JULY TEXAS BOOK PREVIEW
Preview of Texas-connected books publishing in July, 2026
New books to put the sparkle in your July festivities
Texas authors will light up your summer reading list with this brilliant collection of new releases. We’re highlighting speculative and legal thrillers, historical fiction, a sports memoir, and much more. No matter where the summer takes you, we have just the book to brighten your beach reading or put the sparkle back into a rainy summer afternoon.
In the roaring heart of 1920s Chicago, two men from worlds apart share a common language: food. With their families in tow, Samson Sanders leaves the heat of segregated Texas for a new start, while Massimo ‘Mass’ Messina crosses an ocean from Sicily for better opportunities.
When the men meet working together at the Union Stock Yards, a simple lunch pail mix-up sparks a culinary sensation. By blending smoky Southern soul with Old World Sicilian tradition, they create a taste that has weary workers lining up for more.
A hard to resist saga of immigration, migration, ambition, and the transformative power of breaking bread.This is historical fiction at its most flavorful.
After designing Tidewater, an upscale resort, architect Sullivan Shepherd arrives on site to oversee construction and finds himself drawn to small-town life.
After a decade in a touring theatrical company, Piper Roberts returns to her hometown, ready to put down permanent roots.
The pair find much in common during their whirlwind romance and sparks continue to fly, even as Sullivan’s time in the Bay begins to wind down.
Will Sullivan ditch his white collar job in order to craft furniture and remain in Driftwood Bay, or will he let love slip through his fingers and return to New York?
When a pawn shop owner’s life collides with an extraordinary threat stemming from an archival myth, staying alive is only half the battle and knowing the true enemy may be impossible.
The Frequency navigates betrayal, deception and a larger conspiracy than imagined, while sustaining loyalty, resilience and bonds that form when everything else falls apart.
From one of the most influential officeholders in Texas and power brokers in Washington over the last seventy years, lifetime Democrat Ben Barnes, an intimate and unexpected look behind the corridors of power.
Ben Barnes started out as a whistleblower. He was only nineteen when he uncovered corruption in the Health Department in Austin, Texas, and testified against the culprits. He felt empowered—a guy like him could make a difference. Now at eighty-seven, despite his impressive career, he is trying to go more places and solve more problems than any other time in his life. Barnes is ready to share his decades of political experience and remind readers that there is a way to keep going and keep fighting, even in the golden years. The golden years are a fine time to get things done.
“In the heart of the deepest sea caverns, there is a stillness. Learn to surrender to it.”
Fifteen-year-old Condi Bloom knows the magic will happen again. The autumn equinox is looming. Strange currents are sweeping through her coastal town. Tides are turning wild, and a mercurial mist cloaks the lonely rock tower known as Windy Hollow, long believed to be haunted.
When a silent threat glides into the cove, altering the fragile ecosystem and drawing sharks close to shore, Condi ignores the danger. A fierce surfer, she insists on pushing her skills to the limit, hoping to heal a broken heart. Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Firth Cristo, a bold free diver, is tormented by a past he cannot reveal. Guided by the Beachlings, the mystical women who teach the secrets of the deep, he dares to explore remote underwater sea caverns, navigating the pulsing tides of a shimmering enchantment.
Inspired by the certainty of wonder and the uncertain nature of time, Condi and Firth dive into their rawest places, discovering that healing—of nature, of others, and of themselves—is found in the bounty of a limitless sea.
When a high-powered medical recruiter exposes a culture of harassment, fraud, and corruption at one of the nation’s top staffing firms, she’s forced into a brutal spiral of lawsuits, betrayal, homelessness, and health collapse—only to rise again with unshakable resolve.
In Good Faith, real-life events and court cases that went unnoticed by the public eye for over a decade are now fictionalized, offering a thrilling ride through the tribulations of professional offices at their highest and lowest moments.
When 16-year-old Jason Yancy collapsed and died during a 1999 Texas high school football game, his teammates faced an impossible question: How do you continue after losing your heart? This true story follows the Bremond Tigers as they honor their fallen friend’s memory with a simple motto: “Play Like He Would.”
Bestselling author Jade Morrow has spent her career reimagining the lives of famous women and the choices that changed everything. But when crippling panic attacks force her to leave New York behind for small-town Texas, Jade must confront the truth she’s long avoided: sometimes the hardest story to rewrite is your own. A heartfelt novel of healing, friendship, and second chances.
This narrative delves into the development of the character of Max Schilling as influenced by his former lover, Petra Rocha de los Santos, Josef, a Serb, a French communist World War 1 veteran Cecil Thibodeaux, and two ex-patriate Germans Wilbur Franz and Dieter Schlump.
It begins with a voyage from Toulon to Valencia in which he is smuggling machine guns to be sold once they arrived in Spain and continues through disastrous Ebro front retreat, the fall of the Republic, and joining Basque Separatists.
This is also a narrative of Petra Rocha de los Santos a hero machine gunner who defended Madrid against Franco’s fascists, a propaganda commissar in Madrid, and the leader of a small group of Basque Separatists after the Republic falls.
Old gods, new rules. New York Times bestselling author Katharine McGee puts a modern-day twist on ancient mythology in this bold reimagining of the Greek gods as a family of billionaires—with all the messy drama that entails.
When Julia Dodds meets Harry Adams, love hits her like a lightning bolt. He’s adventurous, charismatic, and impossibly handsome. Little does Julia know that her boyfriend has left out a few key details. His name isn’t Harry: it’s Ares, as in the ancient god of war. His mother is Hera, and his father is Zeus.
Soon, Julia is caught up in a world of wealth and privilege as she joins Harry at a lavish family reunion. Except these billionaires don’t just have wealth—they have divine powers. And the moment she steps onto their private island, Julia becomes their latest target.
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 July:
CHILDREN'S, MIDDLE GRADE, & YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
Athletic As A Camel by Stan Leech
Goose Chase by Kendra E. Ardnek
FANTASY / SCI-FI
Billy’s and Johnny’s Interstellar Road Trip by Brian Yansky
Breakers by Kayla Frederick and William Alan Webb
He Who Ate the Wild by G.J. Terral
Knight of the Spear by Cynthia Breeding
Make a Wish by Brian Lazarow
A Tangled Magic by Andrea Eames
Touched By The Arcane by Lindsey N. Rhoden
Vexing Valmir by Ruby Dixon
MYSTERY / HORROR
Back Track by Marc Cameron
Beasts of 42nd Street by Preston Fassel
Biscuits and Bodies by Nova Walsh
Boots, BBQ, & Bloodshed Anthology (Sisters in Crime North Dallas)
Born for Magic by Sarah Noffke
Chilled to the Bone by Liliana Hart
Clusterfuk by Merrill Davis
Decorations, Danishes and Deception by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Fang Fatale by Matilda Martel
A Good Night for Revenge by Georgia B. Kimmey
Guilty as Zin by Marla Cooper
Hoofloose by Matilda Martel
Hot Girl Murder Club by Ashley Winstead
Killer Vibes by Jack Friday
The Night Crew III: Hunting Ground by Brad Ricks
Pretty Dead Things by Kelsey Cox
A Recipe for a Stalker by L.B. Dayton
Tainted Love by Lynessa Layne
Tanked by Bessie Barr
A Weekend Getaway Murder by Tam May
What the Ice Yields by Leslie A. Piggott
NONFICTION
AmeriCANS Who Made America! by Richard V. Battle
The Biggest Lie by Joseph Kelly
Civil War Chaos in Texas by Lori Duran
Fight Like a Machine by Thomas M. Hunt
The Hidden Beauty of Tears by Travis Craver
Hope for Life’s Heartaches: Devotions & Prayers for Women by Janice Thompson
Joy to the World edited by Kathleen Davis Niendorff
Lone Star Beer: A History of Two Iconic San Antonio Breweries by Jeremy Banas
Not By Bread by Deb Preston
One State Under God by Joseph L. Locke
The Texas Rangers and Me: A Baseball Writer’s Thirty-Two Years in Arlington by T.R. Sullivan
OTHER FICTION
The Beauty of the Days Gone By by Jason Stone
Good Morning Means I Love You by Kendra Allen
Lady of the House by E.W. Cole
A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile by Angela Bell
Leap of Faith by Kellie Coates Gilbert
Mudlark by Mary Helen Specht
The Obsessed by Lizzie Buehler
A Real Animal by Emeline Atwood
Texas Trinity by S.P. Lee
Threads of Purpose by Douglas Bell
POETRY
ROMANCE
Alpha’s Bullied Arranged Bride by Mia Wolf
Anything But a Lord by Kathleen Ayers
Bases Loaded by Kimberly Page
Caitlin: Home Is Where the Heart Is by Elle Martin
A Chance in Haven by Beth Gildersleeve
The Cowboy’s Claim by Hayley James
Don’t Fool Yourself by Genny Carrick
The Dragon’s Favorite Strays by Ruby Dixon
The Eighth Sin by Crystal Crist
The Ex-Best Thing by Kasey Stockton
Forced Sold Wolf Bride by Kayla Wolf
Hanging Around by Laura Finger
Her Fortune VIP by Michele Dunaway
Her Reluctant Amish Heart by Pamela Desmond Wright
His Texas Home by Avery Snow
A Hope for her Hometown Hero by Ginny Sterling
How To Tell If Your K-9 Is A Demon by Trista Ricketts
July’s Cowboy Dallas by Eve London
Loose Threads by Dianne Orem
Meant to Be by Liz Isaacson
Off the Mound by Nicole Lenz
Property of Slayer by Liberty Parker
Protecting Elizabeth by Ellie M. Hudson
Second First Dates by Gabriella Gamez
Seeds of Hope by Teresa Wells
Taking Flight by Laura Finger
The Temporary Siren by Lexi Blake & Sophie Oak
That Old Yellow Light by Wayne Stroud
This Time Autumn by Kathryn Kaleigh
The Tomorrow Tree by Carolyn Brown
Traded to the Alpha Wolf by Kayla Wolf
Until it Gets Real by Carolyn Brown
Up Close and Personal by Stephanie Morris
Vera Stein is Fine by Julie Murphy
A Very Grumpy Doctor by Shaw Hart
Westward by Carrie Ann Ryan
What To Do When Your K-9 Adopts Another Demon by Trista Ricketts
When God Listens to a Mother’s Prayer by Chloe Carley