Take a break from back-to-school business with a brilliant book from our September Texas Books Preview. We’ve scored the news on the latest books releasing from authors all over the Lone Star state. Whether you’re in the mood for mystery, on the hunt for history, or up for an adventure, we have the latest and greatest rounded up and ready for reading.
CA Humer
Sam Slater steps back from his fieldwork with Homeland Security to focus on life with his new bride, Kate Hunter. He returns to work to take on the challenge of stopping the human trafficking and exploitation of illegal immigrants while Kate dives into exposing the tawdry business through her writing. When Sam’s folks come to visit for Thanksgiving, Sam learns his mom is dying of cancer and her last wish is for Sam to rebuild the relationship both he and his dad, Ray, lost years ago and now desperately need.
Moving back to Fort Worth, Sam’s dad befriends a widow raising her two grandchildren who become both friends and victims of Victor Marchetti, owner of several adult entertainment businesses in the southwest. Sam suspects the Marchetti Syndicate is working with the Coyotes to bring illegal immigrants into the country, and into the sex trades. The clever manipulations used by Marchetti’s ‘talent scouts’ lures young innocents into the evil business of adult entertainment and worse.
Sam must find it in his heart to forgive his father, protect his wife when her articles hit too close to Marchetti, rescue the women being exploited and put a stop to the human-trafficking perpetrated by both sides of the border.
The Barber, The Astronaut, and The Golf Ball
Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis
Did the autographed golf ball that famed astronaut Alan Shepard give his barber and friend Carlos Villagomez fly to the moon? The Barber, The Astronaut, and the Golf Ball paints an colorful portrait of two incredible men set against the backdrop of the space program.
J.L. Yarrow
Generations from now, the future of humanity is grim. To save their fate, the Time Forward Project pins their hopes on their force-of-nature time agent, Kristen Winters. She's sent on missions into the past through an unstable wormhole in deep space, attempting to change historical events. The central theme of time travel is explored in depth, highlighting the complexities and far-reaching consequences of tampering with time. The interplay between the present, past, and future is skillfully handled, showcasing the ripple effects of the characters’ actions.
A finely tuned science fiction thriller with cleverly orchestrated twists and well-crafted future technology, Future Unfolds has all the hallmarks and style of a first-rate bestseller.
DiAnn Mills
In LETHAL STANDOFF, Carrington Reed faces her toughest negotiation yet as the Kendrix brothers hold hostages for a justice that hides a sinister truth. Through the help of investigative reporter Levi Ehrlich, the two face lies and deceit.
Award-winning author DiAnn Mills crafts a tale of suspense, redemption, and the power of uncovering the hidden.
Bruce Hammack
One body in the river. A flood of suspects on shore.
Artist and part-time private investigator Fen Maguire's location scouting takes a dark turn when kayakers pull a corpse from the Colorado River. The grisly discovery sets off a chain of events that plunge Fen into a web of small-town intrigue.
Weeks later, with the wrong man behind bars and threatening a lawsuit against the city, Fen is recruited to find the real killer. Under the guise of teaching an art class, he's tasked with uncovering the truth and preventing a costly legal battle.
Long-standing feuds and small-town politics muddy the waters, making potential suspects as numerous as the trees lining the river. Can Fen navigate the currents of deceit to expose the real killer?
Palm Island: The Daxton Shaw Adventures, Book One
Jason Bradshaw
Palm Island is a current day action adventure novel that takes place in a small chain of islands down in southern Mexico. Daxton Shaw, a washed up pilot and boat captain falls into a dark place in his life after a tragic flight accident took place years earlier. When a submarine goes missing near an uninhabited island he is contacted from an unexpected source to assist in its retrieval. His skill and expertise in the air and on the water lead him to locate and retrieve the missing submarine but little did he know that the contents would change he and his family’s lives forever.
Becki Willis
I lost my phone. My purse was snatched. And I got fired . . . by my best friend.
But now I’ve got a lifeline. That very day I’m offered a new job. PA to the millionaire businesswoman Mrs. Lillian Samson. An amazing salary. Impressive benefits package.
I soon realize there’s something not quite right about Lillian. Sometimes, when she thinks I’m not looking, I catch her watching me with a strange look in her eye, like a lion stalking its prey.
And things are about to get even crazier.
My boss is dangerous. Things are about to get very personal for this personal assistant.
Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time
Preston Lewis & Harriet Kocher Lewis
Children tread lightly through the pages of Old West history. Pintsized Pioneers: Taming the Frontier, One Chore at a Time gives frontier children their due for all the work they did to help their families survive. In the process, they helped tame the Old West. Even at early ages, frontier youngsters helped families make ends meet and handled chores that today seem unbelievable. Written for today's young adults, Pintsized Pioneers offers lessons on frontier history and on the value of work for contemporary youth.
Tim Z. Hernandez
In this highly anticipated memoir, Tim Z. Hernandez takes us along on an investigative odyssey through personal and collective history to uncover the surprising conjunctions that bind our stories together.
Hernandez’s mission to find the families of the twenty-eight Mexicans who were killed in the 1948 plane wreck at Los Gatos Canyon formed the basis for his acclaimed documentary novel All They Will Call You, which the New York Times hailed as “painstaking detective work by a writer who is the descendant of farmworkers.”
In this riveting new work, Hernandez continues his search for the plane crash victims while also turning the lens on himself and his ancestral past, revealing the tumultuous and deeply intimate experiences that have fueled his investigations.
Whispered Melodies: Lost Creek, Texas Hill Country, Book Five
Alexa Aston
A man emotionally closed off from the world. A woman starting a new life. Two individuals who have suffered tragedies—and now have a second chance at love…
Country songwriter Tucker Young lost his pregnant wife to a drunk driver. He moves to Lost Creek, where he spent summers with his cousin, hoping to find solace and inspiration.
Reagan Bradley’s fiancé was killed a week before their wedding, and she returns to Texas with hopes she can heal emotionally and find a new purpose in life.
Friendship blossoms between them, as they feel safe sharing their stories of grief.
Will Tucker and Reagan navigate their complicated feelings for one another and face their fears, even as they learn to trust—and love—again?
David Preston
In the high-stakes rematch of 1828, two titans of American politics clash in a battle that will determine the nation's fate. John Quincy Adams, the embattled incumbent, faces Andrew Jackson, the fiery populist and war hero, in an election riddled with political machinations and deep-seated animosities.
As accusations of corruption and backroom deals surface, the country teeters on the brink of chaos. Jackson's supporters cry foul, decrying Adams' victory as a stolen triumph, igniting a powder keg of regional tensions. The South, seething with anger and feeling betrayed, edges closer to secession, threatening to fracture the young nation.
Helen Dent
In Ellie Caster’s town of Bishop’s Gap, the Casters and the powerful Levy family have been feuding for generations. The families share one thing in common—they both dread the mark, a scorch that appears at random on their doors, bringing a curse from the Burning Tree.
When the mark hits Ellie’s door, her sister Jean falls into a coma. Ellie knows the Burning Tree is to blame, and desperate to save her sister, she braves the forbidden woods to confront it. But this choice ignites a chain of unintended consequences, forcing her to work with her nemesis, Charlotte Levy.
Together, they must complete an impossible task, uncover the secret of Bishop’s Gap, and end the curse before time runs out for their entire town.
Teal Gray
A phantom stagecoach materializes on Weatherford’s Main Street, the galloping hooves of invisible horses tugging witnesses back towards the nineteenth century. A stroll through the enchanting Chandor Gardens might lead to an encounter with its creator, renowned English portrait artist Douglas Chandor. The apparition of a former judge lingers around Parker County Courthouse, while the Old Jail Museum’s corridors are filled with disembodied voices and echoing footsteps. Visitors to Old Greenwood Cemetery might hear the quiet sobbing of the woman who was murdered by a jealous lover or feel a cold nudge against their hands when they pass by a canine buried alongside his owner. Author Teal Gray walks through miles of Weatherford's history to unwind years of its haunted lore.
Penny Parker Klostermann
An out-of-this-world remix of the classic poem “A Visit from Saint Nicholas”! It’s Christmas Eve. The Martians have hung their stockings and decorated their trees in hopes that Santa will finally visit the red planet. But what are the excited Martians to do when Santa’s sleigh shudders and shimmies and stops? Then teeters and totters and drops? It’ll take a dose of Christmas magic and some help from the Outer Space Rescue Division to get this holiday back on track.
Humorous, rhyming text and vibrant illustrations combine to make a perfect winter read-a-loud, destined to become a classic.
The Pink Dress, A Memoir of a Reluctant Beauty Queen
Jane Little Botkin
Growing up in West Texas, Jane Little Botkin didn’t have designs on becoming a beauty queen. But not long after joining a pageant on a whim in college, she became the first protégé of El Paso’s Richard Guy and Rex Holt, known as the “Kings of Beauty”—just as the 1970’s counterculture movement began to take off. A pink, rose-covered gown—a Guyrex creation—symbolizes the fairy tale life that young women in Jane’s time imagined beauty queens had. Its near destruction exposes reality: the author’s failed relationship with her mother, and her parents’ failed relationship with one another. Weaving these narrative threads together is the Wild West notion that anything is possible, especially do-overs.
Todd Allen and Heath Hamrick
In a political landscape where absurdity often overshadows reality, Worse Than You Think offers a refreshingly candid and witty account of what happens when ordinary individuals leap into the political arena. Follow the real-life journey of high school teacher Edward "Todd" Allen as he runs for Congress in 2018, with best friend Heath Hamrick by his side. Their quest to fix the "crazy circus" of partisan divide leads to comical, eye-opening encounters with bizarre characters. This book delivers laughter, surprises, and a spark of inspiration for anyone considering their role in democracy.
BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE!
There are so many Texas-connected books publishing this month that we couldn’t feature all of them. The following books also publish in September:
CHILDREN'S, MIDDLE GRADE, & YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
Bear's Big Idea by Sandra Nickel
Between Flowers and Bones by Carolyn Leiloglou
The Blue Deer by David Bowles
Cindy Ella by Amanda Moore Vingren
Giddy Up, Unicorn! by Dani Gomez; Translator Luisana Duarte Armendariz
The Immortal Abyss by Katherine Briggs
Last I Saw Him by Arthur Herbert
The Letter by Irene Verdu; Translator Luisana Duarte Armendariz
Mamá’s Magnificent Dancing Plantitas by Jesús Trejo; Illustrated by Eliza Kinkz
Molt by Laura Galán-Wells
The Monstrous Kind by Lydia Gregovic
Off Edge by Addison Brae
Ring of Rosin by Nancy Golden
The Road: A Graphic Novel Adaptation by Cormac McCarthy
Stephen King: His Life, Work, and Influences by Bev Vincent
Temple of Secrets by Christina Soontornvat
Three Cow Eggs by Christin James
The Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Lobo by Edgar Garcia
Wish Upon a Streaming Star Volume 1 by Krissi Dallas
Wish Upon a Streaming Star Volume 2 by Krissi Dallas
MYSTERY / HORROR
The Accomplice by Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson
Betrayed by Silence by Karen Randau
Capture or Kill by Don Bentley
Cold Trail by Taylor Moore
Comedy Can Be Deadly by Ryan Rivers
The Con by Jackie Layton
A Dark and Devious Tail by Rachel Woods
Dating CHAOS by D.W. Brooks
Death by Midnight by Brittany E. Brinegar
Devils Kill Devils by Johnny Compton
The Glass Bottom Hoax by Diane Vallere
Guide Me Home by Attica Locke
Illusions by J.T. Bishop
Marsh Madness by Jana DeLeon
Reel Trouble by Karen MacInerney
Veil of Hope by Vannetta Chapman
NONFICTION
Afterward: Murder of a Soldier by Terri Schlack
The Anti-Civil Rights Movement: Affirmative Action as Wedge and Weapon by Mike Steve Collins
The Best American Newspaper Narratives, Volume 11 by Gayle Reaves
Birding Texas by Randi Minetor and Nic Minetor
Duval County Tejanos by Alfredo E. Cárdenas
Eleven Days on the Colorado by James Brasher
Empires and Indigenous Peoples by Michael Maas And Fay A. Yarbrough
Flying for Peanuts by Frank Lorenzo
The Gangs of Zion by Ron Stallworth
The Ghostly Tales of Old Town Spring by Lisha Cauthen
Globalizing the Lower Rio Grande by Kyle B. Carpenter
Habits of a Peacemaker by Steven T. Collis
Haunted Fredricksburg by Michelle Hamilton
Love at the Five and Dime: The Songwriting Legacy of Nanci Griffith by Brian T Atkinson
Mestizaje: The Feminist Art of Kathy Sosa by Kathy Sosa
A Natural History of Empty Lots: Field Notes from Urban Edgelands, Back Alleys, and Other Wild Places by Christopher Brown
Obadiah James: Hell's Heart by Greg Bower
Reentry by Eric Berger
The Road to Texas by Victor Considerant, Paola Tettamanzi Buckley (Translator)
Scam Goddess by Laci Mosley
Texas Teachin by DC McAvoy
Texas Women Are On the Money by Cynthia Devlin
Tracking the Texas Ranger Historians by Bruce A. Glasrud, Harold J. Weiss, Jr. — editors
Wards of the League by Mike Cobern
Wesley Women by Risa Brown
OTHER FICTION
Cracked Fairy Tales (Anthology)
Death Aesthetic by Josh Rountree
Edge of the Known World by Sheri T. Joseph
Entangled Vengence by JD Broyhill
Exile by M.R. Parsons
A Fire in the Sky by Sophie Jordan
Firmament: Progenitor by J. Grace Pennington
The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen
The Innocent and Others by Jerry Whitus
Innocents of Marbella by R.C. Mogo
Into the Cauldron by Lee Jackson
The Iron Bear by Renee Jagger and Michael Anderle
Legal Flames by Michael Anderle
The Living, The Dead, and The Unwed by Tyranny Hovey
The Only Saloon in Town by Reavis Z. Wortham
The Paris Understudy by Aurelie Thiele
Particle Two by Jaxon Reed
The Primal Instigator by Sarah Noffke & Michael Anderle
Revivant by J.R. Tate
Secret Inheritance by Michael Anderle
Still Life by Katherine Packert Burke
Violent the Night by Michael Anderle
When It Rains by Cristin Martin Wenninger
Witch's Wrath by T.R. Cameron, Martha Carr, and Michael Anderle
The Wright Way to Begin by Maria Grace
POETRY
Autobiomythography Of by Ayokunle Falomo
The Book of Wounded Sparrows by Octavio Quintanilla
Processing by Amanda Russell
Those We Can No Longer See by Bob Ross
What Good is Heaven by Raye Hendrix
ROMANCE
Come Home to the Doctor's by Lacey Davis
Cowboy Law by P. Creedon
Cowboying Up by Delores Fossen
The Cozy Corner Book Store by Nova Walsh
Crossing Lines by Barb Shuler
Dawn of Service by Regina Morris
Double Exposure by Elissa R. Sloan
Forever Favored by Ginny Sterling
Forever Vows by Kathryn Kaleigh
Fortune's Faux Engagement by Carrie Nichols
Found in Obscurity by A.M. Rose
Friction by Kindle Alexander
Give It to Me by Angelina Lopez
The Growly Outcast's Promise by Kat Baxter
Guarded from Corruption by Gia Cobie
Her Texas Cowboy by Casey Dawes
Her Texas Cowboy Protector by Janalyn Knight
Hot Hex Boyfriend by Carly Bloom
Hurricanes & Halloween by Katrina Marie
Joy's Flame by Carolyn L. Dean, Patti Larsen, & Jenna St. James
Just One Look by Chris Keniston
Lone Star Secrets by Delores Fossen
Love on the Prairie by RB Bartels
Making a Texas Cowboy by Justine Davis
The Marquess' Quest for Love by Alexa Aston
Mister McStudmuffin by Kat Baxter
Mountain Man Bad Boy by Natasha L. Black
My Only Mistake by Emma Lee Jayne
No One Does It Like You by Katie Shepard
Nocturnal by Clio Evans
One Night with the Wealthy Rancher by Brenda Jackson
Promised Vows by Bree Livingston
A Proper Governess by Kasey Stockton
The Seemingly Impossible Love Life of Amanda Dean by Ann Rose
Soaring and Saucy by Ginny Sterling
Soaring and Sweet by Ginny Sterling
Somebody New by L.J. Breedlove
Spinster No More by Kathleen Ball
Stealing the Rake's Heart by Dorothy Sheldon
Stolen by Her Alien Mate by Kat Baxter
Stolen Secrets by Denise Diana Huddle
Strong Love by Ashley Christin & RD Berg
The Sugar Stop Chocolate Shop by Nova Walsh
Sweet Little Lies by Lexie Blake
Taco 'Bout Love by Candice Y. Johnson
Texas Revenge Target by Jill Elizabeth Nelson
Texas White Gold by Caryl McAdoo
The Undercover Cowboy by Jamie K. Schmidt
Vanished in Texas by Karen Whiddon
Wish Upon a Streaming Star (volumes 1 and 2) by Krissi Dallas
The Witness Rescue by Jenna Brandt
Want to make sure your forthcoming Texas-connected titles are included in our feature? Email us at Publicity@LoneStarLiterary.
