fated-mates

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We’re wrapping up season seven by asking ourselves a simple question. Do we like this stuff? Yes? No? Maybe so? 

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Based off these three factors, drop the most IDEAL man for lesbians... 🔍⬇️

➡️ Watch Jordan's Smartypants presentation only on Dropout

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Mallory McMorrow talks about contacting your representatives, building those muscles, and forging real relationships that create change.

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Joanna Shupe joins us this week to celebrate her new book, The Gilded Heiress, and talk about one of our favorite things—baddies with a heart of gold! We talk about the book, about our mutual love of criminals, of noble scoundrels, of con artists and basically anyone willing to do crime in the name of love. We also talk about how everything Gilded Age is back again, which…ugh. We love Joanna and her book – come see us with her in Chicago on August 28th and in Brooklyn on September 9th.

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The picks.

It’s Bodyguard Romance week, which feels impossible, honestly, considering we’ve definitely done this before, haven’t we? According to Eric and also the internet, we haven’t, which means we get to talk for the first time in seven seasons about why Bodyguards work so well for so many romance readers, including us! We talk about the basics – the innate joy of having an Exasperated Man™️ willing to put himself in front of a bullet for you, the absolute delight of the books that turn the whole thing on its head and make the protector the protected, and yes, Whitney Houston. Also, Jen makes a brilliant observation on surveillance culture and how it’s impacting romance. We’re keeping you safe from the baddies this week.  

[fated-mates]

It’s Bodyguard Romance week, which feels impossible, honestly, considering we’ve definitely done this before, haven’t we? According to Eric and also the internet, we haven’t, which means we get to talk for the first time in seven seasons about why Bodyguards work so well for so many romance readers, including us! We talk about the basics – the innate joy of having an Exasperated Man™️ willing to put himself in front of a bullet for you, the absolute delight of the books that turn the whole thing on its head and make the protector the protected, and yes, Whitney Houston. Also, Jen makes a brilliant observation on surveillance culture and how it’s impacting romance. We’re keeping you safe from the baddies this week.  

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This week, for some reason, we're talking about romance novels with horses in them! Do we know anything about horses? Of course not! Do we let that stop us? It never has before! We're talking about the ones where the horse dies, the ones where they do it on a horse, the ones where she's a horse whisperer, and the ones where she just really likes horses. Giddyup!

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The DON'T LET YOUR DUKES GROW UP TO BE SCOUNDRELS and WHERE HAVE ALL THE SCOUNDRELS GONE audiobooks were already discounted at Libro.fm, but now they're free! 🤩

And they're narrated by Mary Jane Wells!

Don't miss out.

There's a big romance audiobook sale going on at Libro.fm. Here's a list of books we've discussed on the podcast that are priced at $5 or less right now.

CURVY GIRL SUMMER

WHILWIND

GET A LIFE CHLOE BROWN

WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT

THE LADY GETS LUCKY

DON’T LET YOUR DUKES GROW UP TO BE SCOUNDRELS

WHERE HAVE ALL THE SCOUNDRELS GONE

THE PROPOSAL

A SCOT IN THE DARK

WICKED ABYSS DEVIL’S DAUGHTER

THIS SCOT OF MINE

RECIPE FOR PERSUASION

Purchases support your local indie bookseller. They're DRM free, too. And you don't have to be a member to get the deals.

[fated-mates]

We're back with a deep dive episode on one of our favorite Susan Elizabeth Phillips books, Natural Born Charmer. Jen thinks this one marks SEP's Imperial Period, and Sarah's looks askance at the term romcom to describe romance novels. We're talking plot, character, risk-taking, and how romances can feel wildly expansive.

[fated-mates]

There's a big romance audiobook sale going on at Libro.fm. Here's a list of books we've discussed on the podcast that are priced at $5 or less right now.

CURVY GIRL SUMMER

WHILWIND

GET A LIFE CHLOE BROWN

WHEN A SCOT TIES THE KNOT

THE LADY GETS LUCKY

DON’T LET YOUR DUKES GROW UP TO BE SCOUNDRELS

WHERE HAVE ALL THE SCOUNDRELS GONE

THE PROPOSAL

A SCOT IN THE DARK

WICKED ABYSS DEVIL’S DAUGHTER

THIS SCOT OF MINE

RECIPE FOR PERSUASION

Purchases support your local indie bookseller. They're DRM free, too. And you don't have to be a member to get the deals.

[fated-mates]

We're back with a deep dive episode on one of our favorite Susan Elizabeth Phillips books, Natural Born Charmer. Jen thinks this one marks SEP's Imperial Period, and Sarah's looks askance at the term romcom to describe romance novels. We're talking plot, character, risk-taking, and how romances can feel wildly expansive.

[fated-mates]

Our picks.

By request (and because Sarah needed books for her upcoming trip), we're talking about romance novels by Australian authors this week, with a nod to some New Zealanders as well. We discuss how historical romance has much maligned Australia, recommend some absolutely terrific books, many of which we've actually done deep dives on, and we talk about why so many Australian romances hit the spot with American readers.

[fated-mates]

By request (and because Sarah needed books for her upcoming trip), we're talking about romance novels by Australian authors this week, with a nod to some New Zealanders as well. We discuss how historical romance has much maligned Australia, recommend some absolutely terrific books, many of which we've actually done deep dives on, and we talk about why so many Australian romances hit the spot with American readers.

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If you were ever in court, would you bother to swear on a bible or ask for something else?

I'd swear on Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas

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Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

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Diana Quincy's HER NIGHT WITH THE DUKE is one of those rare books that earned both a spot on a our best of the year list (2020) and a deep dive episode. It's $2 today.

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Just some random Harlequin Blaze covers.