Starlight Ridge Books in Order

Alexa Martin’s Starlight Ridge series moves from the bright lights of professional football to small-town Texas. It opens with By the Bootstraps, a contemporary romance about grief, rebuilding, community, and the strange courage it can take to choose a new life before you feel fully ready for one.

Luna Starr has always loved the big feelings and hopeful fantasies of romance novels. When life throws her off course, she decides to make a dramatic change and buys a tiny farm in Celestial, Texas. The purchase is meant to be a fresh start, but Luna is also carrying grief that a new address cannot simply erase. Her farmhouse needs more work than she expected, and her dream of rural independence quickly becomes a very hands-on project.

Celestial matters because it is not merely a pretty setting. Luna arrives as an outsider, then has to learn how to live in a place where people know one another, lend a hand, and notice when something is going wrong. The town’s ranching culture, local ties, and Friday-night-football energy give the story a grounded small-town feel, while Luna’s renovation plans keep the action close to home.

Tate Jacobs is the town handyman and a high school football coach. His family owns the largest ranch in Celestial, though Tate himself has complicated feelings about cowboys and the life people assume he should want. When Luna’s new place proves to be a near-constant source of repairs, Tate becomes the person most able to help her turn a troublesome property into somewhere she can stay.

Their connection grows through work, proximity, and the awkward reality of letting another person see what is not going well.

The romance is rooted in a practical partnership, but the book also gives Luna room to make friends, put down roots, and decide what a home can mean after loss. Expect a slower-building relationship than a whirlwind fling, along with humor from DIY trouble, a close-knit town, and the contrast between Luna’s romantic expectations and the very real work of a farm that needs fixing.

As the first Starlight Ridge book, By the Bootstraps introduces Celestial and the people connected to the Starlight Ridge Ranch. It works as the natural place to begin, since Luna’s arrival lets readers discover the town alongside her.