With Valentine’s Day here and Spring in the forefront, we’re continuing our journey of supporting LGBTQ+ books and the authors within our community. From a rakish women we’d love to see in Bridgerton to sapphic figure skaters and town mysteries taking an unexpected twist, we’ve got you covered with a list of LGBTQ+ books coming out February 2026.
A special shoutout goes to Netgalley, the premiere source of getting books in advance if you’re looking to review books. Most of the summaries were sourced from Netgalley, Amazon, or Barnes and Noble and we hope this helps get readers interested in these creative queer writers!
Also, make sure to check out whether any of the books listed below for February 2026 are available at your local indie store here.
MORE: Missed the LGBTQ+ books that released in January? Read our list.
1. The Squire and his Prince by Briar Niran
Synopsis: or eighteen-year-old squire Kaelen, the crown prince is everything—ruthlessly clever, disciplined, devoted to his siblings, and a man Kaelen has hopelessly loved since childhood. Richard, however, barely notices his existence.
When the king invites the Estaran royal family for marriage talks, the court rejoices. Richard’s refusal to share his bed with any man or woman has, to them, long been a strange defect—one that a political marriage would solve. But Kaelen is left heartbroken.
Worse, when the Estaran prince—Richard’s intended consort—boasts his crude intentions, Kaelen retaliates with his fist. The single punch explodes into a diplomatic crisis. Caught in the middle, Kaelen soon realises that worse than losing his life—he may lose his prince.
Release date: February 11th
2. Get Over It, April Evans by Ashley Herring Blake
Synopsis: April Evans’ life is in shambles. She’s had to close her tattoo shop in Clover Lake and she’s subletting her house to cover her mortgage. And her love life? Nonexistent ever since Elena, her ex-fiancée, left her for a younger woman three years ago. When she is asked to teach a summer art class at the town’s new resort called Cloverwild, April jumps at the opportunity, especially since the job comes with boarding. She’s sure that this is the silver lining she needs . . . until she meets her cabinmate: Daphne Love, the woman who stole her ex-fiancée. And even worse, it’s clear Daphne has no idea who April is.
Daphne Love is cursed in, well, love. She thought she’d found the unconditional love she craved in her girlfriend, Elena, but now she’s single again and utterly brokenhearted. When her friend hooks her up with a summer gig as an art instructor at a swanky resort in New Hampshire, Daphne feels optimistic for once. If only she had a roommate and coworker who didn’t seem to hate her on sight.
Their already-tense relationship gets even shakier when April and Daphne find themselves competing for a rare opportunity to showcase their art in a London museum. But slowly, barriers begin to fall, and an inexplicable allure keeps drawing them closer, leaving them to wonder if the perfect picture they’re looking for can only be made with each other.
Release date: February 3rd
3. And Then He Pressed Play by Robert J. Halliwell
Synopsis: It’s 2006 and Sixteen-year-old A.J. Walker is openly gay, painfully Canadian, and very much out of his depth. He’s wanted to do his school’s exchange program for years, but now that he’s landed at an all-boys school in Glenbridge Ireland—an ocean away from Moose Jaw Saskatchewan—he’s starting to question his decisions. Armed with nothing more than his trusty Discman and an accent that makes him stand out, A.J. has one goal: get through the Irish school year.
Born and raised in Glenbridge, Bren O’Shea has never known how to sit still or keep quiet. He’s also never known a day without laughter. Even when things get bad, Bren always knows how to get a smile out of someone, whether they asked him or not. His mam always says he needs to think before he acts, but as long as his heart’s in the right place, what’s the harm in a bit of impulse?
Glenbridge is the sort of town where everyone knows everyone—and unfortunately for A.J. once someone thinks they know you, it’s hard to change their mind.
After a rocky start that ends in disaster, Bren and A.J. need to decide if it’s worth reaching out to someone who’s so different from you—especially when one of you has to leave in June.
Release date: February 23rd
4. A Change of Pace by J.A. Stevens
Synopsis: Strikingly beautiful, ferociously strongminded and famously rakish, London socialite Miss Georgina ‘George’ Pace has seduced many beautiful women in her time. Her days are not quiet: when she isn’t running half-naked through the streets of London, she’s attending masques and balls, or seeking pleasure – and occasionally oblivion – in decadent dens of iniquity.
But while she is cavalier in her attitude to romance, Georgina is deeply protective of her friends and family. When she learns that her dear acquaintance, the innocent and vulnerable Mr Arthur Coombes, has been swindled by a corrupt gaming house, she will stop at nothing to restore his fortune and bring his tormentors to account. Georgina’s quest for justice forces her to navigate a complex world of villains and secrets, and confront long-suppressed memories of a family tragedy. It also leads her to the enigmatic, intriguing and potentially dangerous Lady Elizabeth Mortimer, who offers assistance while keeping her cards close to her chest and remaining impervious to Georgina’s charms.
In attempting to save Mr Coombes, Georgina not only puts herself and those she loves in the path of danger, she also risks losing her heart. Will she keep herself safe – or surrender to her feelings?
Release date: February 24th
5. To the Death by Andrea Tang
Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Samantha Chan wants only one thing: revenge for her brother’s death in an illegal magical duel. Ever since that terrible day, she’s been quietly working with legitimate dueling champion Lysander Rook and biding her time until she can take down her brother’s killer: Mateus Blackwood.
Tamsin Blackwood is trapped. She wants to make a name for herself in the magical dueling circuit, but she can’t get away from the legacy of her father—and coach—Mateus Blackwood. When she receives a challenge from the undefeated Lysander and his assistant Sam, she jumps at the chance to earn enough fame and glory to finally escape her father’s influence.
Tamsin has no idea about Sam’s scheming, and Sam plans to keep it that way. Despite herself, though, she can’t help liking Tamsin, and the two girls quickly grow closer to each other than anyone else in their lives. But Sam won’t let anything get in the way of her revenge—not even her heart.
Release date: February 10th
6. Within These County Lines by Brian Zepka
Synopsis: Eighteen-year-old Stetson Delancey never thought breaking up with his boyfriend would turn him invisible.
In Penango County, Pennsylvania, high school couples carve their names into the legendary Ardor Tree, a rite of passage said to grant love that lasts. Stetson and his boyfriend were no exception. But a bitter breakup just before college splinters their future, and in a moment of anger, Stetson does the unthinkable: he hacks their names from the tree.
That’s when everything in his rural hometown goes from boring to bizarre. Shadows flicker where they shouldn’t. Strangers pass by like he’s not even there. And some people stop seeing him altogether.
With just two months left in Penango and his college dream slipping away, Stetson races to uncover the tree’s secrets before he vanishes for good. But when he meets a boy only he can see—a boy who may have secrets of his own—Stetson begins to wonder if breaking free from his hometown means letting go of everything or learning to hold on to what matters.
Release date: February 24th
7. Love a Comeback by Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare
Synopsis: Since the hugely successful reunion special for their hit show Craven’s Daughter, TV detectives Bex and Sam find themselves busier than ever—but, unfortunately, two thousand miles apart for long months. So much for quickly coaxing the long-simmering spark between them into flame. Finally back in L.A., though, all bets are off, and Bex and Sam are looking forward to some IRL time by the pool—at least until Bex’s sister, Frankie, brings home a truly juicy bit of gossip garnered from her nepo baby girl
squad . . .
Ramona Watts was once the Gen X It Girl—Hollywood darling, household name, muse, and coolest of the cool, until the “Icon with Issues” spectacularly crashed and burned, disappearing for a good 20 years. But a new hit horror series, The Howling, convinced her to sign on, and bring all her charm and 90s nostalgia to the role. Suddenly, Ramona Watts is a Name again—except that she fails to show up on set for Season 3.
It’s none of their business, of course, but Bex and Sam are curious. And they both have Hollywood connections left, right, and center stage, some of whom would love to see them sleuthing again. Plus, spending that kind of time together means another chance at a real romance. So what if they’re not actual detectives? In Los Angeles, isn’t everyone playing a role?
Release date: February 24th
8. A Perfect Match by Rachael Sommers
Synopsis: Acclaimed football star Erin Finch has the sporting world at her feet until a brutal injury sidelines her.
Enter bubbly striker Lia Ashcroft, the up-and-coming hotshot setting the English women’s league on fire. With her personal life in tatters, she’s determined to rule professionally. Filling in for Erin seems like a good way to kick her career up a notch. Icy Erin might be out for a season, but she’s damned if she’ll let someone steal her spot for good.
What starts as fierce tension between the rivals turns into something else: respect, then simmering attraction. Exploring it, though, would break every rule Erin has.
Release date: February 25th
9. Just Between Us: A Graphic Novel by Adeline Kon
Synopsis: Lydia Chen knows how good she is on the ice. Technically perfect, she’s been the one to beat since her debut years ago.
Except now, something is missing in her performances—a spark that’s been gone for a while. Between the constant training, appealing to sponsors to fund her, and the pressure to perform, Lydia’s passion for skating has disappeared.
When her rival Elaine Yee starts training at the same rink, Lydia’s struck by the emotion in Elaine’s routines and unwillingly finds herself getting closer to her as they compete for a spot in the Olympics.
As the tension between them comes to a head, Lydia’s about to find out how a competitor can become an ally and figure out how to feel alive on the ice again.
Release date: February 24th
10. Belonging to the Air by Avery Irons
Synopsis: Honest “Bird” Bennett is a young Black girl with a hunger to learn what lies beyond the walls she shares with her mother, Maddy, and her grandmother, Odelia. Their home is governed by the hum of Maddy’s sewing machine, echoes of Bird preparing supper, and Odelia’s stories of times past. The women live in Bennettsville, Illinois, a freedmen’s town established by Bird’s great-grandfather, where rural life pulses with church song and where peace is fragile with the neighboring white town, Tuckersville.
As Bird comes of age, she must reckon with turbulence at home and with what it means to fall in love with a childhood friend. As an adult, rejecting a life of self-denial, Bird spreads her wings and plants roots in Harlem. After a decade of growth and loss, she is summoned back to Bennettsville to confront her family and her past as Tuckersville residents try to drive their Black neighbors from their land.
In Belonging to the Air: A Novel, author Avery Irons imagines stories of resilience among Black Queer folks during the early 20th century. This skillfully woven narration follows one family’s intergenerational experience of the Great Migration—from an escape from slavery, through the settling of a freedman’s town, and to one young woman’s journey to New York City and back. Irons’ evocative and lyrical prose builds a world in which complicated characters try to care for one another in a country that does not care about them. The novel’s dialogue jumps off the page and rings with a truth that lingers.
Release date: February 3rd
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