S09.10: The Tropes People Love to Hate
Sarah headed off to the 831 Stories conference a few weeks ago, and was on a panel about tropes people hate, so of course she brought that conversation back to the pod! We’re talking about babies, about second chances, about virgins, about celibacy and about friends-to-lovers!
Tell us your most hated tropes over on the Fated Mates discord! Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and you also get one extra episode a month from us!
When we recorded this episode, we didn’t know how things would shake out this week, but now we do and we’re having a great day. Hope you are, too!
Books Mentioned This Episode
Notes
There are so many shows based off romance novels hitting the screen lately: of course the juggernaut of Heated Rivalry. At Amazon, they have the Off Campus series based on books by Elle Kennedy, The Love Hypothesis based on the book by Ali Hazelwood, and Drive based on the books by Tamara Lush. Also, they have made casting announcements for Butcher and Blackbird and 4th Wing. Here’s the story about Ride or Die and why it might have been cancelled despite its positive reviews and ratings.
Speaking of TV shows, Sarah has news about These Summer Storms!
Coming to Nextflixt next month is In a Holidaze based on the book by Christina Lauren, in which Rob Lowe plays someone other than Sodapop Curtis.
On Friday the 13th, go watch Wicker with Sarah, Adriana, and Ali if you’re in New York; otherwise, have a nice time with your lady at a local theater near you.
Sarah was at the 831 RomCon in Brooklyn a few weeks ago, and a game she played on a panel inspired this episode. Back in Season 3, we did a Trope off with Christina and Lauren for the release of The Soulmate Equation.
Sponsors
The Nightstand App, a book tracking app for readers. Visit nightstand-app.com/fatedmates for your 7-day free trial, and use the code FATEDMATES for 30% off your annual subscription.
Penguin Young Readers & Berkley XO, publishers of Charlotte B. Plumb’s Reap & Sow, available now in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Meghan Quinn, author of Christmas Staycation, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or wherever you get your books.
S09.08: Halloween Grab Bag
It’s demons and death and decorative gourd season, and we’re talking about all of them, along with sewer monsters and twelve-foot tall skeletons and a vampire or two! If you’re looking for a Halloween read, we’ve got you this week with a little something for everyone. This is the next in a long line of spooky reads episodes, so when you’re done with this one, head over and listen to the rest (a list of them is in show notes!)
Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative wraps up this weekend—we’ll be calling Michigan to get out the vote for Abdul El-Sayed ! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
If you’d like to come over and talk about Halloween reads with us, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us!!
Books Mentioned This Episode
Notes
We’re talking about Michigan and Maps, which is just our regular brand of off topic nonsense and has nothing to do with this episode. South Detroit is actually Canada, and the Model T was invented by Henry Ford in Michigan, and that’s why all the American car companies were headquartered in Detroit.
Sarah says you can just watch the end of Ted Lasso for Roy and Keely.
Luckily, Brill Harper has rereleased Demon’s Curvy Mate on all platforms after we emailed her, that’s just how hard we are willing to work for you! But you should still get a Brooklyn Public Library card if you want.
It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers is a classic from McSweeney’s.
Turns out a lot of classroom skeletons are real, and some schools found out and had funerals for their own Mr. Bones-Jangles. That’s a reference to famous dancer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, and if you’ve never watched his stair dance from 1932, you should.
If you’re looking for more Halloween reads, listen to our past episodes on: Spooky Stuff, Romance Demons, Devils, Ghosts, Morticians, and the Dead, Manimals!, Monsters, Witchy Romance, and Why Horror.
Sponsors
The Nightstand App, a book tracking app for readers. Visit nightstand-app.com/fatedmates for your 7-day free trial, and use the code FATEDMATES for 30% off your annual subscription.
Maria Vale, author of Molly Molloy and the Angel of Death, available in print, ebook, audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Lucy Score author of The Dead Guy Next Door, the first in the Riley Thorn series, available in print, ebook and audiobook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle+.
S09.07: Why Horror with Stephen Graham Jones and Becky Spratford
We’re talking about the mythmakers again this week with a chat about romance’s sister genre, horror! We’re joined by NEA fellow, Bram Stoker Award winner and bestselling horror writer Stephen Graham Jones, and librarian and horror expert Becky Spratford. We talk about Stephen’s lifelong love of horror, the way horror reflects the world, the rules of horror and how romance and horror are actually two sides of the same coin. Happy spooky season, book lovers.
Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week—we’ll be calling Tennessee to get out the vote for Justin Pearson in the Tennessee 9th, and into Montana to get out the vote for Sam Forstag, candidate in the Montana 1st! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
If you’d like to come over and talk about horror with us, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us!!
Horror Fiction, Film, and Television mentioned in this episode
notes
We are joined by two guests today, horror author Stephen Graham Jones and librarian Becky Spratford. Stephen’s newest book is Off the Reservation. You might also enjoy the book Why I Love Horror: Essays on Horror Literature, which was edited by Becky and contains an essay by Stephen.
I tried to find the article about the fish in the tanker trunk and failed, but looks like transporting fish via truck has other horrors to offer us.
The Summer Scares Program is now part of iRead, a national summer reading program. Maybe you’d enjoy the Books in the Freezer podcast, a reference to this classic scene from Friends.
What are: slashers, extreme horror, and cosmic horror.
Jordan Peele, John Krasinski, and David Gordon Green are three men who moved from comedy to horror.
Just like they create a best romance list every year, the librarians at the New York Public Library’s also publish a Best Horror List.
Hitchcock on suspense vs surprise.
Thanks to Grady Hendrix for the realization that romance and horror are the two genres with their own holidays.
Sponsors
Avon Books, publishers of Emily Rath’s Devour Me, available in print, ebook and audiobook, at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, wherever you get your books, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Piper Rayne, author of Chasing Smoke, available in print, ebook, audiobook at Barnes & Noble, wherever you get your books, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Meghan Quinn, author of Christmas Staycation, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble or wherever you get your books.
Penguin Young Readers & Berkley XO, publishers of Charlotte B. Plumb’s Reap & Sow, available now in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S09.06: Fated Mates: You Are Our Mystical Battery
This one is very meta (complimentary): Fated Mates (the duo) explains Fated Mates (the trope) on Fated Mates (the podcast). We can’t believe all these years in, we’ve never talked fated mates! We’re rectifying that right now with a collection of paranormal romances (and a few that aren’t) that are going to give you a lot of joy. We talk about demons and vampires and alpha’s and ice planet barbarians, star-crossed lovers and soulmates and what it really takes to convince a reader you’re fated.
Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week—we’ll be calling Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico and democrats up and down the ticket! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
If you’d like to come over and talk about your favorite fated mates romances (or your favorite fated mates podcast), please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us!
Books Mentioned This Episode
Notes
Check out our website, especially the list of DRM audiobooks.
Our first road trip romance interstitial was one that was really important to our evolutions (before we figured out the season numbering protocol!)
This list of fated mates book on goodreads has nearly THIRTY THOUSAND TITLES, so good luck to you and I don’t actually know how that’s possible.
It’s a portal fantasy!
The way you know that Jen doesn’t read Omegaverse is the way she OVER AND OVER AGAIN say that Lilah in Pack Darling was a beta, but I think she was an omega. Sorry! What we do know is that no one in the book was a wolf, and honestly, that’s kind of a win for us?
What is The Cut (or Vulture, or NYMag) going to say about romance this week?
Will Liz Lemon end up with Wesley Snipes, her future husband?
Sponsors
Avon Books, publishers of Joanna Shupe’s The Gilded Rose, available in print, ebook and audiobook, at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Elle Kennedy, author of Bad Idea, preorder now in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo or wherever you get your books.
Attic Wall Books, publishers of Isobel Lynn’s Godhunter, available now in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S09.05: Sweet Treats: Bakeries and Patisseries in Romance
We’re talking about romance with baking and sweet treats today! This is one of romance’s most common Romance Jobs, and we’re getting to the bottom of the appeal of the bakery in romance. Why do we love it when one character makes masterful desserts? What is so compelling about characters who know their way around the oven? We’ve got historicals, reality tv competitions, magic baking and menage — a little something for everyone this week!
Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a chat with Leah Greenberg, the co-Founder and co-Executive Director of Indivisible, our Fated States phonebanking partner! Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week! We’ll be calling Georgia to get out the vote for Jon Ossoff, Keisha Lance Bottoms, and democrats up and down the ticket! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
If you’d like to come over and talk about your favorite romance bakers, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. Join the Fated Mates patreon to get access, and You also get one extra episode a month from us!
Books Mentioned This Episode
Notes
We’re discussing slang this week: a hilarious explanation of BDE at wikihow, check out urban dictionary for DTF, a fun new online site I just discovered called GenZ decoded turnt, and although the WNBA’s Washington Mystics Young Heaux nickname was covered in the New York Times, by far the funniest official usage of it was during the televised broadcast of a Mystics v. Storm game.
The Cupcake Guys is a bakery owned by former football players, and it was also a reality TV show.
We’ve mentioned them a million times, so they aren’t in the photo array, but the two books with baristas that Jen mentioned are Lick by Kylie Scott and Nero by SJ Tilly. The book with a femdomme is Candy by Torrance Sené.
Learn more about Indivisible and find a local Indivisible chapter to help at Indivisible.org. Join us for phonebanking every weekend between now and Election Day at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
Sponsors
Rachel Grant, author of False Flag, available in print, ebook and audiobook, at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Tierney Page, author of Lyrics of Summer, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
LJ Andrews, author of The Stolen Crown preorder now in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S09.04: Fall 2026 Preview
It’s discoverabilibuddy time! We're dropping our Fall 2026 reads, in which we talk about an outrageous number of romance novels coming out in October, November and December. As a reminder, we have not necessarily read all these books, but they are on our TBRs — time to pour yourself a cup of something warm, get into a cozy sweater, and start adding to yours!
If you’d like to come over and talk about your most anticipated fall romances, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. You also get one extra episode a month from us!
Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative continues this week! We’ll be calling Ohio (Jen’s hometown) to get out the vote for Sherrod Brown and democrats up and down the ticket! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
September 2026 Releases
October 2026 Releases
November 2026 Releases
December 2026 Releases
Sponsors
Little, Brown & Company, publishers of Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham’s The Thoroughbreds, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Madison Score, author of Wild About You, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon.
Emily W. Andersen, author of The Midnight Book Club series. Available in print or ebook at at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or wherever you get your books.
S09.03: Hammered, Nailed & Drilled: Romancing the Tool
As they say on the Discord, this year’s theme is…Themes! This week, we’re talking about hammers, nails, drills, pipes and more — literal characters who are wielding literal (and metaphorical) tools! We’re hopping in the wayback machine to talk about books from the 00s and early 10s, on a continuum of content from “oh this has a whole plot” to “here’s a great one-handed read.” We’ve got plumbers, blacksmiths, contractors and a sentient screwdriver…there is literally something here for everyone.
If you’d like to come over and talk about romances, with or without tools (jk, they all have tools), please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. You also get one extra episode a month from us!
Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative begins this week! We’ll be calling Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
Books Mentioned This Episode
UNION ROMANCES
Notes
This Saturday, we’re calling Texas to get out the vote for James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa at 1pm eastern time! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
Some books about unions and unionizing: Make Room for Love by Darcy Liao, and the 1984 Harlequin American Romance was The Third Time by Rebecca Flanders. Our listener Sylvia suggested two others: Don’t Forget to Smile by Katherine Gillis Seidel and Here Be Dragons by Jenny Redford. These titles are also in the photo array above!
We did have an episode about renovation romance with Nikki Payne back in season 6 and one on quick and dirty reads back in season 2.
Unfortunately, it seems Entwined by Kristen Callihan is no longer available for sale. Sorry, everyone!
Samhain and Elora’s Cave were two early erotic romance publishers that closed and we’ve lost a lot of information about these publishers and their backlist of titles and authors.
Sponsors
Lucy Score, author of The Dead Guy Next Door, the first in the Riley Thorn series, available in print, ebook and audiobook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
HarperCollins, publisher of A.T. Qureshi’s Rider of Dragons, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
MJ Hastings’s Firstborn, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
LJ Andrews, author of The Stolen Crown preorder now in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S09.02: Romance by Numbers
This is a fun one! We’re talking romance novels with numbers in the titles today, a wide collection of books from zero to infinity! While we came prepared to talk about four or five books each, we ended up playing a little impromptu game where we name books for every number we can. We haven’t reread most of these, but you’ll hear that there are a few peppered through here that we were prepared to talk about. We had a great time, and hope you do.
If you’d like to come over and talk about romances, with or without numbers, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. You also get one extra episode a month from us!
Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative begins this week! We’ll be calling Georgia to get out the vote for Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms! There will be games, prizes and special guests! Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
A Number of Books
![Goldie and the [three] Bears by Hannah Murray](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5bc7409ec46f6d369ce5f644/1789567749813-4ZWN4WUHIIR4B9CHYGVX/godliedrm.jpg)
Sponsors
Harpercollins, publishers of Laurie Gilmore’s Big Bad Wolf, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Orbit Books, publishers of Rachel Gillig’s The Knave and the Moon, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Little, Brown & Company, publishers of Elin Hilderbrand & Shelby Cunningham’s The Thoroughbreds, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Union Square & Co., publishers of Morgan Elizabeth’s Meet Cute Magic, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S09.01: Cloud Nine: Romance in the sky
Nine seasons of talking about romance, and no signs of quitting! We’re starting a new season, full of much of our same old nonsense, now with more nonsense, because who needs tropes when you can talk about microtropes! Today, in honor of Season Nine, we’re talking about Cloud Nine — both the WNBA star and the feeling you get when you fall in love. We’ve got a whole lot of books featuring romance in the sky — pilots, astronauts, plane crashes, astronauts and mile-high-clubs…and all of them featuring romance that won’t quit.
If you’d like to come over and talk about romances, both in the sky and on land, please join us on the Fated Mates Discord, where you’ll find a few thousand other listeners who love talking about these books we love. You also get one extra episode a month from us!
Fated States, our democratic phonebanking initiative begins next week. Learn more and register to phone bank with us at fatedmates.net/fatedstates.
Books Mentioned this Episode
Notes
Fated States is back! We’ll be phonebanking every weekend on Saturdays starting September 19th, but the final weekend before the election, we’ll instead phonebank on Sunday Nov 1 to avoid Halloween.
The way to find a book club is to read River Town by Peter Hessler and then go to your nearest local indie bookstore and let the bookclub reveal itself to you.
Find out more about The Sunday Letter Project.
Pilots have been hot since Top Gun, and not just because of the volleyball scene.
Natasha Cloud is a baddie and she gave an irrelevant man the business for being transphobic, and Jen thinks she’s a literal hero.
The Spanish Space Program, the Instituto Nacional de Técnica Aeroespacial was created in the 1940s and was replaced by the Agencia Espacial Española in 2021. According to Wikipedia, as of 2026, there have been Four Spanish astronauts.
Sponsors
Harpercollins, publishers of AT Qureshi’s Rider of Dragons, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Rose Prendeville, author of The Unknown Birds, available in print, ebook or audiobook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or with your monthly subscription to Kobo Plus. Use the code FATEDBIRDS at Rose’s website to get a signed print book and 30% off!
Isabel Sterling, author of With All My Haunted Heart, available in print, ebook or audiobook, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local bookstore.
Orbit Books, publishers of Louisa Carmody’s The Shadows that Listen, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, your local bookstore, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Blue Box Press, publishers of Ashley Eckstein & Samantha Chase’s Lucky 22 and David Eckstein’s Just Enough, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S08.49: A Rogue By Any Other Name
It’s the end of Season 8 (what! how!), and we usually celebrate the end of the season with a read along of Sarah’s new book, but since there is no new book, we have no choice but to go back to the beginning of “The Casino Series,” which is what Sarah calls The Rules of Scoundrels. We’re reading A Rogue By Any Other Name, the first in the series focused on the rakish owners of The Fallen Angel, Sarah’s casino. We talk Bourne, turning around big ships, writing sexy stained glass windows, and what it means to look back on the early part of a career.
Next week, we’re taking a little break, and then we’ll be back with Season Nine of Fated Mates. As ever, we’re so grateful to you for listening, reading and being a part of this community. We’re nothing without you.
If you’d like to spend more time talking about romance novels, join our Patreon! You’ll get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord. Learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.
A Mischief of Rogues
Notes
The jellyfish thing is a myth, you don’t have to pee on a jellyfish sting.
All about the amygdala, or Amy for short if you think of her as that messy friend who will definitely lead you astray.
JB Pritzker talked about the colors of school folders, and it’s A MESS. Feel free to report back on your preferences for folder colors if you, like Sarah, are outraged.
New York Times hosted a conversation with Tressie McMillam Cottom, Nadja Spiegelman, and Mary HK Choi called “Have We Turned Personality into a Diagnosis?” It’s worth the listen!
Is it true that Gen Z is this puritanical (the Puriteens!), or are they just worried that everything is cringe?
Gambling has always been bad, but it’s especially bad on your phone. Please talk to your kids about sports betting and make sure these apps are not on their phones.
Crockfords moved a lot of money in the Regency.
One of the big influences for Bourne & Penelope was Alfred de Vigny’s poem Éloa, ou La sœur des anges about an angel who falls in love with a stranger who turns out to be Lucifer. English translations are tough to find, but here’s a website that has part of it in translation.
When you think of the The Fallen Angel (the club), you might think of the famous painting by Alexandre Cabanel, but that’s from 1847!
Sponsors
Megan Frampton, author of Demons and Diplomacy, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
Madison Score, author of Wild About You, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon.
Tracy MacNish, author of Of the Ashes, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Hachette Books, publishers of Jennifer Givhan’s The Sleeping Sisters, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
