Highlights: February 2022

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Still cold. Still dark. Still winter in Minnesota! But at least it’s February, the month where we can all eat chocolate to our heart’s content and blame it on romance! Seriously, does anyone’s New Year’s resolution diet ever make it past February? We, of course, will be enjoying said chocolate while curled up with some good books. Here are a few we’re looking forward to this month!

Serena’s Picks:

Book: “A River Enchanted” by Rebecca Ross

Publication Date: February 15, 2022

Why I’m Interested: I have a few other books by this author that have been on my TBR list for way longer than I want to admit. But prior to this, I believe she’s mostly written YA fantasy, so I was intrigued when I saw that she was releasing an adult fantasy novel. And the tale itself is right up my alley, following a bard, Jack, as he returns to his magic-ridden home. There, he teams up with his childhood rival and the heir to the land, Adaira, to discover why young girls are going missing. Really, the entire book description sounds very Celtic fantasy/Juliet Marillier-like. And that’s more than enough for me!

Book: “This Woven Kingdom” by Tahereh Mafi

Publication Date: February 1, 2022

Why I’m Interested: I love a good forbidden romance, and this one sound excellent. Alizeh is the heir to the Jinn; but given that her people are spread far and wide, discriminated against and hated, this title means nothing more than another aspect of herself that she must hide as she scrapes together a living as a lowly servant. When she has a chance run-in with the crown prince, Kamran, events are set off that will spiral out of the control of them both. The book is also based on Persian mythology, so that adds another check mark in its favor. I’ve had a lot of good luck with “Jinn” stories, from the “City of Brass” trilogy to the more recent “Daughter of the Salt King.” Crossing my finger that my luck will hold!

Book: “The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea” by Axie Oh

Publication Date: February 22, 2022

Why I’m Interested: I mean, the cover?? Honestly, that’d be enough for me! But the story sounds excellent as well. For decades, the people have sacrificed a young woman to the sea, hoping that these brides will appease the tempestuous and violent Sea God who has been be hammering their land with violent storms every year. Mina did not have this destiny, but to spare her brother the pain of losing his love, Mina dives beneath the sea, sacrificing herself. In the land she finds below, strange forces are at work and the Sea God himself might be the biggest mystery of all.

Kate’s Picks:

Book: “Echo” by Thomas Olde Heuvelt

Publication Date: February 8, 2022

Why I’m Interested: Given how much I loved, loved, LOVED Olde Heuvelt’s previous novel “Hex”, it was a no-brainer that his new horror story was going to go to the top of my must read pile. But instead of an angry witch tormenting a small community, we go into the world of mountaineering and folk horror, with some survival and body squick thrown into the mix. Nick and Augustin decide to do a mountaineering trek into the Swiss Alps, seeking out the secluded and notorious mountain Maudit. But Augustin ends up dead, and Nick barely survives, returning to his life with a horribly disfigured face. His lover Sam is happy he’s alive… until it seems that Nick didn’t leave the Alps without bringing something terrible back. Heuvelt knows how to scare the hell out of me, and “Echo” will be no different.

Book: “This Might Hurt” by Stephanie Wrobel

Publication Date: February 22, 2022

Why I’m Interested: “Darling Rose Gold” was an addictive and unnerving thriller, and when I saw that Stephanie Wrobel had a new thriller coming out I was very interested in seeing what her next story would be. This time we’re dealing with a shady self help organization that may or may not be a cult! Sold! Natalie and her sister Kit are estranged, with Natalie trying to forget their shared traumas and Kit drowning in them. So Kit joins a group called Wisewood, which promises to help people become their ‘maximized selves’ if they go to their retreat in remote Maine and cut themselves off from the world. Natalie doesn’t hear from Kit for months…. until she gets a mysterious email from Wisewood saying that they know a secret she’s been keeping from Kit. Now Natalie is desperate to find her sister. And Wisewood is determined to keep them both. I expect twists and suds.

Book: “Dead Silence” by S.A. Barnes

Publication Date: February 8, 2022

Why I’m Interested: I feel like I’ve been waiting on this one forever, though in actuality it’s only been postponed once. Regardless, while Science Fiction isn’t usually my genre, if you make it into space horror I am almost always in, and that is why “Dead Silence” by S.A. Barnes caught my eye. Claire and her team have finished up their mission, and though she is their leader, this is her last mission with their corporation. So when their spaceship stumbles upon what remains of the Aurora, a luxury spaceliner that disappeared decades before, she thinks that this could be her ticket to wealth and starting over. But once they board the ship to salvage what they can, the find a ship full of corpses. Expected, sure. But then strange things start happening, and they start seeing the dead, and other things. It sounds like “Alien” meets “Event Horizon” meets “Titanic”. Which is quite the combination. https://amzn.to/3HEhkDz

What books are you looking forward to this month?