Kindle Edition Amazon Award Winning Texas Author, Jan Sikes Author Jan Sikes TxAuthors Category:  Biography Publisher: RiJan Publishing ISBN-10:  0990617947 Type: Non-Fiction Pages: 232 Copyright: 4-15-16 ISBN-13: 9780990617945 Price: $4.99 (eBook) Out of time, but not out of chances, Luke Stone races against the clock determined to leave behind a legacy. Will fate allow him to sing his last song?  Over the course of Luke Stone’s life, he’s been everything from a simple farm boy to a singing star, from a convict to a family man.  Only one woman has managed to keep his out-of-kilter world on track. When Darlina Flowers danced her way into his heart so many years ago, he never dreamed she’d stick by him through the best and worst.  He should be satisfied. Yet, the lifelong dream he harbors deep in his heart – the dream of making music again – won’t let him rest. He grabs at one more chance to prove that he still has what it takes.  But, Luke’s body is failing him and he faces catastrophic changes that might end more than his re-born music career; they may end his life. He’s more determined than ever to provide for his family and share the music in his heart with them and the world in the days he has left.  In the dead of night when the world is silent and still, the forlorn hoot of an owl, his spirit animal, sends a warning up his spine too strong to ignore.  Will fate allow him to sing his last song?       Excerpt Although some creative liberties have been taken, this novel is based on real people — Rick and Jan Sikes — and real events. FOREWARD BY: Linda Broday, USA Today and NY Times Bestselling Author Stricken with rheumatic fever, Luke Stone remained bedfast for two years as a young boy. It took a toll on his spirit, but perhaps this helped to prepare him for a life full of ups and downs. He survived this disease and grew into a strong young man. At the age of fourteen, his uncle gave him a guitar. This ignited a passion that lasted a lifetime. His first time on stage at the age of fifteen left a memory time could not erase. The quaking of his knees knocking together almost drowned out the music. He lay awake in his bed that night thinking about the experience until the wee hours of morning. The next weekend, he went back for more. He continued on, eventually putting together a band that gained a great level of popularity across the state of Texas and beyond. In his twenties and on into his thirties, he built several reputations. He and his brother, Bobby, became known as the toughest men around West Central Texas. Luke claimed the title as King of the Texas Honkytonks and was recognized far and wide as a notorious lady’s man. But, a bad decision put him behind bars in Leavenworth Prison for fifteen years. This took a lot out of him. No longer was he the bull-in-the-china-closet that kicked ass and took names. With music as his solace, through the long years of incarceration, he wrote hundreds of songs and even managed to advocate for a recording studio inside the prison. He had a burning desire to get some of these songs to the outside world. When the long awaited parole came and he headed home, he hung up his neon dreams for a hammer and paint brush. He had a new family to take care of and vowed that it wouldn’t include playing music in the Texas honkytonks. He put his guitar in the closet and went about the business of building a home and helping raise the two girls his beloved Darlina brought with her into the marriage. How he loved having a second chance at being a daddy and teaching them to be strong responsible young ladies! In this part of the story, he’s now been out of prison as long as he’d been in…fifteen years. As detailed in previous books, there were hard times aplenty and many struggles that brought both Luke and Darlina to their knees more than once, but, they faced them together. True partners both in body and soul, their steadfast love carried them through the best and the worst life threw their way. Even with the health issues that plagued Luke, he often thought there had never been a man born as lucky as him. Sometimes, it felt as though he’d lived several lifetimes all rolled into this one. And he wasn’t done yet. He never tried to fool himself or anyone else. He knew the sand running through his hourglass was growing thin, but that didn’t matter either. He vowed to make the very best of every day, every minute he had left. And who was to say that he wouldn’t live to be an old, old man with lots of stories to tell? None of that mattered. Only the day given to him was the most important thing. For each moment that remained, he had another chance to build something, write something, or imagine something that he hadn’t yet done. Determined to leave a rich, lasting legacy, the prints of his shoes are still being seen. And that is the true beauty of living.

River Deep: Mountain High
Jan Sikes is an author who excels at writing a series of novels as standalones. The first chapter is a mixture of action and sufficient clues to fill in Luke and Darlina’s tempestuous and troubled past. Shown from both points of view, Mrs Sikes digs deep into what made the couple the people they are, and why their love has survived and grown deeper as the years pass, and their mountain of problems ever higher.

Luke Stone, the wild rocker who captured the young Darlina’s heart in Flowers and Stone has turned back to the talent, and the lifestyle, he blames for causing his long prison sentence, making music. This is the story of the re-emergence of superstar, but how high can he climb before his health gives out? Beautifully illustrated, it is clear from the photographs that everlasting love is never in doubt.

Powerful story of love and determination
A very personal, gripping story of two people combating life's daily struggles along with some pretty tough "curve balls" thrown at them. This fourth book of the series is difficult to put down. It is a testament to true love and the human will to survive.

Excellent Finale. This series is a must read
Excellent finale. This series is a must read.