’ve killed each other in every one.
Evelyn remembers all her past lives. She also remembers that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her eighteenth birthday by Arden, a supernatural being whose soul―and survival―is tethered to hers.
The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplants in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to:
1. Find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life―before they find her first.
2. Figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse.
3. Try not to fall in love.
Good Material by Dolly Alderton
Andy loves Jen. Jen loved Andy. And he can’t work out why she stopped.
Now he is. . .
Without a home
Waiting for his stand-up career to take off
Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn’t looking
Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of his ruined relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him. But Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend’s side of the story…
In this sharply funny and exquisitely relatable story of romantic disaster and friendship, Dolly Alderton offers up a love story with two endings, demonstrating once again why she is one of the most exciting writers today, and the true voice of a generation.
