New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit.
In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book. Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard. She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.
Q: Was there really a Rustler Mountain?
Maisey Yates: I made it up, but it is very much rooted in the history of the area. I have a good idea where in the mountains it would be if it existed. I placed it deliberately in a certain spot, a couple of miles from the real town of Copper, Oregon.
Q: What was the role of the ancestor of Austin’s journal?
Maisey: I’m a history nerd. It’s important to understand that people in the past were not functionally different from us. Historical romance makes those people real. I was involved in the historical society, especially the gold rush town, which is similar to Rustler Mountain. The journal shows how the past echoes into the present day.
Q: How would you describe Millie?
Maisey: She is trapped by her own reputation—a good reputation, but in a toxic way. It keeps her from responding to people who were awful to her. A lot of the story is about how Millie learns to express herself. I based her on my own thoughts about living in a small town, where people form ideas about you based on what they’ve heard. She is timid, homely, passionate, a goody-two-shoes, vulnerable, and a people pleaser. Over the course of the book, she steps out of that role, leading with her passion. Her nickname was “Millie Mouse” because that’s how others saw her.
Q: How would you describe Austin?
Maisey: Like the Tim McGraw song, he was a bad boy but is now a good man. He has a strong sense of family and a lot of integrity. He is more grounded than Millie, a deep thinker, a bookworm, and deeply misunderstood. He can be defiant and stubborn, but he’s less cocky than some of my other heroes.
Q: What about their relationship?
Maisey: They were both trapped by their reputations—good and bad. Neither one was the full story of who they truly were. On the surface, they appear to be opposites, but they’re not. They both love books, have deep connections to the past, and are trying to figure out what that means in the present. They both want to find someone who loves them for who they are. At first, she is jealous of him, and he avoids commitment, which makes her feel rejected and humiliated. There is physical intimacy, and over time, she makes him feel calm, while he makes her feel passionate. At their core, they offer each other what the other lacks.
Q: What about their family legacy?
Maisey: People are more complicated than how they are perceived. Things aren’t as cut and dry as they appear. Both of their ancestors did good and bad things. Their legacy challenges the truth of the past. Neither ancestor was a great man. Yet, past Austin loved his wife and children and had a sense of morality. Millie’s ancestor got an outlaw off the streets at any cost. Both were anti-heroes with their own moral compass. Their legacies depended on who told their stories. They were heroes in their own minds but villains to each other. Millie and Austin are living out more than just their reputations—they are shaped by their ancestors. She is not just a mousy librarian, and he is not just an outlaw.
Q: What’s next for you?
Maisey: At the end of this month, I have a novella anthology coming out with Lori Foster titled The Two of Us, which focuses on rescue dogs bringing together two “meant-to-be” couples. In April, The Outsider will be released, followed by The Rogue in July, both part of my Four Corners series. I have a women’s fiction novel coming out in June. Another anthology with Linda Lael Miller, a cowboy novella titled Small Town Hero, will be released in July. Outlaw Lake, the sequel to this book, is out in September.
Rustler Mountain by Maisey Yates is two stories in one novel. There is the modern western and it also takes readers back to the Wild West days.
The Wild West was known for its bank robbers, stage robbers and the shootouts as well as the Gold Rush. In the town today they still believe what was told to them about outlaws’ vs lawmen. The journal entries made by the ancestors of a fictional town show how it was the site of an 1800s shootout in which notorious outlaw Austin Wilder was killed by Sheriff Lee Talbot. Now Millie Talbot, the librarian, and the sheriff’s descendant, wants to bring back the town’s Gold Rush Days. Facing resistance, she approaches Austin Wilder who grew up being shunned because his family ancestors were the bank and stagecoach robbers of legend. When Millie asks for his help reviving the history events, he agrees but with the condition that she help him clear some of the false information regarding his family. He plans on doing this by writing a book about his family’s past and what really happened. He needs Millie to help him go through her family’s papers while he gives her access to his family’s belongings. As the two get to know each other, while working to get the facts straight about each other’s ancestors, they cannot ignore the explosive energy they have toward each other.
As usual, this book has the traditional Yates witty banter. The good girl/bad boy dynamic made for a wonderful story. The unraveling of the truth about the Talbot-Wilder feud adds to the story with an enticing mystery.
