Jean S. MacLeod (January 20, 1908)

Jean S. MacLeod began writing for Mills and Boon in 1939, aged 31, shortly after she gave birth to her only child, David Walton.

MacLeod, born in Glasgow, was one of the Mills & Boon's first Scottish novelists, and promoted as such in the Scotsman and other Northern newspaper. She began as a writer of short stories and serials for popular Scottish manazines such as the People's Friend, published by D.C. Thomson.

"I didn't know (the ropes) when I started," MacLeod recalled: "I just picked up the first directory and looked for publishers' names. I found the Nonesuch Press and I thought, "Well, that sounded like me, nonesuch". And I had a lovely letter back from them that said, "Dear Madam. We're sorry but we only publish definitive editions of Kipling and George Bernard Shaw." So I thought, well, I'm on the wrong track there. And then I looked again and found Mills & Boon, and that's the end of the story."

( Read more... )

First Book - Life for Two (1939)

Last Book - Lovesome Hill (1996): Lovesome Hill

Source: Passion's Fortune: The Story of Mills & Boon

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/news/1982625.romantic_novelist_celebrates_100_years/

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article872319.ece

( Vintage Covers )

Sheila Walsh (1928 - January 20, 2009)

Sheila Walsh, née Sheila O'Nions (b. 1928 in Birmingham, England, UK - d. January 20, 2009) was a British writer of romance novels from 1975 to 2001, she also wrote as Sophie Leyton.

She was the thirteenth elected Chairman (1985-1987) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Born Sheila O'Nions in 1928 in Birmingham, England, UK, during the Second World War, her family moved to Southport, Lancashire, where she met Des Walsh, son of the Thomas Walsh, who had a jewelry store at 39 Chapel Street since 1926. In 1950, Sheila married with Des Walsh, and they had two daughters, Fran Walsh and Tess Walsh. Sheila worked years in her husband's familiar jewelry store, with her husband, her husband elder brother Gerard and his wife Dorothy.

In 1971, Sheila joined the Southport Writers' Circle, and years later, in 1986 was elected life president. In 1980 she became the vice-president of the Romantic Novelists' Association, and later elected Chairman (1985-1987).

Her debut novel, The Golden Songbird, won the Netta Muskett award for new writers from the Romantic Novelists' Association, and in 1984, her novel, A Highly Respectable Marriage won the Elizabeth Goudge award.

Sheila suffered from Alzheimer's disease in her later years. Survived by her husband and their two daughters, she passed away in 20 January 2009, at 80.

First Book - The Golden Songbird (1975): The Golden Songbird (Signet)

Last Book - The Lady from Lisbon (2001): The Lady From Lisbon (Signet Regency Romance)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheila_Walsh_(novelist)

Monthly Appointment with My Reading List

Mmmh, I don't know why but month after month my reading list is always longer, not shorter... at this point I don't know if it's something you can browse to find new books to read ;-) but if you want, you are welcome to try!

The Best Man by L.A. Witt
Drive Shaft by Geoffrey Knight
Caught by A.B. Gayle
Lift Your Voice by T.A. Chase
The Wine-Dark Sea by A.J. Llewellyn (Best Gay Erotica Contemporary 3°)
A Bid For Love by T.D. McKinney & Terry Wylis
Life After Joe by Harper Fox
Tented: Gay Erotic Tales from under the Big Top by Jerry L. Wheeler
Stone Canyon by AKM Miles
Ruby Slippers by Alexi Silversmith
( Read more... )

Monthly Appointment with My Reading List

Mmmh, I don't know why but month after month my reading list is always longer, not shorter... at this point I don't know if it's something you can browse to find new books to read ;-) but if you want, you are welcome to try!

The Best Man by L.A. Witt
Drive Shaft by Geoffrey Knight
Caught by A.B. Gayle
Lift Your Voice by T.A. Chase
The Wine-Dark Sea by A.J. Llewellyn (Best Gay Erotica Contemporary 3°)
A Bid For Love by T.D. McKinney & Terry Wylis
Life After Joe by Harper Fox
Tented: Gay Erotic Tales from under the Big Top by Jerry L. Wheeler
Stone Canyon by AKM Miles
Ruby Slippers by Alexi Silversmith
( Read more... )

The Best Man by L.A. Witt

The Best Man was a story that started as a comedy and ended as a drama, and that was probably the most unexpected, but nice, surprise of the story.

When at the beginning of the story Jon receives the “bad” news about the marriage of his ex-boyfriend Craig, together with the offer to be the best man at such wedding, I was totally expecting for this story to turn into a gay “my best-friend’s wedding” type of romance. My expectation were: a) that Jon was willing to do anything to conquering back Craig and b) that in trying to do that he would have fallen in love for Liam, the “other man” who was helping him.

So when Jon goes out to find solace and he meets Liam, I was thinking, good the first step in my plan is done, now go on with the next; except that it was MY plan and not Jon or Liam’s plan. After the first night they spent together, Jon is really starting to heal from the breakup with Craig, and he is less and less interested in what Craig will do or whom he will marry. Of course while me, as a reader, is witnessing to that, Craig is still unaware that he is no more the main interest in Jon’s life. That first night Craig didn’t come out like a very nice character: while he was kind, and apparently interested in Jon’s good, he was really uncaring in asking him to be his best man, above all since he well knew that Jon was not over their story. And I had the feeling that he felt pleased by the fact that Jon was still mooning over him, his suggestion to Jon to go out and get laid was only a scene since he wasn’t really expecting for Jon to follow his advice.

Jon’s character, and his evolution from heart-broken ex-boyfriend to new-lover has an average pace, meaning that it’s not sudden but neither so slow to be boring; the reader has enough proofs that the story is conceivable, and that Jon’s feelings are true: Liam is not a rebounding love.

In all of this Liam’s character was a bit neglected until more or less half the book. He did an evolution like Jon, but his was slightly different: it seemed like more Jon was gaining strength and more Liam was losing his. He was also the reason why the story shifted from comedy to drama, but all in all it was a good thing for him, because in this way he gained a deepness that if he was the usual hot-bartender he would have not.

On a side note, The Best Man is set in the same “world” as The Distance Between Us, meaning that both Kiernan from The Distance Between Us than Liam from The Best Man are bartenders in a gay night club Wilde’s that apparently is notorious for its hotties.

http://www.carnalpassions.com/store/product.php?id_product=64

Amazon Kindle: The Best Man
Publisher: Champagne Books (June 2, 2010)

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Amanda Kelsey

The Best Man by L.A. Witt

The Best Man was a story that started as a comedy and ended as a drama, and that was probably the most unexpected, but nice, surprise of the story.

When at the beginning of the story Jon receives the “bad” news about the marriage of his ex-boyfriend Craig, together with the offer to be the best man at such wedding, I was totally expecting for this story to turn into a gay “my best-friend’s wedding” type of romance. My expectation were: a) that Jon was willing to do anything to conquering back Craig and b) that in trying to do that he would have fallen in love for Liam, the “other man” who was helping him.

So when Jon goes out to find solace and he meets Liam, I was thinking, good the first step in my plan is done, now go on with the next; except that it was MY plan and not Jon or Liam’s plan. After the first night they spent together, Jon is really starting to heal from the breakup with Craig, and he is less and less interested in what Craig will do or whom he will marry. Of course while me, as a reader, is witnessing to that, Craig is still unaware that he is no more the main interest in Jon’s life. That first night Craig didn’t come out like a very nice character: while he was kind, and apparently interested in Jon’s good, he was really uncaring in asking him to be his best man, above all since he well knew that Jon was not over their story. And I had the feeling that he felt pleased by the fact that Jon was still mooning over him, his suggestion to Jon to go out and get laid was only a scene since he wasn’t really expecting for Jon to follow his advice.

Jon’s character, and his evolution from heart-broken ex-boyfriend to new-lover has an average pace, meaning that it’s not sudden but neither so slow to be boring; the reader has enough proofs that the story is conceivable, and that Jon’s feelings are true: Liam is not a rebounding love.

In all of this Liam’s character was a bit neglected until more or less half the book. He did an evolution like Jon, but his was slightly different: it seemed like more Jon was gaining strength and more Liam was losing his. He was also the reason why the story shifted from comedy to drama, but all in all it was a good thing for him, because in this way he gained a deepness that if he was the usual hot-bartender he would have not.

On a side note, The Best Man is set in the same “world” as The Distance Between Us, meaning that both Kiernan from The Distance Between Us than Liam from The Best Man are bartenders in a gay night club Wilde’s that apparently is notorious for its hotties.

http://www.carnalpassions.com/store/product.php?id_product=64

Amazon Kindle: The Best Man
Publisher: Champagne Books (June 2, 2010)

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle


Cover Art by Amanda Kelsey

Drive Shaft by Geoffrey Knight

Long or short, Geoffrey Knight’s stories will bring you hot men loving each other. Drive Shaft was probably a little different from the previous stories I read by the same author because the setting was “smaller”, and Auto Repair & Body Shop in a small town in Southern California. No international adventures, no vip characters, but two young men who likes to get down and dirty, both in life than in love.

Jensen is a 20 years old from Texas who is not exactly running away from home, but almost; he has a distant relative, Clyde, who has offered him a job in his Auto Repair & Body Shop and Jensen took the chance at once. But when he arrives at Clyde’s he discovers that he is not the only young men working there, and Hutch is not exactly welcoming. As soon as Clyde turns away his shoulders, Hutch is ready to challenge Jensen on a speed contest, Jensen on his bike and Hutch on his car: the winner will have the other one for one night.

It’s clear that Hutch is drawn by Jensen, but he is trying to challenge not only Jensen but also all the world. Jensen is young, and horny, and he is probably not able to see that also Hutch is running away from something; when faced with Hutch bat temperament, Jensen will react as the hot-head he is. Only the help of someone with more experience, and who hearts for both of them, will help Jensen and Hutch to understand that, in this case, it’s not necessary to go far away to find happiness.

Amazon Kindle: Drive Shaft
Publisher: Dare Empire eMedia Productions (August 25, 2010)

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle

Drive Shaft by Geoffrey Knight

Long or short, Geoffrey Knight’s stories will bring you hot men loving each other. Drive Shaft was probably a little different from the previous stories I read by the same author because the setting was “smaller”, and Auto Repair & Body Shop in a small town in Southern California. No international adventures, no vip characters, but two young men who likes to get down and dirty, both in life than in love.

Jensen is a 20 years old from Texas who is not exactly running away from home, but almost; he has a distant relative, Clyde, who has offered him a job in his Auto Repair & Body Shop and Jensen took the chance at once. But when he arrives at Clyde’s he discovers that he is not the only young men working there, and Hutch is not exactly welcoming. As soon as Clyde turns away his shoulders, Hutch is ready to challenge Jensen on a speed contest, Jensen on his bike and Hutch on his car: the winner will have the other one for one night.

It’s clear that Hutch is drawn by Jensen, but he is trying to challenge not only Jensen but also all the world. Jensen is young, and horny, and he is probably not able to see that also Hutch is running away from something; when faced with Hutch bat temperament, Jensen will react as the hot-head he is. Only the help of someone with more experience, and who hearts for both of them, will help Jensen and Hutch to understand that, in this case, it’s not necessary to go far away to find happiness.

Amazon Kindle: Drive Shaft
Publisher: Dare Empire eMedia Productions (August 25, 2010)

Reading List:



http://www.librarything.com/catalog_bottom.php?tag=reading list&view=elisa.rolle