Texas Books

I thought I had all the books on Austin! This book is great. I love the series, and the photos are terrific. All the important sites are included.

As someone who lived in Austin in the '60's and returned recently, the comparison of landmarks 'then and now' was a wonderful stroll through Austin's memorable sites. We liked the book so much that we gifted others with it - it's a very popular conversation book which all our friends have enjoyed.

Jessie is the only girl in a house full of Brand men. When Lash Monroe comes to work on the ranch & as deputy sheriff to Garrett, Jessie takes a shine to him. But how can an only girl find time to get closer to Lash with all those brothers of her keep threatening Lash if he misbehaves with Jessie?

This is a great story which had me in stitches in parts. I can't wait to get onto the rest of the series. Next one is Wes's story in "Badlands bad boy".

A simple equation yet it works: bad virgin=good book. You don't need to be an engineer, however, to comprehend this fast paced novel. It stunningly portrays what life in the old west must have been like. The author uses vivid imagery to bring the characters to life. YEE-ha go read it cowgirls

Tess Baron at first seems like an uptight business woman with no feelings for anyone other than herself. But in this story, as in life, not everything is as it seems. Nick Trejo suddenly appears and nothing is the same for Tess again. Tess has never known love in her life, so for her life is about her work and the family business. Tess is drilling for oil that could bring in millions of dollars, but at the same time she may cost Nick his family's fortune and his grandfathers dream. At first, Tess is unimpressed with Nick and his plea for her to stop drilling, but she soon learns Nick will pull out all the stops to convince her to do the right thing. Nick is unaware of the price that Tess will have to pay in order to help him. Even though Nick and Tess seem to be at a impass they are still deeply attracted to each other. Nick and Tess give us a story of love, courage, faith, and any other emotion that you can think of. This is a great start to the series.

Back cover reads:
LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT
Tess Baron knew she was in trouble the second she laid eyes on the mysterious--and oh-so-sexy--stranger. Why had Nick Trejo suddenly appeared, asking her for a private meeting? And what was it about Nick that made Tess long to be in his arms...?
Nick was on a quest to discover his family's fortune, and he wasn't going to let some beautiful heiress stand in the way--even if he was falling in love with her. Or could the treasure he'd been searching for his entire life be less precious than the treasure he'd just found--Tess's love?

I did not know that there were so many conflicts that occurred when Texas was trying to become independent of Mexico. These stories are tremendous and interesting and informative.

This is a history book and battlefield guide. The book list all known battles, raids, skirmishes and some not known in Texas from the Spanish exploration and settlement period to U.S. Cavalry fights with Indians in 1880. The author admits this might not be an all inclusive listing but it will meet most requirements of Texas Battlefield pursuance.
A description of each action, known location and historical markers cover the listings. Overview maps of the actions are included in the book but a person would have to check other maps elsewhere for details on some of the locations.
Also, included is an informative and interesting section describing some of the leaders participating in these actions.
I will drive clear across Texas just to see and read a historical marker setting in a cow pasture. Does this sound like you? This is an excellent book to learn something about battles in Texas. It is also an excellent guide to get you headed in the right location.

Crisp writing, great characters, and a love story based in the hill country of Texas--a winning combination. This author's debut novel is a genuine A+. I recommend it for anyone with even the tinnest soft spot in their heart.

Suzanne Mason creates a world that sweeps you right into Texas Hill Country from the very first sentence. You can almost feel the heat from the blaze, hear the thunder rumbling overhead and experience the cool spring water gliding over you. Images of white silk draping from trees seduce you just as it does Sydney.

The characters are incredibly three-dimensional. Just as you think you know each one's personality, Ms. Mason uncovers yet another stunning facet to them. I feel as if I walked every step with Sydney Parker Ross on her journey. I could feel her excitement over a budding relationship with Jared, and her despair over what life with Duncan would bring. Celia Pearl's get-to-the-heart-of-the matter attitude was refreshing. I can see the positive impact her wisdom had on Sydney. I think everyone should have a Celia Pearl in her life!

Ms. Mason's "goal is to create characters that the reader will remember long after they put the book down." She has succeeded brilliantly as I not only will remember them as characters in a book, but also feel as if I've known them as friends.

Nora Roberts has taken me to Ireland with her books and now Suzanne Mason has led me to experience Texas Hill Country. I can't wait to read Ms. Mason's second novel!

Captain Jace Riley of the Texas Rangers has just two months to track the killers who murdered his mentor during an armored car robbery. So far his undercover assignment as a summer relief driver of a parcel service has turned up nothing in the West Texas mountains. Now he only has two weeks left and no leads. Then a chance encounter with a stranger takes him to Dana Turner's rented trailer.

When she opens the door, Dana sees a man in uniform and fears he's there with an arrest warrant. She spent seven months in prison for the murder of her sister until a judge overturned the conviction. Although she was innocent, she knows many people will only see her prison record rather than her exoneration. Worse, prison changed her. Her claustrophobia has gotten much worse, and she's learned to appreciate every little mundane freedom. Rather trust for her fellow man, she is now filled with suspicion.

Dana came to West Texas to work at an isolated observatory and gaze at the stars. Now for the first time in a long time, Dana is attracted to a man. Conflicting emotions lead to alarming complications to her previously quiet existence. Worse, Dana and Jace come to realize that she's in danger from her landlord's grandson. And Jace can't decide if she's associated with the cop-killers, or the woman of his dreams.

I confess to having a weakness for bold characterizations with an unconventional past. Author Rebecca Winters fills that type with flair, creating heroine Dana who tries to leave the pain of imprisonment behind her while embracing the newfound strengths such an experience produces. Her understandable distaste for law enforcement creates a delightful conundrum since her soul mate happens to be an undercover Texas Ranger. Further, Jace's early misgivings about her background create the perfect balance of tension and passion. Indeed, the balance of strong characterizations and a fascinating plot makes BENEATH A TEXAS SKY a terrific read. Very highly recommended.

Six months ago in Austin, two men held up an armored car stealing a million dollars and killing three people that included retired Texas Ranger Gibb Barton. Most of Gibb's law enforcement associates mourn his death, but Ranger Captain Jace Riley obsesses on bringing the murderers to justice as he lost a close friend. Clues lead Jace to go undercover in the Cloud Rim vicinity of the Texas' Davis Mountains.

In Cloud Rim, Jace wonders if female astronomer Dana Turner, recently released from prison when a California judge vacated a murder conviction, is involved with the killers. He plans to interrogate her, but to the shock of Jace and Dana, they are very attracted to one another. However, she does not trust males except for her famous father because of her murder rap and a graduate student stealing her scientific work while she lingered in prison. He does not trust her because he feels she must be a cohort of the killers. Though this couple falls in love, an infinite future together seems darker than the night sky over the Davis Mountains.

BENEATH A TEXAS SKY is an engaging police procedural romance that stars two delightful but wary lead protagonists. The hunt for the killers engages the audience on two levels: that of the actual investigation and the growing romantic feelings between Jace and Dana. The astronomical tidbits interwoven into the enjoyable story line provides fascinating starry references. All this leads to the fact that Rebecca Winters remains a writer for all seasons.

Harriet Klausner

This is a great book for preschoolers! There are boy bears and girl bears doing all kinds of jobs--a gender-neutral representation of professions. The words rhyme and could be a good read for beginning readers--this is one of the Berenstains' easier books with no more than two stanzas on each page. And it is interesting for the kids to read and look at.

My son loved seeing the world around him through his favorite bears eyes. I had to read this one over and over to him!

This is a gripping story with wonderful characters!

I haven't read the other books in the series, but if they are anything like this one, they have to be nothing but spectacular this book was very well written, and holds you in suspense throughout the whole story. Definitely good reading.

We love all of Docia's books and look forward to many more!

Although I feel the use of exclamation points is excessive, I found the book to be a great reminder of all of the ghost stories I heard while growing up near the Texas coast. It brought back a lot of great yet frightful memories. I am now on my 3rd book by Mrs. Williams, I think it would be great to take her ghost tours. Happy Haunting!

Take it from someone who was toiling down in the trenches chasing the bad guys, this book is a first hand account of how the Reagan administration and Speaker Wright fiddled while the savings and loan crisis burned. It explains how, and why, the government for years did not try to stop the corporate criminals who went on one of the largest financial crime sprees in the history of the United States. This is an important work, not only for its historic value in explaining this particular outbreak of white collar crime in the savings and loan industry, but also because it carefully lays out the patterns of control fraud that will continue to recur in different corporate venues as long as people are willing to steal and lie to try and gain an economic advantage. This should be required reading for every financial regulator in the United States. Alan Greenspan, who recently argued that personal reputation in business practices should be more important than enforcing rules, should read it twice (or as many times as it takes until Mr. Greenspan can remember why he trusted Charles Keating).

William Black's book, The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One,is on the one hand an act of courage, and to an excellent journey into the morass and collapse of the Savings & Loan industry. Bill Black should know better than anyone, as he was one of the inside attorney's trying to coral bankers gone wild on highly speculative ventures...

Mr. Black walks us down the chamber of horrors of the Savings & Loan collapse, and gives us a bird's eye view of bank corrupt.
What is most interesting is that Mr. Black finds the trends within in the industry itself, that it was actually CONTROL FRAUD were bankers, accountants, appraisers, bank executives and politicians colluded together to bring an already shaky and weak industry down. Everyone who wants to understand that the Savings & Loan was the first cracks in the empire, civilizations have always been brought down by poorly run fractional reserve fiat currency bankig systems.

What was the cry from people from Alan Greenspan was for more deregulation, and at the time, Greenspan, a banker who was with Morgan Stanley prior to his excellency/chairmanship/ at the Federal Reserve System, was that the Lincoln Savings & Loan, was one of the best run S&Ls in the country...

What resulted was deregulation and desupervision... Attorneys and accountants for hire, audits performed on Savings & Loans which made them look like a picture of financial health when in fact the S&L industry had terminal cancer...Massive insolvency, virtually no reserves, coverups, and famous politicians genuflecting to the Savings & Loan industry, the Keating Five; John Glen, John McCain, Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, Donald Riegle..All pressuring the Bank Board for leniency...

Every American should read this book...this control fraud of the eighties in the Savings & Loan industry makes Enron look like a game of childrens marbles..We learn little, we remember little in this United States of Amnesia..

The Best Way To Rob A Bank Is to Own One, by William Black is a true sign that there is a crack in the American empire's treasury.. A recommended read if your really want to understand what happened in the Savings & Loan collapse, which the AMERICAN TAXPAYER WILL PAY FOR $200 BILLION OR MORE.

As Thomas Jefferson once said, "Banking Establishments Are More Dangerous Than Standing Armies." Hats off to Bill Black.

Barry J. Dyke, RIA, Hampton, NH