Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For February, we’re looking at a summery closed-door romance, a romantasy, a literary novel about a family unraveling family secrets, a comedic spy thriller, a Western based on an amazing true story, two newer mysteries with a strong sense of place, new historical fiction, and nonfiction centering on food and/or royal service.
If you love romance:
Emma St. Clair’s If All Else Sails (2025)*
If you like funny closed-door romances with a summer vibe, check out this novel! School nurse Josie is excited to spend the summer in coastal Virginia at her sibling reunion, only to find out her slick sports agent brother has lied about the whole thing. Instead, she finds her brother’s best friend Wyatt, a hockey player she absolutely loathes. Her brother hopes she will help Wyatt recover from a knee injury but perhaps something more will develop, especially when they undertake a sailing trip together.
Recommended for fans of Melissa Ferguson and Jennifer Shirk.
*Also available as an ebook and audiobook on Hoopla
Alix E. Harrow’s The Everlasting (2025)
In this clever romantasy, a wayward failed scholar and soldier finds himself traveling back in time to aid a woman famous in legend for becoming a knight who sacrifices herself to save the fictional country of Dominion. He goes back to make sure she fulfills her mission, but his love for her makes him wonder if there’s a different way for this story to play out.
Recommended for fans of Mark Lawrence’s The Book That Wouldn’t Burn, Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea, Jude Deveraux’s Order of Swans, and Rebecca Ross’s Wild Reverence
If you enjoy literary fiction mysteries about families:
Rachel Joyce’s The Homemade God (2025)
Vic’s four adult children are not pleased when he summons them to a family council to tell them he’s marrying a much younger woman. He subsequently flees to his summer home in Italy with his new wife, where he promptly drops dead. The kids then convene at his home to manage his affairs alongside their new stepmother. They wrestle with their own sibling ties, their father’s legacy, and their mixed feelings about his new wife.
Recommended for fans of Lynn Steger Strong, Anne Tyler, and Ann Patchett.
If you want a comedic spy thriller:
Dan Fesperman’s Pariah (2025)
A disgraced comedian flees the United States after scandal but quickly finds himself in a new line of work after receiving a shadowy job offer. The CIA asks him to help infiltrate an Eastern European country because its leader is a big fan of his work. It sounds like a straightforward-enough mission but proves to be the acting challenge of his life.
Recommended for fans of Elliot Ackerman’s Sheepdogs.
If you prefer Westerns:
Adrian Gostick’s Jack Slade: Song of the Butcherbird (2025)
Jack Slade is hired by his stagecoach company to remove corruption along the new Pony Express route, but the talented but troubled Slade finds far more trouble than he bargained for when he rides into town for a drink and is ambushed and left for dead. This novel is based on the life of the real Jack Slade, one of the first gunfighters of the American West who really did work in this capacity for the Pony Express.
Recommended for fans of action-packed Westerns based on true stories.
If you like mysteries:
Archer Sullivan’s The Witch’s Orchard (2025)
In the mountains of Western North Carolina, Air Force investigator-turned-private investigator Annie Gore is hired to look into a missing persons case. She’s an outsider to the town but not to Appalachia itself. She grew up in a similar small mountain town and finds the case haunting for personal reasons, but she also is in no position to turn down a pay check. So, off she goes to learn more about a decade-old case in which three girls disappeared and only one returned. This is the first in a new series about Annie, with a second book slated for release this summer.
Recommended for fans of Sue Grafton.
Sarah Stewart Taylor’s Hunter’s Heart Ridge (2025)
I don’t generally review books in a series that are not the first, but I had so many people tell me they enjoyed the first book in this series when I profiled it last year that I felt like it would be negligent of me to not let everyone know that a second book has been released. In Agony Hill, the first book, Franklin Warren moves from Boston to rural Vermont to accept a job with the state police. This book is set a few months later in the autumn of 1965, and he responds to a diplomat’s death during a hunt and again works with his amateur detective neighbor Alice to get to the bottom of the case.
Recommended for fans of historical mysteries.
If you love historical fiction:
Isabel Cañas’s The Possession of Alba Díaz (2025)
In this atmospheric historical gothic horror romance set in 18th century Mexico, Alba–the daughter of a wealthy merchant–flees with her parents and her fiancé to her father’s abandoned silver mine when plague breaks out in their hometown. They may be safe from the plague, but Alba begins to demonstrate other disturbing symptoms. The only person who can help her is her future husband’s cousin, and he knows that with his growing attraction to her, he should stay far away. Complications ensue.
Recommended for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
If you need an audiobook:
Ken Follett’s Circle of Days (2025)**
Follett is known for his epic historical fiction. One of his most famous books, Pillars of the Earth, is about the building of a cathedral. This latest book stretches much farther back in time to the building of a far more mysterious structure–Stonehenge.
Recommended for fans of Robert Harris and Edith Pargeter.
**Ebook also available as an ebook on OverDrive, as well as physical copies in the system
If you enjoy nonfiction:
Nicholas Morgenstern’s Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream (2025)
Morgenstern’s used to offer up some of the best ice cream in New York City, but even though they closed their main location last year, you can still enjoy their work if you’re willing to put in a little work of your own. The founder of the ice cream parlor shares recipes for dozens of ice cream flavors, ranging from standard chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry to more exotic or unusual offerings like coconut sorbet, grape, raspberry green tea jelly, peach sweet tea, and the shop’s trademark pineapple salted egg yolk.
Recommended for ice cream enthusiasts.
Katrina Cermelj’s The Elements of Baking: Making Any Recipe Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free or Vegan (2024)
Chemist Cermelj walks readers through how to make tasty gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan baked goods in this acclaimed book. By explaining the science behind baking and the ingredients, Cermelj provides recipes but also gives readers the tools to adapt their own favorite recipes at home. Recipes include gluten-free bread, dairy-free chocolate chip cookies, egg-free apple crumble cake, vegan carrot cake, and more.
Recommended for bakers interested in gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, and vegan baking.
Grant Harrold’s The Royal Butler: My Remarkable Life in Royal Service (2025)***
Harrold grew up in a working-class Scottish family but was always fascinated by United Kingdom royalty. He became a butler with the hopes he would one day work for the royal family, and he capped his career off by working for a decade under Charles III when he was Prince of Wales. Harrold reminisces about his childhood, as well as his time working with Charles and his sons.
Recommended for anyone who wants a peek behind-the-scenes of British royalty.
***Audiobook also available on Hoopla
What’s your favorite new-ish books? What books are you buzzing about for 2026? Have you read any of these books? Tell us in the comments! As always, please follow this link to our online library catalog for more information on any of these items or to place them on hold.
Berryville Book Buzz 