Rebecca Rothenberg (March 16, 1948 – April 15, 1998)

Rebecca Rothenberg (1948-1998) was a writer, musician, epidemiologist, amateur botanist, president of the San Gabriel chapter of the California Native Plants Society, and the author of the Claire Sharples Botanical Mystery series. The Bulrush Murders, was nominated for the Anthony and Agatha Awards, and was named as one of the Top Ten Mysteries of 1992 by the Los Angeles Times. After her untimely death in 1998 (due to brain tumor), her friend and colleague, Taffy Cannon (author of the Nan Robinson series and the Agatha and Macavity Award-nominated Guns and Roses) completed the manuscript of The Tumbleweed Murders.

Rebecca Rothenberg wrote three botanical mysteries featuring Claire Sharples, an M.I.T. microbiologist that has just arrived in California's San Joaquin Valley to take up an agricultural research job. The first book, The Bulrush Murders, Claire investigates the circumstances surrounding the strange death of a young Mexican friend who drunkenly plunges his motorcycle into the reservoir. In her second adventure, The Dandelion Murders, Claire stumbles upon a body in a local drainage ditch. A yellow dandelion-like flower is found on the body but it doesn't grow in the citrus groves and vineyards of the San Joaquin Valley. It belongs in the High Sierras. In her third mystery, The Shy Tulip Murders, Claire tries to help an environmentalist group to save a mountain forest from loggers by verifying the "shy tulip" in the timber stand. Instead, she locates a dead body. Ms. Rothenberg left an unfinished fourth mystery.

Source: http://www.rebeccarothenberg.com/

Rebecca Rothenberg (March 16, 1948 – April 15, 1998)

Rebecca Rothenberg (1948-1998) was a writer, musician, epidemiologist, amateur botanist, president of the San Gabriel chapter of the California Native Plants Society, and the author of the Claire Sharples Botanical Mystery series. The Bulrush Murders, was nominated for the Anthony and Agatha Awards, and was named as one of the Top Ten Mysteries of 1992 by the Los Angeles Times. After her untimely death in 1998 (due to brain tumor), her friend and colleague, Taffy Cannon (author of the Nan Robinson series and the Agatha and Macavity Award-nominated Guns and Roses) completed the manuscript of The Tumbleweed Murders.

Rebecca Rothenberg wrote three botanical mysteries featuring Claire Sharples, an M.I.T. microbiologist that has just arrived in California's San Joaquin Valley to take up an agricultural research job. The first book, The Bulrush Murders, Claire investigates the circumstances surrounding the strange death of a young Mexican friend who drunkenly plunges his motorcycle into the reservoir. In her second adventure, The Dandelion Murders, Claire stumbles upon a body in a local drainage ditch. A yellow dandelion-like flower is found on the body but it doesn't grow in the citrus groves and vineyards of the San Joaquin Valley. It belongs in the High Sierras. In her third mystery, The Shy Tulip Murders, Claire tries to help an environmentalist group to save a mountain forest from loggers by verifying the "shy tulip" in the timber stand. Instead, she locates a dead body. Ms. Rothenberg left an unfinished fourth mystery.

Source: http://www.rebeccarothenberg.com/

Grit by William Maltese & Jardonn Smith

There are some Gay novels that is difficult to classify as romance, and for this reason I think, in this last period where Gay Romances are overlooked by all a series of readers, can be the hunting place for them. Grit comes from a couple of authors who are specialized in basic, and dirty, sex, a sex without “frippery”, sex that the more romantic romance readers can maybe don’t understand, but if some of them want to give to this story a try, I think they maybe can be surprised… or maybe they will hate me to direct them to this story, but in any case I think it was worth the try.

This is the story of 4 men, 2 couple, Wilton and Gaither, Bobby and Dan, two couple that are at the opposite, experienced and daring the first one, tentative and a little scared the second one, but all of them will find their right happy end.

While young Bobby and Dan should be in a way more dear to the romantic reader, they are discovering their love for each other (be careful, I’m not saying this is a roses and chocolate story, but at least they are young (and I think pretty) enough to be of interest for that type of reader), I had a special “love” for Wilton and Gaither. All the opposite from pretty Wilton was probably my favourite of all of them: the one who makes the engine of a beginning of the century train work, Wilton hasn’t had an easy life, but now he is good, he has an home of his own, a good job, and I think that he would like to have also a good man by his side. But Wilton, even if he doesn’t let it out, I think has a wrong idea of himself, like that, since he is not pretty, and rough, and on and on in his mind with the lesser quality in him, he always picks men in need of something he has (money) and not exactly searching for that thing he would like to give for free (love).

Involved with Gaither, a some sort of police officer, in the search of a missing Dan, the two have the time to explorer a relationship that they only quickly tasted before, and Wilton will find out that Gaither is not a man who let himself fooled by Wilton’s rough exterior, that he is able to see the good (and somewhat kind) man inside.

The sex, both between Bobby and Dan, than above all between Wilton and Gaither is, as I said, basic, and in Wilton and Gaither’s case, even extreme. I’m not saying it’s kinky, even if the more experienced Wilton and Gaither play a some sort of BDSM ante-litteram relationship. Sex in these types of stories is a must, even since, truth be told, readers are not really searching for romance when picking up these books… and that I think is the nice surprise I was saying above, finding happily ever after, and even a glimpse in what was, apparently, a long and satisfying relationship is even more nice.

From what I can tell, also the setting, a beginning of the XX century America is good, there was really the feeling of a society that was on the edge of a big change, even if remembrances of a recent “wild” past were still there.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=WMJSGRIT

Buy Here

Amazon: Grit
Amazon Kindle: Grit
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (December 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608201228
ISBN-13: 978-1608201228

Reading List:



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

Grit by William Maltese & Jardonn Smith

There are some Gay novels that is difficult to classify as romance, and for this reason I think, in this last period where Gay Romances are overlooked by all a series of readers, can be the hunting place for them. Grit comes from a couple of authors who are specialized in basic, and dirty, sex, a sex without “frippery”, sex that the more romantic romance readers can maybe don’t understand, but if some of them want to give to this story a try, I think they maybe can be surprised… or maybe they will hate me to direct them to this story, but in any case I think it was worth the try.

This is the story of 4 men, 2 couple, Wilton and Gaither, Bobby and Dan, two couple that are at the opposite, experienced and daring the first one, tentative and a little scared the second one, but all of them will find their right happy end.

While young Bobby and Dan should be in a way more dear to the romantic reader, they are discovering their love for each other (be careful, I’m not saying this is a roses and chocolate story, but at least they are young (and I think pretty) enough to be of interest for that type of reader), I had a special “love” for Wilton and Gaither. All the opposite from pretty Wilton was probably my favourite of all of them: the one who makes the engine of a beginning of the century train work, Wilton hasn’t had an easy life, but now he is good, he has an home of his own, a good job, and I think that he would like to have also a good man by his side. But Wilton, even if he doesn’t let it out, I think has a wrong idea of himself, like that, since he is not pretty, and rough, and on and on in his mind with the lesser quality in him, he always picks men in need of something he has (money) and not exactly searching for that thing he would like to give for free (love).

Involved with Gaither, a some sort of police officer, in the search of a missing Dan, the two have the time to explorer a relationship that they only quickly tasted before, and Wilton will find out that Gaither is not a man who let himself fooled by Wilton’s rough exterior, that he is able to see the good (and somewhat kind) man inside.

The sex, both between Bobby and Dan, than above all between Wilton and Gaither is, as I said, basic, and in Wilton and Gaither’s case, even extreme. I’m not saying it’s kinky, even if the more experienced Wilton and Gaither play a some sort of BDSM ante-litteram relationship. Sex in these types of stories is a must, even since, truth be told, readers are not really searching for romance when picking up these books… and that I think is the nice surprise I was saying above, finding happily ever after, and even a glimpse in what was, apparently, a long and satisfying relationship is even more nice.

From what I can tell, also the setting, a beginning of the XX century America is good, there was really the feeling of a society that was on the edge of a big change, even if remembrances of a recent “wild” past were still there.

http://www.mlrbooks.com/ShowBook.php?book=WMJSGRIT

Buy Here

Amazon: Grit
Amazon Kindle: Grit
Paperback: 232 pages
Publisher: MLR Press (December 2, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1608201228
ISBN-13: 978-1608201228

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