Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People

We’re still on hiatus, but we’ve got more goodies for you. We recently stopped by Likewise for a chat, and they were gracious enough to let us share it with you. We talked about romance novels and recommended books, if you can imagine. There’s no host. It’s just us. So give it a listen! If you’re looking for more fun stuff to fill the time between now and next week’s season six premiere, we’ve got...

We’re on hiatus this week (next week, too!), but we miss you, so we’re bringing you treats! On our Patreon, we host a short-video conversation series with our favorite people, sometimes about romance, and mostly about other things they are into. We’ve had Adriana Herrera, Dani from Ice Planet Pod, Maureen Lee Lenker, Eloisa James and Jen’s friend Ernie, among others! This week we thought we’d shar...

Sarah has a new book out, so as is tradition for our last episode of the season, Jen is playing host, and Sarah is playing guest, and we’re talking about this gorgeous cover, about secrets and power, about Exasperated Man vibes, about characters having to learn lessons, about writing propulsive stories, about how bored Sarah gets by ballrooms and about how fun it is to write in a big fictional, fa...

We’re talking about a classic trope that we’ve somehow missed over five seasons — Grumpy/Sunshine! Of course our favorite brand of this particular trope is what our friend B.andherbooks calls “Exasperated Man™️,” but we’re talking about the whole continuum of grumps and sunshines, including grumpy women (because it’s 2023, and aren’t most women pretty grumpy, honestly). Check out this list of book...

We’re talking fairytale retellings today with Zoraida Córdova, the author of Kiss the Girl, a new retelling of The Little Mermaid. We talk about the responsibility of authors when they tackle retellings, about the relevance of fairytales in the world, about the history of fairytales, and about why they resonate so powerfully with us as authors and readers. After Sarah’s Knockout ( preorder it sign...

It’s a million degrees and no one has time for slow burns right now, y’all. This week, we’re talking books that start with a bang — and we mean literally. We talk about how difficult it is to thread the needle on romance that starts with sex, about the tropes that lend themselves to this particular theme, about sex work, one night stands, about erotic romance vs. romance, and about how pulling thi...

After literal years of requests for this one, we’re finally tackling the divorced main characters in romance! We talk about romance between grown ups, about bad exes and good ones, about marriages that were mistakes and ones that help characters learn. This one is full of contemporaries and historicals, and you definitely don’t want to miss it. After Sarah’s Knockout ( preorder it signed, with exc...

Today, we’re talking about books we’re excited about this Summer! We’re toppling TBRs with books you can get now, books you can preorder, books that are terrific beach reads, books that gave us big feelings, and books that made us really very happy. Enjoy! For the readers in the group, preorder Sarah’s book, Knockout , now. For the writers in the group, register for her conflict class, at her webs...

We go back to the OG DNA of the contemporary boom of the early 2010s today, with a read along of Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, with fabulous fan fic writers turned brilliant romance novelists, Christina Lauren. Christina and Lauren talk about the way the books inspired them to write, helped them find a community, and their fated mates (each other). Jen talks about reading Twilight as a middle school...

We were devastated to learn of the passing of Julie Garwood, honest to God romance doyenne, last month. Garwood installed many of our buttons, and the buttons of so many romance readers who came up reading “The Four J’s,” and, more importantly, paved the way for historicals with humor. She was, without question, a trailblazer. While we were unable to interview her for our trailblazer series, we co...

We’re talking about worldbuilding this week, and you’re getting a glimpse into Jen and Sarah’s everyday non-podcasting romance chatter. This one is for everyone — we talk about paranormal and historical romance, about what we think fantasy means when it comes to romance, and (most importantly) about how contemporary romance just might require the most worldbuilding of all of it? Separately, Eric p...

It’s heroines in science week here at Fated Mates! STEM heroines are having a resurgence in romance, in no small part because of the rise of “STEMinist romcoms” (citation: Ali Hazelwood and Elena Armas), but we’re talking about everything from astronauts and archeologists to explosives experts and healers and we’ve got a list of books we love throughout romance history. That, and we already talked...

The Trailblazers conversations continue this week with historical romance juggernaut Mary Balogh, whose decades-long career has shaped the Regency romance in both category and single title. We talk about historical accuracy, about research, about love, about staying true to your voice and your purpose, and about who Mary Balogh thinks is writing at the top of the game (spoiler: we agree). We are s...

It’s hard to believe it’s taken us this long to do a prologue and epilogue episode! We talk about beginnings and endings and why they exist and why writers should ignore every piece of broad strokes nonsense advice people want to throw at them. Jen says “Prologues are plot and epilogues are character,” and blows Sarah’s mind with her genius (jk, Sarah already knew she was a genius). And yes, we ta...

In March, we had the absolute best time with some of our favorite people at Fated Mates LIVE in Brooklyn! Here, for your enjoyment, is the recording of the wacky, wild night, which we spent with 250 Magnificent Firebirds, including: Tessa Bailey, Andie Christopher, Adriana Herrera and Joanna Shupe, who took the opportunity to announce that evening that she also writes mafia romance as Mila Finelli...

We’re talking kissing today! So simple and so powerful, there’s no doubt that that first kiss in romance is always an important one. This episode was inspired by our recent readalong of Her Best Worst Mistake, but we talk about some other great books (most of which we’ve talked about before) with truly excellent kisses. Enjoy…and tell us about your favorite kisses in books, movies, tv shows…wherev...

The Trailblazers conversations continue this week with the brilliantly talented Loretta Chase, who we adore, and not only because she wrote one of our favorite romances of all time. We obviously talk about Lord of Scoundrels and Jessica and Dain, but we also talk about writing, about the challenges of writer’s block, about the glorious rabbit holes of research, and yes…we ask hard hitting question...

This week, we’re talking about one of our very favorite romance novels, Sarah Mayberry’s absolute banger, Her Best Worst Mistake . We talk about how enemies to lovers works best, about how POV changes the whole game with this particular trope, about how Mayberry threads a very difficult needle with the main characters’ past relationship, and about how conflict somehow remains queen, even when not...

After a number of conversations and requests, we’re talking about the best long-running romance series today! We’ve got something for everyone — paranormal, historical and contemporary — and we’re getting your long, lingering summer reading TBR sorted! We talk about why series work so well for romance, what makes them rewarding, and what we’re looking for when we dive in. Next week, we’ve got anot...

It’s runaway bride week here at Fated Mates and we’re delightedly traveling down memory lane to talk Julia Roberts, Sally Field, the importance of significant lips for a proper mustache, and all the ways we love cold feet on the way to the altar! We discuss all the ways runaway brides can happen in romance, talk about our high expectations for this trope…and Sarah realizes she’s written two of the...

Finally, the read along we’ve been promising! We’re so excited to talk about Tracy MacNish’s Stealing Midnight, a gothic romance from 2008 that delivers what we here at the pod like to refer to as “the full banana.” We talk about bodysnatchers, about science, about dukes in disguise, about twins, and about why historical romance is unmatched. If you know Tracy MacNish, please tell her we love her...

This week, we’re sharing our fantastic conversation with trailblazer Christine Feehan, an undeniable force in the rise of paranormal romance in the early 2000s. We discuss the genesis of her work, the way she builds her far-reaching worlds, her relationship to readers, her heroes, her sex scenes, and the long and winding path of her career. Our conversation covers a lot of ground—personal, profess...

We were together for the first time in a while, so we decided to record on Sarah’s couch! We answer questions from the audience at Fated Mates Live, recommend Spring romance novels, fill your TBR pile and bantr. It’s nice. Next week, we’re reading Tracy MacNish’s Stealing Midnight —we’ve heard the calls from our gothic romance readers and we’re delivering with this truly bananas story, in which th...

Sophie Jordan is back again! She’s got a new book out, The Countess , the first in her Scandalous Ladies of London series, featuring a true Regency squad full of scandalous ladies and answering the question: What if the Real Housewives were actually Regency-era aristocrats? We talk about friendships in old school romances, about why groups of women are game changers in fiction and in real life, an...

We’re talking about teachers and librarians in romance today, but don’t worry — not hot-for-teacher kinds of teachers and librarians (someday, Sarah will do that one on her own, maybe). Instead, we’re talking about romances with main characters who are teachers or librarians, in honor of the hardworking, committed teachers and librarians who are fighting book bans all across the United States righ...