Westerns Revisited with Debra Mullins

Posted by Nancy Northcott Jun 3 2012, 12:27 am in backlist ebooks, Debra Mullins, western romances

Our guest today, Debra Mullins, has written Regencies, Westerns, and a pirate adventure.  Her books have been Golden Heart and RITA finalists, Readers Choice Award and Holt Medallion finalists and a Book Buyer’s Best nominee.  She won the Golden Leaf Award for Best Historical Romance.  

Welcome, Debra!  Your debut was a smokin’ pirate book, Once A Mistress. You’ve also written stories set in Regency England and are now re-releasing two books set in the American West. What draws you to these different periods?

 I’ve always loved swashbuckler movies and westerns, and who doesn’t love the dance of manners in Regency England? I enjoy different times and places as a way to escape our everyday world.

 Please tell us about Donovan’s Bed. Who are the hero and heroine, and what keeps them apart?

This is without a doubt one of my favorite books. It was nominated for the RITA award when it was first released. The hero is Jack Donovan, formerly the bounty hunter Blade, who has decided to retire from bounty hunting in order to have a home and family. He takes back his real name, moves to a dot on the map in Wyoming Territory and builds a ranch with all the money he’s saved over the years. He’s not one to talk about his past, but Sarah Calhoun, the local newspaper editor, can smell a secret a mile away.

She knows Donovan is hiding something and has made it her business to find out what. When she finally does corner him for an interview, all he can talk about is his hunt for a wife and the list of qualifications that wife must meet. His list—and the fact that he told Sarah he’d like to take her to bed but not marry her—spurs her to put an article in the paper about his wife search, which brings every unwed woman for miles to their tiny town to set their caps for Jack Donovan.

Is this book connected to The Lawman’s Surrender, or are they stand-alones?

Donovan’s Bed is the first of the pair, and The Lawman’s Surrender is a sequel about Sarah’s sister and a certain U.S. Marshal.

Who are the hero and heroine of The Lawman’s Surrender, and what keeps them apart?

The heroine is Sarah’s sister, Susannah Calhoun, who is accused of murder, and the hero is U.S. Marshal Jedidiah Brown, the man duty-bound to bring her to her trial in Denver. Like Donovan’s Bed, The Lawman’s Surrender is a funny, sexy book with lots of heart.

Susannah and Jedidiah had entertained a brief flirtation in Donovan’s Bed, but being on the road together with a lynch mob behind them and the witness who can prove Susannah’s innocence ahead of them really brings them closer together.

What led you to re-issue these titles from your backlist?

I wrote these books years before there was such a thing as an e-book, but they are some of my favorites. All three of them (Once A Mistress, Donovan’s Bed and The Lawman’s Surrender) have been out of print for years. It’s fun to get them back out there as e-books and see people enjoying them again.

 What’s next for you?

I’m currently working on a contemporary paranormal trilogy about the descendents of the survivors of Atlantis. Book one is due out around fall 2013. I’m also working on another western related to Donovan’s Bed and The Lawman’s Surrender. I just love that town!

For more about Debra and her books check out her website. 

Debra is giving a download of Donovan’s Bed to one commenter today and is giving one to our June Members Only prize winner.  So tell us–do you have a favorite western movie or book (it doesn’t have to be romance)?  Who’s your favorite western hero, and is he the sheriff or a dashing outlaw?  Please tell us whether you can read ebooks and, if so, in what format.

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