The right girl. The wrong past. The mystery double life that catches up to her. The special gift that begs for blood... Well, that’s just great. I’ve missed the cut-off to apply for a scholarship, so my folks are freaking out about two things now. As if going to school in another city isn’t bad enough. As if me agreeing to countless asinine things to keep my parents happy isn’t grating on me already. And then I meet Gunner and it all falls apart. He’s the man of my dreams, and yet he’s the man that tears my world apart…but he doesn’t know it. And now I can never see him again. I can never hear his voice again. Most of all, I can never feel my heart beating against his ever again. It didn’t occur to me until it was too late. How right my brothers are, that is. I ran from Clarkstown to Houston to get away. The great escape. Funny how leaving home for all the wrong reasons made everything else look right. Understand that it was just too much. But what I find out in Houston is that Ava’s life pales in comparison. I thought I was doing the right thing. I thought everything would turn out okay. Until she vanishes off the campus floors and I don’t see her again…for another year. And then I find out the truth, and it changes everything forever. Can we ever get back what we had? HEA (Happily Ever After) Ranch romance Cowboy romance Hate to love romance Medium heat Course language Small town romance Cliffhanger ending

Explores the motivations, process, and practicality of a modern-day secession of Texas from the United States, examining the historical and cultural foundations of a secession and detailing how a possible Republic of Texas may function.

The Texas Left. Some would say the phrase is an oxymoron. For most of the twentieth century, the popular perception of Texas politics has been that of dominant conservatism, punctuated by images of cowboys, oil barons, and party bosses intent on preserving a decidedly capitalist status quo. In fact, poor farmers and laborers who were disenfranchised, segregated, and, depending on their ethnicity and gender, confronted with varying levels of hostility and discrimination, have long composed the "other" political heritage of Texas. In The Texas Left, fourteen scholars examine this heritage. Though largely ignored by historians of previous decades who focused instead on telling the stories of the Alamo, the Civil War, the cattle drives, and the oilfield wildcatters, this parallel narrative of those who sought to resist repression reveals themes important to the unfolding history of Texas and the Southwest. Volume editors David O'Donald Cullen and Kyle G. Wilkison have assembled a collection of pioneering studies that provide the broad outlines for future research on liberal and radical social and political causes in the state and region. Among the topics explored in this book are early efforts of women, blacks, Tejanos, labor organizers, and political activists to claim rights of citizenship, livelihood, and recognition, from the Reconstruction era until recent times.

A powerful, bracing and deeply spiritual look at intensely, troubled youth, Last Chance in Texas gives a stirring account of the way one remarkable prison rehabilitates its inmates. While reporting on the juvenile court system, journalist John Hubner kept hearing about a facility in Texas that ran the most aggressive–and one of the most successful–treatment programs for violent young offenders in America. How was it possible, he wondered, that a state like Texas, famed for its hardcore attitude toward crime and punishment, could be leading the way in the rehabilitation of violent and troubled youth? Now Hubner shares the surprising answers he found over months of unprecedented access to the Giddings State School, home to “the worst of the worst”: four hundred teenage lawbreakers convicted of crimes ranging from aggravated assault to murder. Hubner follows two of these youths–a boy and a girl–through harrowing group therapy sessions in which they, along with their fellow inmates, recount their crimes and the abuse they suffered as children. The key moment comes when the young offenders reenact these soul-shattering moments with other group members in cathartic outpourings of suffering and anger that lead, incredibly, to genuine remorse and the beginnings of true empathy . . . the first steps on the long road to redemption. Cutting through the political platitudes surrounding the controversial issue of juvenile justice, Hubner lays bare the complex ties between abuse and violence. By turns wrenching and uplifting, Last Chance in Texas tells a profoundly moving story about the children who grow up to inflict on others the violence that they themselves have suffered. It is a story of horror and heartbreak, yet ultimately full of hope.

Following the success of The New York Times bestseller America 24/7, DK is publishing 50 books that showcase the best photographs from each state - all to be published on the same day. Each individual book includes 95% new photography and is a unique peronal expression of state pride.