13 of the Best New Queer Books Out in February 2026

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February is only 28 days long, and this is usually one of the quieter seasons of publishing. So how is this month so jam-packed with exciting new queer books? We have the much-anticipated U.S. release of Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth, a new F/F romance from Ashley Herring Blake, a new lesbian sci-fi heist from Makana Yamamoto, a slapstick fantasy “In Which Many Dangerous and Homosexual Things Happen,” and so much more.

This is also Black History Month in the U.S. and LGBTQ History Month in the UK, and we have some excellent queer Black nonfiction out in February. There’s a new edition of Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde that includes a new foreword by Evie Shockley and afterword by Melinda Goodman. A Body Made Home: They Black Trans Love by K. Marshall Green is a memoir and mythography written in the tradition of Audre Lorde. And don’t miss The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram by Ethelene Whitmire, a biography of a queer Black scholar who deserves to be more well-known.

At the end of this post, All Access members can find a list of 22 more new queer books out in the first week of the month!

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Heap Earth Upon It by Chloe Michelle Howarth (February 3)

Chloe Michelle Howarth’s Sunburn got a lot of buzz, so fans have been counting down to the U.S. release of the follow-up. It’s being pitched as a “new take on sapphic obsession, for fans of All Our Wives Under the Sea,” which instantly put it on my TBR. It follows a set of siblings who have just moved to the town of Ballycrea in 1965. A wealthy, childless couple in their forties takes them under their wing, but one of the sisters soon becomes obsessed with the wife, Betty. And the siblings are hiding secrets about their past.

Get Over It, April Evans by Ashley Herring Blake (February 3)

The follow-up to Dream On, Ramona Riley takes us back to the idyllic setting of Clover Lake, New Hampshire. The tattoo artist in town, April Evans, has had to close her shop and is reeling from a recent breakup. At an art class, she runs into Daphne Love, who has also had a recent breakup – with April’s ex. The enmity melts away the more time they spend together, and appreciate each other’s artwork. —Julia Rittenberg

Peaches and Pucks by M.A. Wardell (February 3)

When English teacher Harry is joined by P.E. teacher Darius on a trip for the boys’ hockey team, he’s at about the end of his rope. He can barely deal with seeing Darius in school, much less spending a night with him. Darius is of course intrigued by and kind of in love with Harry. The sparks between the two men are barely contained, even while they watch a bunch of tweens chase each other around the ice. —Julia Rittenberg

A Slow and Secret Poison by Carmella Lowkis (February 10)

I hope you’re not tired of me talking about sapphic gothic novels yet, because I’m certainly not. In 1922, Vee tries to make a fresh start by taking a job as a gardener at the crumbling Harfold Manor. She’s immediately drawn to her employer, Lady Arabella, who is convinced she will soon fall victim to the same curse that killed the rest of her family one by one. The only escape would be finding the folkloric dancing hare that gave the estate its name. But as Vee tries to help Arabella, her past threatens to catch up with her.

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers (February 3)

In this funny debut fantasy, Sir Cameron is a knight who dislikes confrontation, and has done a good job avoiding it…until now. The Church has decided that in order to beat mad sorcerer Merulo, Sir Cameron—wait for it—needs to die. And in order to keep this from happening, he runs to the one person he should be afraid of: mad sorcerer Merulo. (Also it deserves a “Subtitle of the Year” award for “In Which Many Dangerous and Homosexual Things Happen.”) —Liberty Hardy

The Obake Code by Makana Yamamoto (February 17)

From the author of Hammajang Luck comes a new lesbian sci-fi heist! Malia used to be the Obake, a notorious hacker, but she was successful enough to retire three years ago. It turns out that leaving a life of crime behind is easier said than done, though, and Malia can’t help rigging a few cybernetic fights. That lands her on the wrong side of a brutal gang leader, who gives her a deal: take down a local politician “cleaning up the streets”—or die. It’s a pretty easy choice, and Malia calls in her old contacts for help (including a femme fatale con artist) but is soon embroiled in a political and superhacker conspiracy.

Queen of Faces by Petra Lord (February 3)

In the world of this sapphic YA dark academia, human bodies can be replaced, if you have the money. Anabelle Gage is trapped in a decaying male body and desperate to get out of it, so she attempts to steal one from the Paragon Academy, where students are automatically given new ones. But caught by the school’s headmaster, Anabelle is blackmailed into being his personal mercenary instead. —Liberty Hardy

This Wretched Beauty by Elle Grenier (February 17)

Feiwel & Friends’ Remix series has had so many great hits for me (especially Travelers Along the Way and Most Ardently). This new addition to the series reimagines Dorian Gray as a young trans person, trapped under her grandfather’s thumb as heir to his estate. When she meets a painter who sees her for who she is and introduces her to the world of molly houses and drag, she sees a new possible future for herself for the first time. But if she doesn’t choose to take this new future by both hands, she may just become the very worst of what her family wants her to be. —Rachel Brittain

Just Between Us by Adeline Kon (February 24)

There’s no longer any magic in ice skating for Lydia. Sure, she can do the moves, but it’s a means to an end: a spot at the Olympics. It’s not art, and it’s certainly not fun. But by watching another Olympic hopeful, Elaine, put together passionate routines, Lydia finds her emotions thawing — both for her sport and her rival. —Eileen Gonzalez

Chicken Heart by Morgan Boecher (February 3)

Jackie Locklear is a stand-up comedian who is grieving his aunt Shelia and struggling to accept his trans identity. Sheila founded the Chicken Heart Love Commune, a refuge for trans people, and Jackie decides it’s the best place for him to process his emotions. At first, he feels like an outsider, as a city kid who is not yet comfortable with his transness. Over time, though, he’s able to make space for himself and reach out to the other residents.

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name by Audre Lorde, foreword by Evie Shockley, afterword by Melinda Goodman (February 3)

Audre Lorde’s Zami is a must-read queer classic. It’s a “genre-fluid memoir”: a biomythography of her life as a Black lesbian, beginning in her childhood in 1930s Harlem. This edition includes a new foreword by the poet and professor at Rutgers University Evie Shockley and an afterword by poet and adjunct professor at City University of New York Melinda Goodman.

A Body Made Home: They Black Trans Love by K. Marshall Green (February 24)

Speaking of biomythographies, this is a “memoir and mythography of a Black trans man’s journey from Baby Girl to Black Boi, through gender, race, and trans theory made personal.” K. Marshall Green continues in the tradition of Audre Lorde by combining his memoir with writing about the kinds of bodies and love that are rejected by the mainstream. He also explores how Black queer people make a home while in America, where their bodily safety is continually threatened.

The Remarkable Life of Reed Peggram by Ethelene Whitmire (February 3)

When biographies like this come out, I’m reminded of how many fascinating people throughout history I’ve never heard of. Reed Peggram was a queer, Black son of a housecleaner who became a decorated scholar who got a PhD from Harvard and received the same fellowship as Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes. On the eve of World War II, he arrived in Paris, joining the circles of famous artists, musicians, and writers. When the threat of the war became even more obvious, he still refused to return to a segregated USA, where he would be treated as a second class citizen. Instead, he risked everything to continue his life with Arne, a Danish scholar. This follows him as he flees from country to country, including being captured by Nazis and escaping. Whitmore is a professor for the Department of African American Studies at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, and she also wrote the biography Regina Anderson Andrews, Harlem Renaissance Librarian.

21 More New Queer Books Out February, 2026

As a bonus for All Access members, here are 21 more queer books out in the first week of February, including the paperback release of Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan

Disappoint Me by Nicola Dinan (Trans Woman Fiction) (Paperback Release)

Night Terminus by Ellis Scott (Gay Fiction)