AUGUST TEXAS BOOK PREVIEW
Preview of Texas-connected books publishing in August, 2025
BEGIN AGAIN- WITH A GOOD BOOK
Summer’s not over yet, y’all, and there’s still time to squeeze in a few more reading adventures before the pumpkin spice takes over. Whether you’re beginning a new series, a new author obsession, or just finally cracking open that vacation TBR, our August Texas Books Preview has you covered. From heart-pounding thrillers, to swoony romances, to tales that’ll whisk you far, far away—we’ve got Texas-connected titles that are ready to help you begin your next great read.
Alexa Aston
Autumn Sutherland divorces her cheating doctor husband and begins a new life as Director of Nursing at a hospital in her hometown of Hawthorne, Texas. Eli Carson, a brilliant but socially awkward physician, is the hospital’s medical director and Autumn’s boss.
Autumn is drawn to Eli’s kindness and humility, while Eli admires Autumn’s strength and determination. Despite their initial hesitation of becoming involved, as they spend more time together, their friendship blossoms into something deeper.
Will Autumn and Eli learn to open their hearts to one another, or will their pasts keep them from finding a lasting future together?
JV ‘Doc’ Cohorn
Two bullets and a bottle of laudanum shattered Josh Hamilton’s dream of a promising future. Tormented, he finds himself trapped in a world of despair and darkness as he struggles with continuing in his unending misery, or taking his revenge.
Josh is guided in this journey by Michael O’Rourke, the deranged cafe proprietor, who annoints him for a divine ministry of death; by Big Kate, the brothel matron, who harbors dark secrets of her own; and by Sad Eyes, the buffalo soldier, who helps him discover the meaning of right and wrong, of good and evil.
His journey leads him to a remote cabin on Sweetwater Creek where a deadly encounter reveals his future. Will his destiny be heaven, or hell?
Michael Scott Clifton
Eager to put his past behind him, Chris Cooper takes the head basketball job at Mayfield High School in Northeast Texas. Haunted by a history of rocky relationships, he’s surprised by the sparks his landlady, single mom, Jennie Sloan, ignites in him.
Despite her tumultuous past, something about the tall coach makes Jennie believe in second chances.
When Rocco Rawlings, the arrogant Head Football Coach, demands that Cooper’s team play football, Cooper refuses, and Rawlings works to undermine the basketball program.
As the stakes rise on and off the court, Cooper and Jennie must contend with their past demons, while Cooper’s scrappy team might just defy the odds and reach the ultimate end game. A state championship.
Julia London
Lorna Lott has been awkward her whole life. Her intensity and drive haven’t earned her any friends, but her sales team is meeting its quotas. Or it was–until she made a mistake.
Now she’s been mandated to attend a thirty-day wellness program. If she can’t get her low-key rage thing under control, and stop her eyes from leaking, she won’t get the raise she needs to buy back her grandmother’s house and her happiness.
Cooperating means coming to terms with how her sister’s substance abuse ruled her life. With the help of her oddly endearing eight-year-old neighbor and his charming father, she throws herself into accepting there is nothing she could have done to change her sister’s life. Now Lorna faces her most challenging task yet: changing the course of her own.
Melanie D. Snitker
A rescue mission takes a dangerous turn
Firefighter Leslie Granger and her company face an unforeseen threat at a warehouse fire when a rescue attempt brings them face-to-face with a shooter disguised as one of their own.
A surprising target
Though Officer Clint Baker initially suspected the fire department was under attack, he now believes Leslie is the real target. He’s determined to protect her, even as he struggles to figure out where the threats originate.
A shocking motive
As they delve deeper into the mystery, they discover a hidden motive that will challenge their courage and force them to confront not only the danger, but also the unexpected attraction growing between them.
Shelley Armitage
Like the rock’s elements, From A Sandstone Ledge offers a view at once firm yet shifting as we travel the blue highways of memory seeking a way home.
From the backyard to the borderlands, the living room rockers to the 32,000-acre Llano Estacado plateau, place reminds us that we are part of, not separate from, the natural world.
In these often human-altered landscapes, Armitage explores the complexity of that kinship and story-making—and the sustainability of wonder.
John Willingham
Inspired by true events, The Last Woman is the story of three young women whose lives become intertwined as they flee up the Mississippi River to St. Louis. In 1879, two of them take off for Dodge City, reluctantly leaving their friend behind.
Six decades later, the most adventurous soul among them has become the last woman in Tascosa, Texas—once the wildest cowtown in the West. She has been living under an alias and hoping that no one else will track her down.
We meet her when she’s eighty years old, re-living and reflecting on her past, the fate of her friends, and the perils of other women for whom escape to the West was an act born of desperation.
Rhea Thomas
Let Birds Fly by Rhea Thomas is a magical realism short story collection where the extraordinary sparks everyday lives toward transformation. Connected by Ripple Media, each of the fifteen characters navigates personal struggles, such as an impossible itch, a mercurial third eye, and hallucinating coffee. They discover hidden truths, purpose, or power. With whimsy and emotional depth, these stories explore identity, passion, and self-discovery through moments of enchantment that crack open ordinary reality. Let these tales remind you: sometimes, the most magical thing is becoming who you were always meant to be.
James Wade
In this gripping coming-of-age odyssey, a young man’s quest to reunite his family takes him on a life-altering journey through the wilds of 1930s East Texas, where both danger and opportunity grow as thick as the pines.
With his father missing and his mother ill, William Carter is struggling to keep his family’s farm afloat during the Great Depression. As his options wane, William receives a mysterious letter that claims to know his father’s whereabouts. Together with his best friend Ollie, William sets out to find his father and bring him home to set things right.
Phyllis R. Dixon
Small town. Dirty water. A mother’s choice.
Buried secrets, environmental disaster, and a legacy of corruption hit too close to home when a California native and her family move to Texas. They are excited about her husband’s new professorship, but there is trouble, just beneath the promising surface…
Lisa A. Traugott
A stolen scroll. A cursed bloodline. A prophecy binds three witches—maiden, mother, and crone—across life and death.
Scotland, 1729. When clairvoyant Fiona MacLeod uncovers an enchanted scroll, she’s thrust into a prophecy with Eleanor, a servant entangled in scandal, and Matilda, a ghost burned for witchcraft. Alone, each is vulnerable. Together, they are a coven.
But when betrayal sends Eleanor to Virginia in chains, she must summon unknown strength—to survive, protect a magical child, and face a ruthless witch hunter determined to erase their bloodline.
From haunted glens to the Hellfire Caves, To Condemn a Witch is a powerful prequel to To Rescue a Witch— a fierce tale of sacrifice and the unbreakable bond between women who refuse to burn quietly.
Chris Manno & James Albright
Air travel in the modern era is by far the safest method of travel in the world—until it isn’t. But how would you know?
Go behind the scenes as government oversight, rogue airline culture, and profit motives, conspire to erode the hard-won safety standards air travelers count on when soaring at close to the speed of sound, miles above the ground. Deep dive into the core of a rogue airline’s pilot culture and profit motives, and, at the same time, the undercover struggle of dedicated regulatory whistleblowers pushing against the brick wall of bureaucracy and the compromised, chummy relationship of government agencies and the airline industry they’re sworn to oversee.
Whiskey Air is a hard-hitting call to action, a novel based on facts, an eye-opening adventure, and an air travel story that needs to be told—before it’s too late.
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 August:
CHILDREN'S, MIDDLE GRADE, & YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
ABC’s of Aggieland: For the Future Aggie by Kelsey Owen
Ali the Great and the Karate Belt Blues by Saadia Faruqi
Ali the Great and the Monkey Bar Tumble by Saadia Faruqi
Ali the Great, Swimming Champ by Saadia Faruqi
Big Little Baby by Liz Garton Scanlon
The Crier Stone by Lyndsey
Cryptid Kids: Moby Duck by Sara Goetter and Natalie Riess
The Dia de Los Muertos Story by Andrea Jáuregui De La Torre
I Know My Texas Colors by Paul Schexnayder
The Invisible Parade by Leigh Bardugo & John Picacio
Kid Comet and the Seventh Grade Secret by Chris Bodmann
Little Sky Bear and the Dragon by Amy Jackson; illustrated by Donna Parades
The Mystic’s Mirror by Isabel Campbell & Michael Anderle
Part Three by Martha Roo
Salamander Goo, Poison, and Poo? by Jessica Lee Anderson
Saving the Galaxy for Beginners by P.J. Hoover
Super DJ Saves Field Day by Derrick Johnson & Brittni Johnson
Texas Longhorns by Derek Moon
The Traveling Tuxedo: Adventures in College Station, TX by Melissa Coyle
When My Sister Went To College by S.K. Washington
Wyatt The Rappin’ Raccoon by S.K. Washington
FANTASY / SCI-FI
Battle for the Ashen Crown by Lyn South & Michael Anderle
Bone to Bone by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle
The Cursed Gnome by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle
The Deception of Light by A.M. Crafton
Harvest of Ancient Sorrows by Russell Cowdrey
The Hessian Ghoul by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle
Hunters by Kayla Frederick and William Alan Webb
i4Ni by John Priest
In a Mirror Darkly by Michael Anderle
Oath of Redemption by Jane Poller
Once Upon a Silver Strand by Michelle Miles
Oracle Project by Kelli Robyns & Michael Anderle
A Prince Among Pirates by Katherine H. Brown
Results May Vary by Michael Anderle
Starfall by Katherine Quinn
Trip to Mars by Mickey Smith
Underground Empire by Michael Todd & Michael Anderle
The Waif Back by Renée Jaggér and Michael Anderle
The Witch Hunt by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle
MYSTERY / HORROR
Agrippa’s Map by M.D. Veach
A Convenient Scapegoat by Mike Vance
Crossroads by Mark A. Daniel
A Deadly Reception by LB Dayton
End of Pain by CA Humer
A Flair for Trouble by Kristen Bahls
Fountain Blues by Cindy Davis
Harvest Home by Sam Baron
Hatchet Girls by Joe R. Lansdale
Initiation by J.R. Tate
Killer Vintage by Eric D. Sanchez
The Lady and the Mighty Pen by Brittany E. Brinegar
Signals of Deception by Dave Osborn
Skin and Bones by Liliana Hart
Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas by Janet Leigh
Still Waters by Eric Chance Stone
War Dispatches Vol 1 Stories from the Front Lines of World War III by Alex Aaronson
The Watchmen – Into the Storm by Mary Alford
Wedding to Die For by Jovie Grace
Whispering Pines…Unsolved by Brittany E. Brinegar
The Whispering Windmill by Eva Pohler
NONFICTION
Everyday Inspiration for Teen Girls: 100 Encouraging Devotions by Janice Thompson
How the Hell Did I Not Know That by Lucie Frost
Insurgent Politics in the Lone Star State by Martin J. Murray
Landmarks: 2008-2025 by Andrée Bober
On the Way to the Sky by Michael Stephens
Slip by Mallary Tenore Tarpley
Taking Back Bible Study: Moving Deeper into the Word of God by Nancy Golden
The Texas Mexican Plant-Based Cookbook by Adán Medrano
Under a Baobab Tree by William Dean
Unstuck by Shane T. Wilson
You Saw Me On the Radio by Dave South
OTHER FICTION
Breakaway Bridesmaid by Maria Elena Sandovici
Last Light Over Galveston by Jennifer L. Wright
Legendary Frybread Drive-In: Intertribal Stories by Cynthia Leitich Smith (anthology)
Nicholas Dunn: The Making of a Texas Legend by Mark Greathouse
Peter Miles Has to Die by Katie Collom
A Powerful Season by Kathryn Dodson
The Rustlers of Rattlesnake Ridge by Clay Shivers
Starstrike by Yoon Ha Lee
Unfinished Love by Erick Williams
POETRY
Silent No More by Christine Kohler
ROMANCE
August’s Bad Boy – Garner by Eve London
Blade’s Edge by Patricia D. Eddy
Bolt to Me by Beth A. Freely
The Brooks Spencer Journal by Renee Curtis
Budding Trouble: Saving Madison by Laura Finger
Cade’s Quest by Linda Broday
Case Closed by Laura Finger
Celebration by Lois Breedlove
The Chief by Day Leclaire
Claiming Cassidy by Debra Chapoton
The Constant Pray-er by Caryl McAdoo
The Cowboy Who Believed Again by Liz Isaacson
The Cowboy’s Forbidden Love by Hope August
Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Liliana Hart
Dart to Me by Ashley Zakrzewski
Dash to Me by Ashley Zakrzewski
Deal with the Texas Soldier by Julie Benson
Ever After Between the Lines by Carrie Ann Ryan
Fall I Want by Lyra Parish
Falling for the Bad Boy by Dylann Crush
Flora’s Wish by Kathleen Y’Barbo
For Cowgirls and Kings by Landyn Hill
Fortune’s Fake Marriage Plan by Tara Taylor Quinn
Hidden Secrets by Dania Voss
Honky Tonk Cowboy by Maggie Shayne
If All Else Sails by Emma St. Clair
If Not For My Baby by Kate Golden
Justice’s Reward by Nat Logan
King’s Ruin by Shae Coon
Kiss My Spurs by Sailor Rayne
Kissing the Texas Ranger by Cari Lynn Webb
A Lady Divided by Sandra Ardoin
Lost Within Me by DeDe Ramey
Love and Honor by Alexa Verde
The Lover’s Bridge by Lynn Dean
Mail Order Mittens by Kristen Osbourne
The Maverick’s Forever Home by Sasha Summers
Meet Me in the Greenhouse by Kalyn Gensic
Meet Me in the Orchard by Carolyn Brown
The Memories Between Us by Kathryn Cantrell
Mountain Man Tempted by Eve London
Note-worthy Romance by Laura Finger
Off the Record by Laura Finger
Outlaw Ridge: Reed by Delores Fossen
Painted Dreams by Darlene Deluca
Persuading Penny by Kailin Gow
Pour Decisions by Katrina Marie
Protecting the Texas Witness by Virginia Vaughan
Redeeming Rachel by Cassie Colton
Run to Me by Ashley Zakrzewski
Saddle Me by Elsie James
A Secret Correspondence by Kasey Stockton
Skip to Me by CJ McKnight
The Soldier by Susan Stoker
Space Crush: Houston, Ignitions Are a Go by Sara L. Hudson
Steady Now by Liberty Stowe
Strangers No More by J.D. Southwell
Summer Burn by Ursula Chang
Summer of Change by Barb Shuler & KA Graham
Sweet Deal by Chris Keniston
Tango by Jessica Ashley
Trusting Beau by Debra Chapoton
The Unbuttoned Ranger by Rhonda Lee Carver
An Unforeseen Kiss by Alexa Aston
The Way Back to You by Kathryn Kaleigh