A Rodeo Romance, A Magic Circus, and More New YA Book Releases for February 4, 2026

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It’s senior year, and Mal’s looking forward to being the editor in chief of their school’s literary magazine. They want to keep things quiet and follow their Plan, which is to get out of their small midwestern town ASAP following graduation. Mal’s queer, fat, and has ADHD and thus, has never fit in.

But then they get horrible news: the lit magazine’s been canceled due to budget cuts.

Enter Emerson. Emerson, a fellow student with ADHD but who is the loud, confident type Mal could never be, suggests that the staff of the lit magazine create a zine instead. While Mal never saw making and selling something they think is contraband as part of the Plan, they’re also drawn to Emerson. This would allow them more time with a person they think is cool and funny and charming, among other things.

Soon, Mal is flirting and spending more and more time with Emerson at her place of work. Perhaps getting off Plan is exactly what they need to have the best senior year ever.

Carnival Fantástico is all about magic and mischief. That makes it the perfect place for Esmeralda, a runaway who takes on the role of the carnival’s fortune teller. She has big aspirations to utilize her skills and wit to secure a lead role in the Big Show. If she succeeds, she’ll escape the tyranny of her former employer, the King’s army commander.

Enter Ignacio. He’s defected from the army, and he’s turned his eye to finding proof that his father is corrupt. Ignacio had no idea that in his search, though, he’d meet a woman spinning fortunes at a carnival and fall head over heels in love.

The two of them strike a deal. He’ll help her score the lead role, while she’ll help expose his father. However, there are bigger secrets from both of their pasts that threaten their (promising?) futures.

Paloma and Julio broke up after Julio’s father died. Paloma’s been heartbroken since. However, things have only grown more difficult for her as her community of farm and factory workers is being threatened. An e-commerce giant called Silva threatens to open a warehouse near her school, and it’s not the first time this company has been responsible for the town losing its green spaces.

The air pollution is so harmful, though, that people are leaving town in droves. Paloma’s mom wants them to go, too, but Paloma has hope that she and others in town can work together to stop Silva and reverse the harm done by the corporation. But to do this, Paloma will have to turn to the one person she’s most worried about reaching out to: Julio.

YA publishes very few westerns, but this is one you’ll want to lasso onto your TBR, especially if you’re a romance reader.

Josie’s parents own a small restaurant empire in Houston, and they’ve just opened a brand new one. She’s expected to help out, especially as she’ll likely take over the businesses one day. Too bad that’s not what Josie wants. She’s itching for time at the rodeo and time riding her horse at her grandmother’s ranch, which her mom wants to sell.

Since his mom died, Shawn has been bull riding. It’s part to relieve his grief and part because his step-father expects him to perform well. But as Shawn’s stardom burns brighter, his step-father’s substance use issues grow larger and larger.

One night Josie and Shawn find one another and find really big feelings for each other. Now, their lives are becoming more closely entwined and that might not be for the best–are the adults in their lives going to chase their dreams, and their budding romance, from them? Or can the two teens break free of the expectations put upon them and live their rodeo dreams together?

The “meets” pitch for Dow’s latest is so good that it’s worth sharing–this is The Good Place meets the Brandy version of Cinderella. It’s a cozy romantic fantasy!

Darling is a Guardian. She’s unusual, but she’s quite talented. When she’s got the opportunity to win a Mortal Outcome Council mentorship, which would give her the chance to shape future happiness in all mortal realms, she’s ready for it. She just has to fix Lucy Addlesberg. No problem, Darling thinks. But then she meets Lucy and realizes her life is a mess. Darling’s good at makeovers, but between Lucy’s failing bookstore and failing at winning over her crush, Darling has her work cut out for her.

Calamity is a Misfortune, and he’s also talented at his job: saving mortal beings from the mythical idea of a “Happily Ever After.” He gets real with them about the future and about who they are. So given the chance to win a Mortal Outcome Council mentorship, he’s feeling confident when assigned his skills test with Lucy Addlesberg. No problem, he thinks. She’s been a mess forever.

What Calamity didn’t anticipate was that Lucy has a Guardian assigned to her, too. To take one another down, Calamity and Darling pretend to be dating when they approach Lucy. They’re both angling to get Lucy to do what it is they think is best–and what will help them secure the win. Along the way, though, both Darling and Calamity begin to question what it is they’re doing and whether or not that coveted Council mentorship is what they really desire.

Of course, they might be catching some Feelings for each other, too.

For generations, the Hernandez women have been cursed in the love department. Amelia refuses to let herself fall to the same fate as her mom, sisters, and aunt, though. She’s going to find out why she’s been unlucky in love so far and find a way to solve the problem before it becomes her destiny.

Amelia is going to track down every one of her exes and find out what made her good–and difficult–to be in a relationship with. She’ll use that to become the best version of herself possible.

When she reunites with Leon, Amelia can’t help but think a little revenge might feel good. She has the insight now to be the most unbreakupable girlfriend possible. It’s time to let Leon sweat a bit about his decision to break her.

But things get complicated and fast. What can Amelia do as she realizes her feelings are real and not part of the revenge plot?

Andrew likes to write twisted fairy tales, and he finds great refuge in them—and in sharing them with Thomas, who illustrates them. Thomas is Andrew’s rock, so when Thomas arrives at school one day with his abusive parents suddenly gone and blood on his sleeves, Andrew has questions. Thomas, however, won’t answer them.

Desperate to know what’s going on, Andrew follows Thomas into a forbidden forest in town. It turns out Thomas has been fighting monsters…the very monsters he had drawn for those twisted fairytales.

The boys are finding themselves fighting these monsters every single night and, to make matters more complicated, fighting off growing feelings for one another.

Amie lives in the imperial palace at Timbuktu, but everything about the life she’s known is out the window in a matter of months. She’s now being accused of a crime, she’s been disinherited, and her new role is to serve Princess Mariama of Mali.

Mariama’s father has set up a whole slew of tests for his daughter’s future suitors. None of them can live up to the tests, and in response to their failures, her father boils the potential suitors alive. Now there are 99 corpses of those not deemed good enough to marry Mariama.

Amie is initially bored by her new role as Mariama’s servant. But soon, the girls grow closer, especially as Amie sees it’s not necessarily amazing to be in Mariama’s position. Amie still keeps a little distance though, as the plan is for her and her intended Kader to escape Timbuktu. It offers them nothing but pain, suffering, and a future full of death.

Except, Amie continues to be drawn to Mariama, and the feeling is mutual. Amie’s made a discovery that could change all of their futures and now, she must test the limits of her own strength and resolve to travel the desert in search of an exiled god who may be the only one able to help them all.