Spanning the 20th century, the story of Roses takes place in a small East Texas town against the backdrop of the powerful timber and cotton industries, industries controlled by the scions of the town's founding families. Cotton tycoon Mary Toliver and timber magnate Percy Warwick should have married but unwisely did not, and now must deal with the deceit, secrets, and tragedies of their choice and the loss of what might have been--not just for themselves but for their children, and children's children.
With expert, unabashed, big-canvas storytelling, Roses covers a hundred years, three generations of Texans and the explosive combination of passion for work and longing for love.
Trail Drive Series #11
Missouri was closed to Texas cattle. Santa Fe was closed by murder. Now, they had one choice: cross desert mountains and hostile Indian land-- to a place called California...
The only riches Texans had left after the Civil War were five million maverick longhorns and the brains, brawn, and boldness to drive them north to where the money was. Now, Ralph, Compton brings this violent and magnificent time to life in an extraordinary epic series based on the history-blazing trail drives.
For the ranchers riding with Rand Hayes, things had gone from bad to worse. The Santa Fe man who'd contracted five thousand head of cattle was dead-- murdered by renegades. Now the Texans had a herd of longhorns and only one choice: cross two mountain ranges and the Mojave Desert to the gold-fevered market at Los Angeles. A trail blazed by ancient Spaniards, this was a route that would lead through a brutal, wondrous land, where a hostile Ute nation was only one danger the cattle drive faced, and California was a shooting war away...
Trail Drive Series #17
A former Confederate Army officer, Ben McCullough is now a rancher in the Texas hill country, hoping to earn enough money to settle down and marry. With eight hundred head of cattle to drive north, Ben is relying on his ex-sergeant, Hap, and a bunch of greenhorns he's recruited to help.
But the stampedes and raging rivers are nothing compared to the gang of outlaws waiting to rustle the herd.
