This week on Romance Thursdays I had the chance to interview Eva Devon. If you haven’t checked out the rest of my interviews in this series be sure to and see what other romance authors have to say. Check out last weeks interview with Stacy Reid and see us talk about historical and paranormal romances.  

Romance Thursdays is a feature that spotlights romance authors to highlight how amazing the romance writing community is. Each week I’m will be interviewing a different romance author from across subgenres as well as both traditionally and self-published. I want to share their experience writing romance and why they love it so much. While also focusing on their writing and books. 

Eva Devon is the author of historical romances series including the Must Love Rogues series, The Bluestocking War series, her new series Never a Wallflower and more. You can check out Eva Devon’s backlist now. 

Hi Eva, and welcome to Angel Reads. For those that haven’t read anything by you yet. Tell us a little about yourself and your books?

Thank you SO much for having me! I’m over the moon to be at Angel Reads. I am a dreamer and lover of big dresses, fabulous ballrooms, and all things history. I also have three little rogues of my own, a coffee addiction, and a seriously messy house!

Why did you start writing romance novels? Is there anything in particular that drew you to it over other genres?

 I fell in love with the genre when I was about 16. I was introduced to it when my mom gave me Johanna Lindsey’s Mallory Christmas novella, The Present. I’d never read ANYTHING like it and I was hooked. I really love the escape and guarantee it all works out. I also love the crackle between the hero and heroine as they spar and finally let their guards down.

Historical romance seems to be your genre of choice, what drew you to it over other sub-genres of romance? Is there another genre that you would like to try?

 I love historical romance because I always loved dressing up as a child. I think I was always a history fan. The castles, the rooms, the clothes! I really just always wanted a fabulous dress and gorgeous, curled hair. And maybe a ballroom to show them off in.

I am currently exploring the 1930s because I’m fascinated by the strength and courage of people in WWII. But I’m very happy writing Regency romance because I think everyone needs an escape from the wears and tears of daily life.

What is your favourite thing about romance as a genre? Why do you like reading and writing it?

It sweeps me away. The reader and I get to run away to Regency England together! I love that. I can take my readers to ballrooms, castles, coaching inns! We meet dukes, ladies, highwaymen, pirates, whoever takes my fancy, and we can leave the present behind for a few hours.

The series that you write tend to be on the longer side. What is your favourite thing about writing series like these? What can you explore in the longer series that you can’t in a 3-4 book series?

 I REALLY love my characters. And I have a tendency to write friends. They all banter and keep each other honest. I fall in love with each and everyone and I want them to find love too. So, in a longer series, I get to create a really lush, big world of friends and family who all get joy in the end. You can also create someone who might seem terribly un-heroic or too troublesome to be the heroine, but as a sidekick over three books, readers fall in love with their faults. And the characters get to grow.

What are some of your favourite tropes that you like reading and writing in the romance genre?

I love grumpy heroes. I also love overbearing sarcastic heroes. And I fell in love with James Mallory when I was a teen, I still love writing about heroes who are bigger than life and can’t be intimidated. . . But absolutely fall for their heroine who gives as good as she gets. I love forced marriage tropes too. The characters HAVE to find a way to get on or face a life of misery. In romance, misery isn’t an option. So, in my books usually, there’s a lot of fire and funny situations on the way to love. The Spinster and the Rake is a forced marriage trope. I had SO much fun writing it.

Who are some of your favourite romance authors? Who inspired you to write?

 I absolutely adore Lenora Bell, Julia Quinn, Elizabeth Hoyt. And Julia Quinn and Johanna Lindsey are the reason I write romance. I knew after reading The Viscount Who Loved Me I wanted to write romance.

What are some of the ways that you think we can start overcoming the stigma of romance novels? 

This is such a great question! Listening. When someone says something absurd or ignorant about the genre, I usually try to say, that’s interesting. . . Have you considered this? Often, those who help perpetuate the stigma know nothing about the genre, especially the genre right now, and have never read a book or read just one. Things like Bridgerton are brilliant because it turns out all the naysayers have loved the genre all along. They just didn’t know it and are learning just what they’ve been missing. And I think owning how wonderfully female-centric the genre is really is wonderful.

 Thank you so much for coming by Angel Reads. It was lovely having you here. And I can’t wait to read more of your books!

Thank you so much for having me! It was lovely.

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I hope that you enjoyed this interview with Eva Devon! I had such a good time putting this together. 

If there is an author that you would like to see featured here, please do let me know. And I will try my best. If you are a romance author and would like to be apart of Romance Thursdays, don’t hesitate to message me. 

Have you read any of Eva Devon books before? What did you think of them? Are you excited for more Romance Thursday posts? Let’s Chat! 

About the Author 

USA Today bestseller Eva Devon was raised on literary fiction, but quite accidentally and thankfully, she was introduced to romance one Christmas by Johanna Lindsey’s Mallory novella The Present and a romance addict was born. Now, she loves to write her own roguish dukes, alpha males, and the heroines who tame them.

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