Having lost everyone he loved, Marcus Brand dares not love again, for he knows all too well the pain of loving and losing. By hiding behind his secret identity as the hero known as The Guardian, he protects the people of his city, as well as his heart. But the very enticing Casey Jones is one woman who may pose a threat to Marcus's protected secrets!

Ask anyone to name an archetypal Texan, and you're likely to get a larger-than-life character from film or television (say John Wayne's Davy Crockett or J. R. Ewing of TV's Dallas) or a politician with that certain swagger (think LBJ or George W. Bush). That all of these figures are white and male and bursting with self-confidence is no accident, asserts Leigh Clemons. In this thoughtful study of what makes a "Texan," she reveals how Texan identity grew out of the history—and, even more, the myth—of the heroic deeds performed by Anglo men during the Texas Revolution and the years of the Republic and how this identity is constructed and maintained by theatre and other representational practices. Clemons looks at a wide range of venues in which "Texanness" is performed, including historic sites such as the Alamo, the battlefield at Goliad, and the San Jacinto Monument; museums such as the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum; seasonal outdoor dramas such as Texas! at Palo Duro Canyon; films such as John Wayne's The Alamo and the IMAX's Alamo: The Price of Freedom; plays and TV shows such as the Tuna trilogy, Dallas, and King of the Hill; and the Cavalcade of Texas performance at the 1936 Texas Centennial. She persuasively demonstrates that these performances have created a Texan identity that has become a brand, a commodity that can be sold to the public and even manipulated for political purposes.

In the spring of 1881, W. M. D. Lee and Lucien B. Scott, wealthy businessmen of Leavenworth, Kansas, purchased land in the upper Texas Panhandle to establish the Lee-Scott Cattle Company. Their range sprawled across four Texas counties and extended into eastern New Mexico. About six months later, fifty thousand head of mixed cattle, branded LS, grazed those thousands of acres of free grass. This book is the story of Lee and Scott’s LS Ranch from the tempestuous years of the open range to the era of “bob wire.” It is also the story of the pioneer men and women whose efforts developed the LS into a cattle empire: W. M. D. and Lena Lee, Lucien and Julia Scott, “Mister Mac” and “Miss Annie” McAllister, and Charles and Pauline Whitman. Here are accounts of chuck wagons and wagon bosses; prairie fires, blizzards, and bog holes; ranch management problems and cowboys on strike; lobo wolves and romance; wild sprees in Tascosa and its “Hogtown” sector; LS cowboys fighting against a gang of organized rustlers in a feud that ended in tragedy; and those same cowboys on the long trails to Dodge City and Montana. Drawing upon stories told to her by men and women who were with the LS during the 1880’s and later years, Dulcie Sullivan presents her narrative in a clear, straightforward, but sympathetic manner that gives the reader a vivid sense of how life was really lived there in those times. Especially telling is her occasional use of an almost poetic incident: the steers bedding down around a campfire to listen to the chuck-wagon cook play his fiddle, or the suit of Spanish armor found in a spring, or the hail-battered trees attempting to renew themselves, despite their grotesque shapes.

THE TEXAS BRAND Baby on his doorstep SURPRISE: IT'S A BOY! Sheriff Garrett Brand was shocked to find a baby on his doorstep. While his siblings joked that maybe he wasn't such a responsible guy after all, Garrett knew he was nobody's daddy. But the Texan was intent on discovering the identity of this little cowboy's mama . All Chelsea Brennan wanted when she arrived at the Brand ranch was her nephew and answers about her sister's mysterious death. But she never expected a rough and rugged lawman to act like a proud father and lavish the baby with love. Especially when Garrett claimed he didn't have love to give. And now Chelsea wanted much more than she'd bargained for to be a Brand herself . THE TEXAS BRAND: This family was born, bred and bound to be wed in Texas!

A collection of Courtney's columns from the Texas Monthly, curing the curious, exorcizing bedevilment, and orienting the disoriented, advising "on such things as: Is it wrong to wear your football team's jersey to church? When out at a dancehall, do you need to stick with the one that brung ya? Is it real Tex-Mex if it's served with a side of black beans? Can one have too many Texas-themed tattoos?"--Amazon.com.

LONG-LOST HEIRESS… After witnessing a brutal crime, Jasmine Jones left town with nothing but her seven-year-old son and the building blocks of a whole new identity. And although she hadn't meant to deceive the close-knit Texas Brands, claiming to be their long-lost relative, Jenny Lee, was her only chance at survival. Jasmine thought her secret was safe—until one Brand started asking questions…. COME HOME? Luke Brand recognized fear, and this woman was practically shaking in her stilettos. But the woman's blinding beauty and her desperate pleas for protection soon obscured Luke's quest for the truth. Luke knew protecting her was only asking for trouble, but sometimes a Brand's gotta do what a Brand's gotta do.