Dear reader,
It’s cute to meet you! Welcome to Love, Underlined, your online community for romance readers. Each month, we invite one of our romance authors to answer a romance-themed Q&A.
This month, Swati Hedge, author of As Long as You Loathe Me, shares the romance novels that made her fall in love with the genre, her favorite tropes, biggest book crush, and the inspiration behind her swoony rivals-to-lovers romance. Read the full Q&A for all the banter, butterflies, and heart-melting moments!
Love,
Underlined
What was the first romance novel you read?
It was The Distance Between Us by Kasie West—who is coincidentally another Delacorte author! Funny how life comes full circle. After that, I was hooked on romance, and it wasn’t long before I started writing in the genre myself.
What romance are you currently reading?
I’m currently reading Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer and Cynthia Timoti’s forthcoming How to Find a Guy in Five Weddings—and I’m loving both!
What are your favorite tropes?
Friends to lovers will forever be top tier, followed by fake dating and rivals to lovers.
Who’s your book crush?
Nobody compares to Peeta Mellark from The Hunger Games. He’s compassionate and caring, he’d give his life for you, and he’s ridiculously gorgeous? Yes, please!
What inspires your writing?
Anything and everything. Pop culture, music, people in real life, anything that makes me stop and think “what if?” For example, As Long as You Loathe Me was born out of the question: “What if the dork from the ‘You Belong With Me’ music video decided to steal the boy next door by sabotaging his cheerleader girlfriend—only to end up falling for the cheerleader in the process?”
What’s your favorite part of writing romance?
The way it gives me all the feels. While working on my romance novels, I’m giggling, laughing out loud, and sobbing—sometimes all of them in one writing session! My biggest hope is that my writing makes readers feel these things, too.
Share with us an out of context quote from As Long as You Loathe Me! (Bonus points for anything swoony or full of banter.)
“Her tears have dried now, leaving small dark trails of mascara down her cheeks. They’re pink from the cool breeze blowing around us. I have the weirdest urge to touch my fingers to those cheeks, to see if they’re as soft as my mind promises me they are.
“I must be really drunk.”
Describe As Long as You Loathe Me in three emojis:
🏳️🌈😈☕
