The Barons — Parris Afton Bonds

By 1845, Don Alejandro de la Torre y Stuart, Baron of Paladín, a self-confessed scoundrel and reputed despoiler of ladies, has accomplished what he set out to achieve when first coming to Tejas in 1835 -- validate the land grant bequeathed to his family by His Spanish Majesty in 1763.

That land grant has become legally Paladin's both through his participation in the Texas Revolution and by his marriage to the Irish termagant Fiona Flanagan. Their wedding unites her stormy nature with his equally tempestuous passion.

Lord Paladín -- Alex, as he prefers to be known once a Texican -- and Fiona might disagree over the rearing of their three children, on political issues, or even on the very existence of God Almighty, but they both agree on their love for each other and for the land they had both risked their lives to acquire. However, his intent to expand the Barony Ranch property into a virtual empire is proving difficult to accomplish, even for a man of his resourceful qualities, as Alex's grown stepson, the covetous and formidable Liam, has other plans.

With the second entry in her riveting Texicans saga, New York Times bestselling author Parris Afton Bonds takes her craft to the next level with a tale of intrigue and loyalty stretched to the breaking point. Politics, plunder, passion, profit, and power collide in a new and bountiful land through the eyes of the Paladín family, a captivating, richly-painted cast of characters playing out their lives against the backdrop of history. Their loves, their desires, their perils and rewards―all rendered in service to create a new state in America's southwest, take on an urgency and realism unlike any before.

With The Barons, Bonds has become a grandmaster of the historical epic on the same level as John Jakes or Herman Wouk.