Jude Deveraux (b. September 20, 1947 in Fairdale, Kentucky as Jude Gilliam) is an American Romance novel author who is well-known for her historical romance.
She is the eldest child of four, and has a large extended family. In 1967, Jude married and took her husband's surname of White, and her early books had a copyright notice giving her name as "Jude White". Jude and White divorced after four years.
She attended Murray State University and received a degree in Art, and she was a 5th-grade teacher prior to her debut as a writer. She began writing in 1976 as Jude Deveraux, and her first book was published in 1977. Following the publication of her first novel, she resigned her teaching position.
Jude later married Claude Montassir, with whom she adopted a son, Sam Alexander Montassir. Her son died at the age of eight in a motorcycle accident on October 6, 2005. She and Montassir are divorced.
Deveraux has lived in several countries and all over the United States. She currently lives in North Carolina and also has a home in Italy.
Her historical romances generally have storylines centered on strong, capable heroines and how they meet and fall in love with their heroes. Deveraux has also participated in romance anthologies with collections of shorter stories along with other romance authors.
Although she is best known for her medieval romances, Deveraux has also written stories set in later time periods, including post-Revolutionary America, nineteenth century Colorado, and nineteenth century New Mexico.
She has written several time-travel romances, and her latest novels have had a contemporary setting. Many of her more recent books feature paranormal storylines.
A great many of her books follow the same family, the Montgomerys, through time and across continents, leading fans to regularly try to keep track of their family tree in the novels. Their cousins, the Taggerts, also feature prominently in her stories.