Gateway Reviews

New month, new books for our TBRs! It's freezing cold where I am, which is the perfect weather for staying inside, lighting the fire, and hunkering down with a good book! There are a lot of amazing titles coming out this month, definitely worth venturing into the cold to grab from the nearest bookstore or library. Here are some of the titles I'm excited to see hit shelves in February 2026! Beyond Seven Forests Amanda McCrina From the Publisher: By the winter of 1916, World War I has ravaged the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Eighteen-year-old Renata Zamoyska, Polish countess and doctor-in-training, has lost everything to the Russian occupation: her family, her home, her fiancé. But with the Russians in retreat and the Germans now in charge, life isn’t much easier. Wounded soldiers keep arriving from the front, Renia’s house remains in ruins, and the scars of the occupation linger. When two Polis...

SOUL OF A GENTLEMAN WITCH Callum has been in Lucifer's service for some 200 years now. Lucifer saved his life. Lucifer owns his soul. Well, at least until the 666 tasks he promised have been completed. After that, Callum's free. And he's just one task away from winning his soul (and the rest of his life) back. When he's summoned to Hell for this final assignment, Callum is relieved. Whatever it is, he can handle it. And at first, the task seems simple. He must escort his latest charge, a young man named Augustus, from London to America by the next blood moon. Easy enough. Callum doesn't ask for any details beyond what he needs. But he probably should have, because it turns out Lucifer isn't the only one interested in Augustus's soul. And if they aren't afraid of Lucifer's wrath, they certainly aren't afraid of Callum... THOUGHTS T...

THE SWAN'S DAUGHTER Demelza lives a simple life, unlike her beautiful, world-conquering sisters. As the daughters of a veritas swan (and the wicked wizard who stole her away), each of these sisters is more beautiful and cunning than the last... except for the youngest, Demelza, the only one to take after their father. While her sisters were destined from birth to bring men (and the countries they lead) to their knees and harness power for their wizard father, Demelza has always known a more... domestic existence. Reading, researching, and exploring the wild lands around her father's tower is all she's ever known. Until her research leads her to the missing piece of her father's lifelong quest for immortality: Demelza's very own heart. And now that she knows her heart is the key, her father knows it, too. Fearing for her life, Demelza flees her father's domain and heads to the only place his influence doesn't reach: Rath...

WE'VE HIT TURBULENCE Olive Austin isn't a hopeless romantic, but sometimes life calls for a grand romantic gesture. Like leaving a week early to meet up with your boyfriend in Hawai'i. To surprise him. So romantic. Definitely not a decision she made because she suspects he's been cheating. Flying isn't something Olive loves, but it is a necessary evil in this case. What's unnecessary? Being stuck next to her ex on this 13-hour flight. Her ex she never quite got over. Her ex who has never been shy about making fun of her new boyfriend. The same boyfriend who doesn't want to return her calls... THOUGHTS Where was the plot? Where was the chemistry? Where was the island luxury? This book didn't hit any of the right notes for me, from an insufferable main character to an abysmal plot structure that made it so very difficult to get invested. I ...

SUNDOWN GIRLS What can help a family at odds? Vacationing in a secluded cabin. The Stoakes family certainly needs that quality bonding time. Naomi needs this retreat most of all. She's felt like an outsider these past few months, ever since she was taken from the woman who stole her as a child and reunited with her birth family. Some bonding time, time to feel like she's actually one of them and not some weird, mostly-grown interloper, might be nice. This cabin might be remote, but the new renovations mean it's beautiful. And the nearby town of Sparksburg, Virginia is quaint. Charming, even. Or at least that's what the rest of her family thinks. Naomi can't shake the feeling that something here isn't right, but she doesn't really want to rock the boat. Not here, not now. But as she digs into Sparksburg's past, she discovers it used to be a Sundown Town, where Blacks weren't allowed past sunset. This violent, not-so-di...

  Best                      First Place:             Time After Time Mikki Daughtry                                         ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this dual-timeline romance, college student Libby spends her entire savings fund on an old Victorian fixer-upper and settles in to renovate as she connects with a love story that unfolded in this house one hundred years ago. A blending of historical and contemporary love stories, Mikki Daughtry mirrors two romances full of wit and longing and forbidden hopes and dreams. Though jumping between timelines means getting pulled from a favorite cozy love story a few times as readers bounce back and forth, this romance is the perfect sort of home-renovation escapism in which to lose yourself. Runner-Up...