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The Calhoun Sisters #2
The Lawman's Surrender
Rugged U.S. Marshal Jedidiah Brown finds himself torn between duty and desire when he is sent to escort the seductive Susannah Calhoun to Denver to stand trial for a crime that she claims that she did not commit. Original.
384 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2001
4 people are currently reading
89 people want to read
About the author
Debra Mullins
23 books133 followers(from website)I hate writing bios. They always seem so cut and dried. But you came to my website to learn more about me, so here goes.
I’m the oldest of four sisters, and we are full-blooded Irish on our father’s side. Oh, and our house had one bathroom. If you have any questions about where I got my flair for drama, just imagine that scenario on a Saturday night when four teen-aged girls need to get ready for their dates all at the same time.
‘Nuff said.
So, I am the writer in the family, though I always had a secret dream to be a torch singer. You know, like Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys. My voice is OK, but the only place I feel comfortable singing is in the shower, so that was out. Besides, my sister Kate would kill me. She’s the singer in the family. Seriously, she sang at Carnegie Hall once (yeah, as part of a choir and with the orchestra and a bunch of other people, but Carnegie Hall! How many people can say that and be telling the truth?)
Anyway, I settled on writer and left the singing to Kate. My other two sisters are both artists, and no, they don’t have anything in the Louvre, but my sister Christine paints her house constantly, always changing the décor in her kids’ rooms. So you see? Creative impetus will out, and there’s no stopping it. Better to just give in and have the chocolate standing by for those moments of Artistic Frustration.
After giving up my torch singer aspirations (but before I fully accepted that I am A Writer) I gave serious thought to a practical career. The term “starving artist” was not conceived out of whimsy, you know, and I did have a fondness for food and shelter. So, soon after high school, I considered a career as a simultaneous interpreter for the UN.
I heard you giggle. Yes, I did. So let me clarify by adding that I have a gift for languages and had already taken several years of Spanish, French and Italian by the time I graduated high school, AND I had done the exchange thing in France, where I lived for a summer with a family, speaking nothing but French. So there.
Ahem. Anyway, in order to be a simultaneous interpreter, you need to know five languages. I had four under my belt (since I do know grammar and punctuation, I consider English the fourth language). I just had to learn one more language.
But that never happened. I chose True Love over College, then got married and started a family young.
Yes, you can laugh now.
Anyway, years pass. I gave in to my natural tendency to be a storyteller and started working on the one thing I had ever finished—a hand-written, 100 page “novel” about a Spanish pirate that I had completed in junior high. As an adult, I still felt there was a story there. That novel evolved into my first published work, ONCE A MISTRESS (Written in English, though my pirate does say cool Spanish words like mi amor and mi querida. Sigh. Swoon!) In 1996, ONCE A MISTRESS was a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart competition run by Romance Writers of America. Two years later—OK, on January 26, 1998 at 4:06PM—Avon Books called and offered to publish my opus.
So there you go. I’ve written eight more books since then, often utilizing my knowledge of other languages for flavor. I visited the old West with DONOVAN’S BED and THE LAWMAN’S SURRENDER. (Oh, and DONOVAN’S BED was a finalist for RWA’s RITA Award for Best Short Historical in 2001, which is like an Oscar nomination in the land of romance writing. How cool is that?) Then I visited the Regency era. I won the NJ Romance Writers Golden Leaf Award for Best Historical (2003) with A NECESSARY BRIDE. In 2005, THREE NIGHTS… was nominated for Best Historical Romance in competition for Virginia Romance Writers’ prestigious Holt Medallion.
All of my Regency historicals have been optioned as featured selections by Doubleday Book Club and Rhapsody Book Club. My books have also been translated into Hungarian, Russian, and Portuguese f
I’m the oldest of four sisters, and we are full-blooded Irish on our father’s side. Oh, and our house had one bathroom. If you have any questions about where I got my flair for drama, just imagine that scenario on a Saturday night when four teen-aged girls need to get ready for their dates all at the same time.
‘Nuff said.
So, I am the writer in the family, though I always had a secret dream to be a torch singer. You know, like Michelle Pfeiffer in The Fabulous Baker Boys. My voice is OK, but the only place I feel comfortable singing is in the shower, so that was out. Besides, my sister Kate would kill me. She’s the singer in the family. Seriously, she sang at Carnegie Hall once (yeah, as part of a choir and with the orchestra and a bunch of other people, but Carnegie Hall! How many people can say that and be telling the truth?)
Anyway, I settled on writer and left the singing to Kate. My other two sisters are both artists, and no, they don’t have anything in the Louvre, but my sister Christine paints her house constantly, always changing the décor in her kids’ rooms. So you see? Creative impetus will out, and there’s no stopping it. Better to just give in and have the chocolate standing by for those moments of Artistic Frustration.
After giving up my torch singer aspirations (but before I fully accepted that I am A Writer) I gave serious thought to a practical career. The term “starving artist” was not conceived out of whimsy, you know, and I did have a fondness for food and shelter. So, soon after high school, I considered a career as a simultaneous interpreter for the UN.
I heard you giggle. Yes, I did. So let me clarify by adding that I have a gift for languages and had already taken several years of Spanish, French and Italian by the time I graduated high school, AND I had done the exchange thing in France, where I lived for a summer with a family, speaking nothing but French. So there.
Ahem. Anyway, in order to be a simultaneous interpreter, you need to know five languages. I had four under my belt (since I do know grammar and punctuation, I consider English the fourth language). I just had to learn one more language.
But that never happened. I chose True Love over College, then got married and started a family young.
Yes, you can laugh now.
Anyway, years pass. I gave in to my natural tendency to be a storyteller and started working on the one thing I had ever finished—a hand-written, 100 page “novel” about a Spanish pirate that I had completed in junior high. As an adult, I still felt there was a story there. That novel evolved into my first published work, ONCE A MISTRESS (Written in English, though my pirate does say cool Spanish words like mi amor and mi querida. Sigh. Swoon!) In 1996, ONCE A MISTRESS was a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart competition run by Romance Writers of America. Two years later—OK, on January 26, 1998 at 4:06PM—Avon Books called and offered to publish my opus.
So there you go. I’ve written eight more books since then, often utilizing my knowledge of other languages for flavor. I visited the old West with DONOVAN’S BED and THE LAWMAN’S SURRENDER. (Oh, and DONOVAN’S BED was a finalist for RWA’s RITA Award for Best Short Historical in 2001, which is like an Oscar nomination in the land of romance writing. How cool is that?) Then I visited the Regency era. I won the NJ Romance Writers Golden Leaf Award for Best Historical (2003) with A NECESSARY BRIDE. In 2005, THREE NIGHTS… was nominated for Best Historical Romance in competition for Virginia Romance Writers’ prestigious Holt Medallion.
All of my Regency historicals have been optioned as featured selections by Doubleday Book Club and Rhapsody Book Club. My books have also been translated into Hungarian, Russian, and Portuguese f
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 25, 2015
After I read Donovan's Bed by the same author, I knew I'd want to read other books in the series. This one was fun, too! The heroine is bold and sassy and has a mind of her own without being annoying. The hero is a man of honor and integrity, which is always something I adore in heroes. :) Their adventure is fun and interesting and had a lot of twists and turns. Also something I like in a book! A fun read.
April 30, 2021
Scratched the Surface Of a Good Premise - 2.5 stars
I was immediately drawn in by the premise of this book. Unfortunately, the story didn't bring out its full potential. The main characters had personalities but still seemed distant. It was like getting to know 'about' someone but not knowing them personally. I think that's why I couldn't get any sense of chemistry between Susannah and Jedidiah. They just spent a lot of time getting frustrated with each other.
I would not describe the plot as uneventful. However, I will say it was not exciting. Susannah and Jedidiah were in a serious situation, but there was only a small sense of danger, hence little tension. The events that occurred during the journey were underwhelming. Not at all like the adventure I was hoping for.
I was immediately drawn in by the premise of this book. Unfortunately, the story didn't bring out its full potential. The main characters had personalities but still seemed distant. It was like getting to know 'about' someone but not knowing them personally. I think that's why I couldn't get any sense of chemistry between Susannah and Jedidiah. They just spent a lot of time getting frustrated with each other.
I would not describe the plot as uneventful. However, I will say it was not exciting. Susannah and Jedidiah were in a serious situation, but there was only a small sense of danger, hence little tension. The events that occurred during the journey were underwhelming. Not at all like the adventure I was hoping for.
September 23, 2022
Definitely enjoyed Donovon's bed more. Although I liked the MCs in this one, the story itself dragged quite a bit. It would have been better off as a novella. Still enjoyable, and the author's writing is just as good as the first one. This series has got me interested in the western romances subgenre 👀
March 30, 2022
3.5* another fun story!
July 26, 2022
Great book
April 16, 2022
This engaging historical fiction adventure is loaded with verbal sparring, emotion and suspense as Suzannah is accused of murder and Jedidiah is the US Marshal who is escorting her to face trial. The sexual awareness between the characters is slow building and delicious and the dastardly characters are audacious in their desire to kill Susannah before she can appear before a judge. They are vile characters and their cat and mouse games kept me intrigued and though I figured out who the killer was halfway through the story it kept me engaged until the very end. I listened to the audiobook and I loved the swoony southern accent exuded by voice actor Joe Arden. He was absolutely perfect in his vocal performance.
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June 22, 2012Now available on Kindle June 2, 2012.
June 28, 2012
3.5 stard
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews