Gentry, Georgina [A pseudonym] (Lynne Murphy)

PERSONAL:

Married; children: three. Education: Attended Oklahoma State University. Hobbies and other interests: Gardening, collecting antiques.

ADDRESSES:

Home—OK.

CAREER:

Writer. Previously worked as a teacher affiliated with the Ford Foundation.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Two Romantic Times Online Lifetime Achievement Awards; two Gold Awards and two Silver Pen Awards, from Affaire de Couer.

WRITINGS:

Sioux Slave, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 1992.

Half-breed's Bride, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 1993.

Nevada Dawn, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 1993.

Song of the Warrior, Zebra (New York, NY), 1995.

Timeless Warrior, Zebra (New York, NY), 1996.

Warrior's Prize, Zebra (New York, NY), 1997.

Apache Tears, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 1999.

Comanche Cowboy, Zebra (New York, NY), 1999.

Warrior's Honor, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2000.

Warrior's Heart, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2001.

To Tame a Savage, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2002.

Warrior's Honor, Five Star (Waterville, ME), 2002.

To Tame a Texan, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2003.

To Tame a Rebel, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2004.

To Tempt a Texan, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2005.

To Tease a Texan, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Teresa Bodwell and Lorraine Heath) My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys (novella), Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2006.

To Love a Texan, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2007.

To Wed a Texan, Kensington Publishing (New York, NY), 2008.

Also author of Cheyenne Captive, Cheyenne Princess, Bandit's Embrace, Nevada Nights, Quicksilver Passion, Cheyenne Caress, and Apache Caress. Contributed the novella "Cheyenne Mistletoe" to the anthology Christmas Rendezvous.

SIDELIGHTS:

Georgina Gentry is the pen name for Lynne Murphy, a former teacher and romance novelist who grew up in central Oklahoma. She attended Oklahoma State University where she met the man she eventually married, a man of Irish-Indian mixed heritage. Thanks to their relationship, she found herself related by marriage to a former director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a useful connection that enabled her to be very accurate in her research about Native American life for her novels set in the West. In addition to conducting standard research and interviews, Gentry makes a point of visiting the regions she writes about in order to get an accurate sense of the locations. She has written numerous romance novels over the course of her career, many of which tell stories that involve Native Americans, while others are simply western in nature. Gentry got her start while she was a graduate student, working toward a master's degree, and decided to take a class on writing historical romance. She completed the novel that she began in that class and, when she ended up selling the book, decided to drop out of graduate school and give writing full time a try. She has won a number of awards for her writing, including two lifetime achievement awards from Romantic Times Online and several awards from Affaire de Couer magazine, and she has been ranked among the Readers' Top Ten Favorite Romance Authors by the readers of the latter publication.

In Nevada Dawn, Gentry features heroine Cherish Blassingame, a young woman preparing to marry the proper if somewhat dull Pierce Randolph. However, while modeling her bridal dress on a train ride back to Sacramento, Cherish falls victim to her fiancé's Indian half-brother, Nevada, when he and the rest of his warrior band attack the train and kidnap her. Nevada demands that Cherish surrender her virtue to him, refusing to let her go until she succumbs to him willingly. As the plot unfolds, Gentry reveals that Cherish and Nevada had originally been the couple, and only their families' meddling separated them. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly commented of the book that "the pace is rushed, the characters stiff and the plotting forced, but the story improves as it progresses and the action is never tame."

Song of the Warrior tells the story of Willow, a young woman who is part Nez Perce. Her mixed blood makes her a step apart in both worlds. When she goes East for her education, she learns how to behave like a proper young lady of the day, yet when she returns home this makes her stand out as different among her people. She attempts to teach the local children to read books like the white men, but is ridiculed as a "white Indian." However, when dealing with the white men themselves, she is treated as any other member of the tribe. Making things even worse is Bear, a young warrior whom Willow finds herself drawn to, but who also considers her too different to be a full member of the tribe. But Bear cannot deny his attraction to Willow, either, and slowly they are drawn together, united by their feelings and by their determination to protect their people from the machinations of the government that is attempting to take their land. Writing for the Romantic Times Online, Kathe Robin remarked that "you'll feel the pain, sorrow and tragedy of a proud people through Ms. Gentry's luminous storytelling."

Warrior's Prize opens as Wannie Evans, a poor girl who grew up on the frontier in Colorado, finds all her dreams coming true as she entertains the proposal of Cleveland Brewster, Jr., a wealthy and high-class Bostonian. Everything is perfect until her adopted brother Keso appears. She idolized Keso when they were children, but now that they are grown and he has become so handsome she hardly knows him, Wannie finds herself entertaining thoughts that are anything but sisterly. Keso loves her, but has nothing more to offer, and Wannie finds herself having to choose between the security and comfort she craves and the passion she yearns for despite herself. Maria Ferrer, writing for Romantic Times Online, remarked that "Gentry grips her readers' emotions from page one."

In Comanche Cowboy, Gentry tells the story of Cayenne McBride, a young woman who is desperate to return home to Texas. Willing to do just about anything to achieve her goal, she hires Maverick Durango to serve as her guide. Maverick is a half-breed and a gunman, and the last thing he wants to do is play nursemaid to a young woman. However, when he realizes that Cayenne is actually the daughter of his sworn enemy, that proves sufficient incentive for him to agree to travel with her. Intent on getting vengeance for the deaths of his family, Maverick plans to take out his anger on Cayenne by making her his mistress, just as soon as they reach her ranch and he can make those intentions known to her family. Only then will he feel his revenge is complete. However, as they travel through dangerous territory, encountering quicksand and snakes and Indians on the war path, he finds his feelings toward her softening into something much more real. Kathe Robin, again reviewing for Romantic Times Online, opined that "this sizzling love story has all the makings of a cowboy legend."

To Tease a Texan is a lighthearted Western romp featuring Lark Van Schuyler, a young woman who ran away in order to become independent. Landing a job as a barmaid in Buck Shot, Oklahoma, she is doing fine until she makes the mistake of befriending a drunk who ends up getting her fired. That's just the least of her problems, as Lark finds herself tangled up in one mishap after another, including posing as her own identical twin sister and marrying the local sheriff who is none other than the drunk who caused her all the trouble to begin with. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly declared that "engaging minor characters, witty repartee and the lively tension of the masquerade create an engaging hold over the reader."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, April 15, 2003, Shelley Mosley, review of To Tame a Texan, p. 1452; September 15, 2003, review of To Tame a Texan, p. 221; February 1, 2005, Shelley Mosley, review of To Tempt a Texan, p. 949; March 1, 2006, Shelley Mosley, review of To Tease a Texan, p. 75; March 15, 2008, Shelley Mosley, review of To Wed a Texan, p. 35.

Publishers Weekly, November 8, 1993, review of Nevada Dawn, p. 71; February 20, 2006, review of To Tease a Texan, p. 141.

ONLINE

Genre Go Round Reviews Blog,http://genregoroundreviews.blogspot.com/ (February 1, 2008), Harriet Klausner, review of To Wed a Texan.

Georgia Gentry Home Page,http://www.romanceauthorspage.com/georgiagentry (May 20, 2008).

Romantic Times Online,http://www.romantictimes.com/ (May 20, 2008), author profile; Lizabelle Cox, review of Timeless Warrior; Evelyn Feiner, reviews of To Tame a Savage and To Take a Rebel; Kathe Robin, reviews of Eternal Outlaw, Comanche Cowboy, Cheyenne Song, Apache Tears, Warrior's Honor, Song of the Warrior, Warrior's Heart, and My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys; Maria C. Ferrer, reviews of Warrior's Prize, To Love a Texan, and To Wed a Texan.