Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People

We’re joined this week by the fabulous Nikki Payne, author of Pride & Protest and this month’s new release Sex, Lies & Sensibility to talk about home renovation romance and why we all love it so much! Is it because of competence? Yes. Because we like it when characters have to walk through fire together? Definitely. Because of the metaphor for our lives and futures? Absolutely. We talk about all these things, and how Old School historical really did the business on this trope. And — a bonus! Sarah finally gets to talk with someone about Jane Austen!Nikki is joining us at Fated Mates Live! Join us in Brooklyn, NY, at the gorgeous William Vale Hotel, on March 23rd, along with Kate Clayborn, Lauren Billings (one-half of Christina Lauren) and a roomful of other romance-obsessed listeners for a night of romance shenanigans at a live taping of Fated Mates! While we’re never sure quite how it’s going to go, we can guarantee there will be books, booze and bantr…and you’ll leave full of joy from all the fun. We’ve even got The Ripped Bodice on hand to sell books, and the room will be available for hanging with other Firebirds after the live! Preorder Kate’s The Other Side of Disappearing three days early (and books from everyone else!) from The Ripped Bodice—links, tickets and more info are at fatedmates.net/live. If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Our next read along is Heather Guerre’s Preferential Treatment, one of Sarah’s favorite romances of 2022. Get it at Amazon, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.Show NotesWelcome Nikki Payne, author of Sex, Lies, and Sensibility. She’ll be at the Ripped Bodice on Feb 23, and at Fated Mates Live, along with Kate Clayborn, Lauren Billings from Christina Lauren, and a few hundred Magnificent Firebirds on March 23, 2024. You can get signed copies of her books at East City Books in DC.Jen had to read A Separate Peace in high school and doesn’t have the best memories of it, to be honest.The mid-90s were a real high tide for Austen adaptions: in 1995 the movies Clueless and Sense and Sensibility and a miniseries of Pride and Prejudice, and the following year the movie Emma.A little bit more about the rights of American women to have their own bank accounts, but women’s access to fair credit is still unjust.A few movies we discussed this week: The Money Pit, Something New, and Baby Boom.

We’re talking about gaming hells! Is it residual Derek Craven love? Probably. Why does Sarah love a casino so much? Why are we so into ladies being wagered by the idiot men in their lives? What makes these places that are so not sexy in real 2024 life so incredibly hot in a) James Bond movies, b) heist movies, and c) historical romances? We’re getting to the bottom of it—or at least, we’re going to talk about books we love. That’s the Fated Mates promise. We’re betting you’re going to love this one! (see what we did there?)We also talk about Fated Mates Live! Join us in Brooklyn, NY, at the gorgeous William Vale Hotel, on March 23rd, along with a collection of special guests and a roomful of other romance-obsessed listeners for a night of romance shenanigans at a live taping of Fated Mates! While we’re never sure quite how it’s going to go, we can guarantee there will be books, booze and bantr…and you’ll leave full of joy from all the fun. We’ve even got The Ripped Bodice on hand to sell books, and the room will be available for hanging with other Firebirds after the live! Tickets and info are at fatedmates.net/live.If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Our next read along is Heather Guerre’s Preferential Treatment, one of Sarah’s favorite romances of 2022. Get it at Amazon, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.Show NotesGet Fated Mates Live tickets for March 23, 2024 in Brooklyn.We think that waking up married is different than casinos.Derek Craven is of course our favorite casino-owner, but Sarah wrote a pretty famous casino series, too.In modern times, casinos are owned by giant conglomerates and they are definitely making a ton of money, Especially this past weekend since the Superbowl was in Vegas.The Taylor Swift Effect is real.Have we mentioned that there are lots of movies about casinos out there in the world.“Fuck me gently with a chainsaw” is a reference to Heathers, not a dark romance.An explainer about fantasy sports and where they are legal.You can join Sarah and Julia Quinn next Tuesday, February 20, online via Zoom. They'll be talking about all things Bridgerton, about romance, about reading and writing, and taking questions! Register for the free event, sponsored Illinois Libraries Present, and join them!

We’re so excited for today’s deep dive on Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot — a sexy, second-chance romance that gave us so many feelings, including delight that Natalie is at the very beginning of her romance writing career! Here we talk about taking big swings in romance, about telling love stories against the backdrop of real life issues, and about how this book’s ending might be the closest thing to Kleypas we’ve read in a long time. Get the book at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. We also talk about Fated Mates Live! Join us in Brooklyn, NY, at the gorgeous William Vale Hotel, on March 23rd! Join us along with a collection of special guests and a roomful of other romance-obsessed listeners for a night of romance shenanigans at a live taping of Fated Mates! While we’re never sure quite how it’s going to go, we can guarantee there will be books, booze and bantr…and you’ll leave full of joy from all the fun. We’ve even got The Ripped Bodice on hand to sell books, and the room will be available for hanging with other Firebirds after the live! Tickets and info are at fatedmates.net/live.If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Show NotesOn March 16 2024, Jen will be at the Forest Park Library for an event called Book Buzz. Use this link to register. It’s all about romance, and Natalie Cana, Nicole Falls, and local Forest Parker Maria Monroe.Selective mutism is a type of anxiety disorder.Humboldt Park is a Chicago neighborhood that has been ethnically Latine with the largest Puerto Rican population in the city, for a long time. The gentrification described in the book is a real problem facing the neighborhood. If you were inspired by this story, you can support La Case Norte, a real Humboldt Park organization that supports homeless teenagers.This whole Arrested Development thing about Army was very funny, just trust us.The Rock having a tea party with his daughter is very adorable.February romance articles are coming, including one written by Jen for Kirkus.You can sign up for the virtual conversation with Sarah and Julia Quinn, hosted by the Illinois Libraries (which includes Oak Park) on Feb 20th, 2024.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2024/2/6/0622-a-dish-best-served-hot-by-natalie-cana 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.

It’s February which means it’s time for the biggest holiday in romance — Derek Craven Day! We’re so thrilled to be able to celebrate this remarkable man—born in a drainpipe, named himself, turned to a life of spectacle stealing—with all of you! This year, we’re so excited to have friend of the pod and of Cravens, Sanjana (follow her on TikTok at baskinsuns), to chat with us about her landmark research: A Comprehensive Categorization of Kleypas Heroes. We laugh, we get serious, and yes, we even talk about Zachary Bronson. — calm down, Bronsonettes. Also — it just feels right that we’re announcing Fated Mates Live on Derek Craven Day! Join us in Brooklyn, NY, at the gorgeous William Vale Hotel, on March 23rd! Join us along with a collection of special guests and a roomful of other romance-obsessed listeners for a night of romance shenanigans at a live taping of Fated Mates! While we’re never sure quite how it’s going to go, we can guarantee there will be books, booze and bantr…and you’ll leave full of joy from all the fun. We’ve even got The Ripped Bodice on hand to sell books, and the room will be available for hanging with other Firebirds after the live! Tickets and info are at fatedmates.net/live.Next week, we’re deep diving on Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot. Find it at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Show NotesWelcome Sanj. You can find her on TikTok or twitter. Her “Comprehensive Categorization of Kleypas Heroes” below went through several iterations during the pandemic, you're looking at v4. Lots of people have organized their thoughts about Kleypas characters, we also liked this one that’s a Venn Diagram.Kate Clayborn joined us in 2021 to address a deeply silly list of questions and scenarios submitted by Magnificent Firebirds. It is absolutely worth a second listen. In 2023, we dropped That’s So Craven. And then there’s our Dreaming of You read along. If you’re looking for hard data about what Derek Craven would or would never do, or just want to browse some absurd memes, the official Derek Craven Day master page has you covered. There are a few new memes this year and an answer to an important new question about Derek shopping at Winterborne’s. Finally, the YouTube version of the 2021 Derek Craven Day episode will light up any display from phone to TV with an exhaustive list of Derek Creaven would/never scenarios. You can turn down the sound and just have it loop all day long. It’s very possible that only Eric thinks this is a good idea, but you never know. Oh, and this.

This one is probably as goofy as we get — we’ve spent six years talking about Romance Science, and now class is in session! We’re talking biology, human physiology, astronomy, neurology, urology, gynecology, obstetrics and dermatology. Basically, we’ve studied this enough to hold multiple MDs & PhDs. If we’re ever on a plane and someone needs a doctor, we’re volunteering. Love doctors count, right? We hope you enjoy listening as much as we enjoyed recording.Our first read along of 2024 is Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot. Find it at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Show NotesTwo brothers who are both in the NFL, that’s romance science. Kylie Kelce seems pretty cool. Too bad we missed her book.On twitter, you can check out the Male Scent Catalog, and Jen has talked about this flower thing, too.Conveniently, Jen wrote a review of the book where that guy had Periwinkle eyes, it was called A Very Private Love by Melinda Cross.What are Palazzo pants, you might be wondering.When it comes to superheroes, everyone is beautiful and no one is horny. Believe it or not, that’s not even how we ended up on Christopher Reeve as Superman.You should definitely pee after sex if you have a vagina.There is a huge difference between a million and a billion, or here’s [another way] to see it11, or another way.Jen is obsessed with lens wipes, and you will be, too, if you try them.

It seems impossible that we haven’t done this one, but we haven’t done this one! We’re talking one night stands—the absolute classic that ends up being a part of so many chaotic, wonderful romances. We’re talking about how they work, why its so important for them to make sense in the context of the story, and how the best authors inject emotion into one life-changing moment (often) early in the book. Enjoy!Our first read along of 2024 is Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot. Find it at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates. Show NotesIt’s the most wonderful time of the year: the The rom com brackets are out, hosted by Allie Parker of the RomEverAfterPod.Joy Ride was a great movie, even if Jen bungled the plot description. She was excited, okay!Sarah and Jen have been doing some other fun reading. Sarah read Jess K Hardy’s forthcoming Lips Like Sugar and she also got some cool paperbacks from the inlaws: Gift of Fire and A Coral Kiss by Jayne Ann Krentz along with Nora Roberts’ Charmed. Jen and Ernie were reading Reacher short stories.

Is it getting hot in here? It is! We’re talking about firefighters this week — arguably the best of the hero(in)es in uniform because, let’s face it, there’s something pretty sexy about someone who will run into flames to save a stranger…let alone to save you. We’re talking about primordial firefighters, about patriarchy (obviously), about the difference between city firefighters and smoke jumpers, and about about the nature of a love interest who puts themself in danger for a living. All that, and they can dead lift you, too. Our first read along of 2024 is Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot. Find it at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates.Show NotesYou can watch some movies and shows about firefighters and paramedics: Backdraft, Chicago Fire, and Sky Med.Here’s a snipped of the scene from Backdraft where they break a car window to get the hose to the hydrant.Wildland firefighting is dangerous and often underpaid, and the Marshall Project has written extensively on prisoners forced into these jobs. Also, here is a first person account of two men who used emergency fire shelters to survive a wildfire.Firefighting demographics are actually pretty bad in Chicago, and here’s a libguide (a library designed portal for collecting links/info on a certain topic) from the University of Illinois about this history of women in firefighting.Too bad about Charmed by the Alien Vampire Firemen!

Is it getting hot in here? It is! We’re talking about firefighters this week — arguably the best of the hero(in)es in uniform because, let’s face it, there’s something pretty sexy about someone who will run into flames to save a stranger…let alone to save you. We’re talking about primordial firefighters, about patriarchy (obviously), about the difference between city firefighters and smoke jumpers, and about about the nature of a love interest who puts themself in danger for a living. All that, and they can dead lift you, too. Our first read along of 2024 is Natalie Caña’s A Dish Best Served Hot. Find it at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie. If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates.Show NotesYou can watch some movies and shows about firefighters and paramedics: Backdraft, Chicago Fire, and Sky Med.Here’s a snipped of the scene from Backdraft where they break a car window to get the hose to the hydrant.Wildland firefighting is dangerous and often underpaid, and the Marshall Project has written extensively on prisoners forced into these jobs. Also, here is a first person account of two men who used emergency fire shelters to survive a wildfire.Firefighting demographics are actually pretty bad in Chicago, and here’s a libguide (a library designed portal for collecting links/info on a certain topic) from the University of Illinois about this history of women in firefighting.Too bad about Charmed by the Alien Vampire Firemen!

It’s New Years Eve, and that means tackling some of the more headphones-in stuff in the Romance Pool, we don’t make the rules. Ok. We kind of make the rules, and this is the New Years Eve service we provide. Today, we’re talking breeding kink in romance with one of our faves, Joanna Shupe! She’s here in disguise though, as Mila Finelli, author of absolutely fire mafia romances, including her latest, Mafia Virgin, which features this particular trope and is a full on delight. As usual, we start out giggling and then get serious as we try to get to the bottom of this very specific thing that seems to have had a recent resurgence in romance. We do patriarchy, body autonomy and heteronormativity, then get into the provenance of this particular romance trope, and finally to the but why tho part of the discussion with a minor detour about spelling. We net out at…well, just give it a listen. But for the love of all that is holy, put your headphones in.Happy New Year, Magnificent Firebirds. We love you a lot and hope that 2024 is the best year yet. xx Jen & Sarah Show NotesOur New Years Eve episodes are always...interesting. Listen to past years:2019: Pegging in Romance with Sierra Simone2020: Jessa Kane extravaganza with Andie Christopher, Alexis Daria, Adriana Herrera, LaQuette, Tracey Livesay, Nisha Sharma, and Joanna Shupe2022: Omegaversity with Adriana Herrera and Ali HazelwoodIn 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. We came back with a bang in 2022, and now, in 2023, we're the full banana, as surely you can agree.

It’s our annual holiday romance episode, and we’re so excited to have you with us! No Santa this year, but we’ve got Toy Runners, audio sexitimes in the Alps, menage in NYC, and more than one snowy cabin just waiting to keep us isolated from the outside world. You’re going to love it. Headphones in, though, please!We don’t have an episode next week, but we’ll be back with a special guest for our annual New Years Eve episode. In the meantime, we hope you get everything you want from whomever you believe in. Thanks for being with us in 2023 — we can’t wait for what comes next. 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.Show NotesWe read a bunch of books for the holidays, but mostly they lean Christmas this year. Last year’s episode was just about Santa.Our listener Katie sent us the Instagram Reel about Daddy December, but it's gone now!Subscribe to the BookBub daily email. You won’t be sad! I also followed @Shadesnpages who had two different #jinglebooks games, one for Naughty and one for Nice. The Lifetime movie that promised a sex scene failed to deliver, and Jen made a joke about it on Twitter, of course.Audio porn exists -- check out the British Filth archive on Tumblr, MitchellASMR on Patreon (some free stuff on Patreon without subscription, too), and apparemtly, the place to find audio now is Quinn. Try it here.