Take your date—or yourself—to an indie bookstore for the latest Texas-connected titles debuting in February. Love a good romance? We have a plethora. Need some mystery in your life? Skulk on over and check out these fresh offerings. Feeling poetic? We have verses for days. Explore the latest romance, mystery, poetry, nonfiction, and more from our talented Texas authors in our February Texas Books Preview feature.
Breaking News: A Finnerty and Liccione Mystery
Mary Rae, MD & Wanda Venters, MD
In the winter of 2020, a young man demands that the Bay City Daily News investigate his father’s violent death. Almost 20 years ago, the Galveston police attributed the death of his father, a beloved high school teacher, to a shark attack. The editor of the paper, agrees that the cold case deserves a new investigation. Dr. Louise Finnerty is drawn into the case by the unexpected death of her patient, a detective with ties to Galveston’s criminal underground. She enlists the help of her close friend, Dr. Marnie Liccione, to find the truth. The twists and turns of the investigation leads the reader into the underbelly of Galveston, a Gulf Coast destination with a troubled past and rumored secrets.
Austin Relativity: Coming of Age in the '60s
David M. Parsons
“Austin Relativity is a graceful and deeply honest memoir of growing up in late 20th Century Austin, Texas— a rich portrait of the city in the days before it became one of the nation’s 21st-century boomtowns.” Annette Gordon Reed, Pulitzer Prize in History in 2009 and the National Book Award in 2008 for The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family
Debra Holt
Victoria “Tori” Parker has been searching since childhood for a place she and her three siblings can call home. She’s eyeing a local hot springs as a public use project—if only good-looking rancher Caden Wright would stop being stubborn and put the good of the community ahead of his property. Caden admires Tori’s spunk, but he has a life mission, too. He promised his grandfather that he’d never change this land his family treasured. Yet that vow becomes harder to uphold as Tori’s kind heart reveals that not every woman is after his wealth. There’s too much on the line for either of them to quit their dreams, but love has a way of fixing even the toughest Texas tangle.
Harleigh Sinclair and the Kingdom of the Bristol Skull
Tamara Grantham
An Egyptian ankh. An Inuit mask. A Skinwalker’s scythe. Three Neotact artifacts have been found. Only the shield and sword remain. My name is Harleigh Sinclair. I have a gift to find lost artifacts, though there are some who call it a curse... When I discover a riddle etched inside a goldstone skull, it may be the clue I need to discover not only the Viking shield, but the famed sword of King Arthur, Excalibur. After my father was attacked by a Blood Raider over a decade ago, and his sword stolen, my life’s mission has been to find his attacker and bring justice to our family. But before I can find the attacker, I must first discover the original four artifacts before the Blood Raiders obtain them first.
by Christopher Null
How well do you really know your neighbors?
Veteran serial killer Klaus Fischer is determined that his most recent murder will be his last, but like many retirements, this one isn’t sticking. No one has come close to suspecting he’s buried the victims on his quiet suburban California cul-de-sac property—but he’s feeling the urge to kill again, and this time he’s set his sights on a target dangerously close to home.
Widowed Peg Jurgensen has lived on the cul-de-sac for the past fifteen years, and she’s ready to shed her doldrums and re-enter the world around her. And where better to start than with mothering the curious young teen Eliza van Damal, whose family just moved to the cul-de-sac in order to expose their daughter to a better life.
Eliza, however, prefers to coerce the enigmatic hermit next door, Alex, into helping her pass math. Alex wishes the lot of them would disappear.
The closer these misfits become, the more danger even the most ordinary conversations invite. As the body count rises, can these residents trust anyone hiding behind their doors on this street?
Fernando Trujillo
6 Lineage Poems is a debut poetry collection rooted in the body and the world. Half the collection is lush and evocative, lingering in the sensuous. The other half sits in stillness and calm. There are poems that embody old lovers while looking forward to new ones, and there are poems that sit back to observe a lake, garden, or the sky. All in all, this collection is a little offering for the altar of poetic lineage, and it calls on poets from Li Bai to Megan Fernandes. “Make of me a song,” Trujillo states and implores. And make of himself a song, he does.
Lori Altebaumer
Trees don’t heal. They seal. But Forester Jodee Trevaine isn’t a tree. The wounds of abandonment she’s spent years denying are ripped open the night she witnesses a child’s abduction. With new friends and the unexpected reacquaintance with the man she loved and left, Jodee has everything to gain—and just as much to lose—as she races against time to rescue to boy.
Could it be that her roots go deeper than she realized into the soil of El Hueso?
An atmospheric dual timeline novel that weaves the story of a forgotten family on the Texas frontier with that of a twenty first century woman searching for her identity.
Dr. Toni Viva Muñoz
As a ninth-generation Bordercana, Toni and her family are a mestizo mix of Native American and Mexican American heritage. They never left the Border. Growing up, she was never made to think of the Border—this in-between space—as two different spaces. In this multi-generational nonfiction story, Toni retells her abuelos’ love story to her young daughters while sharing the history of the area and its Latinx people. In La Union, the town where her family lives and where their family has always lived, the adobe dwellings are made from la tierra. The same earth is a womb for fallen ancestors—the Apaches who once roamed the area, the Spaniards who came before 1821, the Mexicans who came after, and the Mexican Americans and Bordercanx who inhabit the area today. From start to finish, this story is the embodiment of a Mexican American, double hybridized population. It is among the many stories of people still thriving and not forgotten along the US-Mexico. Border.
Nicholas Osborn
After more than a year of chasing one dead end after another for the truth about his father, Cannon has one last chance—the Major James Out West traveling train tour, a spectacular show inspired by Buffalo Bill Cody himself. Bringing real-life gunslingers and cowboys to modern audiences, Major James dazzles crowds with grand historic reenactments. But behind the scenes, the enigmatic showman has darker ambitions—he plans to resurrect an ancient threat from the Wild West to secure his place in history. To stop the Major’s one-way ticket to disaster, Cannon gathers an unlikely team to pull off the impossible—a modern-day train robbery. As they race against time, Cannon must decide if this journey will finally reveal the truth about his heritage, or if it’s just three bullets to the wind.
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 February:
CHILDREN'S, MIDDLE GRADE, & YOUNG ADULT BOOKS
Crossing Borders, Finding Home by Sarairis Slusser
The Ghostly Tales of North Central Texas by Teresa Nordheim
Kantara: The Prince by Stephen Weller and Mary Weller
Keep Close by Kristen Wade
A Little Waif Justice by Renee Jagger & Michael Anderle
A Noble Friend by Kendra E. Ardnek
Ozzie Needs a Friend by Patty Wiseman
Pick Your Own Quest: Temple of the Water Dragon by Connor Hoover
Racing the Clouds by Sydney Dunlap
Remainders by Ann Swann
Solar Punks by Gume Laurel III
A Touch of Blood by Sajni Patel
Under the Same Stars by Libba Bray
What Fell From the Sky by Adrianna Cuevas
Where God Lives by Carl Hughes
MYSTERY / HORROR
A Beauty Queen's Guide to Murder and Mayhem by Kristen Bird
Beside the Dead by Mary Alford
Canal Street by Keri Smith
The Contest by Jeff Macfee
Cruisin' to Hex by Allie Katt
Cupcakes and Crime by Nova Walsh
Death and Groom's Cake by Nova Walsh
Death is in the Cards by Jenni Stand
Devil Wears Murder by Brittany E. Brinegar
The Killing Plains by Sherry Rankin
The Lady and the Poisoned Waters by Brittany E. Brinegar
The Librarian and the Goddess by Brian Yansky
Not Our Daughter by Chad Zunker
Nothing Ever Happens Here by Seraphina Nova Glass
Trust Betrayed by Christopher Flory
Winter Cabin by Sam Baron & SJ Blake
NONFICTION
The Anti-Greed Gospel by Malcolm Foley
Bridles and Biscuits by Gary L. Pinkerton and Tom H. Gann
The Broken Spoke by Donna Marie Miller
Dangerous Latitudes by Jack Woodville London
Killer Story: The Truth Behind True Crime Television by Claire St. Amant
Life and Such : Reflections and Musings of an Alberta boy and Texas man by Dean Elverum
Mary Martin, Broadway Legend by Ronald L. Davis
The Mother Next Door by Andrea Dunlop and Mike Weber
None of the Answers: Racing Through Life in Reverse by Jeff Swaney
Ping: The Secrets of Successful Virtual Communication by Andrew Brodsky
Somos Tejanas! edited by Jody A. Marín and Norma E. Cantú
Texas: An American History by Benjamin Heber Johnson
Texas Gulf Paintings by Jan Edmonson
Weeping Women: In Search of La Llorona by Kathleen Alcalá and Norma Elia Cantú
OTHER FICTION
Bad Allegory by Jaxon Reed
Battle Witch by Marc Stiegler & Michael Anderle
Black Monday Book Two: Texas Fights Back by Margaret T
Brother Brontë by Fernando A. Flores
Callsign: Talon by Michael Anderle
Chroma by Tim Frankovich
Come Fly With Me by Camille Di Maio
Crowned in Flame and Oath by River Tatum & Michael Anderle
Death Takes Me by Cristina Rivera Garza
Duty Bound by River Tatum & Michael Anderle
Frostfire by D.S. Bailey & Michael Anderle
Hearts in Conflict by River Tatum & Michael Anderle
Hidden Threat by Martha Carr & Michael Anderle
Kantara: The Prince by Stephen and Mary Weller
The Last Road Trip by Jennifer Keppler
Magic & Melody by Rain Nox
Magic in the Melanin Anthology
Raven, Inc by Michael Anderle
Sanctum of the Soul by Kel Kade
Secrets, Lies, and Vampires by Michael Anderle
A Shadow Falls by Rose Garcia
Soaked by Toby LeBlanc
Southern by Design by Grace Helena Walz
Stage of Prejudice by Isabel Campbell & Michael Anderle
Timber: U.S. Marshal: Gold Heist Killers by Robert Hanlon
Timber: U.S. Marshal: Rides The Lone Star by Robert Hanlon
Triumph and Sacrifice by Michael Anderle
Warmaster 6 by Melissa McShane
POETRY
Book of Potions by Lauren Watel
Everything in Life is Resurrection by Cyrus Cassells
Proprioception by C. Prudence Arceneaux
ROMANCE
21 Days with the Lyon: The Lyon's Den Connected World by Shana Galen
Bishop by Amber Allee
Booker: Bluff Creek Brotherhood by Nat Logan
Bound by Flame and Illusion by River Tatum & Michael Anderle
Bound in Sacrilege by Raven Flanagan
Branson by M.K. Ellan
Bravo by Jessica Ashley
Breaking Free by Angel S. Vane
Caleb by Sylvia McDaniel
Chance Connections and Upside Down Plans by Kathryn Kayleigh
Clara Knows Best by Jade Behr and Blue Huxley
Cocoa Kisses & Mountain Misses by Kimberly Monpetit
Cowboys & Valentines by Annee Jones
The Crumbly Old Castle by B.E. Baker
Dangerous Lies by Lynn Shannon
Deep End by Ali Hazelwood
Even if You Fall by Molly Barlowe
The Evolution of Emma by Kailin Gow
Fabricated Love by Katrina Marie
Fake it Till You Make It by Dianne Oren
February's Bad Boy - Aiden by Eve London
Forever Fragile by Ginny Sterling
A Fortune's Redemption by Stella Bagwell
Four Letter Words by Thea Claire
The Friend Situation by Lyra Parish
Guarding Clara by Barb Han
Holly's Valentine Vow by Darlene Tallman
In Love with a Rascal by Ginny Sterling
Justice for Danielle by Aubree Valentine
The King's Rescue by Caryn McAdoo
Mail Order Blessing by Charlotte Dearing
Meet Me in the Yorkshire Dales by Valerie Massey Goree
Mine to Match by Yvette de Oro
Missed Exit by Indie Sparks
Outlaw Ridge: Nico by Delores Fossen
Pregnant by the Alpha Wolf by Kayla Wolf
The President by Darlene Tallman
Red's Revenge by D Williams
The Sea-Ogre's Eager Bride by Ruby Dixon
Secondhand Garagyre by Jewel Shipley
The Softer Side of Texas by Sai Marie Johnson
Starlight Team: Novak & Carrington by Liberty Parker
Stormy Knight: Texas Creek Mafia by Roux Cantrell
Talk Taco to Me by Candice Y. Johnson
Texas-Sized Secrets by Elle James
Their Complicated Arranged Marriage by Tashaeya Cole
Threat of Exposure by Lynnette Eason
Uneasy Street by Becky Wade
An Unexpected Kiss by Alexa Aston
The Vendetti Soldier by Sapphire Knight
Wild Texas Love by Hannah Lee Davis
Wrangling a Wild Texan by Katie Lane
You Had Me at Valentine by Kathryn Cantrell
Want to make sure your forthcoming Texas-connected titles are included in our feature? Email us at Publicity@LoneStarLiterary.
