OCTOBER TEXAS BOOK PREVIEW
Preview of Texas-connected books publishing in October, 2025
A BOUNTIFUL HARVEST OF ENTICING NEW READS
Fall is on its way, bringing a plethora of new Texas-connected titles. Grab your favorite sweater (even if you have to crank up the A/C to bear it) and get cozy with a fresh new read. We’ve picked a bumper crop of taut mysteries, compelling nonfiction, lush romance, and gorgeous picture books for the littles in your life.
Aviation Therapy is a deeply personal aviation memoir—an intersection of extraordinary world events and one man’s transformation through flight. From navigating B-52 nuclear alert missions during the Cold War to wartime air refueling in Desert Storm and the Bosnian War, to flying General Tommy Franks after 9/11, Dale’s journey took him from a quiet navigator to commanding an elite squadron responsible for flying the nation’s top military leaders.
Packed with gripping firsthand accounts and invaluable life lessons, Aviation Therapy is “Chicken Soup for the Skies”—a testament to how aviation can shape character, build resilience, and inspire personal growth. Perfect for aspiring pilots, military history buffs, and anyone seeking a story of perseverance and triumph!
David Lane Williams
Callie Wind’s life is a chaotic carnival ride, caught between her ghostly father’s meddling and her estranged daughter’s schemes to seize control of her quirky Texas amusement park. With the help of her best friend—who has harbored a secret love for Callie going on thirty years—and an angelic gardener who specializes in happily-ever-afters, she might just find the love and peace she craves amidst the creaky thrill rides, pony droppings, and magical mayhem.
Odell Scott
Seventeen-year-old Colin McGill, on the last day of High School, snaps when Angus Lithgow, a bully who teased him all year, about his misshapen hand, starts a fight. Colin sends him to the hospital, and he is taken to jail.
During processing, a lawyer gives him a choice to serve his sentence at Thunder Hollow, Scotland. Colin is puzzled, but isn’t going to jail.
At Thunder Hollow, he learns about his history and that his handicap unlocks an alien intelligence.
In the days that follow, his reckless choices push everyone away and lead to putting all life on Earth at risk.
For Colin, stopping a powerful intelligence and saving his friends are only the beginning of his problems.
Ariel Slick
During the 1920s, Beatrice Corbin just wants to keep her general store afloat and keep an eye on her younger, newly married sister, Agnes, in the small town of Azoma, Louisiana. Until, she is approached by the Devil, Frank Charbonneau, and learns that her sister will be murdered. To save her sister, she makes a bet with him, staking her soul on the wager that she can find her sister’s would-be killer in seven weeks. Meanwhile Agnes is hiding her own secret, and Beatrice ignores her growing feelings for a Black blues musician.
As her time runs out, Beatrice becomes desperate and unknowingly pushes Agnes toward her inevitable fate. And everyone knows that the Devil doesn’t play fair…but in this case, is he?
Douglas A. Gosselin
1780s–1812. From the Neutral Ground of Revolutionary New York to the fractured republic on the brink of war, a hidden intelligence covenant moves beneath the surface. Known only as the Doctrine, its agents serve not for crown or coin but for memory, silence, and the fragile idea of America.
Cyrus Jay, drawn into its shadow ranks, witnesses betrayal within and resistance without—from Tecumseh’s rising confederacy to the embers of disunion in New England. John and Sarah Jay navigate diplomacy’s peril, while Smith—the Doctrine’s architect—wields silence as both weapon and burden.
Espionage, loyalty, and omission collide in this historically grounded tale where the Republic’s survival depends not only on battles fought in daylight, but on truths never spoken.
Teddy Jones
A bold historical fiction, filled with strong heroines and compelling tales of love, family, and second chances—all set in the rugged world of 1920s Texas.
In the lawless boomtown of Borger, Texas, Imogene Good abandons a promising career to open a boarding house—alone and unprepared for the dangers ahead. As threats mount, love arrives in the form of a Texas Ranger, and an old trunk reveals family secrets that could either break her or give her the strength to fight for her future.
Inspired by true events, A Family of Good Women is a gripping tale of resilience, love, and the unshakable bonds of family.
The gang from San Francisco Hearts is trading the California coast for the autumn charm of Sleepy Hollow, New York. With pumpkins on every porch, crisp leaves swirling, and Halloween magic in the air, it’s the perfect backdrop for laughter, friendship—and maybe even unexpected love.
Merry has sworn off dating after kissing too many frogs in pursuit of her prince. Marina, Ashley, and Scarlet are happily wrapped up in their own love stories. But in a place where legends linger and the season feels ripe for second chances, who knows what surprises the weekend might hold?
Reunite with the beloved Royal Rebels, meet new characters you’re sure to adore, and step into a delightful, romantic romp that proves fall isn’t just for pumpkins and haunted tales—it’s for happily-ever-afters too.
Facing burnout, Sawyer Montgomery returns to his hometown to practice law. Paisley Roberts takes a job coaching basketball after an injury ends her professional career. His grief over losing his fiancée and her untrusting nature makes both wary of one another. Soon, though, Sawyer’s ability to see the best in others leads to Paisley opening up for the first time in her life, and she wonders if they might have a future together.
Can Sawyer and Paisley let go of the ghosts from their pasts and realize that they are better together, thanks to the healing power of love?
Sherri L. Dodd
The past two years have taken their toll on Arista Kelly. Once an eternal optimist, now she has faced the darkness and must find what true happiness means for her. Meanwhile, Shane is pulling all the right moves to help keep her grounded. It doesn’t help that Iris, Bethie’s friend, has disappeared.
One trial remains. While searching for Iris, Bethie and Arista discover a grand revelation in the woman’s home. They realize their run of chaos and loss of kin may have roots in a curse from the 1940s—the time when their family patriarch first built Arista’s cottage and crafted his Ouija table.
This pursuit will not be their usual recipe of adrenalized action, but the high stakes remain.
Amber Allee
As danger tightens its grip, the clock is ticking—and love may not be enough to save them. Saylor Gentry thought she’d found her forever when she married Levi Thorne—Los Angeles’s billionaire attorney with a guarded heart and a fierce protective streak. Their whirlwind romance turned into marriage and a surprise pregnancy, and everything seemed perfect… until shadowy threats emerged, and one devastating decision tore their lives apart.
As time moves on, fate intervenes-sparking a relentless search and a collision course with their pasts. As old passions reignite and new dangers close in, Levi and Saylor face impossible choices in a world where nothing is as it seems.
Love. Betrayal. Redemption. When everything is on the line, will love be enough to lead them home?
Kathleen M. Rodgers
The Llano County Mermaid Club tells a story of childhood friendships, an adult affair, and the lost innocence of a group of young girls longing for the sea. Scandal, tragedy, and later, darker discoveries make for an enthralling read.
Laura Barrow
Selling real estate full time, raising two young daughters, clinging to a slipping marriage―Audrey’s life is definitely a balancing act. But when a tumble down the stairs leaves her with more than just a bump on the head, she wakes up five years in the past, before the first tear in her marriage threatened her trust in Travis.
As she relives and revises the past, Audrey discovers who her real friends are and what her heart actually wants. But before she can truly come home, she must decide. Is Travis the obstacle holding her back from her dreams, or the key to having it all?
Renee Curtis
Smith Welch never got over Avery—the girl who stole his heart and then walked away after one mistake he’s regretted every day since. Now a rising TV star, he seems to have it all, but fame can’t replace the love he lost.
After betrayal shattered her, Avery built a new life far from Houston. But when her career crumbles, she’s forced home—and right back into Smith’s path.
The spark between them is undeniable. He wants redemption. She wants to forget. But some loves are written in the stars, and Smith isn’t letting her slip away again.
A heart-stirring second-chance romance about forgiveness, fate, and the love that never fades.
Lynne Kelly
Max can’t seem to escape the big, looming shadow of his politician dad. But over the summer, Max and his mom are going away to a quiet Texas beach town where Max can be someone else. Someone who doesn’t make embarrassing mistakes— someone who knows how to be strong.
He stumbles on his fresh start when he finds an injured octopus washed up onshore after a storm. With the help of a local wildlife center, Max rescues the octopus and vows to take care of her until she’s ready to return to the sea.
But as their bond deepens and Max makes unexpected discoveries that turn his summer upside down, Max’s strength will be put to the test. Can he keep his promise after all?
Felicia Ferguson
After six months of bad days, Army CID Warrant Officer Dani Carmichael is holding onto her marriage and mental health with steeled nerves and fraying heartstrings. Will twenty-four hours to stop a bomber in El Paso finally break her grip on both?
Matt, Gabby’s husband and an FBI psychologist, has loved her since they met on a joint Army CID-FBI task force. But after her training partner’s accidental death, she’s turned into a woman he doesn’t know. Yet every time he attempts to delve into her woundings, Gabby shuts him down.
As the clock ticks on the bomber’s deadline and clues emerge that Gabby doesn’t want to face, she and Matt must rely on God to keep both a bomb and their marriage from exploding.
Cynthia Leal Massey
On the morning of March 14, 1958, breeder Maggie Schneider, the Poultry Queen of Lipan County, is shot and killed while feeding her prize-winning, White Holland turkeys on her farm in south central Texas. Everyone knows who did it, but finding the killer isn’t so easy. The search uncovers a troubled family history of insanity, accidental deaths, and suicides. Was Maggie Schneider’s murder the result of a tainted bloodline, a family feud gone too far, or something more sinister?
Inspired by true events, novelist Cynthia Leal Massey weaves an intricate tale that spans the decades from the Great Depression to the crippling drought of the fifties. This is not a whodunnit. The mystery here is more profound: Why did he do it?
Thomas Manuel Ortiz
Clean energy technologies alone cannot solve the problem of human-induced climate change.
To find a credible path to a sustainable future, we must set aside hopes of building our way out of humanity’s addictions to energy and material convenience.
In Why We Struggle to Go Green, Ortiz offers a clear-eyed assessment of our efforts to mitigate the effects of climate change. As a mechanical engineer who has traversed the conventional and renewable energy landscapes for 30 years, Ortiz provides an in-depth yet easy-to-understand assessment of the harsh reality facing mankind.
Why We Struggle to Go Green cuts through the hype and rhetoric to offer something rare: climate change realism from someone who’s spent decades looking for solutions.
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 October:
CHILDREN'S, MIDDLE GRADE, & YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
All the Stars in the Daylight Sky by Maya MacGregor
Boomer Sees the Town: The Curious Bunny by Diann Floyd Boehm
The Brave Bats of Congress Avenue Bridge by Sandra LJ
The Captive and the First Blood Game by K.A. Linde
Deadly Darlings by Wendolyn Baird
The Distraction Monster: Pirates on the Playground by Ryan K. Woodall
Dragon vs. Unicorn: Friends or Frenemies? by P.J. Hoover
Fall of the Fireflies by Guadalupe Garcia McCall
Family of Friends by Varsha Bajaj
Fortress of Ambrose by J. Elle
Halloween on the Butterfield Trail by Patrick Dearen
Harvey’s Historic Adventures by Tara Cherry
Kid Comet and the Eighth Grade Enemy by Chris Bodmann
Kindred Dragons by Sarah Mensinga
Kiwi and the Big Storm by Sandra LJ
Los Monstruos: Ava and the Owl Witch by Diana Lopez
Lou With the Band by Alexandra Leigh Young
Maddie: A Little Ghost with a Secret by Cindy J. Vanous
Marble, The Map Turtle, and the Camping Adventure by Sandra LJ
Merlin’s Apprentice: Sword and Sceptre by Susan McCauley
My Dearest Monster by Sean Fletcher
Once Upon a Midnight Dreary by Michelle Miles
Ringtail Bedtime by Sandra LJ
Sally Travels by Balloon by P.G. Shriver
Solstice Stories: Four Fairy Tale Retellings by Jacqueline E. Smith
Solstice Stories: Winter by Jacqueline E. Smith
Texas! by A24
The Traveling Tuxedo: Adventures in Floydada, TX by Melissa Coyle
Who is Your Bubbe, and Where Can She Be? by Sharyn Diamond
FANTASY / SCI-FI
Beauty and the Dragon by Eva Pohler
Blood and Thunder by Hunter Blain
Claws & Cocktails by Tabitha Slick
Queen Demon by Martha Wells
Ravenminder by Lindsay Cummings
A Scar in the Bone by Sophie Jordan
Shadow and Feather by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle
Spawn Point by C.R. Rowenson & Michael Anderle
Under the Moon’s Gaze by Tim Frankovich
Washington’s Labyrinth by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle
The Web of Athena by M.L. Eaden
Werewolves in Texas by A. Williams
MYSTERY / HORROR
All the Beautiful Sinners by Stephen Graham Jones
Almost by Samara Cove
Blades and Betrayals by Amy Briggs
Blood Like Ours by Stuart Neville
Blood Orchard by Sam Baron
Buried Secrets by Bluebell Mertz
Catalyst for Chaos by Harry Stoddart
Comancheria by Reavis Z. Wortham
Contesting the Wool by Diane Vallere
A Crumbling Legacy by Bluebell Mertz
Crystal Clear Balance by Leanne Leeds
Crystal Clear Visions by Leanne Leeds
Death and the Ghost of Pelican Shores by Bessie Barr
Death by Jack-o-Lantern by Brittany Brinegar
Don’t Blink (Anthology featuring Lynn Shannon & Melanie D. Snitker)
Dying for Magic by Sarah Noffke
Eleven Hours to Murder by D.B. Borton
The Essential Horror of Joe R. Lansdale by Joe Lansdale
Faded Scars by Kristi Copeland
Feral by N.L. McLaughlin
Hell to Pay by Denise Diana Huddle
Her Cold Heart by Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Lich Dog by Doug Goodman
Magic Can Bee Deadly by Sarah Noffke
Merciless by Stephen Bentley
The Midnight Knock by John Fram
Mischief in the Magic Shop by Jenna Maeson
Mother-Eating by Jess Haggeman
Murder and Merlot by Amy Briggs
Murder on the S.S. Cleopatra by Sara Rosett
Mystic Spires Post-Mortem by Stacey Jernigan
No Safe Shore by Laurie Engle
One Grimm Night by Chad Nicholas
Quieting the Storm by Alexander C. Juden
Terminal Exchanges by Gary Gerlacher
To Force A Deal by James Callahan
A Trinket for the Taking by Victoria Laurie
NONFICTION
An Anchor in the Sea of Time by Stephen Harrigan
Artists of the Horse: Capturing the Spirit of America’s West by Heidi Brady and Scott White
A Big Mess in Texas by David Fleming
Billy Gibbons: Biography of a Blues Rock Legend by Debra R. Brien
The Boy Who Dreamed of America by Ichie Godwin Ubanyionwu
Coloring Through Texas by Kerrie O’Shea
The Conservative Frontier: Texas and the Origins of the New Right by Jeff Roche
Daughter of a Song by Sarah Curtis
Devotions to Quiet Your Soul by Janice Thompson
Eight Miles from the Front Gate by Norma Schreiner
Expensive Basketball by Shea Serrano
Faith Over Fear: The Transformation by Cierra Larissa
Flight Culture and the Human Experience by Scott W. Palmer
Frontera Freeways by Miguel Juarez
Gardens of Texas by Pam Penick
George H.W. Bush by Louann Atkins Temple
A German Texan in World War II by Marilyn Melcher Maddox
Goldee’s Bar-B-Q by Jalen Heard, Lane Milne and Jonny White
It Must Be A Big Game by Al Pickett
The Last Rocketman by Dan Schlund
Lyndon B. Johnson by Louann Atkins Temple
Mastering the Art of Writing Fiction: How to Craft Compelling Characters, Build Gripping Plots, and Write Stories That Matter by DiAnn Mills
The Path of Rocks and Thorns by Douglas Smith
A Resurrection of Springs by Thad Sitton, Cynthia Nesser and Adrian F. Van Dellen
The Rise and Reckoning of Alex Jones by Theo Wren
Rockets, Tanks and Submarines by Edward T. Cotham Jr.
She Kills: The Murderous Socialite, the Cross-Dressing Bank Robber, and Other True Crime Tales by Skip Hollandsworth
Small Moves, Big Life by Andrea Leigh Rogers
Smartass: Memoir of a Mouthy Girl by Emily Sayre Smith
The Soul of Fonda San Miguel by Tom Gilliland
Stick to the Story by Kailin Gow
A Texas Tail by Jeff Guinn
Texas Turf: Horse Racing in 19th Century Texas by Anne J. Bailey
That’s a Great Question, I’d Love to Tell You by Elyse Meyers
We Are Nature Defending Itself (Anthology edited by Cordelia E. Barrera)
The Word Tree: Revitalizing Indigenous Languages in Abya Yala by Adela Pineda-Franco and Socorro Venegas
World of Rivers by Tim Bryant
OTHER FICTION
Amos Flagg – Lawman by Clay Randall & Clifton Adams
A Beautiful Stormy Day by Anita Glaster
Central Texas Writer’s Society and Beyond 2025 (Anthology)
The Disenchantment of Narcissa Tarver by Donna Birdwell
The First Life of Captain Jack by Brian Yansky
A Full Dozen of Luna City by Celia Hayes & Jeanne Hayden
Her Undiscovered Door by Karen Randau
In Mommy’s Shadow by Anita Glaster
Our Vicious Oaths by N.E. Davenport
Playa Land Texas, P.L.T. by Livestream King
Poinsetta Girl by Jennifer Wizbowski
Riders of the Black by Chris Mullen
Sabal Palms and the Stormy Past by Terry Overton
Secrets from the Closet by Anita Glaster
Texas Ranger Pharaoh Smith: Gundown at Preacher’s Folly by J.W. Masterson
Texas Treasure by C. Lowry
The Things Gods Break by Abigail Owen
War on the Porch: A Doughboy’s Interview by Travis Davis
West of Nowhere by Dustin Lee
When the Daffodils Bloom by Chrysteen Braun
Who’s Watching the Children by Anita Glaster
POETRY
City of Dis by Randall James Tyrone
My Mother, the Butcher by Gerard Robledo
The Seeds by Cecily Park
The Silence Between by Lueella Shelton
the past is a jean jacket by Cloud Delfina Cardona
ROMANCE
Atonement Trail by Liliana Hart
Boiling Point by Nadine Theiss
The Boss by Day Leclaire
Broken Arranged Mate by Kayla Wolf
Calamity of the Heart by Ginny Sterling
Choosing Chaos by Luna Runestorm
A Christmas Inheritance by Delia Lathem
Christmas on the Range by Stella Bagwell
Christmas with the Cowgirl by Justine Davis
Colton on Guard by Karen Whiddon
The Cowboy’s City Girl by Hope August
Dance With Your Ghost by Skye Turner & Sloane Nicole
A Deal With the Reaper by Madison Lawson
Death’s Romance by Danielle Wolfe
Defending You by Robin Patchen
Delta by Jessica Ashley
Destination Christmas by Candice Y. Johnson
Double Jeopardy by Carolyn Rae
Drunk Pumpkin by Skye Turner
Ella by Mary A. Felkins
An Enchanting Kiss by Alexa Aston
Even Odds by Miah Onsha
Every Now and Then by Erin Olivier
Finding Home in Comfort by Kerry Kilpatrick
Fortune on His Doorstep by Michelle Lindo-Rice
The Fractured Texas Ranger by Rhonda Lee Carver
The Goddess Calls by Lexi MacQueen
Griff by Delores Fossen
Griff’s Journey Home by Winnie Griggs
Holiday Horseman by Lori Wilde
How the Belle Stole Christmas (Anthology with Cecilia Rene & Kathleen Ayers)
If You Were Mine by Carrie Ann Ryan
Jingle Bell Buckaroo by Lori Wilde
Keeping Zita by Susan Stoker
Let it Rain by B.G. Vandenberg
A Little Christmas Matchmaking by Carolyn Brown
Lone Star Country Protector by Barb Han
Love Sucks by Cynthia St. Aubin
Married to a Traumatized Viscount by Dorothy Sheldon
Mate by Ali Hazelwood
McBride’s Bride by Charlotte Dearing
Must Love Dukes by Kathleen Ayers
October’s Bad Boy – Cullen by Eve London
A Perfect Christmas Night by Lori Wilde
Point of Infinity by Sydney Aaliyah Michelle
Raiding Halloween by Darlene Tallman
Ranger Belief by Lynn Shannon
A Ranger for Christmas by Mary Burton
Reindeer Wrangler by Lori Wilde
Ringing the Belle by Caryl McAdoo
Romero and Juliette by Kat Baxter
Sensing Selma by Kailin Gow
Shattered Amish Identity by Mary Alford
Sinful by Elizabeth Knox
Still a Cowboy by Delores Fossen
The Summer I Loved You by Sylvia McDaniel
Tashama by Terry Spear
Temptation on Ice by Adrian R. Hale
Tender Hearted Cowboy by Kimberly Smith
Texas Christmas Cover Up by Terri Reed
The Texas Cowboy’s Runaway Bride by Janalyn Knight
A Very Merry Enemy by Lyra Parish
While it was Snowing by Julia London
Whispering Hearts by Delia Lathem & Elle H. Raye
Wolf Heir by Terry Spear