Bicycles and Boundaries

Historicals are dead! Long live historicals! This week, we're talking about fourteen (and change) historical romances that we've never talked about before -- all published recently, some already this year. Every book we talk about is available right now for download and reading pleasure--and we have a stack of them ready to talk about in future episodes! We're so excited to be your discoverabilibuddies on this one!

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.

Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepsteakes to win one of five free copies of the audiobook of Stephanie Burgis's Wooing the Witch Queen.

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

• Lyon’s Lover Maggie Sims
• The Sapphire Heiress by Ella Leon
• A Shore Thing by Joanna Lowell
• The Duke’s Bartered Mistress by Caroline Lee
• The Villain by Victoria Vale
• Exit, Pursued by a Baron by Aydra Richards
• Seduced in a Storm By Royaline Sing
• A Bloomy Head by J. Winifred Butterworth
• Never Woo the Wrong Lady by Charlie Lane
• Dionysus in Wisconsin by EH Lupton
• All About That Duke by Merry Farmer
• The Wayward Duke by Katrina Kendrick
• Where Have All the Scoundrels Gone by Louisa Darling
• Winnie West has an Agenda by Kat Sterling

The Notes

• Check out Bookshop’s Black Romance List and you might want to use their new digital books app to read The Co-Op by Tarah DeWitt or any other eBook on a Boox Palma 2. 
• Budleigh Salterton seems nice next time you’re going to England.
• A bike with a big front wheel is called a penny-farthing.
• Bicycle jousting sounds like that whole scene in Footloose. 
• Endymion is a myth, a poem, and also a burly, grouchy Scot.
• Exit, Pursued by a Bear is a stage direction from a Winter’s Tale. 

Sponsors

• Rien Gray, author of Double Exposure, available in print, ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Stephanie Rose, author of Just One Favor, available in print, ebook, audio, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Stephanie Burgis, author of Wooing the Witch Queen, read by Amanda Leigh Cobb, available form Audible, Kobo, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Libro.fm, or wherever you get your audiobooks. Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepsteakes to win one of five free copies of the audiobook.
• Lumi Labs, creators of Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/2/13/0723-the-new-historicals
• 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 favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

00:00.000 Heavy is the DiscoverabilityBuddy Crown

11:09.500 Upstairs Downstairs Reading

14:37.500 The New Historicals

18:56.000 AD: DOUBLE EXPOSURE

21:03.000 Lyon's Lover

27:38.000 The Sapphire Heiress

33:15.000 AD: WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN

35:50.000 A Shore Thing

43:48.500 The Duke's Bartered Mistress

49:36.500 AD: JUST ONE FAVOR

51:31.500 The Villain

59:14.000 Exit, Pursued by a Baron

01:04:12.000 AD: LUMI GUMMIES

01:06:30.500 Seduced in a Storm

01:11:56.000 A Bloomy Head

01:19:19.000 Never Woo the Wrong Lady

01:27:07.500 Dionysus in Wisconsin

01:32:52.000 All About that Duke

01:40:48.000 The Wayward Duke

01:45:59.500 Where Have all the Scoundrels Gone

01:52:13.000 Winnie West Has an Agenda

02:03:22.000 AD: WOOING THE WITCH QUEEN