Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People (Fated Mates)

We're on hiatus until September, when we'll start Season 2, but here is a quick hi from Sarah, with a story from her trip to the UK that only Fated Mates listeners will appreciate.

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting app so you know the moment we return!

Show Notes

• George & Dragon Inn, Clifton, Penrith, UK
• Lowther Castle
• Hugh Lowther, proper reprobate and 5th Earl of Lonsdale

This week, we’re releasing a new episode on Thursday with guest Kate Clayborn in honor of Derek Craven day, so today we’re rereleasing our Dreaming of You episode from Season 2 so that people can be all caught up before our extremely niche episode for the holiday itself!

For full show notes, see:

S02.3: Lisa Kleypas Does Spectacles Better than F. Scott Fitzgerald: Dreaming of You

Next week, we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming with Naima Simone’s Blackout Billionaires series (With a little Derek Craven Day excitement in there, too!) In order, the books are: The Billionaire's Bargain, Black Tie Billionaire, and Blame it on the Billionaire. Find them at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or Apple Books.

While we're off this week, we're encouraging everyone to listen to our Stop Book Banning episode, rereleased with new content! This week, we're talking to Maggie Tokuda-Hall, one of the founders of Authors Against Book Bans about the growth of book bans around the country in 2024.

Book bans in United States schools and libraries are at their highest since the ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom started collecting data, happening around the country, in every state, and disproportionately affecting books by and about LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC people. What’s more, challenges are likely underreported, because librarians who are resisting them are facing unprecedented workplace retribution and in some cases physical danger.

Book Bans are on the ballot this year in every state and local election, up and down the ticket. State legislatures, local town councils, county leadership and school boards are being overrun with candidates supported by conservative activists looking to limit access to books and ideas that offer identity, empathy, awareness, and power to young people around the country.

We’re concerned, so today, we’re releasing a special episode of Fated Mates focused on book bans across the country. We interview three experts on what’s happening, who is most impacted, and how we can all help. Show notes are extensive, and we hope you’ll take a look at them.

The Guests

Maggie Tokuda-Hall, author, activist, podcaster and founding member of Authors Against Book Bans

Jarett Dapier, librarian, activist and author of Mr. Watson’s Chickens. Jarrett is offering his complete stage adaption of Chris Crutcher's YA novel "The Sledding Hill" to the Office for Intellectual Freedom in support of Banned Books Week as a free download to read. Schools and communities interested in performing the play can do so with a $75 donation to the ALA's Office of Intellectual Freedom.

Lily Freeman, activist and student in Central Bucks County, PA. Read Lily’s op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer and follow her instagram at ProjectUncensored. Congratulations, Lily, on your graduation!

Melissa Walker, political activist at The States Project, journalist, and Middle Grade and YA author of Violet on the Runway, Let’s Pretend We Never Met, Small Town Sinners and more.

The Resources

Authors Against Book Bans, the author and creator wing of the fight for the freedom to read

The Youth Censorship Database at the National Coalition Against Censorship

Book Riot’s censorship coverage is excellent and updated almost daily. They have an excellent explainer for

We're starting our Season 7 read alongs off with a bang! M. O'Keefe's Everything I Left Unsaid duology is some of the best contemporary romance out there, and if you need proof, here it is: The first book ends on a cliffhanger and it holds a prime spot on Jen's keeper shelf. We're talking about all the ways this book works, the way O'Keefe wields tension and description and narrative voice and point of view like an absolute master and delivers a series that is not only deeply representative of the contemporary romance of the mid 2010s, but also a near perfect example of how contemporary can fire on all cylinders. Clear your calendar, you're going to want to read all four books in this series back to back.

If you want more romance content, maybe you want to join our Patreon, where you get another episode from us each month, and access to the incredible readers and listeners and brilliant people on the Fated Mates discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Also! We're back on the phonebanking train this election season! Join us Saturdays between now and Election Day to phonebank with fellow romance lovers. Jen & Sarah are joined by special guests who will knock your socks off! Learn more and register at fatedmates.net/fatedstates. If phonebanking isn't your thing, we're also raising money for downticket house and senate races, because state legislatures may not be sexy, but they sure hold all the power. Learn more, and give what you can at fatedmates.net/givingcircle.

The Books

• Everything I Left Unsaid by M. O'Keefe
• The Truth About Him by M. O'Keefe
• Burn Down the Night by M. O'Keefe
• Wait for It by M. O'Keefe

The Notes

• Raise a glass to the Old School Romance Book Club on Facebook. They had their final zoom on October 14, 2024.
• Problematic vs. Dated originated with a discussion of Rocky Horror Picture Show on Twitter, a conversation that has been ongoing for a long time. 
• Just to be clear, when Jen said “it’s 2015 so it’s in past” she’s referencing that although some books were written in present (like 50 Shades, published in 2011), the wholesale shift to present tense that we see in romance now hadn’t happened yet. 
• Researchers and law enforcement professionals have determined that nonfatal strangulation is a leading indicator of escalating violence in a relationship and an important risk factor for homicide in women, and the fact that choking is on the rise in teenage sexual encounters is especially troubling.

The Sponsors

• 1001 Dark Nights, publishers of Audrey Carlan's A Christmas Auction, available in print, ebook, and audiobook from Amazon.
• Aethon Books, publishers of Belle Walker's Blood and War, available in print, ebook and...

It's New Year's Eve, and we're ringing it in with our standard silliness, this year with brilliantly funny duo Adriana Herrera and Nikki Payne, playing the current internet sensation game, Hear Me Out, where we share the people, illustrations, and vibes that can get it in our respective corners of the world.

While there is no specific call for headphones in on this episode, you may choose to wear them to save yourself having to explain what exactly you're listening to!

If you are looking for something a bit more headphones in, you should try one of our past episodes!

• Breeding Kink with Mila Finelli (2023)
• Omegaversity with Adriana Herrera and Ali Hazelwood (2022)
• Jessa Kane extravaganza with Andie Christopher, Alexis Daria, Adriana Herrera, LaQuette, Tracey Livesay, Nisha Sharma, and Joanna Shupe (2020)
• Pegging in Romance with Sierra Simone (2019)

In 2021 we released the Season 2 Ted Lasso Roy Kent lovefest on New Year's Eve, but we were still pandemic-ing, so please don't blame us for the detour in brand that year.

The Notes

• Nikki Payne and Adriana Herrera are friends of Fated Mates, but they are also the hosts of their own romance podcast, Unbound Pod. The first season was all about the Western and was six episodes. You can listen on all the podcasting apps. Preorder Adriana’s upcoming release, A Tropical Rebel Gets the Duke or go see her on tour. She will be at The Ripped Bodice in Brooklyn, NY with Sarah and Joanna Shupe on February 11th!
• This TikTok thing, who knows what will happen! 
• Hear Me Out is a fun meme, but in our case, no cakes were involved. 
• That’s not my praxis is a funny thing to say in a text thread. 
• Sorry Bambi’s Dad, from Abe Froman,  the sausage king of Chicago. 
• Listen, everyone was hot in Romeo + Juliet, so they aren’t in the photo array below. But the real ones know. Same with the NBA:

Maybe you're rooting for the asteroid, but you gotta have a plan! To help, this week, we're keeping track of what romance is looking like off-planet--it's Romance! In! Space! (Part 2, but the first episode we did was six years ago, so we figured it's time.) Headphones in, loves, this one covers space scavengers, aliens, anatomy, crash landings, abductions, talking lions and people in Space Army (what happens in Space Army stays there, unless it's here).

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

Our next read along is Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook, and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Books

• Fiasco and Chaos by Constance Fay
• Full Speed to a Crash Landing and How to Steal a Galaxy by Beth Revis 
• Space Deputy by Jenny Schwartz
• I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I’m Trapped in a Rom-Com by Kimberly Lemming
• Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell
• Heart Song by Heather Guerre
• Ruling Sikthand  by Victoria Aveline
• Stranded by Heather Fox 
• Raw Desires by Cynthia Sax
• Cathian by Laurann Dohner
• Space Army Recruits by Kinley Grey
• The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells

The Notes

• Bad news: the asteroid can’t save us, so we’ll just have to save ourselves. 
• You can read Jen’s newsletter here, she’ll be writing about the grand gesture...

This week, we are doing something a little different, talking about the New York Times's Best 100 Books of the 21st Century, a list that Sarah was asked to contribute a ballot for. We talk about how Sarah made her list, what she put on it, and why...and why we think there are no romance novels on the final top 100 list.

Don't fret, though -- on the Discord, FM listeners have started collecting nominations for the 100 Best Modern Romance Novels (since the publication of The Flame and the Flower)! Join the group to submit your own nominations and vote on the final list throughout August.

We're coming up on the end of Season 6 (what?! how!?), which means a deep dive of one of Sarah's books, even though she doesn't have a new one this year! We're talking Wicked & the Wallflower, the first of her Bareknuckle Bastards series. Get it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or wherever you get your books.

The Books

We talk about lots of books today, but most of them aren't romance novels. The nine romances on Sarah's list for the New York Times are:

Kate Clayborn's Georgie, All Along

Kresley Cole's Dark Needs at Night's Edge

Jennifer Crusie's Bet Me

Uzma Jalaluddin's Hana Khan Carries On

Beverly Jenkins's Forbidden

Lisa Kleypas's Again the Magic

Angelina M. Lopez's After Hours on Milagro Street

Sherry Thomas's Ravishing the Heiress

Milla Vane's A Heart of Blood and Ashes

Show Notes

In between the recording of this episode, about two hours after Biden dropped out of the race, and the time we released it on Wednesday: Kamala Harris has locked up the delegates for the nomination and raised 100 million dollars from small donors, a majority of whom are first time donors.

Click here to express your interest in joining us for Fated States phonebanking. If you’re an author who would like to donate books to phonebankers, please fill out this form.

We’re mad at Aaron Sorkin for writing a boneheaded oped in the New York Times, which was truly the dumbest thing, and then retracting it later.

The New York Times

We're back with Christopher Rice celebrating one of the longest running themes in romance: Daddy Issues (not the good kind)! Christopher writes romance under the pen name C. Travis Rice, and today, we're talking about his recent banger, Sapphire Dawn. We talk about the longstanding history of characters with terrible fathers, about why romance seems to love a bad dad, about our favorite characters with terrible fathers, and about why terrible fathers make the best heroes? (we know! it's problematic!) All that, and we're talking about Nora Roberts and (gasp!) Janet Dailey!

We're coming up on the end of Season 6 (what?! how!?), and so incredibly grateful to you for listening. If you'd like more romance chatter, we encourage you to join our patreon, where you get another episode from us each month, and access to the incredible readers and listeners and brilliant people on the Fated Mates discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Also! We're back on the phonebanking train this election season! Join us on Saturdays between now and Election Day to phonebank with fellow romance lovers, Jen, Sarah, and special guests who will knock your socks off! Learn more and register at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.

The Books

• Sapphire Sunset by C Travis Rice
• Sapphire Spring by C Travis Rice
• Sapphire Storm by C Travis Rice
• Sapphire Dawn by C Travis Rice
• The Dream Trilogy by Nora Roberts
• In Death by JD Robb
• The Kate Daniels Series by Ilona Andrews
• The Secret Lives of Country Gentlemen by KJ Charles
• Love in the Time of Scandal by Caroline Linden
• Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• Fix Her Up by Tessa Bailey
• 52 Reasons to Hate my Father by Jessica Brody
• A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams
• Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz 
• This Calder Range by Janet Dailey
• Duke of Desire by Elizabeth Hoyt

The Notes

• Welcome author Christopher Rice who writes gay romance as C. Travis Rice. His current series is called Sapphire Cove, and his most recent release is Sapphire Dawn. Christopher and his best friend Eric Shawn Quinn host a podcast called The Dinner Party Show. 
• The great

For the last few years, The Ripped Bodice bookstore has published a Summer Romance Bingo Card and this year, we're helping you win! With absolutely no prep, we're recommending books for every bit of the game, from Lost Treasure to Time Travel to the Olympics. Head to The Ripped Bodice's instagram feed to see the bingo card and get reading!

Books Mentioned

• Only and Forever by Chloe Liese
• A Novel Love Story by Ashley Poston 
• One Last Shot by Betty Cayouette
• Remember Summer by Elizabeth Lowell
• Fire on the Ice by Tamsen Parker
• Seduction on the Slopes by Tamsen Parker
• From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata
• The Amorous Education of Celia Seaton by Miranda Neville
• Hottie Scotty and Mr. Porter by R. Cooper 
• Breath of Magic by Theresa Medieros
• Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
• Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams
• Shaken and Stirred by Kathleeen O’Reilly
• Double Down by Katie Porter
• Copper by Lily Atlas
• Santa’s Baby by Chloe Maine
• Lighthouse on Moonglow Bay by Lori Wilde
• Dragged to the Wedding by Andrew Grey
• Looking for a Sign by Susie Dumond
• Star Crossed Seduction by Jenny Browna
• A Touch Magical by Sonia Hartl
• Reaper’s Property by Joanna Wylde
• Waylon by Theodora Taylor
• Do Your Worst by Rosie Danan
• This Scot of Mine by Sophie Jordan
• Summertime Punchline by Betty Corrello
• Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer
• Something Wilder by Christina Lauren

We're crossing off a classic romance novel structure this week -- the list! Whether life changing to-do lists, bucket lists, or lists for kinky exploration, these romances take characters and readers on remarkable rides, reminding us all that sometimes it really does pay to be organized.

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

Our next read along is Rachel Reid's Heated Rivalry, which you can get in print, ebook, audiobook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. Find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Books

• Nine Rules to Break when Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean
• Get A Life, Chloe Brown by Talia Hibbert
• The Last Days of Lilah Goodluck by Kylie Scott
• Wicked Nights with a Lover by Sophie Jordan
• What Heals Us by Maggie Gates
• The Ending I Want by Samantha Towle
• Camera Chemistry by Chelsea Curto
• 30 Days and 30 Nights by Christine d’Abo
• The Seal’s Rebel Librarian by Anne Calhoun
• How to Fail at Flirting by Denise Williams
• Rockaway Bride by Pippa Grant
• Mr. Swoony by Piper Rayne
• Three Little Mistakes by Nikki Sloan
• All Played Out by Cora Carmack

Show Notes

• We’re excited about these author and listener created lists at the Fated Mates Collections Department. And in case you want to see the one from Competitive Yam about Skinny dipping, here it is.

It's Thanksgiving week in the United States, which means capitalism! We're skipping (mainly) the talk of the midnight electronics runs, and heading straight to Small Business Saturday, when your local independent bookseller is doing their very best to put great books in your hands. Ever been in your local bookstore and thought -- I wish this place was the setting of a romance novel? We've got you, friends.

We talk about the magic of bookstores, about the importance of small businesses, about bookshops as sites for revolution, and about the appeal of running your own little shop around the corner. And we recommend a bunch of books that are...honestly? Charming AF.

Want more indie bookstore content? Support some booksellers at a bookstore we really love by purchasing the Fated Mates Best of 2024 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA. Don’t forget to tag us on Instagram or Threads or Bluesky when you unbox!

If you were shouting book names at your car stereo during this episode and want to shout them at other people, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Our next read along is Judith Ivory's The Proposition, a terrific Pygmalion retelling and one of Sarah's favorites. Find it at your local independent bookseller, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or Amazon.

The Books

• Meet Me by the Fountain: An Inside History of the Mall by Alexandra Lange
• The Rogue Not Taken by Sarah MacLean
• The Vampire in the Bookstore by Elle M. Drew
• Booked on a Feeling by Jayci Lee
• Once Upon a Charming Bookshop by Heatherly Bell
• A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles
• Love in Winter Wonderland by Abiola Bello
• Taken by Charlotte Stein
• Rock Chick by Kristen Ashley
• Better than Fiction by Alexa Martin
• Nice Girls Don’t Live Forever by Molly Harper
• The Earl Takes a Fancy by Lorraine Heath
• Seven Secrets of Seduction

This week, we're back to Mafia books, because it's been a few years since we've tackled this one and the landscape has changed drastically. We're talking about the appeal of the organized criminal, the way the genre is the direct descendant of the Medieval romance, and the fact that it underscores some of the deepest seeded patriarchy in the genre--for good and bad. Sarah shows off the Italian and the Italian American in her past, and tells a few stories about people and places she doesn't name because did she see anything? No she didn't.

If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where 1000 other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as we do at patreon.com/fatedmates.

The Books

• Deviant Hearts by Jagger Cole
• Mafia Virgin by Mila Finelli
• Bound in Honor by Cora Reilly
• Scorned Vows by Victoria Paige
• Because You’re Mine by Claire Contreras
• Going Rogue by Amelia Shea
• Never Seduce a Scot by Maya Banks
• Her Dark Salvation by Katelyn Brehm
• Vow of Revenge by P. Rayne
• 7th Circle by Tate James
• Ruthless People by JJ MacAvoy
• Nero and Hans by SJ Tilly

The Notes

• Back in 2020, we recorded our first mafia romance interstitial with author Nisha Sharma, that season we also had a dark romance interstitial, and those two genres have only become more popular over time.
• If you’re interested in the real life story of how Providence RI was a hotbed of organized crim activity, check out season one of the Crimetown Podcast. But every town has their famous mobsters: Al Capone in Chicago, John Gotti in New York, etc, etc. As Jen was preparing show notes for this episode, she discovered there is a Mob Museum,

It's deep dive day here at Fated Mates and we're reading an absolute banger of a historical -- Julie Anne Long's fifth Pennyroyal Green book, What I Did for a Duke. We talk about great romance kisses, about age gaps and how they operate in books, about house parties and art and sacrifice and how sexy it is when someone actually sees you for who you are. If you haven't read this one yet, do yourself a favor and do it right now. It's so great.

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.

The Books

• What I Did for a Duke by Julie Anne Long
• The Pennyroyal Green Series

Show Notes

• The main building you think of when you think of the New York Public Library with the lions is officially called the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building. From what I can tell, it didn’t actually have anything to do with Andrew Carnegie, but he did donate $5 million to ensure that the New York Public Library had branch libraries in communities around the city. He also donated a lot of money to other things, that’s a fun thing billionaires used to do. Read more about doing the forbidden kind of “romance stuff” in the library. Jen talked to the New York Public Library's Best New Romance List Committee Co-Chairs Kate Fais and Grace Loiacon back in February.
• In 2022, we recorded our “Break in case of emergency” episode, and it was in fact two sisters, Cait and Kara who requested the episode. PS: We are in emergency. Feel free to break those out  now.
• Julie Anne Long’s The Beast Takes a Bride was on our Best of 2024 episode. What I Did for a Duke is the 5th book in her Pennyroyal Green series. 
• “It must have been a lie,” is what Jen’s grandma Betty used to say if you lost your train of thought and couldn’t remember what you were saying. 
• This is a good speech from Crash Davis, the pitcher played by Kevin Costner in the 1988 movie Bull Durham (also, Nuke says “what’s all that molecule stuff?” which is pretty funny considering the title of this episode).
• The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston had a Titian exhibition back in 2022 called Women, Myth and Power, and it seems like a thing Genevive would have liked it a lot.

This is a bit different than our usual Halloween adjacent episodes -- we're talking about the rise of romance centered around ghostly secondary characters (Jen) and funeral homes and mortuaries (Sarah). These two themes have become more and more prevalent in romance over the last few years, and we talk about how and why they've risen and what they might mean -- considering the way romance reflects the world we live in.

We talk about the pandemic, about grief, about community and about the way humor and love find their ways into the cracks left by death.

If you want more romance content, maybe you want to join our Patreon, where you get another episode from us each month, and access to the incredible readers and listeners and brilliant people on the Fated Mates discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Also! We stay phonebanking! Join us this Saturday and next to phonebank with fellow romance lovers. Jen & Sarah are joined by special guests who will knock your socks off! Learn more and register at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.

If phonebanking isn't your thing, we're also raising money for downticket house and senate races, because state legislatures may not be sexy, but they sure hold all the power. Learn more, and give what you can at fatedmates.net/givingcircle.

The Books

• The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen
• The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston
• Morbidly Yours by Ivy Fairbanks
• Pumpkin Spice & Poltergeist by Ali K. Mulford & K. Elle Morrison
• Rules for Ghosting by Shelly Jay Shore
• A Ghost in Shining Armor by Therese Beharrie
• Undertaking Love by Megan Montgomery
• Inheritance and The Mirror by Nora Roberts
• Temple of Persephone by Isabella Kamal
• Haunted Ever After by Jen DeLuca
• Mourning Wood by Heather Orgeron
• Big Witch Energy by Molly Harper

The Notes

• We have one more Fated States phone bank, or maybe you want to try ballot curing phone banking, which might feel less stressful.
• Reborn Yesterday by Tessa Bailey was released on March 16th, 2020. Three days later, California became the first...

Next week we’re going to get into Werewolves and Witches with Wicked Deeds on a Winter’s Night, but this week, we’re so excited to talk best friend’s sibling/sibling’s best friend romances with one of our favorite people: Kate Clayborn!

Show Notes

• Kate Clayborn writes awesome books, but her romance think pieces at Frolic aren't too be missed.
• There's nothing more hilarious than reviving old twitter threads, and in this one Kate and Talia Hibbert talk IAD.
• The Game Maker series will get its own episodes, don't worry. Jen was thinking about saving this chastity belt article for then, but really, why wait?
• Best of Luck was just named one of Amazon's Best Romance of December, which is as it should be. The second book in the series, Luck of the Draw, was on Sarah's Best of 2018 list for the Washington Post.
• Sarah's twitter thread where people described what they'd do if they won a billion dollars is pretty fun to read. But really, there's a reason we all love that daydream.
• This month, the Ripped Bodice is spearheading The Great Big Romance Read and maybe you can find a bookstore, library, or blog where you can talk about Pride by Ibi Zoboi.
• The American Dream is complicated, college is expensive, and all of it freaks Jen out if she thinks about it too...

We’re three books into IAD this week, and it is happening! We're joined by the brilliant Adriana Herrera to talk Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night, starring Bowen (the werewolf trapped in a tunnel of fire) and Mariketa the Awaited (the witch who is going to run him ragged)!

Adriana, Jen & Sarah cover everything from Snow White to trauma survivors, jungle warfare to May-December romances, sexism and Cardi B. And we still find time to fangirl over Kresley's heroines.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

Our next read (in two weeks) will be Dark Needs at Night's Edge — complete with a broken hero tied to a bed (vampire, obvi) and a haunting heroine who just wants to be seen (literally). This one makes for a LOT of opinions among IAD fans...you won’t want to miss it.

Get ready for the read along at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or your local indie. Also, the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!

Show Notes

- Our special guest this week is romance author Adriana Herrera. American Dreamer, her debut novel with Carina Press, comes out in March of 2019.

-Jen interviewed Adriana about domestic violence in romance for the Smart Bitches.

- Jen and Sarah both loved The Opposite of You, a food truck romance by Rachel Higginson, and Sil at Book Riot made a list of food truck romances.

- Kresley's historical trilogy is called The MacCarrick Brothers, and you can get all 3 bundled together, of course.

- There's nothing more amazing than warring think-pieces. So here's Huffington Post and Slateteaching us about fuckboy, and Jezebel telling us how they're doing it wrong.

- The five witches' castes are warrior, healer, enchantress, conjurer, and sorceress. Jen's going to make a Buzzfeed Quiz that tells you which witch strength...

It’s the Holiday Season™️, which means it’s time to talk about Holiday romances! Get ready because there are A WHOLE LOT of books in this show. Also, get ready, because next week, on December 26th, instead of releasing our Dark Needs at Night’s Edge episode, we’re releasing a bonus Ask-us-Anything episode as a special holiday present to you!

Our official IAD reread will resume January 2nd, with Néomi (ghost) & Conrad (vampire) and we have so. many. feelings. SO MANY.

Show Notes

- In case you're curious, here's where Jen learned to properly pronounce Therese Beharrie's name. Therese wrote 2 Christmas books this year: A Wedding One Christmas and Her Festive Flirtation, and Jen liked them both.

- Before Sunrise came out in 1995, a sequel Before Sunset in 2004, and a third Before Midnight in 2013. This New Yorker review is a perfect example of everything Jen hates when people review anything romantic, so hate-read it if you're in the mood.

- Jen completely got the name of that chapter book wrong, it's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

- Novellas are really common in romance, maybe more than other genres, and Jen anxioulsy awaits the think-piece explaining why.

- Speaking of novellas: The anthology of Chanukah stories that Sarah mentioned is called Burning Bright; Reindeer Games is an anthology of stories with the snowed-in trope; and in Silver Belles, all the characters are over 40.

- Sarah described the cover of A Holiday of Love as an example of a certain type of old-school book package. But just last year, A Christmas to Remember with Lisa Kleypas, Lorraine Heath, Megan Frampton, and Vivienne Lorret followed the same exact cover protocol.

- Epistolary novels are super fun to read (Jen's favorite is Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Sarah is--unsurprisingly--very pro epistolary romance; her favorite is Kleypas's Love in the Afternoon), but Jen's pretty interested in how

Book 4 is here and so are ghosts! We’re talking Dark Needs at Night's Edge, starring Conrad (the most tortured of the Wroth vampire brothers) and Néomi (the ghost trapped in the house where he’s held hostage while he dries out). We’ll cover heroines with agency, menstrual cycles, virgin heroes and the importance of family. Also, Jen is on about the moon again.   

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

Our next read (in two weeks) will be Dark Desires After Dusk — the beginning of the Rage-Demonarchy duology, featuring Cadeon Woede, who is forced to choose between familial loyalty and his human (or is she?!) fated mate, brilliant mathematician, Holly.

Get ready for the read along at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or your local indie. Also, the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!

Show Notes

- Ghosts are a human problem and preoccupation.

- According to the Washington Post, "nearly half of the women who were murdered during the past decade were killed by a current or former intimate partner." Huge content warnings for everything in this article.

- The Flame and the Flower, Shanna, and some of Sarah's thoughts about rape in romance.

- We talk about Id a lot on Fated Mates, and we use it as a shorthand for our most primal, deep-rooted desires.

- "All happy families resemble one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way" is the famous first line of Anna Karenina. This New York Times article about the many Tolstoy translations is fascinating.

- Kresley Cole isn't the only one to use the menstrual cycle as a symbol; but others wonder why menstruation is almost always absent from fiction.

- A crescent moon (or "sliver moon" as Neomi calls it) is never up at...

Happy New Year, Fated Matesers (This isn’t a great name for us. We need a better name—someone name us)! We’re back, it’s 2019, new year, new us, and we’re starting as we mean to go on with Curvy Heroines, because, in the words of Julie Murphy, Every Body is a Swimsuit Body. Jen and I love a curvy heroine, and the men who love them, and so curvy romances are OUR FAVES.

Next week, we’re getting into Demons! We’ve met Cade, the prince of Rothkalina (the Rage Demonarchy) and his brother Rydstrom, its deposed King, before — they were in the Talisman’s Hie, and in Néomi & Conrad’s book. Next week, we tackle Cade & Holly’s story, Dark Desires After Dusk, with Rydstrom & Sabine’s book Kiss of a Demon King two weeks later. We highly recommend reading these two close together!

Show Notes

- In the summer of 2018, Jen and a bunch of people on Twitter discussed Nine Rules to Break While Romancing a Rake using the hashtag #9RulesRake.

- Sarah also has a curvy heroine romance that is coming in July! Brazen & the Beast has a gorgeous curvy heroine on the cover.

- Just a reminder that Jenny Crusie is completely awesome, and Bet Me is an amazing book.

- Courtney Milan has lots to say about romance. All of her books are amazing, but we talked about The Heiress Effect.

- Never Sweeter by Charlotte Stein was awareded the platinum medal in Jen's "Who Did It Better in the Library" post.

- Romancelandia often recommends books with curvy and fat heroines, and there are quite a few thoughtful pieces about how we think aobut these characters our ourselves.

- Naima Simone writes very excellent books and Jen & Sarah want this one right now.

- Olivia Dade is an advocate for fat women in romance, and Jen and Sarah both loved this thread and want to read...

DEMONS ARE HERE! We’re talking Dark Desires After Dusk, starring Cadeon Woede (Prince of the Rage Demonarchy) and Holly, his human fated mate (SPOILER SHE ISN’T HUMAN, WHAT!). This one is the first in what we will end up calling the Demonarchy Duology — and we encourage you to read the next book in the series, Kiss of A Demon King as soon as you can after reading Dark Desires. Each book makes the other better. We’ll cover female rage, sex shaming, fast cars, food, feminism and…maybe a pot joke? Also, Sarah waxes on about horns. A lot.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

Our next read (in two weeks) will be Kiss of A Demon King — the second in the duology, and the wrap up of the plot of this book. We’ve seen Rydstrom total his McLaren and get abducted by Sabine, who is not only Queen of Illusions but also his Fated Mate. DOUBLE TROUBLE. Cade and Holly are a HUGE part of our episode on Sabine & Rydstrom’s — because we just can’t talk about one of these books alone.

Get ready for the KoaDK read along at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or your local indie. Also, the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!

Show Notes

A quick primer to the verbs deposed, dethroned, defrocked, and usurped.

Groot the Metallurgist is not a cute dancing tree, but rather the half-brother of Omort the Deathless. This Groot has forged a sword that can kill Omort.

Jen went back to Dark Needs at Night's Edge and here is a screenshot of the scene where both Rydstrom and Cadeon choose their kingdom over their fated mates. Nix was not amused.

Romancing the Stone is a rather amazing 80s adventure movie that stars Kathleen Turner as a romance author who travels to Colombia, where she has to trade a treasure map to free her sister. The sequel is The Jewel of the Nile, but it's not as good.

Freya and Woden are two of the three parents to every valkyrie that is created.

Jen says Holly is "some bullshitty one thing away" from being done with her PhD, but the phrase she was...

It’s the holidays, and whether you’re the type to hole up on the couch and read, or go for a long walk to escape, we’ve got you covered. Get ready; we’re talking about horns.

Show Notes

- Update: Jen got THREE books for Christmas this year! These two from her brother, and her best friend gives perfect, #onbrand books. Sarah got Thomas Madden's Venice and the Great British Bake Off coloring book. Does that count as a book?

- Sarah loves The Great British Baking Show, so you should watch. Or maybe you would just like to admire silver-fox, Paul Hollywood.

-Here's a 1979 New York Times article about this new craze sweeping the nation: hand-raised pies. Everthing old is new again in Sarah's house!

- Jen no longer has the decorative wooden book item, but she does like to window shop for glass jars full of...things.

- "You can put your weed in there" is an old SNL joke.

- Gatsby's books are a symbol, but maybe more than you wanted to know about how books are put together and how pages are cut.

- Read some more AMAs if you're in the mood, and you know Jen can't wait to read that first one.

- Strawberry Rhubarb pie is Sarah's favorite, and although Jen didn't mention it, a favorite pie she makes every summer is Strawberry Margarita pie.

- Our favorite pie shops in Houston, Northern Michigan, Chicago, and Brooklyn.

- Charlotte Stein and Sophie Jordan are auto-buys, and A Kingdom of Dreams and Dreaming of Youare comfort reads. Sarah's most re-read IAD book is

One of the best loved books in the IAD universe, this week we’re talking about Kiss of A Demon King, the completion of the Demonarchy Duology, starring Rydstrom, the deposed King of Rothkalina, and his fated mate, Sabine, the Queen of Illusions, which is an incredibly handy power.

We’ve got a fabulous guest host this week, Jenny Nordbak from our sister romance podcast, The Wicked Wallflowers Club. Jenny is ride-or-die for Sabine, and she’s got a fabulous personal story about her relationship with the book that we’re thrilled to share with you.

This episode, we’re talking traumatic pasts, Latin references, horns (I mean, obviously), villains, the unlikeable heroine (a whole lot), and we’ll come back around to Cade & Holly and tackle the unfinished business from their book!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

Novellas are up next! We told you we’d get to the rest of the Wroth Brothers eventually, and eventually is here! Our next read-along episode will tackle both novellas, The Warlord Wants Forever (Nikolai) & Untouchable (Murdoch), available in the Deep Kiss of Winter anthology! This will be the last time we tackle vampires until Lothaire, so get your fill!

A Note: There are two version of The Warlord Wants Forever — you want the most recent version.

Show Notes

• Our special guest this week is Jenny Nordbak, author of the memoir, The Scarlett Letters: My Secret Year of Men in an LA Dungeon and co-host of the Wicked Wallflowers Club Podcast.
• All about the freudian slip.
• Here is Wendy's blog post about the righted world, along with a twitter thread that Jennifer Porter wrote that eloquently talks about the importance of this idea. Teach Me Tonight jumped in with a look at how this same phenomenon plays out in academia.
• Jen's friend Liz, the Latin teacher!, loved this book for the sheer number of classical allusions. Here's a report of some of her mort specific findings:
• "mors, mortis" means death in Latin, so O-mort means "without death" or "in the way of death."
• The Ourbouros is an ancient symbol that shows up in Egyptian traditions.
• Finally, the invaders that Omort led into Tornin--the Invidia, Libitinae, and Undines--are also Latin allusions, and they're really evil in the classical world. (Invidia--this Latin word means jealousy and personified envy. Undines-- Latin word for female spirits that inhabit the water. Libitinae--has several meanings: the goddess of corpses (in her temple were kept the funeral apparatus and registries of

It’s Scotland week, Lads and Lassies! We’re talking about the great green jewel to the north of England, where the ladies are bold and the lairds are brawn, and we're all just wishing we could get wrapped in a plaid and cuddled through a cold Highland night.

Next week, we’re back with the Lykae with Pleasure of a Dark Prince—starring the FULLY DREAMY Garreth MacRieve and Lucia the Huntress, who just might be our favorite heroine yet. We’ll be talking wolf holograms, how Kresley is blowing the doors off the IAD world, and we’ll be starting Lothaire Watch!

Get ready for the PoaDP read along at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or your local indie. Also, the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!

Show Notes

• Here's the twitter thread where Lillie talked about imprinting on Julie Garwood.
• The Heaving Bosoms podcast is pretty great, and although this episode about Mastered by Her Mates by Grace Goodwin is not set during Highlander Times, it's profoundly hilarious.
• Some brief explainers about why old paperbacks have dyed edges, but according to Sarah's research, the more popular an author, the more likely it was the pages would be dyed.
• All about kilts. Also, it's never too late for a calendar of men it kilts.
• Dirks and broadswords, oh my!
• Goodreads has a few 

We’re tackling the novellas this week, and finishing up the Wroth Brother Quartet with The Warlord Wants Forever (Nikolai) & Untouchable (Murdoch), as well as their incredible Valkyrie mates.

This episode, we’re talking about Myst’s weird chain, Danii’s loneliness, the responsibility of authors to readers, to themselves, to the text, and to literary history, and the way Untouchable hints at the enormous world that IAD is about to become.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

In two weeks, we’re back to the Lykae, with one of our favorite books — Pleasures of a Dark Prince, the last book in the first arc of the IAD series (this begins at the same time as A Hunger Like No Other). Garreth MacRieve, prince of the Lykae clan and Lucia the Huntress — the greatest archer of all time.

Show Notes

• The Wroth Brothers are dreamy, and here are the books the feature Nikolai, Sebastian, Conrad, and Murdoch.
• Take a look at the IAD Ranking Spreasheet of Wonder from the Wicked Wallflowers Podcast.
• Sarah refers to our novella episode, but she means the Holiday Romances episode where we had a long discussion of the novellas as a form.
• Jen collected some comparison screenshots from the original (A) and revised (B) versions of The Warlord Wants Forever. The two versions of the scene after the chain is broken; The two versions of the first time they have sex; and the two versions of Nix naming herself.
• Dubcon romances have main characters who agree to sex play featuring "dubious consent."
• A little more about the versions of Whitney, My Love. You can still find original versions on eBay or Amazon, but you'll pay more for them.
• Jen mentions Eric Selinger at DePaul. He teaches classes on Romance at DePaul, which is local...

We’ve got Doritos, a stack of Cosmo sex quizzes and an epic mixtape ready to go — Sarah and Jen are talking about road trips and the inevitable smooching that comes with them in romance!

Next week, we’re back to the Rage Demonarchy Duology with Kiss of A Demon King — where we get the full wrap up of the plot of the second in the duology, and the wrap up of the plot of Dark Desires After Dusk. We’ve seen Rydstrom total his McLaren and get abducted by Sabine, who is not only Queen of Illusions but also his Fated Mate and he’s not feeling great about this at all (Spoiler: We feel very great about this.) We’ll be joined by the fabulous Jenny Nordbak from The Wicked Wallflowers podcast for part of the conversation, and it will be a longer episode than usual because of that!

Get ready for the KoaDK read along at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books or your local indie. Also, the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!

Show Notes

• Texas is very big, everyone. 
• Here's some interesting facts about Starbucks. 
• Jen had no idea how posting horses worked until Elisabeth Lane asked on Twitter. (Sarah knew.)
• Looking for books with carriage sex? Twitter has recs for you. 
• Learn more about the Gilded Age in America. 
• New York's Grand Central Station is absolutely magical. 
• Hildene, a museum of Lincoln's family home, has a full-scale reproduction of an amazing private rail car...It's amazing how someone on Twitter will always know the good things. 
• All about bustles.
• Trading Places is a 1983 comedy with Eddie Murphy and Dan Ackroyd, and the blog 

We’re back with the werewolves this week, with one of our very favorite books in the series, Pleasures of a Dark Prince, featuring Garreth MacRieve and Lucia the Huntress, a Valkyrie who is burning it all down.

This episode, we’re discussing the way this book wraps up the first movement of IAD and preps readers for what’s to come (SPOILER: IT’S TORTURE ISLAND), we get into how the books are becoming more political, we update the lost-limb count, begin Lothaire-Watch, and dig into why it’s just plain futile to try to stay away from a werewolf mate on the night of a full moon. More than all that, we’re interviewing moon expert Summer Ash about moon business, and Jen is beyond excited.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

In two weeks, get ready for vivisection, because it’s happening on Torture Island, and we’re doing a reread of Jen’s favorite book in the series, Demon From The Dark! Malkom Slaine is a demon living alone on another plane…until witch Carrow Graie comes to fetch him. Get DFTD at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• This article explains "the heir and a spare" and also has a lot of Prince Harry. Fine.
• It's an astronomy heavy show, so learn all about The Big Bang.
• Ah, the double entendre.
• All about how goals are scored in rugby.
• Turns out there are lots of myths about gods and cannibalism.
• Chastity is one of the seven virtues, but the seven deadly sins sound a lot more fun.
• Is it really necessary to link to Fifty Shades of Grey?
• The "he-cession" recession.
• Women and the second shift.
• The Cooler stars WILLIAM H. Macy, obviously. Robert H. Macy isn't even a thing.
• The Amazon rainforest

This week, we’re having a fun, far-reaching conversation with the wonderful Joanna Shupe—who loves Kiss of a Demon King a whole lot, immediately saw the echoes of one of the most famous old school romances inside it, and came to talk to us about enemies to lovers romances, but ended up telling us all about that time she spent a lot of time researching penetrative sex in carriages. We had a great time, and hope you do, too!

Our next read-along episode will tackle the final two Wroth brothers with the two IAD novellas, The Warlord Wants Forever (Nikolai) & Untouchable (Murdoch), available in the Deep Kiss of Winter anthology! This will be the last time we tackle vampires until Lothaire, so get your fill!

A Note: There are two version of The Warlord Wants Forever — you want the most recent version.

Show Notes

• Joanna Shupe writes delightful Gilded Age romances. Check out this twitter thread where Jen raved about A Daring Arrangement.
• Sarah was hunting for that Lora Leigh book on Twitter.
• Goodreads reviewers have feelings about Prisoner of My Desire.
• Of course there's a YouTube channel of classic clips from Candid Camera.
• Eleanor of Aquitaine is an amazing woman. The 1968 film The Lion in Winter stars Katherine Hepburn and Peter O'Toole.
• Hot Island Nights is the prequel to Her Best Worst Mistake.
• Jen also talked about A Matter of Disagreement on Twitter.
• Consider this a placeholder in case Joanna shares links from her sex in a carraige research. Jen's a little afraid to google search that one.
• A barouche is a real thing, and you can learn more about all of it at the Carriage Museum in Long Island.
• We return to IAD next time with two Wroth brother novellas, the first is The Warlord Wants Forever (an earlier version of this was available in an anthology called Playing Easy to Get. It is not HUGELY different, so it's okay if you just have that one--we'll talk about the differences during the episode.) The second is called Untouchable and available in the Deep Kiss of Winter anthology.

The Rest

• For

Torture Island is here and we could not be more excited! Demon from the Dark is Jen’s favorite book in the series, because she loves poor, broken Malkom, the vemon with a heart of gold, and his fated mate, Carrow, our second witch, whose powers come from other people’s joy.

This episode, we’re digging into the worldbuilding of the second movement of IAD — Torture Island. We’re talking about innocence and how it is a great motivator, what saves a heroine from being unlikeable, why bathing is sexy, and how we really would like it if more men offered up the heads of our enemies as tribute. As always, there’s a lost-limb count and Lothaire-Watch!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

In two weeks, get ready for the most (we think?) controversial of the IAD books — Dreams of a Dark Warrior, when Declan Chase, unknowing berserker and magister of Torture Island, gets paired with Regin the Radiant. Get DoaDW at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• In the 1976 movie Rocky, one of the things he consumes during training in a glassful of raw eggs.
• Jen loves books about nuclear weapons and nuclear disasters, and the mindset of the Order is very much that of mutually assured destruction during the Cold War.
• In Buffy, it was called the Initiative. Angel, Riley, and Spike were her boyfriends on the show, but in the comic there are other lovers.
• Your brain isn't fully cooked until you're 25!
• Duolingo helps you learn languages, but if you're in a hurry just drink down somebody's blood.
• Sarah's friend Natalie Parker's book is called Seafire and it has 

Mr. Vivisection is here, and it’s a whole lot! Regin the Radiant is on Torture Island, and just her luck, the guy running the whole show is a berserker reincarnate who she’s loved in five earlier lifetimes. Declan Chase is a highly controversial Kresley hero, and Dreams of a Dark Warrior is a book Sarah and Jen always skip on the reread…but this week, we’re talking about it and *gasp!* we’re kind of on #TeamDeclan by the end?! UP IS DOWN!

This episode, we’re digging into the way Kresley builds characters and lays the brickwork for the rest of the IAD series. We’re talking about torture, about childhood, about packing for the end of days, and about Lothaire’s Guide to Wooing Women. We’re joined by the wonderful Sarah Hawley, co-host of the Wicked Wallflowers podcast, and Declan-stan.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

In two weeks, strap in because Lothaire. Is. Here!!! We’re so excited we don’t know what to do with ourselves, but FYI, this is gonna be a double episode for SURE. Gird your loins. Get Lothaire at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• In Salman Rushdie's novel Haroun and the Sea of Stories, juggling is often used as a symbol for storytelling.
• There's not much better than a snowed-in romance. Or maybe marriage in trouble is more your speed.
• "That just happened" is a quote from a very funny scene of a movie with Alec Baldwin called State and Main.
• Mr. and Mrs. Smith and the single sexiest hate fuck ever filmed. /fans self
• The heist movie slow walk is iconic.
• Villains as heroes: hard to write, delicious to read.
• Sarah Silverman interviewed a woman who escaped from the cult of The Westboro Church.
• Revenge is a good plot.
• Talia Hibbert had to quit this one.
• The Lord of the Rings Ring is super fancy. And super creepy.
• Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs...

You’re new to romance, where should you begin?! This week, Jen and Sarah are talking about good gateway romances, and we’ve got four that we think work for readers who’ve never dipped a toe, but are open to things from dukes to magic, the America West to kinky London and everything in between.

Next week, it’s Jen’s favorite IAD book, Demon from the Dark! Malkom Slaine is a demon living alone on another plane…until witch Carrow Graie comes to fetch him. Get DFTD at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie. Don’t forget that the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!

Show Notes

• Next week, it's Demon from the Dark since we already talked about Pleasure of a Dark Prince!
• Derek Craven is our favorite and since it's our podcast, we don't have to listen to anyone talk about St. Vincent.
• A librarian who excels at reader's advisory is a wonderful thing to have in your life.
• Check out Jen's website for targeted romance recommendations.
• John Warner is the biblioracle, and he's an amazing advocate for educators and the teaching of writing. He's also one of the key players in The Morning News Tournament of Books, which is literary blood sport par excellence.
• An explainer about American-style universtiy course numbering.
• Jaime Green is the New York Times romance reviewer and we love her.
• One of the most hilarious twitter...

This week, Adriana Herrera joins us again to talk food romances and Sarah is very excited. Adriana’s debut food romance, American Dreamer, is on shelves now. We talk about the book, the pull of the food romance novel, and why nourishment is sexy. Also, Sarah basically name checks her whole favorites shelf.

Next week, it’s full Torture Island with what is probably the most controversial of the IAD books—Dreams of a Dark Warrior. Declan Chase—torturer extraordinaire is our hero, Regin the Radiant is the woman he’s been trying to love for a millennium, and we’re full bananas in the lead up to Lothaire! Get ready! Get DoaDW at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie. Don’t forget that the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!

Show Notes

• Welcome back Adriana, and if you didn't hear her on our Wicked Deeds on a Winter's Night episode, you should check it out.
• The concept of love languages comes from 1995 self-help book The Five Love Languages, by Gary Chapman. It's a little soft for us. We prefer this additional list of love languages, from McSweeney's.
• Adriana talked about her grandmother bringing a pot of Sancocho from the DR to family in New York, and here's a twitter thread where Adriana makes a pot with a friend.
• American Dreamer came out at the beginning of the month, and the sequel American Fairytale comes out in April. Find American Dreamer at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books or Kobo.
• The dull thuds you're hearing...

This one has to be a top-ten universal trope…were talking fake engagements! Listen to us chat about why ladies love a fantasy, the royal wedding, marriages of convenience, and books by Elle Kennedy, Talia Hibbert, Chelsea M. Cameron and Kate Clayborn!

GIRD THY LOINS, LOTHAIRE IS NEXT!

A jumbo episode with this jumbo jerk face dreamboat! Get Lothaire at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie…and if you’re an audio lover, you are not going to want to miss Robert Petkoff on this one — Jen hearts it baaad.

Show Notes

• Ana Coqui is the force behind #RomBkLove.
• The twitter thread where Mary Lynn Nielsen perfectly described the fake engagement trope.
• In historicals, the trope is usually called marriage of convenience.
• Chelsea M. Cameron vs. Chelsea Cameron.
• Garrets are empirically great romance heroes.
• Kate Clayborn joined us for our Best Friend's Sibling episode.
• The royal wedding of Harry & Meghan was so delightful. We wish them many years of happiness.
• New adult is a genre descriptor that not everyone loves, but there are lots of wonderful NA romances.
• She's All That is a 90s teen romance starring Freddie Prinz Jr. and Rachel Leigh Cook.
• "That Six Pence None the Richer" song is called Kiss Me.
• 2 historicals that Sarah mentioned this week are His at Night by Sherry Thomas and 

Lothaire is here! We’re so excited, we don’t know what to do with ourselves, but FYI, this is a longer episode than usual -- so get ready! We're talking morality chain romance, how Lothaire is a pure ass but incredibly funny, and how Ellie is pretty much the only mate he could ever have. Also, we love Nix & Lothaire a lot.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

In two weeks, one of our favorite people, Sierra Simone, is joining us to talk about The Full Kresley, and MacRieve! It's going to be a great time, we promise. Get MacRieve at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• Learn about tone-policing so you won't make Jen mad.
• Maybe we haven't recommended audiobook narrator Robert Petkoff to you enough.
• Justine Eyre is the audiobook narrator who was nominated for an Audie for Sarah's book Never Judge a Lady by her Cover.
• Love Between the Covers is an amazing documentary about romance, and you might be able to find it on Netflix.
• Everyone knows the difference between hardback and paperback books, but learn the difference between mass-market and trade paperbacks.
• During the Lothaire bus tour, Kresley wrote her fans this Facebook letter about the experience.
• Paul Marron is a very handsome man.
• The morality chain trope.
• Other famous series with villains-turned-heroes include Lisa Kleypas's Wallflowers (Devil in Winter), Elizabeth Hoyt's Maiden Lane ([Duke of Sin])10, and Sarah's Scandal & Scoundrel (Day of the Duchess).
• Italy discovers what happens when everyone is raising a mammone.
• Lothaire breaks his life up into tasks, sort of like Hugh Grant in About a...

Jen and Sarah were together in the same city in the same room and just couldn’t pass up the chance to do a real-deal AMA while looking at each other’s faces! You asked, we answered…but get ready. There are some weird things in here (mainly said by Jen).

Next week, it’s MacRieve week with Sierra Simone! If you think things got weird this week, just you wait! Get MacRieve at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• At KissCon, Sarah and Sophie Jordan hosted a session called "Bananas Books" and friend of the pod Beth took notes and listed all the titles.
• Jen's Best Friend Kelly runs The Resistance Button Club, makes avatar buttons, and also designs stickers and swag for Romancelandia.
• You can see the signed copy of Wicked Abyss on our insta.
• Jen wrote about making new TBR collections for her Kindle on Twitter.
• Soren is one of the characters in Tiffany Reisz's Original Sinners series.
• Check out the IAD fan Facebook group.
• Check below in the photo array for the Kleypas books with talismans.
• Fridging is a comics term, and this explainer uses Deadpool 2 to explain the history of this problematic trope.
• Close 3rd person point of view is very common in romance.
• Unreliable narrators are very uncommon in romance.
• Here's how to make a Chicago-style hot dog.
• A quick primer on archetypes.
• Next week, we're talking about 

The Game Makers Series! Kresley’s first foray into contemporary begins with The Professional, which is some kind of book, y’all. Originally released in three parts over six weeks, The Professional stars Natalie, an American Ph.D. who happens to be the long lost daughter of a Russian mobster, and said mobster’s bodyguard, who can’t get enough of watching her in the tub. Or on his cellphone. Or tied up in a sex club. You’ll see!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. 

In two weeks, we’re back to IAD, just like the original Kresley fans were! Get ready to have your heart ripped out by these childhood lovers turned enemies turned lovers again! Poor Lanthe has been running from her Vrekener, Thronos since Kiss of the Demon King, and finally she gets her story! Read Dark Skye at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• When we asked about the serialization of The Professional, listener Sarah Asnaashari came to the rescue!
• Serialization of novels used to be very common, and although we've all heard the myth that Dickens was paid by the word, in fact he was paid by the installment.
• Roxie Rivera is the author of the Her Russian Protector series, relevant to everyone's interests, she also wrote a "prison planet romance" series under the name Lolita Lopez.
• Eastern Promises is a great movie.
• Scroll down this list for the description of Edward's creepiness in Twilight.
• Sookie Stackhouse is a telepath in the books and TV show. This is an interesting essay on why Hollywood should stop talking about telepathy as a disability.
• That Wayne's World flashback noise.
• Jen will never get tired of the greatest real estate listing ever.

Are you a sports ball fan?! Do we have romances for you! We’ve got the brilliant Jenny Nordbak from The Wicked Wallflowers podcast back for a sports romance interstitial! Listen to us chat about why we love sports books, the alpha, competence porn and books by Kennedy Ryan, Tamsen Parker, and Naima Simone!

Next week, it’s (FOR REAL THIS TIME) MacRieve week with Sierra Simone! We’re so excited, and Sierra is the perfect guest for this sex-driven book! Get MacRieve at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• Welcome back to our guest Jenny Nordbak from the Wicked Wallflowers podcast!
• Everyone loves a trip to the hairdresser.
• Here's a list of the RITA finalists, and a link to Jen's new twitter account which tracks her reviews of the finalists.
• Author Bronwen Fleetwood crunched a bunch of RITA data from the past 20 years, which is how we know there are more winners named Susan (and Elizabeth, Barbara, Karen, Jennifer, Ann, Jill, Linda...) than WoC finalists.
• Famously, the Hugo Awards also struggled with recognizing the best books in their field.
• Here's what we are talking about when we talk about how PoC are underrepresented in publishing.
• Um, actully Sarah, Ulysses is a twitter thread.
• This week, Sarah told a pretty solid competence porn story about her neurosurgeon on Twitter.
• Kennedy Ryan has been on the Wicked Wallflowers podcast. Twice.
• Content warnings for Long Shot.
• Adriana Herrera, author and friend of the Pod, recently wrote a very important piece for the Smart Bitches about 

MacRieve is here and so is friend of the pod, Sierra Simone! We’re so excited to talk about The Full Kresley, what makes erotic romance, The Simone Scale™ of taboo romance, why MacRieve is so tough to read, why Sarah thinks it might be Kresley’s best book, and why Chloe is such a badass. There’s a lot of hysterical laughter, and Sarah is preparing for legal action.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. 

In two weeks, we’re starting Kresley’s contemporary series The Game Makers (we’re reading the books in original publication order) with The Professional. Get ready for Wroth Brother fanfic that Kresley herself refers to as “way sexier” then IAD. Get The Professional at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• The NECRWA conference always sounds so great!
• I don't even know where to start with Andie Christopher and her Chris Evans obssession.
• Avengers Endgame, that ol' chesnut.
• We stan Sierra Simone, and we love The Sierra Simone Scale™. Check out her two latest, Misadventures of a Curvy Girl and A Lesson in Thorns.
• Debbie Macomber is a queen of small town contemporary romance.
• You can't stop me, you can only hope to contain me is a play on a very catchy ESPN phrase from back in the day.
• Adriana Herrera wrote about how to ethically write about sexual trauma for Smart Bitches. She also joined us to talk about Food Romances & her most recent release.
• Adriana Anders' Under Her Skin explores a story of a woman's traumatic past, as does Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan.
• Suzanne from Love In Panels wrote a great explainer about content warnings and why we use them.
• This is a 

Small towns! Jen (Chicago) and Sarah (NYC) do not understand them IRL, but we are talking about them in fiction this week! Listen to us talk about their genesis, what they represent, and why Romancelandia can’t get enough of them. Books by Sierra Simone, Vanessa North & Alisha Rai!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. Also — if you have a romance loving friend, please let them know that we don’t just talk about vampires & valkyries, and maybe they’d like us, too?

In fact — In two weeks, we’re not talking about vampires at all! (Except we kind of are) The Game Makers series read-along begins with Kresley’s first contemporary, The Professional. Get ready for Wroth Brother fanfic that Kresley herself refers to as “way sexier” then IAD. Get The Professional at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• In case you missed the Signet Regency era of romance.
• More about the Regency period, and Sarah would like you to know that she knows “a bunch of people” didn’t come between George IV & Victoria. One person did: William IV.
• Everyone's favorite Darcy and Darcy-esque figure.
• Jane Austen and her world, Georgette Heyer and hers.
• Cleveland DOES rock, and yes the Cuyahoga River caught on fire, but that whole story is kind of a myth.
• Y'all know who Jen means when she talks about Kelly, right?
• The word Jen was searching for when talking about small town romances was "revisionist."
• Maybe it wasn't "some Russian" who talked about the two stories.
• Colson Whitehead is amazing and Jen definitely recommends seeing him in person if you...

Y’all asked for more rants, and boy do we have some for you this week! Alabama passed a terrible law, Georgia and Ohio are right there with them, and other states are following suit. Jen and Sarah are talking bodily autonomy — contraception, pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, hysterectomy and abortion and how they exist in romance novels. Get your pens ready — we’ve got a library full of books to talk about.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

We’re taking a break next week (Happy Memorial Day! Eat a cheeseburger for us!)…but will be back to regular IAD programming in two weeks with Dark Skye. Get ready to have your heart ripped out by these childhood lovers turned enemies turned lovers again! Poor Lanthe has been running from her Vrekener, Thronos since Kiss of the Demon King, and finally she gets her story! Read Dark Skye at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• That Victoria Dahl tweet about hysteria.
• More about the forced birth laws sweeping through several states, and where you can donate your money if you're so inclined.
• How transgender and gender nonconforming people might be especially endangered from this recent spate of laws.
• Sarah's twitter thread asking about romances with abortion.
• Fanny Hill and some of the illustrations.
• Tinctures, tonics, and teas.
• The portrayal of abortion in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
• The perils of abstinence-only education.
• Romance is a powerful tool for sex-education, but not all authors view it as a responsibility.

We are back from vacation and Torture Island is back — surprising no one more than us! It’s Dark Skye week, Lanthe & Thronos are doing some weird stuff with holey-sheets, y’all. We talk about religion and romance, the work this book does in the larger series, and—as always—patriarchy. Friend of the pod, SS Jaxon joins us, too!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. 

We’ve got an interstitial lined up for next week, then we’re back to the Game Makers in two weeks with Jen’s favorite of the three books, The Master, and one of our favorites, Sophie Jordan! Get ready for chastity belts and string bikinis! Read The Master at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• Thronos, not Thanos.
• Childhood best friends to lovers to enemies to lovers is one of Sarah's favorite tropes. She wrote one once, and it's only $1.99 in Kindle!
• We mention a lot of adventure movies in this episode, including Groundhog Day, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Time Bandits, Labrynth, and The Matrix.
• We also mention some of classic literature that we think Kresley might be alluding to in Dark Skye, including: Paradise Lost, The Inferno, The Odyssey, Alice in Wonderland, and many Bibilical stories including Jonah and the Whale.
• At one point Jen calls it "classic sci-fi" when she really meant to say fantasy. Ooops!
• In case you're planning to read Ulysses, make sure you have a copy of Ulysses Annotated. But I guess now

Well, it was destined to happen sometime—we’re taking the show intergalactic! This week we’re talking about space romance and why it’s totally. fricken. bananas. Discover the series that brought Jen and Sarah together, hear us talk about prison planets, sex planets, the Muppet Show and more. Series by Grace Goodwin, Emmy Chandler, Robin Lovett & Jessie Mihalik.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. Also — if you have a romance loving friend, please let them know that we don’t just talk about vampires & valkyries, and maybe they’d like us, too?

We’re back to the Game Makers in two weeks with Jen’s favorite of the three books, The Master, and one of our favorites, Sophie Jordan! Get ready for chastity belts and string bikinis! Read The Master at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• Who knew there was so much to say about The Muppets? We both loved Pigs in Space, and Sarah mentioned that General Hospital-style skit. The Muppet Show is streaming on YouTube. And they're still making new ones!
• How many dudes were in Dead Poet's Society? Well, there was Robert Sean Leonard. Ethan Hawke. And Josh Fucking Charles, of course. And then these other guys.
• Josh Charles and his amazing man hands on The Good Wife, kissing Alica in an elevator.
• Oh, and Sarah also likes Sports Night even though Aaron Sorkin is definitely a problem.
• Muppets from Space. Omg.
• A few early space romances were Sweet Starfire and 

We’re back with The Game Makers Series this week — talking with the wonderful Sophie Jordan about her favorite book in the series, The Master! Starring Maxim Sevastyan and the first-time escort who lays him flat (in all ways), This one has all the insane sex stuff of the last Game Makers book, now with birth control insanity, and a sweet nod to holiday traditions…and a trip into the Internet to look at chastity belts.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. 

In two weeks, IT IS HAPPENNNINNNGGGGG! We have reached Sweet Ruin, Sarah’s favorite book in the IAD series, and she is BEYOND EXCITED to talk about her favorite Kresley hero and the magnificent, perfect heroine who refuses to back down from their fated matehood. Block off some time, as we can’t guarantee this will be anything near a normal length episode! Read Sweet Ruin at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie. Also, we promise you won’t be disappointed by the audio of this one!

Show Notes

• Welcome Sophie Jordan!
• You should listen to the Wicked Wallflowers podcast where Sophie talks about her Game Makers Series theory.
• The politics of lane-sharing at the pool are more complicated then you'd think!
• In case you don't know what pendejo means.
• ICYMI: one of our first interstitials was about the escort trope.
• I guess we did learn more about what Christian was thinking when she fell over the threshold in that 50 shades sequel, Grey.
• Is there really a morning after shot?
• The Smart Bitches gave The Master a D! /clutches pearls
• If you haven't read Lord of Scoundrels, you should.
• I decide who is a Pretty Woman quote. Of course.
• The Robin Hood Men in Tights chastity...

Love letters are the best because they’re personal and honest and raw and beautiful, and this week—by request—we’re talking about all the different ways romance tells epistolary love stories! Leave us your own version of a love note in comments!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review. 

Next week, IT IS HAPPENNNINNNGGGGG! We’ll be talking about Sweet Ruin, Sarah’s favorite book in the IAD series, and she is BEYOND EXCITED to talk about her favorite Kresley hero and the magnificent, perfect heroine who refuses to back down from their fated matehood. Block off some time, as we can’t guarantee this will be anything near a normal length episode! Read Sweet Ruin at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie. Also, we promise you won’t be disappointed by the audio of this one!

Show Notes

• It was @jenalice1 who requested an epistolary interstitial.
• "That INXS song" that played in the universe when Sarah met her husband was Never Tear Us Apart.
• Sarah didn't like the movie Mystery Men. (Jen did.)
• Text messaging has come a long way since ICQ, but it looks like there are ICQ nostalgia apps in case you miss it.
• We muddled through our Kristen Callihan favorites for a while: The one where they fuck in the library, the one with the virgin NFL player with the piercing, and the one with Scottie.
• When Sarah said "Mr and Mrs Smith but make it gay," Jen was thinking of The Spies Who Loved Her series by Katrina Jackson but couldn't remember them.
• Salt with Angelina Jolie.
• Archie was a non-cool name that is experiencing a resurgence.
• when Jen said Not if I Save You First was "An RWA book," she meant it was...

IT’S HAPPENNNINNNGGGGG! Sweet Ruin, Sarah’s favorite book in the IAD series, is finally here and she is BEYOND EXCITED to talk about her favorite Kresley hero and the magnificent, perfect heroine who refuses to back down from their fated matehood. Listen as Jen and Sarah discuss Nix as Warrior Queen, make important demands of fan fiction writers in the IAD universe, and generally discuss why this book is one of the best of the series, without question. Block off some time and be sure to use the bathroom before you start, because this one clocks in at two hours (and we’ve already realized we forgot to talk about a few things — so prepare for updates in future episodes!)

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

In two weeks, we’re finishing up the Game Makers series with arguably Kresley’s most broken hero (don’t worry, we’ll get to the bottom of this ranking on the episode), Dmitri Sevastyan! Basically, July is “Sarah’s favorite books” month, so settle in for that…we’ll be joined by one of our favorites, Kate Clayborn, who will reveal the name of our group text thread! Read The Player at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• Short chapters make for quick pacing.
• The Morior are like the Super Friends...but evil.
• All about The Starship Enterprise.
• More about a witch's familiar.
• Runes are actually from Norse Mythology. You'd think Rune would use the internet to learn more about them.
• Rune is poison to everyone but her. Jen's never read The Poisoner's Handbook, but everyone says it's amazing.
• Thinking about theme as a literary device isn't just for English class.
• Our twitter friend Aunt Angelique has changed her username, so follow her for interesting tidbits like...

This week we’re talking all things royal! Join us with the fabulously fun Nana Malone to talk about kings, queens, princes and princesses, royal weddings, royal gossip, why Nick Jonas married SO FAR ABOVE HIMSELF, and how we wish poor Kate Middleton could just have a cheeseburger with her friends.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

Next week, we’re finishing up the Game Makers series with arguably Kresley’s most damaged hero, Dmitri Sevastyan! Basically, July is “Sarah’s favorite books” month, so settle in for that…we’ll be joined by one of our favorites, Kate Clayborn, who will reveal the name of our group text thread! Read The Player at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie.

Show Notes

• Welcome, Nana Malone!
• We were all about talking about songs and music videos today: Royals by Lorde, S&M by Rhianna, and Senorita by Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello. Bonus hilarious conversation between Jen and her son about that last one.
• The e is silent.
• Shawn Mendes in Calvin Klein.
• All about boy bands, why girls love them, the powerhouse that is BTS, and the many hairstyles of Justin Beiber.
• Nick Jonas married up... Chasing that happiness, I guess. Priyanka Chopra is unbelievably gorgeous. We stan.
• Meghan and Harry's...

Our favorite person, Kate Clayborn, is back with us to wrap up the Game Makers series with THE PLAYER! Join us as Sarah explains all the ways that the damaged hero works for her (Spoiler: It’s Every Single Way), Kate digs deep on Kresley’s liberal use of punctuation, and Jen admits that Sarah was right all along.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

We’re getting down to the wire with IAD, but because we’re completists, we’re tackling the Dacians in two weeks with a two-for-one episode featuring both of these Lothaire spinoff stories, Shadow's Claim (featuring demon-sorceress Bettina and Dacian assassin Trehan) & Shadow's Seduction (featuring Caspion the demon and Mirceo the vampire prince)!

Show Notes

• Wecome back, Kate!
• The Grassy Knoll isn't much of a knoll, anymore. But if you're ever in Dallas, check out the Sixth Floor Museum.
• This kind of teabagging does not appear on the Clayborn Scale.
• YA Author Carrie Ryan has smart things to say about first person and scary things to say about zombies.
• Famous for having a big reveal: The Usual Suspects, The Sixth Sense, and The DaVinci Code. Not famous for a big reveal: Meet Joe Black.
• We should have asked Adriana Herrera about Dimitri's trauma.
• Rocky was also a self-made man, and you cannot even convince Jen that the person who invented CrossFit didn't rapturously watch this a million times.
• Dryer's English is a book that all the writing nerds had a pre-order, and he has strong opinions about exclamation points, but absolutley nothing to say about sexclamation points.
• Everyone loves foreshadowing.
• But in romance, no one loves an 

Next week, we’re tackling the Dacians in two weeks with a two-for-one episode featuring both of these Lothaire spinoff stories, Shadow's Claim (featuring demon-sorceress Bettina and Dacian assassin Trehan) & Shadow's Seduction (featuring Caspion the demon and Mirceo the vampire prince)!

Show Notes

• Jen loves hype video, and there are some for the USWNT are amazing.
• All about advanced reading copies (ARCs) and what it looks like when you get typeset pages.
• Jen has a new title at Kirkus: romance correspondent. She's been interviewing a lot of authors.
• Kate Clayborn perfectly described why we love a grunting hero.
• Only 33 Fortune 500 CEOs are women, which is nonsense.
• Listen to our Curvy Heroines interstitial.
• Covent Garden and the rookeries.
• What's a life peerage?
• Derek Craven forever.
• What it means to be "on the shelf."
• Audiobook narrator Justine Eyre is the narrator for Sarah's books. Can you even imagine what would happen if she and Petkoff ever got together and narrated a romance?
• Preorder Brazen & the Beast at Amazon, B&N, 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

We’re getting down to the wire with Season One of Fated Mates — in two weeks, join us for Wicked Abyss, featuring the literal King of Hell, and the Queen who takes fully no shit from him. Get Wicked Abyss at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local indie!

Show Notes

• You know Kresley is self-publishing when you see it's Valkerie Press.
• In IAD, a sorceri queen has the most power in that area.
• Love triangles are very common in YA.
• - Eloisa James' first novel was Potent Pleasures, the the line Sarah quoted is: "Charlotte was one week short of 17 when her life was changed, falling into two halves like a shiny child's ball: before and after."
• The best thing that ever happened at Coachella.
• Uh. While researching for this podcast, Jen realized that Deadmou5 is real.
• Sarah's hero/heroine/heroine's best friend on the line book is A Rogue By Any Other Name, which you can get in ebook for $1.99 right now!
• There apparently was a crossover between IAD and Gena Showalter's Lords of the Underworld series. Tell us what you know.
• Gay romance author and all around good guy Nathan Burgoine explains why "Gay for You" is a problem.
• No one like a milksop.
• All about the Kinsey Scale, and Jen thinks of this very funny tweet from her friend Zach every time she hears the phrase "Kinsey scale."
• Happy Days didn't

Fated Mates returns with Season Two in September — don’t forget to like & subscribe in your favorite podcasting app so you don’t miss a single second of us in your earholes!

And more than all this — thank you for listening to us talk at you about vampires, valkyries, wolf holograms, horns & Rune for 39 weeks — there honestly aren’t words for how much we love you for listening!

Team Vertas 4eva! — xoxo Sarah & Jen

Show Notes

• This is The End is by The Doors, and Closing Time is by Semisonic.
• The RITAs were amazing, and one of the best things about it was this romance trailblazers video.
• Lila is a face character at Disney.
• Inside the Mouse is a book you should read, or just this New York Times article where John Jerimiah Sullivan (omg. his essays are so good! Read Pulphead!) trying to figure out the best place to smoke weed there. That Banksey video.
• Because Disney is too expensive, #TeamReadsRomance suggests Cedar Point if you like roller coasters.
• Hela's crown in Thor Ragnarok is PRETTY GREAT.
• It's interesting to think about a framing device and what it does for a story.
• Sarah's WaPo piece about the Alpha Feminist.
• All about archetypes and the princess trope.
• The Room of Requirement is part of Hogwards.
• When we talked about time, Sarah recommended Kylie Scott's Repeat.
• Tim Curry as The Darkness in Legend or 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform so that you know the moment we start Season Two (in early September)!

Next week, it’s the end! WHAT HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! We’re talking Sian (HORNS HORNS HORNS HORNS HORNS HORNS HORNS) & Lila with Wicked Abyss, featuring the literal King of Hell, and the Queen who takes fully no shit from him. Get Wicked Abyss at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local indie!

Show Notes

• What is the appeal of the antihero?
• Fangirl Jeanne wrote a really interesting thread about why she ships villains and what it means to believe in an HEA for everyone.
• The Sierra Simone Scale seems relevant here.
• We here at Fated Mates love a grovel.
• Morality Chain is a very specific trope.
• Jen's goodreads search for books with criminal heroes versus criminal heroines.
• Take a minute to donate to RAICES because we do have concentration camps on our border, and it's so hard to know what to do about it.
• Jen and Sarah talked about female antiheroes in pop culture: Catherine Zeta Jones in Traffic and Mary Louise Parker in Weeds.
• Jen's Rita thread about how white guys get to be anitheores.
• Movie time references: Sarah is Italian, so since there are no Italian mafia guys anymore, watching The Godfather is the only choice. The "one armed man" reference is to 

In July, at the Romance Writers of America annual conference, we had the extraordinarily good luck to record a crossover episode with Jenny Nordbak & Sarah Hawley of The Wicked Wallflowers podcast! We talked about our favorite books with a roomful of librarians & bloggers, and we had the best time. Now, you can, too!

Be sure to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting app so you know the moment we return!

Subscribe to these other amazing romance podcasts!

• The Wicked Wallflowers (with Jenny & Sarah)
• Heaving Bosoms (with Melody & Erin)
• Learning the Tropes (with Erin & Clayton)
• The Big Gay Fiction Podcast (with Jeff & Will)

Listen to the longer version of the conversation with Sarah (MacLean) that Jenny (Nordbak) talks about in her discussion of Brazen & the Beast.

Sarah's hometown library (complete with dark corridors for romance novels) is the Lincoln Public Library in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

We're Back!

We promised you we'd be back with Season Two in September, and here we are in September, back with Season Two!

We've said farewell to Season One, but we'll never fully be able to quit IAD, so Season Two will be The Books That Blooded Us -- that is, the books that made us the romance readers we are...books that taught us what the genre could be, books that scratched our itch, books that made us lifelong romance readers, books that set us on the path directly to your earholes!

Over the season, we'll tackle 10 (or so) books that blooded each of us -- we'll deep dive, discuss, and delight in each other's picks -- and we've got some fun ideas for how you all can share the books that blooded you!

So...where do we begin? We begin in two weeks with the primordial text for both of us...the one...the only...Dreaming of You. We'll talk Derek Craven's cockney accent, Sara Fielding's legendary novel, Lisa Kleypas's immense skill with talismans, and we'll get to the very bottom of some of the most controversial bits of this glorious book that the two of us love a whole lot.

Get reading, y'all, we've got a lot to say. You can find Dreaming of You at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local indie. It's currently $2.99 in digital everywhere, so snatch it up!

We'll be announcing the schedule for the first few reads later this week -- so you'll have time to read ahead, but in the meantime, sit back, relax, and let us give you a preview of what's to come!

Don't forget to like and subscribe in your favorite podcasting platform!

Show Notes

• Jen tweeted about Altogether by Brill Harper and then all of Romancedlandia read it. It's deliciously filthy.
• Read Sarah's drunk texts to Jen and Kate on the Vika group chat. Take a look at these covers for Rebecca Zanetti's Deadly Silence.
• Sarah was on Wicked and the Wallflowers podcast to talk about
• Brazen and the Beast. You had no idea flag design was so fascinating.
• Looking back at twitter, it might have been a shared love of Derek Craven that made Sarah and Jen friends. We can't wait to discuss Dreaming of You in two weeks.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit:...

As we lead into Season Two, and consider the fact that some of our faves are definitely going to be problematic, we’re talking about the alpha hero this week — we’re also tackling the beta hero and the cinnamon roll, and why these archetypes largely don’t work for us. We’re talking romance heroes who changed the game for us and the genre, about how hard it is to turn the alphahole around, and how satisfying it is to watch it happen. We’re also talking the female gaze (of course) and the patriarchy (like always).

Next week, we’re digging into one of our original alphas, Derek Craven! You can find Lisa Kleypas’s Dreaming of You at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local indie. It's currently $2.99 in digital everywhere, so snatch it up!

Show Notes

• The alpha, the beta, and the cinnamon roll.
• You should all follow Cora Harrington (lingerie addict) on twitter. It's all so beautiful.
• Jen screams about first person a lot, but MOSTLY about first person present.
• It was Demon Rumm by Sandra Brown that was all in the male POV, and this review is so great. Jen's going to follow Alaina, the author, on twitter. UPDATE: The Browne Pop Culture Library was able to find the descriptions of Demon Rumm, and as Jen predicted, they were in the back matter of the previous month's books! Thanks, Steve!
• Alec Kinkaid, The Montgomerys, James Mallory, and the Westmoreland heroes.
• Did you somehow miss us talking about The Professional?
• It the Movie may or may not be your cup of tea, but this discussion of Jane Doe with Victoria Helen Stone has some really interesting points about horror...

We begin the exploration of The Books That Blooded Us with the one that probably least surprised listeners—Lisa Kleypas’s Dreaming of You! We tackle this fabulous, bonkers book (yes, we get to the bottom of the did-he-or-didn’t-he conundrum, and we spend some serious time discussing Joyce). We also talk about how we think Derek Craven changed the romance hero game, what might have been in the water in romance in the early-mid 1990s, and Sarah tells a few stories about her weekend with the queen herself, Lisa Kleypas.

Don’t forget to like & subscribe in your favorite podcasting app so you don’t miss a single second of us in your earholes!

Show Notes

• Anyone know if Warby Parker is looking for a podcast to sponser?
• Sarah & Lisa spent time together because they were signing at Nora Roberts's bookstore, Turn the Page, in real-life Boonsboro, MD. Jen had some hard-core FOMO.
• February 4th is Derek Craven Day, look at some of our tweets from that day.
• A reminder of that 1992 election and what we should have learned from Anita Hill. But Stormy Danielsis more in control of her narrative.
• Josh Lyman never calls it a recession, call it a bagel.
• We love Steve Ammidown at the BGSU pop culture library.
• IRL, Matilda was Pamela. But that ending, classic Lady or the Tiger or The Sopranos.
• The second casino is in Devil in Winter, where Ivo Jenner's daughter falls in love with Sebastian, St. Vincent, whom many think is Lisa's best hero. They are wrong.
• We're back on Moonstruck with that mother-in-law and "Bring me the big knife!"
• More about some of those Jungian archetypes.
• Jen meant coitus interruptus in the Urban Dictionary way, not the Merriam-Webster...

This week we’re talking about novellas with one of the best novella writers around—Alyssa Cole. Join us, along with Alyssa’s tree frogs, to talk about why she loves the novella format, the trick to writing a short romance, and her upcoming Audible original!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review.

We’re back in two weeks with Johanna Lindsey’s Gentle Rogue, set on a ship with a heroine-in-pants and a hero who really deserves everything she delivers him. Find it at: Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, or at your local Independent Bookstore!

Show Notes

• Ultra-marathoners really do suck down energy gel out there! Soylent Green is people, and therefore not someting Ultramarathoners consume during their races.
• Sarah uses weird with love. In fact, she crowdsourced a great weird romance list yesterday on Twitter. Head over there to overload your TBR.
• Robot girlfriends are a thing, I guess. But even more exciting is that Alyssa's audio for The AI Who Loved Me has some big time narrators!
• Keanu Reeves in the Matrix has his own gel problem.
• Sarah wrote a novella for a Christmas anthology with Tessa Dare, Sophie Jordan & Joanna Shupe, How the Dukes Stole Christmas, that is newly out in paperback.
• Alyssa mentioned a KDrama called Noble, My Love that has 15 minute episodes.
• Ladyhawke is an 80s movie that honestly defies description, but lives on in our memories.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2019/10/1/s024-novella-romance-interstitial-with-alyssa-cole
• If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your

Sarah picked this week’s read without having read it recently, and she shockingly doesn’t regret it! We’re talking Johanna Lindsey’s Gentle Rogue—arguably one of the most beloved texts of the genre, complete with a reformed pirate and a heroine who is having absolutely none of his nonsense. We’ll talk about heroines who are sex positive, about obvious references to the slave trade that are problematic and somehow utterly glossed over, archetypal brothers, and about the shocking lack of plot in this book (which we don’t mind a bit).

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

In two weeks, we’re going back to paranormal with the first book in JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Dark Lover. It’s a whole ride. Strap in. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie (it’s currently only $2.99 in ebook!).

Show Notes

• Jen's the romance correspondent for Kirkus, and she recently wrote about Fabio who appeared on the original cover of Gentle Rogue. Also, this piece by Kelly Faircloth about romance covers is amazing.
• When Sarah dreamed of Amy Schumer, I wonder if it was anything like this?
• 7th grade is awful for everyone.
• Voldemort and his horcruxes.
• The Magic of You is all about Georgie's brother Warren.
• Here's some basic information about slavery in Jamaica and sugar plantations in particular. And the Slave Voyages site is an amazing and well-researched online archive you should also check out, which includes a searchable database of transatlantic boats and the numbers of enslaved people on board each ship.
• Although we didn't mention it the podcast, if you're reading romances where white people have weddings, parties, or balls on plantations...that's terrible.

We heard you! You wanted to talk about Cinnamon Roll Heroes, so here we are, and we’re bringing in an expert on the topic (in real life and in fiction) — Andie Christopher. We’re talking about the evolution and popularization of the beta in the 90s, why they became such a powerful force then, why they’re back now, and why they work so well for some readers! We’ll also talk about dating in 2019, recommend some books (obviously), and talk about Andie’s upcoming, Not the Girl You Marry, which is out November 12!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

Next week, we’re going back to paranormal with the first book in JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood series, Dark Lover. It’s a whole ride. Strap in. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie (it’s currently only $2.99 in ebook!).

Show Notes

• We're so excited to have Andie on the podcast -- her book, Not the Girl You Marry, is out November 12th. Preorder now!
• Do you know the importance of a Sky Pager?
• The Pegging Crew is a nickname we use with love for the folks who bought a change to decide a Fated Mates interstitial topic.
• If you're looking for romances with the Great British Bake Off energy, Sarah recommends Louisa Edwards.-
• Last summer, Jen interviewed Andie for Kirkus.
• Nancy Pelosi is taking care of business.
• Olivia Dade has a great list of cinnamon roll heroes, but this piece from The Onion originated the term.
• The Simone Scale is very different from the Clayborn Curve.
• I guess you can decide for yourself if Father Bell is a cinnamon roll (whispers: especially because this will be a season 2 book that blooded us).
• The only person who can ask for flowers is Barbra...

Woof, you guys. Woof. This week we’re talking a whole different kind of Vampires (not a single one chained to a radiator…we love u, Conrad) — with JR Ward’s Dark Lover — the first in the Black Dagger Brotherhood Series! We’re talking a LOT this week about toxic masculinity, about the world post 9/11, about what we expect from heroines, about the entire BDB series, and about what the heck is going on in these books. We also get all the titles wrong, as usual.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

In two weeks, we’re getting more current! The read is Sarah’s Pick, Sierra Simone’s Priest, which is an erotic romance in first-person hero POV, featuring a priest and an exotic dancer (NB: She is not Catholic). If sex in church is your concern, maybe skip this one, but also know that there’s a lot fo religious allegory in here that is fascinating and brilliant. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• JR Ward's first pen name was Jessica Bird.
• Despite Jen's joke about Proust, she's never actually read him.
• Some of the most famous vampire books in fiction were Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire and Queen of the Damned. And let's not forget Twilight.
• In romance, you should check out the Argeneau series by Lynsay Sands, or any number of books by Jeaniene Frost. Nalini Singh's Guild Hunters series has a vampire hunter. Sherrilyn Kenyon also has lots of books in this category. In urban fantasy, of course there was the Sookie Stackhouse series, and it's TV adaptation True Blood.
• In fact, the 90s were full of vampires in the movies and on TV: Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and if you've never seen it, the opening scene...

Today, we’re talking jobs in romance novels—why we love them, when we hate them, what’s the proper work/smooch balance, and what we mean when we say “competence porn.” This is a far reaching, many-rec episode that involves discussion of billionaires, of wealth, of power, of what Sarah means when she says heroes have to be kings, no matter what. We’ll also try to get to the bottom of what an Enterprise Holding, LTD is. Nah, that’s a lie, because who cares?! Oh, and stay tuned for Sarah’s treatise on the importance of local journalism.

Don’t forget to subscribe to Fated Mates in your favorite podcasting platform — subscriptions mean so much! While you’re there, please leave us a like or a review if you feel so inclined!

Next week, we’re taking you to blasphemy town! Or are we?! The read is Sarah’s pick, Sierra Simone’s Priest, which is an erotic romance in first-person hero POV, featuring a priest and an exotic dancer (NB: She is not Catholic). If sex in church is your concern, maybe skip this one, but also know that there’s a lot fo religious allegory in here that is fascinating and brilliant. Content warning for discussion of the Catholic Church and sexual abuse. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Jen said fossils are boring. It wasn't a good look.
• Defining competence porn.
• Christian Grey at work.
• Despite when Jen said, most sex toys are not made out of neoprene. And please be cautious about the sex toys you buy.
• Imposter syndrome is the worst for everyone but these guys.
• Job versus career versus vocation.
• The Joanna Shupe book about the architect is actually called A Scandalous Deal.
• If you do want to read books about fossils, Amanda Quick and Tessa Dare have them. Eloisa James does not. Manda Collins does. Sarah MacLean does not.
• What's wrong with "Not Like Other...

It’s Priest week! Sarah put Sierra Simone’s Priest on her Books that Blooded Her list, and this episode is a ride! Jen’s reading first person narrative, we’re both escaped catholics, Sarah imprinted on The Thornbirds, we’ll get to the bottom of anal sex in church (see what we did there?), and fully disagree about how much guilt is too much guilt for a hero. Plus, you’ll hear us tell you how brilliant we think Sierra is.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

In two weeks, we’re going to a classic of classics! The read was on both Jen & Sarah’s list—Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels, which is on the lions’ share of Best Romance Novels Ever lists. We’ll get into why. Read Lord of Scoundrels at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• We love Sierra Simone! Sarah talked about Sinner on the Best Friend's Sibling episode, and Sierra was a special guest on our MacRieve episode. She'll also be joining us on a very special future interstitial.
• Will Kresley drop Munro like Beyonce? One can only hope.
• If you want to join Sarah's FB Old School Romance Book Club group, click here and wait for moderator approval. We (try to remember but sometimes have to be reminded to) post a discussion post for each week's episode there.
• Have you listened to what we consider to be our sister podcasts: The Wicked Wallflowers, Heaving Bosoms, and Black Chick Lit? We also love Learning the Tropes and RomBkPod. Check them out for all your listening needs.
• Facebook is garbage and Zuckerberg is aiming for Bond Villain.
• The modern day dirty priest fantasy is Fleabag, the old school one is The Thornbirds.
• If you're not following

Next week, we’re switching things up and running a full recommendation podcast! You asked us questions, and we’re recommending a metric romance ton of books! Don’t miss it!

In two weeks, we’re going to a classic of classics! The read was on both Jen & Sarah’s list—Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels, which is on the lions’ share of Best Romance Novels Ever lists. We’ll get into why. Read Lord of Scoundrels at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Listen, it's Eric FONER. He's kind of a big deal.
• More about how brains develop.
• A twitter thread about Sarah's brain surgeon.
• The kind of Amnesia in books and movies isn't real, but in case you were wondering, all about global amnesia and aphasia.
• Jen & Sarah have seen the 80s version of Overboard 100 times, and the 2018 version no times.
• Speaking of Pregneisa... on the podcast I Don't Even Own a Television, these two guys mostly read it to make fun of it, but then listen to just this snippet of Jeb Lund TOTALLY GETTING ROMANCE.
• Kylie Scott does write about zombies, and threesomes, and rock stars, and getting with your Dad's best friend.
• Jen did write about Lies as

Stay tuned for the second half of the episode in December! Next week, just in time for your tryptophan induced coma, we’re talking Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels, which was on both Jen & Sarah’s list, and is on the lions’ share of Best Romance Novels Ever lists. We’ll get into why. Read Lord of Scoundrels at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

Question 1: Ennis from New York asked, "is like Lothaire by Kresley Cole or Cold Cole Heartby K Webster, where the hero is someone who would be a villain in any other book. A megalomaniac, horribly damaged, murderous, whatever- and a heroine who takes NONE of his shit and brings him to his knees."

Our Recommendations: The name of this trope is "morality chain" which might help you on your search for books like this. Sarah's Summer 2020 release Daring and the Duke is perfect for this question, but since it's not out yet, try The Masterpiece Duet by Skye Warren. The first is The King.

Question 2: Lesley from Washington DC asked for books "with Jewish heroes and heroines, does not have to be holiday themed."

Our recommendations: : Jen suggests Knit One, Girl Two and Cinnamon Blade by Shira Glassman. In fact, Jen was a special guest on the Heaving Bosoms podcast taking about Cinnamon Blade. Sarah recommends Craving Flight by Tamsen Parker and Dalliances and Devotion by Felicia Grossman. Stacey Agdern also writes about Jewish representation in romance and has written some novellas in the Rogue Anthologies. We also mentioned a great point that inspired a great thread by Felicia Grossman about Jewish characters in literature.

Question 3: Daniela from Winnipeg had this AMA question: If there was a battle royale...

It may be Thanksgiving week in the US, but that didn’t stop us from recording a monster episode about one of our (and all of Romance’s) favorite books of all time! It’s Lord of Scoundrels week! We’re talking gloves and fans and prologues and why Jessica is one of the best heroines of all time! All that, and Sarah is on a rant about Byron…so don’t miss it!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

In two weeks, we’re moving across the pond to Beverly Jenkins’s Indigo, with one of Sarah’s favorite heroines ever—Hester Wyatt, Underground Railroad conductor! Read Indigo at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Lord of Scoundrels has its own wikipedia page, which in case you're curious, is kind of unusual.
• Just look at this gorgeous Lord of Scoundrels embroidery.
• If you haven't listened to our episode on Dreaming of You, what are you waiting for?
• Maybe you want to find out what you first ordered in your Amazon account.
• Jessica Trent is not a Mary Sue.
• Erin from Heaving Bosoms is famous for not liking epilogues, but it's a pretty good reason why. But prologues are fine.
• You've been lawyered is from How I Met Your Mother.
• Sarah wrote the prologue to a new edition of The Transformation of Philip Jettan.
• Maybe watch out when taking DNA tests. Or not.
• Stronzo! And maybe some more if you're interested.

The rest of the internet is obsessed with best of the year lists, so we’re doing it, too! Jen and Sarah have both chosen five of our favorite reads of the year — or of 13 months, if you’re really counting. Tell us what we’ve forgotten here, on Twitter, on Instagram, on Facebook or in comments!

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

In two weeks, we’re moving across the pond to Beverly Jenkins’s Indigo, with one of Sarah’s favorite heroines ever—Hester Wyatt, Underground Railroad conductor! Read Indigo at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• In between our recording and release of this episode, Kristen Callihan did release a new book, Outmatched, which is cowritten with Samantha Young. But don't miss Scottie from Managed, who will appear later in season 2 as a book that blooded Jen.
• Munro. That's it. That's the show note.
• Some of the best of 2019 lists from Bookish, NPR and Kirkus. Sarah's website has all of her past Best of the Year Lists for the Washington Post. Amazon also has a best of the year list, but the Goodreads Award list is strange.
• Emma Donoghue's Room was a big literary fiction book back in 2010, and it was on all the end of the year lists.
• Jen will be appearing at The Book Cellar on Dec 7, 2019 if you're looking for...

Get ready for Hester, one of Sarah’s favorite heroines of all time — and Beverly Jenkins’s Indigo, which Jen just read for the first time! We’re talking historical romance, the way romances feel important, sex and intimacy, and all the reasons why everyone should read Beverly Jenkins right now.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

Next week, it’s the second half of our book recommendation, stump Sarah & Jen AMA. The following week we’ll release a tiny little stocking stuffer for our Christmas Day episode, but we’re back in business on January 1, with the seasonally appropriate (at least in title) Born in Ice, by none other than the queen herself, Nora Roberts. Read Born in Ice at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Jen now has critic crushes on Diego Baez and Walton Muyumba. Liz Taylor who is kind of a big deal in the book world wrote an amazing book about Chicago's first Mayor Daley called American Pharaoh.
• Thanks to the Lincoln RI public library for being awesome.
• There's actually a lot of great resources for how to teach slavery to kids, so do better white teachers.
• Here at Fated Mates, we are LaQuette stans. Listen to her talk about discomfort and how important it is in her RITA speech last year.
• Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad is an absolute tour de force. Here is a cool site mapping the world of the novel.
• If you don't know about America's history of lynching, you should learn all about Bryan Stevenson, who spearheaded the effort to create a Lynching Museum. The site Without Sanctuary preserves the history of these postcards (Content warning on that site for obvious reasons.)
• Gone with the Wind is an example of the pervasive and terrible 

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!

Next week, we’re releasing a little stocking stuffer for our Christmas Day episode, but we’re back in business on January 1, with the seasonally appropriate (at least in title) Born in Ice, by none other than the queen herself, Nora Roberts. Read Born in Ice at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Question 1: Beth from Milwaukee asked, "I'm going to Iceland in December for my 10th wedding anniversary! I obviously need a book that has snow/cold and using body heat and -ahem- other activities for warmth. Bonus points if a volcano or other geological feature is a part of the story! Sub genre is not important, and yes I'm aware of the Ice Planet Barbarians."

Our recommendations: From the deep recesses of Jen's brain, the only romance she can think of with a volcano, Eden Burning by Elizabeth Lowell. And that's from the 80s, so fair warning that it's likely to have problematic elements. When it comes to snuggly, warm, only one bed romances, you just need to use the internet! But Jen did write a piece about Only One Bed for Kirkus, which you should read. In the meantime, go watch Joe versus the Volcano, and then talking about Hawaii reminded Sarah of some bananas sounding book by Anne Stuart called Tangled Lies. But a few snowy romances: Beary Christmas Baby by Sasha Devlin or How the Dukes Stole Christmas.

Question 2: Emily from Washington D.C. want our opinion aobut "the BEST star crossed lovers trope (it always gets me so good)."

Our Recommendations: The reason Sarah thinks that star-crossed lovers have to end up unhappy is Romeo and Juliet, of course. But Jen thinks you should try Luck of the Draw by Kate Clayborn and Sarah recommends Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan, but comes with a whole suitcase of content warnings for domestic violence. In the interim, Jen read and recommends Forbidden Promises by Synithia Williams, the heroine falls in love with her sister's ex-husband! And of course, coming in the summer of 2020 comes Daring and the Duke by Sarah, which will also work. But you have to wait!

Question 3: Megumi from San Antonio, TX is looking for "a contemporary of someone not Scottish going to Scotland and finding love. (Maybe England but mostly...

If you want to give us a gift this year, please like/subscribe to/review the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform!

We’re back next week with the seasonally appropriate (at least in title) Born in Ice, by none other than the queen herself, Nora Roberts. Read Born in Ice at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Sarah and Jen like a lot of Christmas songs: Silver Bells, Fairy Tale of New York, Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (which in fact does have a sad and not-sad version!), God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, Carol of the Belles, Rockin' Round the Christmas Tree, Santa Baby, and Baby It's Cold Outside (which just might be super feminist?).
• This year, there's a new Chanukah romance anthology you should check out called Eight Kisses, and Roan Parrish just released a little snippet of a story about Ginger and Christopher from Small Change called A Good, Old Fashioned Chanukah Pegging.
• Oh, you aren't familiar with the Carina Dirty Bits line? They are quick and dirty--not thiccand dirty. But whatever works. Also, check out Jen's list of which romances have the best sex in the library.
• We have lots of favorite romance librarians, but we love Bandherbooks and our favorite archivist is Steve Ammindown at the BGSU Pop Culture Library in Ohio.
• The Sierra Simone story with the bear is from Hot for the Holidays anthology, but...

Auspicious beginning, right? Don’t miss a single moment of our 2020 episodes — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!

We’re back next week (WE PROMISE!) with Born in Ice, by none other than the queen herself, Nora Roberts. Read Born in Ice at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Jen misquoted a famous scene in Chinatown; it's actually "my sister and my daughter." Yikes.
• Pretty sure if you're fancasting us into this clip from Grease about the Pink Ladies, Sierra is Rizzo.
• We've talked a lot about Sierra's books on the podcast, but it was on the Small Town Romance interstitial that Sarah joked all of Sierra's books take place in Menage County, Kansas.
• The Romance for RAICES auction was the brainchild of Suzanne from Love in Panels and raised TWENTY THREE THOUSAND DOLLARS! You should definitely support her blog and patreon if you can. The crisis on the border is ongoing and getting worse. Please continue to support romance's teams at RAICES and The Young Center.
• We were going to rickroll you by talking about Peggy Sue Got Married and pirate romances, but we're nice that way and didn't. FWIW, Jen still thinks the plot of Peggy Sue Got Married is haunting.
• Sierra is also, of course, the founder, owner, and operator of The Simone Scale, which does not include teabagging even, but has been, because she loves us, updated to include pegging. The image is on our website in show notes.
• We did a lot of research for this...

Don’t miss a single moment of our 2020 episodes — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!

In two weeks, we’ve got another of Jen’s pics, Kristen Callihan’s Managed, which you may recognize as “SCOTTIE,” which is how Jen refers to it because she loves him so much. We think you’ll love it, too, and if you have time, read the next in the series, Fall, which is one of Sarah’s top 10 romances ever. Read Managed at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.

Show Notes

• Who knows what the RWA situation is when you read this, but as of this podcast, the absolute best source is Claire Ryan's blog post outlining the timeline of events. There was lots of national news coverage, but the "come on girls" comment was on NPR.
• The 2019 RITA ceremony was amazing, and one that celebrated the history of romance. In between when we recorded this episode and when it was released, RWA cancelled the 2020 RITA awards. When Sarah said "it was a check the organization couldn't cash" she's alluding to a less well-known section of Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
• "La Nora" is how many people refer to Nora Roberts. Sarah mentions some of her earliest category romances, including Gabriel's Angel, an early Nora from the Silhouette Intimate Moments line. She's also read Naked In Death (Jen hasn't), but Jen loved The Brides quartet, which was probably the last Nora Roberts series she read.
• Sarah said she feels like readers should at least have read ten percent of an author's backlist for full romance competency. Should the "Ten Percent Rule" be a plank of the official Fated Mates Romance Reader platform? Discuss.
• When we talk about Nora Roberts, we used a lot of superhero language: her origin story; her

Don’t miss a single moment of our 2020 episodes — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!

Next week, we’re talking Kristen Callihan’s Managed, which you may recognize as “SCOTTIE,” which is how Jen refers to it because she loves him so much. We think you’ll love it, too, and if you have time, read the next in the series, Fall, which is one of Sarah’s top 10 romances ever. Read Managed at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.

Show Notes

• RWA imploded and it's such a long, complicated story, but this article from Vox and this timeline by Claire Ryan are what will catch you up.
• Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start: there are seven romance subgenres: historical, contemporary, romantic suspense, paranormal, inspirational, erotic romance, and YA.
• When it comes to the grandmother of historicals, don't forget that Jane Austen was writing contemporaries.
• Johanna Lindsey died in October, and her family announced it publicly in December. The New York Times obituary was trash, so read the Washington Post or Entertainment Weekly one instead. Check out the Twitter hastag #MyFirstJohanna for people's stories about their first book by Lindsey (including Sarah's), and maybe listen to our episode on Gentle Rogue.
• Support Farrah Rochon for an organ in her sister's memory. And come this summer, buy her upcoming book The Boyfriend Project.
• In Born a Crime, Trevor Noah wrote about what his mother said about her second husband wanting to put her in a cage: For a long time I wondered why he ever married a woman like my mom in the

Don’t miss a single moment of our 2020 episodes — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!

In two weeks, we’re reading one of Sarah’s picks, Lorraine Heath’s Waking Up With the Duke, which was a tough choice because Lorraine is amazing and Sarah wants you to read all of her books. Read Waking Up With the Duke at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.

Show Notes

• Jen's disappointed with the iHeartRadio Podscast awards. It's an honor just to be nominated, and that didn't even happen! For your consideration: Best Pop Culture Podcast and Best Fiction Podcast! Come on! Literary Disco wasn't even nominated!
• Everyone loved The Pegging episode! Jen found this really interesting article too late for those show notes, but why not drop them here? We don't really think that we jumped the shark. Oh, and any chance to drop the "smashing from the back" rap.
• The 20 minutes Eric cut were about RWA. So just read Jen's article for Kirkus instead. Just kidding. We don't really need D & O insurance. Do we? Either way, Eric should stop harshing our dream mellow.
• Scotty vs. Scottie.
• Our Kristen Callihan origin stories: Sarah recommends Evernight in the Darkest London series, but Jen can't help but think of Tony Stark. Jen wrote about Kristen's book The Hook Up in the Who Did it Better in the Library post.
• Slumpbusters from this week: The Player and Sweet Ruin for Sarah, and two Sophie Jordan books, While the Duke was Sleeping and

This one is a RIDE, you guys! We wanted to do something really fun this week—something that would lighten the mood for us and for you. So, strap in, because we’re talking about our favorite Old School Category romances today! We’ve got something for everyone — wolves and dragons and marine biologists and single moms and more wolves! A word of caution this week — we didn’t reread these books before we recorded, and they’re all published in the 80s and 90s, so tread lightly if you decide to read them…and let us know just how wrong we got the plots! (Just kidding, we’re for sure rereading all of them now).

Next week was supposed to be the deep dive of Lorraine Heath, but Sarah has a book due, so we’re putting it on hold—but stay tuned, because we’ve definitely got something coming! Waking Up With the Duke will definitely be the next read, though: Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.

Show Notes

• If you're looking for a real cool summer sleepaway camp, check out Camp Kupugani. They'll pick your kid up at O'Hare!
• You can order girl scout cookies online now. Good luck to all of us.
• If you're in Chicago, I guess you could go to Navy Pier; But if you're in Peru, you should definitely go to Machu Picchu.
• That American Dirt story is real wild. This review by Myriam Gurba is amazing, and Vox has you covered with an entire explainer. Remezcla has better recommendations for books about the border.
• If you want to know what makes something a category romance, Love in Panels has a very good explainer. Also, if you're interested in Harlequin covers now, Jen interviewed Tony Horvath for Kirkus. He's the creative director in charge of all of Harlequin series romance. You can also check out Kelly Faircloth's Instagram, where she posts pictures of her favorite old school romance covers.
• Buying old category romances is easy. Check out 

We promised we’d get to the rest of our Holiday AMA questions eventually, and Sarah’s on deadline, so this seemed like the perfect week to do it! Join us for a freewheeling hour during which Sarah cannot remember Tessa Thompson’s name, we talk about how much we’d like to meet Sandra Brown, and how romance really does have something for everyone, including an entire series about romance during power outages.

Also, we forgot to mention that Tuesday was Derek Craven Day! Lots of fun was had by all goofballs who joined us on the Internet to celebrate, and Lisa Kleypas herself even got involved! If you haven’t read Dreaming of You, you can get it for $2.99 right now in ebook! Also, do not miss this incredible Craven Day thread on Twitter from Steve Ammindown and the Browne Pop Culture Library. And if you want Derek Craven t-shirts? Those exist now!

Next week, the book is in and we’re back in business! Lorraine Heath’s Waking Up With the Duke is our next read—a book that blooded Sarah. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.

Full Show Notes @ FATEDMATES.NET

- Question 1: Weird but true: the more specific the request, the more likely we are to come up with a recommendation. So if you just need "enemies to lovers" and you've already read Her Best Worst Mistake, or "friends to lovers" and you've already read Scoring Off the Field, then you just need to google it.

- Question 2: Who are we fancasting? These beautiful people: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Henry Cavill, Tessa Thompson, and Tom Hardy. Also, listening to Henry Cavill and Tom Hardy grunt is one of our favorite things.

- Question 3: Who do we want to have lunch or tea with? Kresley Cole, obviously! Sarah said Joanna Lindsey. Jen says Julie Garwood. We'd both love to meet Sandra Brown. Jen still can't believe the people she's met, and hopes she was cool like Yolanda.

- Question 4: Do we have recommendation for lesbian and f/f romance? Is it more difficult to find? Check out Bold Strokes Books. strands of f/f, and others have different roots. We will keep looking for some history of f/f romance and link to them if we find one. But in the meantime, YA author, critic, and expert Malinda Lo wrote about "The Invisible Lesbian" in YA, and it's right on point and...

This week, it’s one of Sarah’s favorites, and by an author Jen has never read! Lorraine Heath is a master of the historical, and this one is near-perfect. It’s complex and nuanced and it has an infidelity plot and THERE IS SO MUCH ANGST!

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!

In two weeks, we’re reading the Queen of Dirty Talk! Sarah and Jen both love Tessa Bailey — so we’ll be talking about our two favorites of her books, Asking for Trouble (Sarah’s) and Protecting What’s His (Jen’s). Find them at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.

Show Notes

• Turns out Sarah and Jen aren't the only people who think these Apple keyboards are trash--after winning a 2020 Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, Taika Waititi had quite a bit to say on the subject.
• Tom Beer is one of Jen's editors at Kirkus, and you should follow him on Twitter.
• You can read The Smith College Sophian on line, and we'll link to the interview with Sarah onces it goes live.
• We have Leslie Knope from Parks & Recreation to thank for the glory that is Galentine's Day. Read Jen's column about some books that celebrate women's friendship.
• A few years ago during #RomBkLove, Shantastic/@bardsong wrote a great piece about disability in romance. You can also check out the blog, Sense and Disability by @Callalily.
• Kate Reading is an amazing audiobook narrator, she's the one who narrates Lord of Scoundrels.
• Fridging is a word from comics that is when women characters are killed to motivate a male character, but can be used to describe any time a less powerful or privileged character is used as a plot device. 

It’s February and it’s winter and it’s grey and dark and we’re all just looking for some books that are quick, dirty and delicious. Or, at least, Sarah & Jen are. If you are, too, this is the week for you!

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!

Next week, we’re reading the Queen of Dirty Talk! Sarah and Jen both love Tessa Bailey — so we’ll be talking about our two favorites of her books, Asking for Trouble (Sarah’s) and Protecting What’s His (Jen’s). Find them at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.

Show Notes

• Sarah had boozy brunch with the RITA Writer’s Room—Nisha Sharma, LaQuette, Adriana Herrera, Andie Christopher, Alexis Daria, and Joanna Shupe (Sierra Simone & Tracey Livesay weren't there). You should maybe check out this awesome video of them in all their slow motion glory.
• Jen didn’t know what ASMR is either.
• Valentine’s Day is Go Week for Sarah. Jen wrote about Galentine’s Day for Kirkus. But one thing we can all agree on: Anna Karenina isn’t a fucking romance. Getting hit by a train does not qualify!
• The 2 for 1 rule: in a male/female romance, she comes twice for every time he comes.
• If you’re in Chicago, you can see Fated Mates Live at Spring Fling, and at KissCon, it’ll be a podcast ménage special with us, the Wicked Wallflowers, and Heaving Bosoms podcast.
• What will Craven Day 2021 bring? Stay tuned.
• Sarah’s friend Rachel Hawkins told Sarah

This week we're mixing it up, talking about an author more than a specific book -- the Queen of Dirty Talk herself, Tessa Bailey. But we're not just talking about the sexybits -- we're also talking about working class heroes, women and worry and how awesome it is to watch authors evolve.

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!

In two weeks, we’re reading a book that blooded both Sarah and Jen — and approximately 50% of Romancelandia, we think -- Stephanie Laurens's Devil's Bride, starring Devil Cynster, who also happens to be the only romance hero Sarah's husband can name (yes, even now). Find it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Sarah was heading to Birmingham for the Southern Voices Book Festival. The last time she was there, it was when she was a kid going to a Science Olympiad competition. Based on the description of that event, Jen suspects that she was outside orienteering. She's going to see Rachel Hawkins and Naima Simone!
• Meanwhile, Jen went to see Bug by Tracy Letts at the Steppenwolf Theater, which is known for being the home theater of John Malkovich and also where hope goes to die.
• Jen wrote about Johanna Lindsey and her New York Times obituary in a column for Kirkus.
• The hero of Protecting What's His is Derek Tyler, which is Jen's second favorite romance Derek. Derek and Ginger also appear in a follow-up novella, Protecting What's Theirs. Derek also appears as a secondary character in the Crossing the Lines series, where he assembles a team of ex-cons and misfits as a special crime fighting team....

We’re talking about women’s friendship in romance this week — how it works, why it’s important, and why we want all our romance heroines to have a squad.

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, we’re reading Stephanie Laurens's Devil's Bride, starring Devil Cynster, who also happens to be the only romance hero Sarah's husband can name (yes, even now). Find it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or your local indie.

Show Notes

• We know we shouldn't make the gallows humor jokes about coronavirus, but we did. We hope there won't be a pandemic, but if there is, get your TBRs ready. Jen's excited it won't have anything to do with RITA books.
• Have you preordered Daring and the Duke yet?
• Daddy is kind of sexy, but Mike Pence really does call his wife mother, and that's never gonna be sexy.
• We love Henry Cavill in season 1 of The Witcher. Just watch this video of them kissing. Jen stopped watching when they broke up in episode 7, and Netflix really wants her to finish.
• The idea for this week's episode came from listener Mary Ann Harlan who wondered, "Do you have an episode on how female friendships in romance disrupt the patriarchy? Or even just how female friendships work in a good way in romance?" I mean, probably just listen to season 1 where we talked about the witches and valkyries.
• Jen wrote about women's friendship in romance for Galentine's Day. So if you're looking for more recommendations, check it out.
• Some of the early proto-women friendships in historicals are Lisa Kleypas's Wallflowersand Penelope in the Bridgerton series.
• Adult friendships are important even if you don't have

Sarah has the flu! She wants you to know it’s absolutely terrible and you should all get your flu shots even though she got one and still got the flu but vaccines are good for you. Also, we all want you washing your hands and air high-fiving your friends because it’s wild out there. But you are IN FOR A TREAT this week — as our fave Kate Clayborn is pinch hitting for Sarah, and we’re talking romance sickbed scenes this week! If we have to be hyper focused on sickness, shouldn’t there be yearning and vigiling and a veiled death threat against a doctor (don’t threaten doctors)?

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, we’re reading Stephanie Laurens's Devil's Bride, starring Devil Cynster, who also happens to be the only romance hero Sarah's husband can name (yes, even now). Find it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Welcome Kate Clayborn! She joined Jen this week since Sarah was down and out with the flu.
• Kate loves a sick bed scene. When we talk about acute vs chronic illness, the sick bed scene is acute rather than chronic. And, as Jen points out, these are almost always about physical rather than mental illness.
• Some of Jen's favorite sickbed scenes are in Indigo by Beverly Jenkins and Managed by Kristen Callihan -- but we've talked about those books already! Same thing with The Master by Kresley Cole.
• Kate is a lot more interested in work of all kinds than Jen. It's okay. We're still friends. We even made a hashtag, #Claykop, so we can find all our discussions.
• We recorded this on Sunday March 8th, so who knows what the coronavirus situation will be by the time you listen to this.
• Andie Christopher was the first to bring the I'm Baby meme to our attention when she joined us for the cinnamon roll episode.

This week we’re reading a favorite of both Sarah & Jen — Stephanie Laurens’s Devil’s Bride! We’re so excited to talk about ridiculous (we mean amazing) nicknames, about 30 page sex scenes, and about how we crushed our SATs thanks to romances like this one! We’re also hoping you are keeping a safe distance from others and washing your hands lots!

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, we’re reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s Nobody’s Baby But Mine, and we cannot WAIT. We know it’s tough to get it in print, but find it in e at your local library or at: Amazon (free in Kindle Unlimited!), Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or your local indie.

Show Notes

• Please stay inside and stay safe if you can, and remember not to believe screenshots from your cousins.
• Here are some interesting and well-sourced tweets about coronavirus from a Fos (Friend of Sarah).
• Want to know the other books Jen ordered back in 2001? It was Grand Passion by Jane Ann Krennz, Prince of Swords Anne Stuart, and Innocence by Suzanne Forester. She still swears she didn't read any of them.
• Captain Jack's Woman was Stephanie Laurens' debut novel, not Devil's Bride. But it's the Bar Cynster that made her such a popular writer.
• Sometimes (ok, a lot) Jen shit-posts on twitter about conflict and writing. Sarah can't always have eyes on her, sorry.
• Jen thinks it was Amanda Quick that brought back old-fashioned names, but the only truly great Sylvesteris from disco.
• "Eyes on stalks" is a real phrase, and so is rapaciously. On the other hand, here's a bunch of

We are very pro health care workers these days — we love all of you…doctors, nurses, EMTs, home health aides…if you know how to work a stethoscope, we’re into you. This week, we’re taking about some of our favorite medical romances. Listen for Jen getting thoughtful, and Sarah getting wildly inappropriate. We’re all just doing our best.

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, we’re reading Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s Nobody’s Baby But Mine, and we cannot WAIT. We know it’s tough to get it in print, but find it in e at your local library or at: Amazon (free in Kindle Unlimited!), Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or in print, mailed from your local indie (which is probably still shipping!).

Show Notes

• As we all shelter in place, romance twitter has been very entertaining. Julia Kelly posted a thread where she posed her pets as romance novel covers, and everyone had fun with it. Sarah also loved this one about a dog who howls along with the Law and Order theme song.
• We forgot to tell you last week when we talked about Devil's Bride that Stephanie Laurens has a new book out, The Inevitable Fall of Christopher Cynster. We also have added information about how to pronounce Honoria and details about peach silk.
• Now is the time to get the BookBub daily romance email. Here's Sarah's Bookbub page.
• The nurse and doctor books were the backbone of early Mills and Boon romances, and the forerunner of the modern Harlequin Medical Romance; whereas Americans often find big, soapy hospital dramas on TV.
• Budleigh Salterton looks like a very nice place to hang out unless you are a bored American 12 year old.
• The roots of American and British romance are different, as proven by this absolutely WRONG LitHub romance essay. (They're wrong about romance a...

We are feeling really proud of ourselves this week because Nobody’s Baby But Mine was the perfect isolation read for us both. The reread confirmed to both of us that this is, beat-for-beat, one of the best romcoms of all time. We’re talking problematic plots, the 90s, what we expect from jerk heroes and how Susan Elizabeth Phillips is better at flawed characters than anyone else in the game.

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

In two weeks, we’re reading Victoria Dahl’s Taking the Heat. We know it’s tough to get it in print, but find it in e at your local library or at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or in print, mailed from your local indie (which is probably still shipping!)

Show Notes

• Americans are stress buying chickens. Yes, eggs are more expensive, but this is not a good idea.
• Speaking of chicks, now that Jen knows what happens to the chicks in the hatchery at the Museum of Science and Industry, she's back on Team Train Room.
• One day, we'll be able to visit the Butterfuly exhibit at the Museum of Natural History again.
• Nick Heath and Conor McGahey have figured out a way to keep those announcing skills sharp.
• Jen's interviewing YA authors on TikTok.
• When it comes to the SEP-Multiverse, we like the whackadoodle one at the circus (Kiss an Angel), the one with Bobby Tom (Heaven Texas), the one with the lazy golfer (Lady Be Good), and the one with Sugar Beth (

This week, we’ve got two tremendous guests and we’re coming to you from four different time zones! Coronavirus silver lining — time has literally no meaning any longer. We’re talking to the brilliant duo Christina Lauren about their new book, The Honey Don’t List, and forced proximity romances — which is a crowd favorite…or at least was a crowd favorite until we were all forced into forced proximity!

Next week, we’re reading Victoria Dahl’s Taking the Heat. We know it’s tough to get it in print, but find it in e at your local library or at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or in print, mailed from your local indie (which is probably still shipping!)

We hope you’re staying safe!

Show Notes

• Welcome Christina Lauren! Check out their new release, a forced proximity romance called The Honey Don't List. Perhpas, like Sarah, you need to understand the "honey do" list.
• If you're worried about zombies running, there's an app for that.
• Christina and Lauren said their cover reminds them of Lizzo's big inflatable butt at the 2019 AMAs.
• Jen wrote a Kirkus column about why "only one bed" is one of the most delightful subsets of the "forced proximity" trope.
• Amanda Diehl reviews for BookPage and also for Smart Bitches Trashy Books. Here is her inteview with Christina Lauren.
• Sarah mentioned the great New York City Blackout of 2003, but it turns out a field in Ohio caused the problem.
• "He is poison to everyone but her" is of course a reference back to Sarah's favorite IAD book, Sweet Ruin.
• All about

We’re back to a more recent book that taught Sarah about contemporary romance, Victoria Dahl’s Taking the Heat. Use headphones for this one, because we’re talking about the best BJs in romance, the power of a great sex scene, and how we want you all to be in a sex pantheon. We’re also talking about flawed characters, true cinnamon rolls, and why Victoria Dahl is a fricken great author.

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

In two weeks, we’re reading Sandra Brown! Jen and Sarah will be reading Texas! Chase, but it’s dealers’ choice! Pick your favorite old Sandra Brown or ask us for a rec on Twitter or Instagram! Maybe you want That Rana Look? Or Slow Heat in Heaven? Or French Silk? You can find them wherever books are sold (but the Texas! series isn’t in ebook format yet, sadly) — and don’t forget your favorite indie!

Also, if you love the music in this or any of our episodes, check out our Spotify playlist, which includes it all!

Show Notes

• Sure, Sarah's new computer makes her feel like Lightning McQueen, but it's her new version of Scrivener that is the most exciting thing.
• Jen isn't the only one who likes Starburst jelly beans.
• Sarah has planner envy. We both love Blackwing pencils. If you also love Blackwing pencils, we highly recommend this video by comedian David Rees on Artisinal Pencil Sharpening. There's also a book! We don't quite understand washi tape, but we're happy for those who love it. If you want to talk planners, Nisha Sharma, Kate Clayborn, and Tracey Livesay are your people.
• RIP BEA 2020, we look forward to 2021.
• Jen is addicted to jigsaw puzzles, just like everyone else in the world.
• The city junk problem is actually pretty great.
• Victoria Dahl also writes as Victoria Helen Stone. Jen rediscovered contemporary romance with the

Tasha Harrison is joining us this week to talk about an old reliable trope — enemies to lovers! This is one of those that we return to again and again — and of course, since it’s a Pandemic, we have to ask…if you’re into enemies to lovers and you haven’t read Kresley Cole’s Immortals After Dark, what are you waiting for? Season 1 is here for you! Otherwise, we’re freewheeling with Tasha on everything from the best Chris to the real inspiration for The Wire, so strap in. It’s a ride!

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, we’re reading Sandra Brown! Jen and Sarah will be reading Texas! Chase, but it’s dealers’ choice! Pick your favorite old Sandra Brown or ask us for a rec on Twitter or Instagram! Maybe you want That Rana Look? Or Slow Heat in Heaven? Or French Silk? You can find them wherever books are sold (but the Texas! series isn’t in ebook format yet, sadly) — and don’t forget your favorite indie!

Also, if you love the music in this or any of our episodes, check out our Spotify playlist, which includes it all!

Show Notes

• The internet is so slow.
• Remember that time when Michelle from Destiny's Child felland then got right back up?
• The Fraggle Rock Trash Heap.
• Jen wrote about Enemies to Lovers for Kirkus.
• Apparently, it's called a Proprietary Eponyms when a brand name becomes a verb or common noun.
• The question of whether or not fiction should be "timeless" is one that authors deal with in different ways.
• Robert Redford was a snack. Kevin Costner was named The Sexiest Man Alive, but Jen thinks the only time he was truly sexy was in Bull Durham.
• Can there ever be a definitive ranking of the Chrises? Jen likes

Sometimes there’s a writer who’s so transformative to your experience as a reader that you forget she even was a part of it until you remember, and then you remember every book she’s written. It’s Sandra Brown week here at Fated Mates, and we have loved so many of her romances that we just didn’t know what to read, so strap in, because both Jen and Sarah read Texas! Chase, and then two roads diverged, only to discover some real deep-rooted kinky stuff. Strap in. This one left Eric shellshocked!

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

In two weeks, we’re reading a book that blooded Jen, Jenny Crusie’s Bet Me! Which you can get bundled with Welcome to Temptation (get this one — it’s $2. cheaper than getting Bet Me alone!) from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo … and don’t forget your favorite indie, which is probably shipping books right now and definitely needs your patronage!

Also, if you love the music in this or any of our episodes, check out our Spotify playlist, which includes it all!

Show Notes

• Jen's been thinking about how we're going to archive the Quarantine Times and so are historians. Steve Ammidown was kind enough to make some videos about archiving for Jen's TikTok.
• Turns out that tweet about the Spanish epidimologist was not true! Blessed be the fact checkers.
• Lori Lightfoot is Jen's mayor and her Coronavirus memes are the best.
• Everyone knows who Tom Brady is, but not many people seem to like him.
• Sandra Brown was in the first class of authors acquired by Vivian Stephens. Her Loveswept #1 was Heaven's Price, and her Harlequin American Romance #1 was Tomorrow's Promise. Steve Ammidown was also kind enough to dig into the archives and pull out some early interviews with Sandra Brown and about...

Sophie Jordan is back again! She’s got a new book out, The Virgin and the Rogue, and she’s back with us to freewheel about old school romances, aphrodisiac plotlines and just what do we mean when we say “taking the finger?” It’s a delightful hour. You won’t regret it.

We love having you with us! Subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, we’re reading a book that blooded Jen, Jenny Crusie’s Bet Me! Which you can get bundled with Welcome to Temptation (get this one — it’s $2. cheaper than getting Bet Me alone!) from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo … and don’t forget your favorite indie, which is probably shipping books right now and definitely needs your patronage!

Also, if you love the music in this or any of our episodes, check out our Spotify playlist, which includes it all!

Show Notes

• Welcome Sophie Jordan, who was last on the pod talking about The Master. Come on five times and you get a Pink Ladies jacket.
• How are the Introverts faring during the pandemic?
• Chewy.com will deliver your cat litter and also massive bags of cat food.
• Annika Martin's Dark Mafia Prince inspired Sophie and Sarah to coin the phrase "taking the finger," which Jen has co-opted with glee. Not sure what counts as worthy of "taking the finger"? The Simone Scale TM is here for you.
• Jen's "control rods" metaphor is because she's a big old nuclear nerd.
• Aphrodesiac books we know of: The Virgin and the Rogue; Robin's Lovett's Planet of Desire series takes place on a planet where the atmosphere is an aphrodesiac; in A Taste of Her Own Medicine by Tasha Harrison, the grandmother whips up a "come to me" potion; Johanna Lindsey's Secret Fire sounds bonkers; Wild Card is one by Lora Leigh that

It’s a Jen week this week! We’re reading Bet Me this week, the book many people put right on the top of Best Contemporary Romance lists — one of Jen’s favorite books and a book Sarah liked to tell people she loved but has now discovered she’d never actually read. Minerva and Cal are absolutely terrific, as is this book, and we’re having a rollicking conversation about fat rep, about friendships in romance, about food (Sarah’s love language), about shoes, and about why grown people at little league games are a weird thing.

Show Notes

• We're big fans of Carly Lane-Perry from SyFy Fangirls. We especially like her newsletter, Kissing Books--Jen wrote about grandmothers in romance.
• Is it criticism if it's all positive?
• Baby Foot is sold out, but there are lots of other terrifying alternatives you can try.
• Janet Dailey is famous for plagiarizing Nora Roberts. Before that happened, she wrote the Americana series, with one book set in every state. The one set in Ohio was called The Widow and the Wastrel, and Jen's twitter thread about the book unearthed several early covers for the book.
• Sarah asked if Jenny Crusie is from Ohio? She is.
• This was Sarah's first time reading Bet Me, just like it was Jen's first time reading Gentle Rogue.
• Minerva and Diana probably wish they weren't named after Roman goddesses.
• So: you want to be an actuary. You want to learn about chaos theory. You're wondering about the gender essentialsim of a book with a title like Men are from Mars; Women are from Venus. You want to learn more about the band Cake.
• Love Me Tender is a beautiful song.
• Penn and Teller explain

It’s one of our favorite tropes this week — get your pens out, because we’re talking about about a thousand books that tackle Partner in Danger! You know what we’re talking about: “Oh no! This person I sometimes bone is in danger! WAIT! I am feeling feelings!!!” It’s great. We’re going to talk about why. Sarah would like to apologize in advance, because it was really hot in her house when we recorded, and it scrambled her brain.

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, it’s erotica week! We’re reading a book that Sarah loves, Nikki Sloane’s Three Little Mistakes, which we’ve talked about before on the podcast, but we want to deep dive on. Get Three Little Mistakes from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo … and don’t forget your favorite indie, which is probably shipping books right now and definitely needs your patronage!

Also, if you love the music in this or any of our episodes, check out our Spotify playlist, which includes it all!

Show Notes

• As of last week, going outside looks like a pretty safe thing to do.
• In fact, there is less central A/C in New York City. So watch out for the window units.
• Zoom fatigue is real.
• You know, there is quite a large assortment of "Dorothy in the Sheets, Blanche in the Sheets" merch on Etsy. In case you need to talk a call from your editor.
• We all struggle with the illusion of control.
• The trope of the damsel in distress has been around for a long, long time. So let's not fridge more women, mm'kay.
• Friend of the pod Adriana Herrera has some words of wisdom about writing trauma in romance. And also Jen and Adriana did a Facebook Live chat on the topic. (link & audio forthcoming).
• Pour one out for

We’re talking about one of the best writers in erotic romance this week—Join us for a deep dive into Nikki Sloane’s Three Little Mistakes, which is one of Sarah’s favorite romances. We’re talking about kink, kink shaming, how to make sex discussions less awkward with new partners and how erotic romance is doing some of the best work in the genre right now…and we’re also going to talk about fruity drinks.

In two weeks, we’re officially OFFICIALLY reading Judith McNaught’s A Kingdom of Dreams! Get ready for Sarah’s favorite historical of all time. It’s HAPPENING. Find A Kingdom of Dreams at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo … and don’t forget your favorite indie, which is probably shipping books right now and definitely needs your patronage!

Show Notes

• Here's Jen Porter on Twitter talking about erotic romance. But just this week, Robin Bradford (winner of the RWA Librarian of the year!) was also talking about why it's a problem that we don't have a clear definition for erotic romance.
• Getting RWA to recoginize erotic romance was such a struggle that there was actually a petition! But now we can (hopefully) all move on to bigger and better things with The Vivian.
• YA books with queer characters are some of the most challenged books in America.
• Sarah also mentioned Sordid, which has non-consensual sex and therefore needs a content warning.
• Ron Charles is cool.
• Nikki Sloane used to live in Chicago and now lives in Kentucky. Looks like Jen's friendship plans have just been foiled.
• Having sex in a porche sounds excruciating, and so does having sex with a porche (WTF!), but Men's Health Magazine to the rescue with this handy (lol) list of best cars to have sex in.
• If you're interested in breath play, please do it safely.

One of readers’ very favorite tropes this week…sometimes it’s friends-to-lovers and sometimes it’s friends-to-enemies-to-lovers and sometimes it’s friends-to-attempted-murder-to-lovers….we’re talking childhood friends to adult lovers and we will get to the bottom of it! Get ready for way too much music from The Saint. But first things first….Black Lives Matter.

Next week, we’re officially OFFICIALLY reading Judith McNaught’s A Kingdom of Dreams! Get ready for Sarah’s favorite historical of all time. It’s HAPPENING. Find A Kingdom of Dreams at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo … and don’t forget your favorite indie, which is probably shipping books right now and definitely needs your patronage!

Also, if you love the music in this or any of our episodes, check out our Spotify playlist, which includes it all!

Show Notes

• Looking to donate? Here's why supporting community bail funds is so important. The Minnesota Freedom Fund has raised millions of dollars for protestors who have been arrested, and here is an exhaustive list of other collectives and organizaions spearheaded by Black activists.
• Sarah donated to The Brooklyn Bail Fund and Jen to the Chicago Community Bail Fund. Find one in your city or state through the National Bail Fund Network.
• Bookshop.Org has a special link if you want to shop and support Black-owned Indie bookstores.
• Register to vote. And make sure you're still registered. You can also donate to Stacy Abrams's nonprofit, Fair Fight, which is dedicated to ensure voting access for all Americans..
• Jen's friend Susan is putting together a service to help parents keep kids busy this summer, it's called My Camp Box.
• Maybe you'd like to find some more unrequited love romances? And, by the way, Requited is an...

It’s the last read-along of Season Two! We’re reading Judith McNaught’s A Kingdom of Dreams, which is the actual book that blooded Sarah when she was wee. This week we’re talking old-school romance, what McNaught was doing with this book and this hero who is so unlike all the heroes who came before him, and why (book) Jennifer is the perfect namesake for (our) Jennifer.

We might not be doing read alongs until August, but that doesn’t mean your TBR won’t still be groaning under the weight of our recommendations — we’ve got a bunch of rec episodes lined up for summer….oh, and did you know Sarah has a book out in three weeks? Order it from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie, or order it signed from her local indie, WORD Bookstore, and get a special edition Fated Mates sticker with your purchase!

As summer approaches, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Show Notes

• Marty McFly, played by Michael J. Fox, was the main character in an excellent 1985 time-traveling movie called Back to the Future.
• Sarah's next book, Daring and the Duke, comes out at the end of the month. Preorder from WORD in Brooklyn and you'll recieve a limited edition yellow Fated Mates sticker.
• Whitney, My Love is an early McNaught historical romance that the author changed because in the original text, the hero rapes and horsewhips the heroine. The hero of A Kingdom of Dreams, Royce Westmoreland, is one of Clayton's ancestors, but we think he is McNaught correcting the record on the Alpha hero. In the IAD novella episode, we talked about the changes in Whitney, My Love. Whitney also came up in the Alpha episode that started the season, because it's impossible to talk about the primordial alphas without talking about the early Alpha.
• More on the four books that comprise the Westmoreland series.
• Who do we talk to get A Kingdom of Dreams on audio? Oh, you can email a request to Audible.
• Jen learned about 1497 on Wikipedia. As one does.

This one’s for you, audio readers! We’re thrilled to have a freewheeling episode this week featuring the fantastically talented Justine Eyre, who has narrated Sarah’s last seven books! Sarah & Justine had never talked until this conversation, when we were able to ask all the questions we’ve always had about how audiobooks work, and what makes them so great. And stay tuned until the end of the episode, when you can hear the first two chapters of the audiobook of Daring & the Duke, available wherever audiobooks are sold, June 30th!

We might not be doing read alongs until August, but that doesn’t mean your TBR won’t still be groaning under the weight of our recommendations — we’ve got a bunch of rec episodes lined up for summer…

Oh, and did you know Sarah has a book out in two weeks? Order Daring & the Duke from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie, or order it signed from her local indie, WORD Bookstore, and get a special edition Fated Mates sticker with your purchase!

As summer approaches, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Show Notes

• Welcome Justine Eyre! Justine has narrated all of Sarah's books since Never Judge a Lady by Her Cover.
• Join Sarah's Old School Romance Book Club (OSRBC) on Facebook.
• Is Jane Eyre really "our favorite Jane"? Jane Austen would like a word.
• Justine talked a lot about how audiobooks are made, but here's another great explainer about the role of narrators and audiobook production.
• We recorded this before J. K. Rowling's latest terrible TERF rant, so take Jen's praise of Jim Dale's narrationwith a grain of salt.
• Justine mentioned Scott Brick as a mentor, and his site has a guide for those interested in becoming narrators.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2020/6/16/s0241-audiobook-interstitial-with-voice-actor-justine-eyre
• If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest

This week it's one of our very faves, Joanna Shupe is back! Joanna has a new book out June 30th -- The Devil of Downtown -- which is basically perfection, so we're talking about why Gilded Age romance is the best, and why everyone should be reading unusual historicals (historicals set outside the Regency in England). Get ready, your TBR will groan after this one!

Oh, and did you know Sarah also has a book out June 30th? Order Daring & the Duke from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie, or order it signed from her local indie, WORD Bookstore, and get a special edition Fated Mates sticker with your purchase!

As summer approaches, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Oh, and did you know Sarah also has a book out June 30th? Order Daring & the Duke from Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie, or order it signed from her local indie, WORD Bookstore, and get a special edition Fated Mates sticker with your purchase!

As summer approaches, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Show Notes

• This is Joanna's second time on Fated Mates. The first was to discuss the enemies to lovers trope in Prisoner of My Desire and Kiss of a Demon King.
• Speaking of IAD: ever seen the IAD spreadsheet of Wonder, created be Sarah Hawley from the Wicked Wallflowers Podcast? Oh, and if you haven't read it, why not do it this summer? There's a group read going on right now on a subgroup of Sarah's Facebook Book Club!
• All about Homage, allusion, and allegory in case it's been a while since you were in an English class.
• Modern Library! Where are our romances?
• Sarah has

Sarah has a new book out, so Jen is playing host this week, and Sarah is playing guest, and Jen is really outrageously good at it…move over Terry Gross! Find Daring & the Duke wherever books are sold, including Amazon, Kobo, B&N, Apple Books, Books-a-Million, or at your local indie via Bookshop.org.

Show Notes

• You can listen to all of our walk-up music suggestions on the Fated Mates Spotify playlist. But in case you've never seen The Music Man, the song Marian the Librarian is very cute.
• Sarah wants to be a guest on Fresh Air. (Jen obviously does, too, but has to actual cause to be interviewed. So #TeamSarah.) Do we know anyone who knows Terry Gross?
• If you can't wait, you can listen to us on the Deerfield Public Libary podcast, but we're going to drop it into our own feed later this month. So no worries.
• Jen thinks Sarah is in her imperial period--a phrase Jen learned from listening to the Hit Parade podcast.
• The past year have had some great books about rage and feminism: The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls, Good and Mad, and Hood Feminism are three we recommend.
• We put children in factories all day, so of course kids fought, too. Sarah recommends The Fair Fight, a historical novel, about bareknuckle fighting kids.
• Statler & Waldorf are the two old dudes up on the balcony during The Muppet Show.
• The Victorian Age wasn't so great for women and other marginalized people.
• That Jeffrey Epstein documentary is on Netflix.
• Ewan's year-long break was inspired by The Player.
• The myth of Apollo and Cyrene, and also a little about neo-classicism. One of our favorite myth retellings of the past few years, is

We’re so excited to have Kennedy Ryan with us this week — someone who was blooded not once, but twice by old school historicals! Listen to us talk powerful heroines, her brilliant Queen Move, how so much romance is political and why those old romances are still worth reading — problematic and all.

Summer is here, and next week is the final episode of Season Two, with a few others to come while we take a few weeks off. To read romance novels. Obviously. Season Three begins in August!

While we’re apart, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Oh, and did you know Sarah had a book out last week? Daring & the Duke is officially here! Get it at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie, or order it signed from the wonderful independent bookstore, Savoy Bookshop in RI, where she is for the. month of July!

Show Notes

• Welcome Kennedy Ryan! You know what they say about pastors' kids. Just kidding, she was a late bloomer.
• Teacher Jen would like a moment to talk about vocabulary acquisition: Parents can help kids learn new words by modeling, but reading is really the X factor. You can take this vocabulary test to see the rough size of your own vocabulary, but this information about how kids acquire new words is actually pretty simple: read lots of fiction when you're young.
• Believe it or not, there was never a Carole Mortimer book titled Frustration. But perhaps you might be interested in her other single word titles: Untamed, Gypsy (yikes!), or Witchchild.
• Prince had lots of protégées, including Vanity (Rick James's ex-girlfiend! thank you for that info Cheris Hodges!), Sheena...

It felt fitting that our final episode of Season 2—during which we celebrated so many of the vintage romances that blooded us—would be with someone we could fully geek out with! We are thrilled to have Steve Ammidown, romance nerd and archivist at the Browne Popular Culture Library at Bowling Green State University, with us today to talk about Vivian Stephens and early category romances. To prepare, all three of us read some of the earliest American category romances, and wow were they a ride! We’re talking women who work, marriage in romance, older heroines, the impact of Vietnam on 1980s romances, and more. Strap in!

We’re on hiatus for the next three weeks, but you’ll hear some great alternative content on Wednesdays — including crossover episodes and interviews we’ve done in other places. Thank you, as always, for listening — we hope you’re having a great (and safe!) summer. While we’re apart, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Oh, and did you know Sarah has a new book out? Daring & the Duke is officially here! Get it at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie, or order it signed from the wonderful independent bookstore, Savoy Bookshop in RI, where she is through the end of July!

Show Notes

• Welcome Steve Ammidown, the Manuscripts & Outreach Archivist at the Browne Popular Culture Library at the Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
• Vivian Stephens was one of the original founders of RWA and one of the most important editors in romance. At the Browne Pop Culture library, there is a special Vivian Stephens collection. Vivian was instrumental in bringing category romance to America and created the Candlelight Ecstacy Romance line, which put sex on page in a new way. She also created the Harlequin American line.
• Vivian recruited a series of authors who changed the face of romance: Jayne Castle/Jayne Ann Krenz, Sandra Brown, and later Beverly Jenkins. Here is an early interview with Vivian about her work and the world of romance.
• At the last RITAs ceremony--in the future, it will be

We are on hiatus for the rest of July, but never fear! We're still bringing fun content to your earholes!

In June, we recorded a live crossover episode of Fated Mates/Learning the Tropes, during which we played delightful games, talked about books, and got to the bottom (or maybe not) of Learning the Tropes's Clayton's interesting romance kinks. We are delighted to share that episode with you this week!

If you subscribe to both of our podcasts, this will be a duplicate episode this week. If you *don't* subscribe to both podcasts...you definitely should. Find Learning the Tropes wherever you listen to podcasts! Erin and Clayton are two of our favorite people.

Thank you, as always, for listening — we hope you’re having a great (and safe!) July! While we’re apart, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Oh, and did you know Sarah has a new book out? Daring & the Duke is officially here! Get it at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie, or order it signed from the wonderful independent bookstore, Savoy Bookshop in RI, where she is through the end of July!

We're still on hiatus between seasons, but your earholes don't have to be! This week, the Deerfield Illinois Public Library turned the tables on us and interviewed us for their podcast! We had a great time talking about romance and why it's the very very best. Subscribe to the DPL Podcast for more great interviews!

Thank you, as always, for listening — we hope you’re having a great (and safe!) July! While we’re apart, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Oh, and did you know Sarah has a new book out? Daring & the Duke is officially here! Get it at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie.

Since the start of the Pandemic, brilliant VE Schwab has been hosting authors from across the spectrum of genres on Instagram Live Saturdays at 3pm et for her No Write Way series, talking about books, writing, the world and whatever else comes at them. Several weeks ago, Sarah joined her, and they had a great conversation about romance and writing, and we’re thrilled to share the audio with you this week!

Follow VE on Instagram, preorder her next book, The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, and don’t miss her lives on Saturday afternoons!

Thank you, as always, for listening — we hope you’re having a great (and safe!) July! While we’re apart, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Oh, and did you know Sarah has a new book out? Daring & the Duke is officially here! Get it at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie.

Surely the silverest lining of the Pandemic is how many fabulous conversations are happening all around us. A few weeks ago, Jen had an incredibly important conversation about the work of romance and writing trauma and trauma survivors. You can follow Adriana on Facebook and watch the video of the conversation there!

Representation of Trauma Survivors in Romance: Adriana Herrera and Jen Prokop

Fated Mates

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As you know, Adriana is one of our favorite people…preorder her next book, Here to Stay—you deserve a treat!

Thank you, as always, for listening — we hope you’re having a great (and safe!) summer! While we’re apart, if you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Oh, and did you know Sarah has a new book out? Daring & the Duke is officially here! Get it at Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Books-a-Million or from your local indie.

We’ll see you next week, for the first episode of Season 3!