Rating: 
Summary: Wow! Talk about a romance novel with a bite!
Review: Several reviewers have mistakenly identified this book's setting as the 1960's. The correct setting is that of World War II - or the years in which it took place. This is an important point to note as it does have a great deal of bearing on the reader in understanding the circumstances of the characters. The world in which two men loved each other was far different in 1940 than it was in 1960, 1980, or 2000. The sexual escapades of these boys is revealing in the secrecy in which they must take place. This isn't the modern era or anywhere near it. Homosexuality was considered a mental illness - one for which men were sent to mental hospitals and relegated there for life. It was a time where a man thought to be homosexual was a social paraiah and not allowed to associate with regular society. It was a time where men knew they could be put in prison for such acts. I first read parts of this book that I acquired through a "five finger discount" as a youth of 14 only several years after its publication. I couldn't really read the book for fear my parents or friends would discover it. I perused it looking for the "dirty" parts which I was certain would tell me all I needed to know about sex between men - and then I promptly disposed of it. Only recently when I purchased a copy of it and read it (as it really would be unfair to say I had re-read it), I discovered that while "The Lord Won't Mind" certainly is vivid and descriptive in its sexual depictions, it is far from pornographic as I'd imagined it as a youth. In fact, with the exception of some of its more detailed descriptions, this book is not too unlike E.M. Forster's "Maurice". The quality of the written word is quite amazing - it was a fact that had escaped me many years earlier and made me think this author nothing more than a gay Harlequin romance writer. I have not yet read any of his other books, but I do intend to do so. I can only hope that the quality that Merrick displays in this, his first work of its kind, comes through in his other works. The book is the story of cousins, one very well to do and the other no so very much so, but certainly not poor. Brought together by their grandmother, the older, Charlie, is asked to watch over the younger, Peter, and help him along in life. Soon the twenty something boys discover that they are attracted to each other and decide to act on it. However, to give Merrick more his due, these boys are quite realistically portrayed, if not a bit too fawningly at times. The story builds as the boys discover their love for each other. Of course, no decent book can allow its two central characters true happiness without a few bumps in the road - and that's what this book is about. While today it might seem trite and ridiculous for two men to broach that subject so quickly and devotedly - you must remember that at the time there were no gay bars that a respectable person would dare set foot in. There was no internet nor clubs for such men. In other words, one could only hope to find a soul mate or partner and then did so happily without the modern cruising and recoupling that takes place today. In short, this is a fine book. It is far superior to most books of its type and, I'm happy that it was as groundbreaking as it was, because Merrick got to see his books reach acclaim before he died of lung cancer. Get it, read it, and immerse yourself in another era.
Rating: 
Summary: Was Merrick a Woman-Hater?
Review: The depiction of women as controlling castrators in this book is offensive. The depiction of rape as a natural consequence of women's "teasing" behaviors in this book is offensive. The author's blatant misogyny turned me off from an otherwise interesting story. I expected more from a gay classic.
Rating: 
Summary: A classic reprinted
Review: The Lord Wont Mind is a classic gay novel that was all the rage in the seventies. I remember reading this book as I was just starting to come out in 1979. The book was dog-eared from being passed along from hand to hand. It was a must read amongst a sub-class in my high school. We knew we were different and we knew that we were gay. Eagerly, we read this book, searching for a blueprint, a design for living. In it, we found erotic potential and experienced the bittersweetness of love with a man. The story seems antiquated now, with the advent of AIDS, yet it still rings true. It centers on how hard it is to be true to who you are and how to accept that. It shows how love is so sweet when found, so sad when lost and triumphant when regained. The book centers on Charlie and Peter who fall madly in love with each other over a magical summer. Their relationship becomes fraught with difficulty when Charlie wants so to fit in and remain closeted. Peter, who is so achingly in love, wants to revel in this love, no matter what anyone thinks. I don't want to give away too much here. So, I'll let you find out what happens next. The story does get bogged down with Meriick's preoccupation with size (he was an old size queen, after all.) And there is a story twist in the end which seems somewhat convoluted and leaves one questioning why it was ever included. That aside, this is the perfect summer book filled with erotic passages featuring the most graphic gay love scenes ever written, tear jerking love scenes and a cast of unforgettable characters. This was the paramount of gay fiction. Nothing that has ever been written comes as close as this.
Rating: 
Summary: Big teases, but not a lot of satisfaction
Review: This book was not a bad read and the sex was hot, but there's too many things about this book that keep it from being satisfying. One is that the characters all seem to relish being overly effeminate and can't have speak to anyone without calling them "darling". And both Charlie and Peter seem to think monogamy is some kind of quilt and they're fickle as hell. Toward the middle of this first book I didn't particularly care if they ended up together. Not a bad book, but there is so much room for improvement before it could be considered a great one.
Rating:
Summary: Big teases, but not a lot of satisfaction
Review: This book was not a bad read and the sex was hot, but there's too many things about this book that keep it from being satisfying. One is that the characters all seem to relish being overly effeminate and can't have speak to anyone without calling them "darling". And both Charlie and Peter seem to think monogamy is some kind of quilt and they're fickle as hell. Toward the middle of this first book I didn't particularly care if they ended up together. Not a bad book, but there is so much room for improvement before it could be considered a great one.
Rating:
Summary: If this is what you're looking for...
Review: This is not "THE GAY NOVEL" or a manifesto of gay living, or a poigniant piece on gay relationships. Nope, it's just about sex. The actual story is simple and secondary to the elaborate and well written sex. And that's what you should be paying attention to in this, and the rest of Merrick's books. Why bother reading them for the plot? What do you think is going to happen? Well, let's see. They'll be in some sort of mild danger, then they'll have sex. Then, the danger will get increasingly worse, so they'll have some more sex in more exotic and secretive places. Then, everything will work out fine, at which point you can move on to the next book if your hand isn't tired (from turning the pages, of course.) And that's great! I'm glad there is well written erotica out there for gay men. Most of it's just sparse babble using unattractive wording to describe what's usually a violent or "dirty" act between men. Or the author takes himself way too seriously and ruins what good smut he has with pretentious character development that only makes the reader no longer be attracted to the naked person on the page (see Edmund White and Felice Picano.) If you want to write about sex, do it and do it well, as Gordon Merrick has done. Don't try to claim it as literary unless you actually have something to say, other than "and it felt really good, but I felt sad..." blah blah blah. So, as erotica, Gordon Merrick is a fine writer. As literature, he's got another thing coming. And another, and another, and another.
Rating:
Summary: Gay bodice ripper
Review: This novel is a liberating manifesto of the right to love whomever we please, disguised as a romantic potboiler. Charlie and Peter, the young lovers, are well-endowed golden boys (like most gay men, to be sure) whose highly emotional relationship undergoes just about every test imaginable. Charlie, the more reluctant, more closeted of the two, and therefore the one with more power, even marries an ambitious actress in an attempt to fit in. When he can't measure up, she exacts a lurid, biting revenge. Peter wants only to celebrate his love, and while he is more naive and vulnerable, he is also more pure, more true to himself. By novel's end, it is the slightly coarse Charlie who is learning from Peter about human feelings. Merrick can certainly carry you along with his writing. There's plenty of erotic sex, along with touches that flesh out the lovers' bond, such as the mash note Peter sends Charlie, obviously from him, which he refrains from signing, coyly writing that Charlie will have to guess whom it's from. Of course true love survives in the end, because Merrick's principal (and principled) reason for writing his novels was to demonstrate that love between men is the same kind of love that men and women feel for each other. The title of this one says it all.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story of Overcoming Negative Powers!
Review: This was a fabulous story of love that can eventually overcome odds. You really want to pull for Charlie Mills and Peter Martin to come together. Charlie Mills is a Prim and Proper boy that was raised by his rich grandmother. He has been brought up to believe her version of right and wrong. He meets Peter Martin, a distant relative, that his Grandmother (named C.B.) has brought to live with them for the summer. Welll Charlie and Peter instantly fall for each other. Peter is comfortable with being labeled a homosexual or queer. Charlie, on the other hand, thinks the sexual interaction he and Peter are sharing is only a phase and does not mean he is gay. At his Grandmothers influence, Charlie splits up his and Peters friendship, and to cover the pain, gets immediately married the next day. As time goes on, Charlie continues his internal struggle with being gay on the inside and living a straight lifestyle on the outside. The results of this struggle are very well written!!! This story was written for a time several decades back before the AIDS intrusion, and when gay's had a reputation for being nelly. Times have changed, but this book is timeless and allows you to reflect on how far we have come.. I highly recommend this book! I can't wait to start the sequel 'One for the Gods'.
Rating:
Summary: Great Story of Overcoming Negative Powers!
Review: This was a fabulous story of love that can eventually overcome odds. You really want to pull for Charlie Mills and Peter Martin to come together. Charlie Mills is a Prim and Proper boy that was raised by his rich grandmother. He has been brought up to believe her version of right and wrong. He meets Peter Martin, a distant relative, that his Grandmother (named C.B.) has brought to live with them for the summer. Welll Charlie and Peter instantly fall for each other. Peter is comfortable with being labeled a homosexual or queer. Charlie, on the other hand, thinks the sexual interaction he and Peter are sharing is only a phase and does not mean he is gay. At his Grandmothers influence, Charlie splits up his and Peters friendship, and to cover the pain, gets immediately married the next day. As time goes on, Charlie continues his internal struggle with being gay on the inside and living a straight lifestyle on the outside. The results of this struggle are very well written!!! This story was written for a time several decades back before the AIDS intrusion, and when gay's had a reputation for being nelly. Times have changed, but this book is timeless and allows you to reflect on how far we have come.. I highly recommend this book! I can't wait to start the sequel 'One for the Gods'.
Rating: 
Summary: Love and Romance Dreamworld
Review: While growing up in high school I was assigned books to read almost every week. Catcher in the Rye, Ordinary People, To Kill A Mockingbird, Tess just to name a few. In almost every case I rarely made it to page 2 let alone to the very end. While doing some research, I stumbled upon THE LORD WON'T MIND and began reading the first chapter. Set in a country manner everything that I dreamed of, country clubs, elegant dinners, walks along country roads to a private beach was on the page. More importantly a story book romance between two men. Charlie and Peter two distant relatives spend a summer together and discover they have more in common than tennis and sailing. The initial romantic overtures are so well written that the beauty and erotica can overwhelm most readers. The story moves swiftly through a wirlwind summer romance, to a predictable break up and final resolution that will appeal to all romance novel lovers to some serious readers. The novel is an escape into the "fabulous" life that most will envie and enjoy. This is a novel that is not for those who like a good plot, it is a romance, and a accounting of a relationship. It lacks teeth but that is it's appeal. It does provide a reader who is currently discovering their sexuality a glimmer of hope that the gay lifesyle can be as rich and rewarding as those of straights. This novel could be to blame for the pretention that is abundant in the Gay community. The sexual content makes it not recommended for readers younger than 15. If you need a little romance, give this novel a chance.
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