Leta Pearl's Love Biscuits - Hardcover

by Arlon Jay Staggs (Author)

2026 IBPA Gold Medal Winner - Best New Voice: Fiction and Fiction: Romance

"...a pitch-perfect southern romp full of charm, laughs, and heart." -Grace Helena Walz, author of Good Hair Days

"...Staggs shows us the magic that can be found in the American South." -Snowden Wright, author of American Pop and The Queen City Detective Agency

It's 1982 in Bailey Springs, Alabama, where secrets aren't just whispered-they're baked right into the biscuits.

Trudy has kept her head down since high school, when her unexpected pregnancy and marriage to star-quarterback Jimmie Beaumont scandalized the town. A few years later, after Jimmie's tragic demise, folks still haven't forgiven her and blame her for his death. Now engaged to a blue-blood politician, Haskel Moody, Trudy's back in the spotlight-especially after taking a job teaching chemistry to save his campaign for mayor.

As Trudy encounters old high-school ghosts, she also confronts Coach Shug Meechum, whose laid-back charm and infuriating grin incite more than just her frustrations. Meanwhile, Trudy's mother, Leta Pearl, has been giving some chemistry lessons of her own-slipping her mysterious love-inducing biscuits to men in town to advance her own agenda.

In Bailey Springs, football, tradition, and appearances often mean more than truth. So, when secret recipes are uncovered, and new desires collide with a long-buried tragedy, Trudy must decide if she'll play by the rules or risk everything for the life she wants.

A laugh-out-loud romp with a smidge of Southern magic, Leta Pearl's Love Biscuits confirms that true love-like the best biscuits-takes some heat to rise.