“In a word, marvelous,” said Kirkus of Adriana Herrera’s A Caribbean Heiress in Paris (HQN, May 31), a historical romance novel featuring a female rum tycoon—the heiress of the title—who meets a Scottish earl in the whisky business while attending the Exposition Universelle in Paris in 1889. Now, the novel is one of our 100 best fiction books of the year. Herrera, a New York–based trauma therapist who works with survivors of domestic and sexual violence, is the author of 15 books and a co-founder of the Queer Romance PoC Collective, which advocates for greater diversity in the genre. She answered our questions—about romance and rum—by email.

What do you enjoy about writing a historical romance? How does the process differ from writing a contemporary romance?

Other than romance, nonfiction books about history are probably what I read the most. The research is something I particularly enjoy. I also like the challenge of discovering pieces of history that are not usually brought to life. The Caribbean was a vibrant melting pot in the 19^th century. There were thousands of people from the West Indies living, studying, doing business in Europe, and I love being able to carve a space out in romance to tell those stories.

The biggest differences from contemporary are the research and the use of language. It can get pretty interesting when I am coming out of a historical and trying to draft a contemporary!

The plot of Caribbean Heiress is built around the rum trade. How much did you have to learn about rum making, and did your research involve sampling rums? Do you have a favorite?

I grew up in the Dominican Republic, where rum is basically a religion! It is also one of our oldest industries, so I had a good sense of the long history of the trade in the Caribbean and the DR specifically. It was fascinating to learn about the role of women in the sale and distilling of rum. One of the most interesting things I learned—with the help of the archives of the Institute of Dominican Studies—was that most of the liquor retailers on the island in the 19^th century were women. As I wrote it, this book very much became about highlighting that part of history that we never hear about.

I did sample some rums in the process…for research! And I will give two favorites: Brugal Leyenda, which is from a very old Dominican distillery that has a woman master blender, the great-great-great granddaughter of the founder. My second favorite is Ron Zacapa Edicion Negra, from Guatemala, which also has a woman master blender.

Were you able to do live events for the book this year? Any memorable moments you’d like to share?

I was able to do in-person events, which was wonderful. One of the most memorable moments happened at Comic Con this year. A reader—a Latina—got up during the Q&A and started to cry when she talked about what it was like for her to read a historical romance with a protagonist that she could see herself in. That meant so much to me, because that is exactly the reason why I started to write.

What books published in 2022 were among your favorites?

I read quite a few great ones this year, but two that have really stood out for me are You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi and After Hours on Milagros Street by Angelina Lopez. Both of those books have the kinds of heroines I love to read—strong and a little messy but very certain of who they are. Both books are also incredibly sexy and romantic.

Tom Beer is the editor-in-chief.