We chat with author Jen Devon about Right Where We Left Us, which is a searing and unforgettable romance that’s perfect for fans of Carly Fortune and Lucy Score!
Hi, Jen! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
Hello new friends! I’m a midwestern US Xennial who really loves plants, thrift stores, photography, gaming, sci-fi/fantasy movies, and romance books. I have a graduate degree in ecology, and I was an adjunct professor for about a decade. Now, I work in software support while moonlighting as an author. I’m married to a hot nerd I met on an Internet message board about 20 years ago, and we have three bright, beautiful, badass kids and two ill-mannered rescue dogs.
Bend Toward the Sun was my 2022 debut contemporary romance, and while Right Where We Left Us can be read as a standalone, it’s a direct followup to Bend, involving the same family and friend group at a rural east coast vineyard.
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
As a kid, I looked for the love story in everything I read and watched, and if there wasn’t at least a romantic subplot, I’d either manufacture it in my mind, or lose interest. I was in sixth(ish) grade when I started reading adult fiction–my dad’s paperback Dean Koontz novels. They were thrillers (I think the genre was called “horror” back then), but they were very human stories. Those early ones–Watchers, Midnight, Lightning–always had a romance between the leads amidst the scary or supernatural elements, and the couple always ended up together at the end. So I think my need for a central love story and a Happily Ever After was instilled before I even started reading actual romance fiction.
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George.
- The one that made you want to become an author: I can’t pinpoint a single book, but early historicals by McNaught, Robards, Garwood, and Deveraux were what seeded my imagination for writing romance.
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: For better or worse, Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught was a formative romance text for teenage Jen. I think a lot about the parts of it that still work for me, despite the aspects of it that break down under a modern lens.
Your latest novel, Right Where We Left Us, is out June 18th! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
Summery, sensual, immersive, atmospheric, satisfying.
What can readers expect?
The term “beach read” is pretty ubiquitous these days, but let’s call my books “hammock reads.” Right Where We Left Us features two imperfect people who have spent almost two decades denying they’re perfect for each other, now forced to confront it. There’s soul-walloping longing and a slow burn that goes nuclear. A big, hilarious supporting cast. Heaps of steamy summer atmosphere–think campfire smoke and fireflies. Rain on hot earth. Salty sunscreen and the scents of lake mud and honeysuckle.
Where did the inspiration for Right Where We Left Us come from?
I’ve been reading romance since the 90s, and spotting secondary couples coalescing in the background of a book has always been one of my favorite little treats of the genre. So when I started writing what would become Bend Toward the Sun, I knew there had to be a second chance romance between two of the secondary characters in that book. Their backstory changed a lot from when I first imagined the characters in 2014, but Temperance and Duncan were always fated.
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I’m probably breaking an unwritten author rule with this, but it’s kind of an open secret that Duncan Brady is my favorite character in the Brady universe. He’s loyal and playful and funny. He’s capable. He’s big, he’s tattooed, he’s so hot it’s a little intimidating–but on the inside, he’s so deliciously soft. He’s the only blue-collar sibling in a family of high academic achievers, and despite being underestimated his whole life, he’s got hidden aptitudes and aspirations. Right Where We Left Us can be read as a standalone, but Duncan’s character arc definitely begins in Bend Toward the Sun. In that book, he’s presented as this sexy, confident guy–but at the end, readers get a glimpse that there’s something darker churning beneath those rakish grins and mischievous one-liners. Once we get into his head in Right Where We Left Us, we realize that maybe our understanding of him might be as incomplete as his family’s has always been. It was really fun exploring that.
What do you love about the romance genre?
For me, romance really distills the most extraordinary things about being human into a few hundred pages. Joy, vulnerability, lust, trust. Yearning and sacrifice and growth, and unconditional belonging. Even if we fall in love a dozen times in our lifetime, we’re still limited to experiencing it through our own mental, emotional, and cultural lens. In reading romance, we get to hop into other peoples’ intimate internal worlds and live those moments through their experience.
What’s next for you?
This isn’t a glamorous or interesting answer, but the short version is that I’m not sure. I’m working on some proposals, but as of this interview, I don’t currently have anything under contract. I have two other Brady books in different stages of development, and I have a multiverse-esque magical realism romance outlined. A snowy adventure romance is taking shape, too. Back in 2017, I’d started an epic fantasy romance, but ultimately decided to focus on what would become Bend Toward the Sun instead. I’ve been tinkering with that fantasy manuscript again, though I imagine that if I ever finish it, that subgenre’s moment will be long gone. If only authors had a crystal ball to predict what would sweep their genre’s zeitgeist in the next two-to-three business years! Mostly, I’m trying to define what authenticity and fulfillment look like for me in this gig. I’m really fascinated by authors who make their own rules and take their careers in a hybrid trad-indie direction.
Lastly, what books are you looking forward to reading?
There are several 2024 romances with main characters in STEM that I’m really looking forward to reading. The Kiss Countdown by Etta Easton has an astronaut love interest. Red String Theory by Lauren Kung Jessen and Say You’ll Be Mine by Naina Kumar both have engineer leads. Second Tide’s the Charm by Chandra Blumberg is my ultimate unicorn of a book: a second chance romance between two marine biologists.
On social media, I’m most active on Instagram at @kisscrafter, and you can find my website at jendevon.com.
