reviews_and_ramblings | Mar. 11th, 2011

Mar. 11th, 2011

Kathleen Clarice Groom, née Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell (b. 11 March 1872 in Melbourne, Australia - d. 1954 in Hove, Sussex, England). She wrote short stories and novels under different pseudonyms: Kit Dealtry, C. Groom, Mrs. Sydney Groom and Kathleen Clarice Groom (playing with her different names and surnames).

She started a dynasty of popular writers; Her eldest son Adrian Bernard Klein, changed his name to Adrian Cornwell-Clyne, and became an artist, who wrote books on photography and cinematography, her daughter Denise Naomi Klein also followed in her footsteps and became the popular romance writer Denise Robins, who was the first president of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1960-1966), and her granddaughter Patricia Robins (aka Claire Lorrimer), who is Denise Robins' daughter, is also a popular romance writer.

Born Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell on 11 March 1872 in Melbourne, Australia, she was the daughter of Jemima Ridpath and her husband was George Cornwell, married in 1850.

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First Book - "The Voice in the Dark" in The All-Story Magazine (1907/May) as Kit Dealtry

Last Book - The Recoil (1952)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Clarice_Groom

Gladys Taber, beloved author of The Stillmeadow books, columnist for "Ladies Home Journal" and "Family Circle", was born in Colorado Springs on April 12, 1899, and spent most of her early years moving because of her father's work as a mining engineer. She lived in New Mexico, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, and spent time on her grandfather's farm in Massachusetts.

Later, she received her bachelor's degree from Wellesley and her M.A. from Lawrence. She taught English and Writing at Lawrence College, Randolph-Macon Women’s College, Lynchburg, Virginia, and at Columbia University from 1921 to 1926.

In 1943, the Tabers and their friends, Eleanor and Max Mayer, bought a 17th century farmstead in Connecticut, which they called “Stillmeadow.” At first, it was only a part-time country house, but soon they began living there full-time. Gladys Taber enjoyed the outdoors, writing, and her pets. She kept cocker spaniels, Irish setters, and Siamese, Abbysinian and Manx cats.

Marriage and a baby interrupted her academic career, then for more than 20 years, she lived in her vintage farmhouse, having commuted to New York part of the time to teach creative writing at Columbia University. After her parents had died, Gladys’ family consisted of her husband, Frank Taber, and her daughter Constance.

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First Book - Lady of the Moon (1925)

Last Book - Still Cove Journal (1981)

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladys_Taber

( Dell Mapback )

The Mercenary is a mix of many themes, post-apocalypse future, fantasy, the more trendy steampunk but above all romance: yes, because even if fighting and flying and another action staring for f and continuing with u and c and k, these men are also men in love and so there is also loving and kissing and yes, also being jealous.

What Asher is expecting from life right in that moment is basically nothing: stranded in the middle of nowhere and wounded, he is only waiting for a merciful death; instead he obtains Gabriel, that like the angel with the same name, becomes at the same time savior, guardian but also the main source of all his trouble. As soon as they are together, Asher is immediately involved in a fight, and he has the chance to witness that Gabriel is no angel at all; and another proof is when, still dirty of their enemies blood, Gabriel pretends to be f**ked by Asher, right there, right now, no questions or hesitation.

That Asher likes Gabriel is pretty clear, what Asher probably doesn’t like, but he cannot avoid, is to fall in love with the other man; at the same time teasing and encouraging him, I think that Gabriel obtains exactly what he wants. The jealous Asher is a touch of romance to this novella that I liked, as I liked also the little steampunk details scattered here and there, like the clockwork owl Athena, the artificial arm of Asher, the flying machine of Gabriel and so on. Together with the steampunk setting there is the post-apocalypse world, that more or less reminded me of a middle ages village, with the big manor, the local inn and so on.

What I probably liked the most is that, even if the starting point is quite violent and the two men start their relationship from the sex, the story and the relationship soon move towards the romance; true, they are still involved in dangerous situations, and they still need to fight, but even if the sex is still good, it’s somehow softened by the love that is clearly blossoming between the two.

http://store.samhainpublishing.com/the-mercenary-p-6272.html

Amazon Kindle: The Mercenary
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd. (March 8, 2011)

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