We’re celebrating the paperback release of These Summer Storms this week, and that means we’re talking about the weather! We talk about rain and snow and wind and tempests and tornadoes and monsoons, and we talk about why we all like weather in books so much (hint, it’s because it’s dialed up to 11). Tell us all about your favorite weather in romance novels and find an endless list of books that are as wild and stormy as you like over at the Fated Mates Discord, accessible to our Patreon subscri...
Jun 03, 2026•1 hr 28 min•Season 8Ep. 36
AH2's Historical Trailblazers Romance Collection is inspired by the Fated Mates Trailblazers series, so we thought it would be good to rerun each featured author's Trailblazer episode. This time we've got Loretta Chase, author of Lord of Scoundrels. If this leaves you hungry for more, you can revisit our Lord of Scoundrels deep dive episode. The Historical Trailblazers Kickstarter runs until June 2. Don't miss out!...
Jun 01, 2026•1 hr 19 min•Season 8Ep. 36
AH2's Historical Trailblazers Romance Collection is inspired by the Fated Mates Trailblazers series, so we thought it would be good to rerun each featured author's Trailblazer episode. This time we've got KJ Charles, author of The Magpie Lord. If this leaves you hungry for more, you can revisit our Magpie Lord deep dive episode. The Historical Trailblazers Kickstarter runs until June 2. Don't miss out!...
May 30, 2026•1 hr 43 min•Season 8Ep. 36
AH2's Historical Trailblazers Romance Collection is inspired by the Fated Mates Trailblazers series, so we thought it would be good to rerun each featured author's Trailblazer episode. This week we've got Jeannie Lin, author of Butterfly Swords. If this leaves you hungry for more, you can revisit our Butterfly Swords deep dive . The Historical Trailblazers Kickstarter runs until June 2. Don't miss out!...
May 27, 2026•1 hr 32 min•Season 8Ep. 36
This week, we’re joined by one of the greatest, Veronica Roth, whose new book, Seek the Traitor’s Son , features one of her most beloved of tropes: Sad Boys Who Punch Things. We were delighted when she suggested we do an episode on this very particular, very delicious romance concept, and of course, we invited her to join us! We talk about how it works, why we love soft boys who are full of rage, and how we stan a hero who is willing to stand back and let his partner be awesome. We also talk abo...
May 20, 2026•1 hr 33 min•Season 8Ep. 35
AH2's Historical Trailblazers Romance Collection is inspired by the Fated Mates Trailblazers series, so we thought it would be good to rerun each featured author's Trailblazer episode. We're starting with Beverly Jenkins, author of Indigo. If this leaves you hungry for more, we talk about Ms. Bev quite frequently on the podcast, including in this Indigo deep dive . The Historical Trailblazers Kickstarter runs until June 2 and includes not just the Indigo hardcover book, but a full cast audiobook...
May 18, 2026•1 hr 10 min•Season 8Ep. 35
We are thrilled to have two of our favorite people with us today to discuss one of our favorite genres! Ali Hazelwood and Adriana Herrera, the masterminds behind the AH2 Kickstarter of Historical Trailblazers are here to talk about all the ways historical romance is unmatched! We talk about the new Historical Trailblazer special edition box set that AH2 launched this week, about the power of historicals, and about some of our favorite historical romances, past and present. The Historical Trailbl...
May 13, 2026•1 hr 53 min•Season 8Ep. 34
We’re deep diving into one of our favorite historicals from the 00s today — Jennifer Ashley’s The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie. It’s a great follow up to our Paris episode last week, but we also talk about how Ashley really wrote the heck out of this book. We talk about widows, about sex in historicals, about autism rep in historicals, romance families, and the way this series electrified us as readers. This book is a straight up banger. If you’re interested in learning more about the AH2 Histo...
May 06, 2026•1 hr 37 min•Season 8Ep. 33
We Love Paris in the Springtime and we love Paris in The Paris Match by our very favorite, Kate Clayborn. Today, we’re talking about the City of Love itself, with Kate! We talk about the magic of the City of Lights, about the weight it has in romance, and about the mythology it carries with it whenever it’s included in a book. Yes, of course, we talk about Jessica and Dain, but we also celebrate Kate’s new release, The Paris Match! We’re also covering sex workers, chocolatiers, cigarette smokers...
Apr 29, 2026•1 hr 34 min•Season 8Ep. 32
This season, we’re expanding our traditional Trailblazer series to include the romance writers who are trailblazing today. Our first guest on this branch of the legend tree is Ruby Dixon, author of the Ice Planet Barbarians series. Ruby joins us to talk about how she became Ruby Dixon, what inspired the Ice Planet Barbarians series, how she thinks about writing this ever expanding world, the business of the Barbarians, and what’s next. We’re very grateful to her for making time with us. If you’d...
Apr 22, 2026•1 hr 46 min•Season 8Ep. 31
By request, we’re talking about the characters who have been exiled from family, from community, and from themselves—the irredeemable characters in romance. This is Morality Chain all over again. We’re talking about characters that have done terrible things on and off the page, to the detriment of their reputations in the text and outside, with readers, and somehow, by the end of their own book, are made whole and worthy of love. Here lies St. Vincent, Mr. Vivisection, and more. Tell us about yo...
Apr 15, 2026•1 hr 30 min•Season 8Ep. 30
As always when we’re together, today we’re answering listener questions! In here, we’re recommending sex lessons books, motorcycle romance, books set in Toronto, Ohio and more — we’re also talking about the evolution of the trade paperback, how Jen edits, when Duchess is coming, and if we have favorite dinosaurs. It’s a full service episode for you, our faves. If you have more burning questions for us, you can find us in the Ask Jen & Sarah channel on the Fated Mates Discord, which is access...
Apr 08, 2026•1 hr 25 min•Season 8Ep. 29
It’s time to fill those TBR piles again! April means the start of Spring and also another quarterly upcoming romance episode! We’re talking about romances hitting shelves and ereaders during April, May & June 2026! Whether historical, paranormal, contemporary or Romantasy, we’ve got something for everyone in fifty or so recs across every single genre. As a reminder, we haven’t read most of these, but we have big plans! If you want more recommendations and more people with whom you can discus...
Apr 01, 2026•1 hr 38 min•Season 8Ep. 28
It never fails to surprise us when we realize we’ve never talked about a really classic trope even now…eight years in. This week, we’re talking about kids in romance—which we’ve somehow never done before?! We’re covering Romance Babies, Romance Kids, and Single Parents in Romance — but so sorry to the Secret Baby lovers out there, that one deserves its own episode (someday). We’re talking babies, toddlers and teens, the appeal of the single parent romance novel, and that one Erin St. Claire book...
Mar 25, 2026•1 hr 38 min•Season 8Ep. 27
Someone said something real stupid, and that means we get to hit back in the best way possible — with romance recommendations! Today we’re talking about the Opera and the Ballet in Romance! We’re talking about historicals and contemporaries, about mafia enforcers and exasperated dukes, about football players and yes, of course, our sweet baby Conrad Wroth. You’re going to have a great time. Congratulations to the movie-starrest of movie stars, Michael C. Jordan, on the occasion of his Oscar win....
Mar 18, 2026•1 hr 39 min•Season 8Ep. 26
Calling all Loons! You’ve heated and reheated the rivalry, and now it’s time for us to talk about what you should read between now and Season 2. We’re joined by friend and fave of the pod, Christopher Rice, who writes m/m and sometimes m/m/m romance as C. Travis Rice. We talk about our feelings about Heated Rivalry, about the books and their impact, and about the transformational work of the show…and then we fill your to-be-read piles with books we thing deliver the same kind of emotions. We had...
Mar 11, 2026•1 hr 44 min•Season 8Ep. 25
Things are looking very wild out here in the real world so you deserve a deep dive on a book by an author with a big backlist and we are here to give you just that! Today's episode is on Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife , a modern day marriage of convenience story from Julia Wolf's The Harder They Fall series. We talk about fake husbands down bad, family drama, and the charm of an author building a big universe for all their characters to live in forever. If you want more Fated Mates in your li...
Mar 04, 2026•1 hr 42 min•Season 8Ep. 24
Continuing our series on Romance Vibes, we’re talking about Romance Wardrobe this week! We’re talking corsets and chemises, falls and Hessian boots, Armani suits and underpants that rip right off. We also get to the bottom of the pronunciation of bliaut . Do we recommend books? Not really, but it’s ok, we all deserve a week of goofing off sometime. All that, and Sarah saw “Wuthering Heights.” If you want more Fated Mates in your life, or more romance lovers who love music, please join our Patreo...
Feb 25, 2026•1 hr 28 min•Season 8Ep. 23
Our old pal Billy Shakes told us that music is the food of love, and we’re taking that to heart this week! By request from Eric (who’s never requested anything before), we’re looking at songs that charted in February over the years and matching them with romance novels that suit! We’ve got a little bit of something for everyone here, from historicals to paranormals, motorcycles to mafia to magical realism. Eric’s put together a playlist, and you can find links to that and articles about a bunch ...
Feb 18, 2026•2 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 22
This weekend, the world is celebrating the second most important romance holiday in February (see last week’s episode for the most important)—Valentine’s Day! To lean into the traditions of the day, we thought we’d offer you a dozen roses this week, in the form of books! We’re taking the topic broadly—from character names, to author names, to rose scented things, to roses on the page — historical, contemporary, mafia and more…there’s something in here for everyone. 🌹 If you want more Fated Mate...
Feb 11, 2026•2 hr 7 min•Season 8Ep. 21
It’s finally happened! In a perfect Derek Craven Day celebration, our Trailblazer conversations continue this week with thee Lisa Kleypas, historical romance royalty, who changed the game when she brought working class heroes to historicals. We discuss her four decades of work in romance, from historical to contemporary to magical realism and now into historical fiction, touching on the Kleypas hero, the way she builds series, and the ways that she continues to push herself as a storyteller. And...
Feb 04, 2026•1 hr 58 min•Season 8Ep. 20
It’s a snowstorm, Jen’s from Chicago, and we’re feeling extra qualified to talk about Ice Planet Barbarians! It’s the book, and the series that took the world by storm back in 2015, and we’re revisiting the absolute powerhouse it was then, before it launched an entire subgenre of romance and changed the romance landscape. We’re also talking about Ruby Dixon’s clear skill, her obvious love of the genre, and all the ways she makes us both laugh and sigh. If you have a favorite IPB book and you wan...
Jan 28, 2026•1 hr 30 min•Season 8Ep. 19
The brilliant Jayne Ann Krentz, romance trailblazer and royalty, joins us this week to talk about one of her favorite tropes--the shotgun wedding! We're talking all things forced marriage...how it differs from marriage of convenience, how it underscores the inherent conflict in romance, and how it often ends up being more like romantic suspense than one would expect! We also talk a bit about how secret babies (and babies in general) play into this trope. Did Jayne also say something that Sarah h...
Jan 21, 2026•1 hr 33 min•Season 8Ep. 18
As it's the beginning of 2026, we're talking about how we think about our reading years. What kind of strategies does Jen use? How is Sarah attempting to control the chaos? Which books do we already have on our TBR piles for 2026, and how do we structure our reading year to make ourselves happy and prepare for the podcast? We're also talking about some books by romance novelists who are publishing outside the romance genre this year. If you want to talk to more people about reading strategies th...
Jan 14, 2026•1 hr 29 min•Season 8Ep. 17
Sarah's still catching up, but Jen, Adriana Herrera , and Joanna Shupe have seen it and they have a lot to say .
Jan 08, 2026•1 hr 5 min•Season 8Ep. 17
Your discoverabilibuddies are back! It's a new year which means we're dropping our Winter 2026 reads episode, in which we talk about the million trillion 2026 romance books coming out in January, February and March (ok, not a million trillion, but enough that Eric came out of his studio this morning with a thousand-yard stare!). As a reminder, we have not necessarily read all these books, but they are on our TBRs and should be on yours! If you want more recommendations and more people with whom ...
Jan 07, 2026•2 hr 1 min•Season 8Ep. 16
Another year, another chaotic New Year's episode, with one of our favorites, the Lauren half of Christina Lauren! Y'all. When we say headphones in , we mean HEADPHONES IN. This is not for your kids, or your mechanic, or Kate. Today, we're getting into the kink Sarah has been dancing around at Fated Mates Lives for years...the one Sandra Brown and Bertrice Small installed, and Lisa Kleypas and Christina Lauren continued in a grand, noble tradition. Strap in, friends, we're talking lactation kink!...
Dec 31, 2025•1 hr 39 min•Season 8Ep. 15
It's that time of year, when we highlight some of our favorite new voices in romance! This week, we're talking about eight new writers who are making us excited about what's to come in historical, contemporary, cozy fantasy and more. Here's to reading them all for years to come! From horse girls to divorcees, hair stylists to magical tea shop owners, basketball coaches to jewel thieves, there's something in here for everyone. It's going to be great for you! Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Ma...
Dec 17, 2025•1 hr 53 min•Season 8Ep. 14
We’re so excited for our deep dive of KJ Charles’s The Magpie Lord , first in her magical, gothic series, A Charm of Magpies. We talk about the clear chops displayed in this romance --strong plotting, complex characterization, and a beautiful understanding of what happily ever after looks like. And yes, we get to the tattoos. Obviously. Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA , and get eight of the books on the list!...
Dec 10, 2025•1 hr 44 min•Season 8Ep. 13
It's winter, which means that it's time to get cozy, build a blanket nest on the couch, and read a million books one right after the other in the great tradition of our ancient forbears. Today, we're talking about series that deliver one banger after another and, yes, that also bang. We'll talk historicals, contemporaries, and of course, the paranormal series that started it all for us. Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lanc...
Dec 03, 2025•1 hr 30 min•Season 8Ep. 12
