The XO Interview: Liana De la Rosa

Writing romance on a dare! As one does.

Liana de La Rosa is the author of the newly released Ana María and the Fox, a “thrillingly different” historical romance that pairs a Mexican heiress getting her first taste of freedom with a British politician in Victorian London and their forbidden love. Swoon! It’s also the first book in the Luna Sisters series, about three Mexican sisters fleeing the French occupation of Mexico City and embarking on new lives in England. Read on to learn about how Liana started reading romance as an escape from the pressures of motherhood, about the importance of sisters in her new series and how she started writing on a dare from her husband!

How did you first discover the romance genre? Which book was The One for you?

I read my first romance when I was in my teens, but it wasn’t until after I was expecting my second child that I found myself reading romance exclusively, and almost all of them were historical romances. Each book was a lovely escape from the pressures of motherhood. I didn’t necessarily have “The One” book that launched my love of the genre, but I did have a book that launched me on my writer path…

I read that you wrote your first book on a dare from your husband—ha! What’s the full story and does he read your books?

My husband is a sporadic reader, but he truly is my greatest cheerleader. I struggled with PPD after my second child was born, and didn’t realize how much it affected me until later. One day when my husband came home from work he asked how my day was, and rather than give him a rundown of our activities that day, I launched into an excited recitation of the book I had just finished, and the twist ending I had not seen coming. He remarked that it had been a while since he’d seen me so animated, which was sadly true. With that he challenged me to write my own novel to recapture some of the excitement I felt while reading, and has supported me as I’ve tried to do just that. My husband hasn’t read any of my books, but that’s okay by me. I’m confident that if I asked him to, he happily would.

And the book that sparked my interest and creativity? No Good Duke Goes Unpunished by Sarah MacLean.

Your new book Ana María and the Fox is described by Kirkus as “Thrillingly different…a new direction for historical romance…” Can you tell us more about it? 

Ana María and The Fox is the first book in the Luna Sisters series, which follows three sisters who flee Mexico City for London during the second French occupation of Mexico. They explore their new home with enthusiasm, and forge a sisterly bond their domineering father had previously prevented. The series is set in London, but Ana María and her younger sisters, Isabel and Gabby, bring their vibrant Mexican culture to the page and they view British society from a different lens that I hope readers find refreshing. When Ana María meets up and coming member of Parliament Gideon Fox, sparks fly, although Ana María is engaged to one of her father’s political allies. The two engage in a dance of sorts; doing their best to avoid each other yet constantly being reeled back into each other’s orbits. When political figures threaten Ana María, Gideon doesn’t hesitate to offer his assistance, even if the price he pays is his heart.

Ana María and the Fox is the first book in the Luna Sisters trilogy. What is the dynamic between the sisters and what do you hope to explore with their relationships with each other in subsequent books? 

Although the central focus of Ana María and The Fox is on the developing romance between Ana María and Gideon, the relationship between the sisters is also of vital importance. In the beginning of the book, the sisters are not friends, having spent their lives competing with each other for the approval of their powerful father. But now that they are in London, far away from home, where they only have each other to depend upon. I loved writing the scenes between the trio in which they chip away at the walls they erected around themselves, and begin to see each other not just as sisters, but as friends. This emphasis on their sisterly friendships will appear throughout the books because in a society where they are outsiders and encounter daily microaggressions, Ana María, Isabel, and Gabby become each other’s safe place, to learn and grow and become the person they’ve always wanted to be.

How do romance novels bring you joy?

There is so much about this world that feels precarious, and much of it is out of our control. Just checking social media can be overwhelming, and I find it easy to lose hope or sight of our shared interests and commonalities. Yet I can pick up a romance novel and be guaranteed of one thing: it will end happily. And where else in life is that ever a guarantee? For the span of that book, I know that despite the trials the characters may endure, happiness, in whatever form that takes for them, will be theirs at the end and I take a lot of joy in that certainty.