Becki SvareFirst stop on our journey to read through all 50 states in one year is Texas. With so many great books out there, it can be very hard to choose just one for the book club.
Book Club Pick – Texas
Forever Faithful by Ginny Sterling
What is Forever Faithful about?
Dreamer, aviator, and certainly not the man she expected…
Harley Petersen knew falling for a man in uniform was a mistake. A relationship with a pilot would end in heartbreak, especially when it is her twin brother’s wingman. Stolen moments long ago only deepened the connection between them that she kept hidden away deep inside… until Jackson came crashing into her world once again.
A love he couldn’t forget…
Jackson ‘Thumper‘ Sloan knew his best friend’s sister was definitely off limits—despite their soaring feelings. When he broke Harley’s heart years ago, he knew nothing would ever be the same. Uncontrollable emotions had skyrocketed, surging upwards at a breakneck pace, resulting in a kiss that could be nothing more—or could it?
Now Fate has given this lucky Flyboy a second chance at love.
Ginny Sterling on Literary Escapes Podcast
Want to know more about Ginny and her books? Listen to our conversation on the Literary Escapes Podcast!
Ep 93: Exploring Texas with Author Ginny Sterling
More Sweet Reads Set in Texas
Jane of Austin by Hillary Manford
This hip contemporary romance combines Jane Austen-inspiration and foodie fiction in a witty and engaging tale of two sisters who are forced to uproot to unfamiliar Austin, Texas, after high rent and broken relationships force them away from their San Francisco life. In this Sense and Sensibility adaptation, Jane Woodward and her sister Celia run a small tea salon in San Francisco but are forced to relocate to Austin, Texas. While trying to start fresh and settle in, Jane meets a dashing musician, Sean, who steals her heart, but not before catching the eye of another suitor, military veteran Ben Fredrickson. The sisters drift apart, lives collide, dashing men steer Jane off course, and she discovers that adjusting to a new life is trickier than she anticipated.
I love a Jane Austen retelling! We read Jane Austen Project by Kathleen Flynn in last year’s book club. If you are also a Jane Austen fan, be sure to check out my interview with the author. (It’s not set in Texas but worth reading!)
Emergency Contact by Mary H.K. Choi
For Penny Lee, high school was a total nonevent. Her friends were okay, her grades were fine, and while she’d somehow landed a boyfriend, they never managed to know much about each other. Now Penny is heading to college in Austin, Texas, to learn how to become a writer. It’s seventy-nine miles and a zillion light years away from everything she can’t wait to leave behind.
Sam’s stuck. Literally, figuratively, emotionally, financially. He works at a café and sleeps there too, on a mattress on the floor of an empty storage room upstairs. He knows that this is the god-awful chapter of his life that will serve as inspiration for when he’s a famous movie director but right this second the seventeen bucks in his checking account and his dying laptop are really testing him.
When Sam and Penny cross paths it’s less meet-cute and more a collision of unbearable awkwardness. Still, they swap numbers and stay in touch—via text—and soon become digitally inseparable, sharing their deepest anxieties and secret dreams without the humiliating weirdness of having to, you know, see each other.
Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body.
With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked . . . until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any girl does.
Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.
Dumplin’ has been made into a Netflix movie and even has a soundtrack featuring Dolly Parton. And if you’ve read my book, Finding Dolly, then you know I’m excited for more Dolly inspiration.
Defending My Heart by Lorana Hoopes
Emmitt Brown’s demons are even bigger than he is, and as a defensive lineman for a pro-football team, that’s something. When the team captain tasks his defensive line to go home for Christmas and get rid of their biggest past regret, Emmitt finds himself returning to the small town he grew up in to find the woman he never should have left. Too bad she hates him and tells him to go away.
Mia Carter can’t believe Emmitt Brown is back in town. She does not need this right now. Especially since he’s been the ghost who won’t leave her conscience alone for the past five years and especially since she recently lost her husband. But when the pro football player steps up and offers to help her son fight cancer, she finds herself reluctantly agreeing.
Now, they have to make a choice: dig into the past and let the truth bring them together, or lose the Christmas miracle right in front of them.
Finding Our Forever by Faye Madden
Dana Lewis is desperate for a new start. Heartsick following the tragic loss of her husband, the grieving schoolteacher accepts work far from all the bittersweet memories. But she isn’t prepared for her temporary farm lodgings to come complete with a rude-but-rugged hunk in charge.
Beau Sawyer ain’t giving up yet. Stuck in a nasty custody battle over his beloved daughter, the Texas rancher can’t abide the trouble that could ignite from having a pretty woman under his roof. So when the elderly educator he expects to host turns out to be a stunning beauty ready to capture his heart, he deliberately puts up a wall of gruff silence.
Inexplicably drawn to the man of few words even after moving into her own home, Dana battles feeling guilty for betraying her dead spouse. And as much as Beau is baffled by his burgeoning feelings, he’s worried about giving his vindictive ex ammunition to take away his precious little girl.
Will their unexpected affections cause more problems or help heal wounded hearts?
More Texas Fun
Reading about different places always makes me want to visit them in real life. Unfortunately, that’s not always possible. But a virtual visit is fun too!
On my other blog I hosted a Hometown Tourist series. Check out these two fun places to visit in Texas.
- Elgin, TX – Enjoy a day trip from Austin
- Port Aransas, TX – Check out the Texas Gulf Coast
Join us in the book club!
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