Sarah Cisneros believes her sixteen-year-old twin sons, Adam and Benji, are far too young and far too innocent to participate in the ranch's upcoming cattle drive. But the boys are insistent and are eager to build the legacy of Dos Encinos. This will be one last adventure before they head off to college. Adam sustains serious injuries during a stampede while on the ride. As he recuperates in the small central Texas village of Comanche, he becomes enamored with the innkeeper's daughter, Martha Taylor. Adam and Martha pledge to wait for each other as Adam enters medical school in Fort Worth, Texas. Meanwhile, Benji pursues his dreams of becoming an architect. After graduation from medical school, in spite of more enticing and lucrative opportunities to settle in an urban community, Adam returns to Comanche, re-unites with Martha, and starts his medical practice. He doesn't realize the hostilities and personal threats he would face in bringing new concepts of medical treatment to a community served only by charlatans and untrained doctors. Adam must rely on his heritage of strength from the pioneer cattlemen of south Texas his Dos Encinos legacy to guide him through the strife he faces.
Dallas Police Lieutenant, Vince Palter, accused of theft, misconduct, and suspected of murder, is determined to right the wrong that ruined his law-enforcement career. As a Deputy Sheriff in Corpus Christi, Texas, two years later, he is placed in a position of having to investigate a washed-ashore murder victim and finds that it is linked to the very scam responsible for the two year-old wrongful accusation. The FBIs involvement in the case leads to Vinces affiliation with an FBI Organized Crime Task Force Team assigned to investigate an international scheme involving nuclear missile solid-fuel that could jeopardize the security of the country and world peace. Compelled to perform in accordance with family tradition, after going undercover, he fights to preserve his relationship with his eighteen year-old son, with aspirations to follow in his fathers footsteps in law-enforcement.
Does everything happen for a reason? Sixteen-year-old SARAH LEVIN finds that particular idea hard to believe when she and her family are forced to flee their home in mid-19th century Germany for America. Tragedy strikes when a hurricane capsizes the ship, sending Sarah into a raging sea. Washed ashore, starving and alone, she staggers into a settlement in Mexico and collapses in the village's church. The priest and his custodian nurse her to health. Sarah's encounter with murderous bandits brings Charro Cisneros, a young rancher, to her rescue. Charro then volunteers to escort Sarah to America. In the course of the trip, Charro becomes enchanted by Sarah's beauty, resourcefulness, and courage. Meanwhile, she grows enamored by his rugged good looks and quiet competence, as well as his mischievous nature that matches her own. Charro and Sarah are drawn to each other by their unprofessed love but held apart by insurmountable barriers. On the verge of a breakdown and severe depression, Sarah undertakes a perilous journey back to Mexico and seeks closure on the loss of her parents. When Charro learns that Sarah has set off across the wild rangelands alone, he races after her. But, is he too late?
Features a diet which enables you to: control your appetite; eliminate cravings; eat delicious foods; help protect against heart disease and diabetes. This book contains easy-to-prepare recipes and is intended for those who love good food, but crave a slimmer waistline.
Despite negative speculation in the media regarding the future of the low-carb diet, this revolutionary dietary phenomenon continues to attract an enormous following. The lure of the rapid weight loss causes converts to radically adjust their dietary habits in order to meet the demands of the lifestyle. Yet for many, this is simply not an option. Particularly ardent critics of the diet include vegetarians who are offered no alternatives to the high meat content; and what of those of us with a sweet tooth or those who need natural fibre in their diet? that caters for all types of dietary requirement. It's vegetarian-friendly and nutritionally-balanced, allowing for previously sinful foods including pasta, pulses, fruit and puddings. What's more, he has set out to counter the criticisms of those who argue that low-carb lifestyles can be detrimental to health. A series of medical case studies proves how adopting a low-carbohydrate diet can in fact be of benefit in certain key areas of health. So, if you feared you could never be part of the low-carb crowd, look no further...this is the diet for becoming slim and healthy the low-carb way, without cutting out the foods you love!
This superb work of history tells the story of the Lower Rio Grande Valley and the people who struggled to make this daunting land their home. Spanish conquistadors and Mexican revolutionaries, cowboys and ranchers, Texas Rangers and Civil War generals, entrepreneurs and empire builders are all a part of this centuries-long saga, thoroughly researched and skillfully presented here. Steamboats used the inland waterway as a major transport route, and fortunes were made when the river served as the Confederacy’s only outlet for money and munitions. Mexican presidents and revolutionaries, European empires and investors, American cattle kings and entrepreneurs all considered this river frontier crucial. Men, women, and beasts braved the unforgiving climate of this land, and its cattle and cowboys gave rise to the great cattle drives up the Chisholm Trail to Kansas. It was and remains a crossroads of international cultures. In this moving account of the history of the families of the Santa Anita land grant, almost two hundred years of the history of the lower Rio Grande Valley (1748–1940) are revealed. An important addition to any collection of Texas history, I Would Rather Sleep in Texas is one of the most complete studies of the lower Rio Grande, abundantly illustrated with maps and photographs, many never before published. In 1790 the Santa Anita, a Spanish land grant, was awarded to merchant José Manuel Gómez. After the land passed to Gómez’s widow, part of the grant was acquired by María Salomé Ballí, the daughter of a powerful Spanish clan. Salomé Ballí married Scotsman John Young, and her family connections combined with his business acumen helped to further assemble the Santa Anita under one owner. In 1859, after Young’s death, Salomé struggled to hold onto her properties amid bandit raids and the siege of violence waged in the region by borderland caudillo Juan Nepomuceno Cortina. Soon after the beginning of the Civil War, she married Scotch- Irish immigrant John McAllen. They participated in the rapid wartime cotton trade through Matamoros and had business associations with a group of men—Mifflin Kenedy, Richard King, Charles Stillman, and Francisco Yturria—who made fortunes that influenced businesses nationwide. Rare firsthand accounts by Salomé Ballí Young de McAllen, John McAllen, and their son, James Ballí McAllen, add to a deeper understanding of the blending of the region’s frontier cultures, rowdy politics, and periodic violence. All the while, the Santa Anita remained the cornerstone of the business and stability of this family. As the lower Rio Grande Valley moved into the modern era, land speculation led economic activity from 1890 through 1910. The construction of railroads brought improved means for transportation and new towns, including McAllen, Texas, in 1905. The book’s ending reveals how, in 1915, Mexican warfare again spilled over the banks of the Rio Grande with deadly results, tragically affecting this family for the next twenty-five years. I Would Rather Sleep in Texas tells a remarkable story that covers a broad sweep of Texas and borderlands history.
Time Commences in Xibalbá tells the story of a violent village crisis in Guatemala sparked by the return of a prodigal son, Pascual. He had been raised tough by a poor, single mother in the village before going off with the military. When Pascual comes back, he is changed—both scarred and “enlightened” by his experiences. To his eyes, the village has remained frozen in time. After experiencing alternative cultures in the wider world, he finds that he is both comforted and disgusted by the village’s lingering “indigenous” characteristics.
