Texas Cattleman's Club: Heir Apparent (Cat Schield) Books in Order

Texas Cattleman's Club: Heir Apparent is a Royal, Texas continuity built around the wealthy Edmond family and their ambitious charity event, Soiree on the Bay. The festival, held on the family's Appaloosa Island, brings together food, art, wine, money, and many people with something to gain. It also becomes the center of a growing scandal when funds begin to disappear.

Like other Texas Cattleman's Club branches, every book focuses on a different couple. The shared mystery and the Edmond family connections give the series its through line. Readers see the same town from different angles, from ranchers and local professionals to wealthy heirs whose family name does not protect them from suspicion.

The central question is who can be trusted. Missing money puts relationships under pressure, exposes old resentments, and forces characters to decide whether loyalty means protecting family or demanding the truth. Romance develops in the middle of investigations, business trouble, and the very public gossip that travels quickly through Royal.

Cat Schield's contribution, How to Catch a Bad Boy, follows Dallas private investigator Lani Li and her former lover, Asher Edmond. Asher is accused of embezzling millions connected to the event, and Lani bails him out because he may lead her to the missing funds. She has every reason to doubt him, especially after their history, but working together brings back feelings neither of them expected.

It is a reunion romance with real stakes.

The series balances Texas glamour with mystery-driven tension. Characters attend Club functions and island events, but the emotional core stays close to the couples. A person may be rich, well connected, or part of a powerful dynasty, yet still have to face a broken promise, a damaged reputation, or an old love they never got over.

These books are best read in order if the fundraiser mystery interests you, since developments in one novel affect the next. Still, each romance has its own resolution and can be picked up on its own. Start with the first Heir Apparent title for the fullest picture of the Edmond family, then continue to How to Catch a Bad Boy when the missing-money plot reaches a critical point.