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 of these songs in show notes, or you can just head straight to reading the books. We don’t judge!

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, or more romance lovers who love music, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community (complete with a music channel)! 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.

Our next read along (in March) is Sincerely, Your Inconvenient Wife by Julia Wolf. Find it in ebook or paperback, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

Books from this episode

Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas &

Real Men Will by Victoria Dahl

Empire of Seduction by Mila Finelli.

Dirty Talk by Lauren Landish

Brazen and the Beast by Sarah MacLean

Love in the Afternoon by Lisa Kleypas

Rooting Interest by Cat Disabato

A Love Song for Ricki Wilde by Tia Williams

Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang

A Girl Like Her by Talia Hibbert

Curvy Girl Summer by Danielle Allen

The Mistake by Elle Kennedy

How to Fake it In Hollywood by Ava Wilder

Beast Business by Ilona Andrews

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris by Adriana Herrera

Wait For It by M. O’Keefe

Reaper’s Legacy by Joanna Wylde

Whirlwind by Kayla Grosse

Sweet Ruin by Kresley Cole

Notes

You can listen to the accompanying playlist on Apple Music, YouTube, and Spotify.
You, too, may want to learn about this mahjong situation brewing in the Midwest with Barbara.
It’s the Olympics. Defector is covering all the news stories we want to know about, including the Curling Drama between Sweden and Canada, the ice dancers are super villains, and this Norwegian skier is an idiot.
Happy Black History Month! Jen did something cool at The Newberry Library. It was part of the Douglass Day transcribe-a-thon, transcribing information about the Colored Conventions. You can still participate using Zooniverse, and looking for the Douglass Day Project.
Sarah enjoyed learning about the Asking Dumb Questions class at Yale.
Tom Breihan writes a column The Number Ones at Stereogum, and Jen also enjoys a similar Slate podcast called Hit Parade.
Here’s the spreadsheet of February hits, and a playlist of songs we talked about today! The Macarena is a song about love triangles! Bad Romance by Lady Gaga is on this list, but we only talk about books we like.
The DJ book Jen couldn’t remember was Rival Radio by Kathryn Nolan.
The Stud Budz, WNBA players Courtney Williams & Natisha Hiedeman, did a long livestream during the 2025 All Star Weekend, and they sang and danced to Pink Pony Club. Check out Babes Sports Bar if you’re ever in Chicago. Jen did an event there, cohosted by 831 Stories & Off the Dribble Chicago, an organization for basketball-playing women and girls in the city.
Prince renamed himself as a symbol when fighting with his record label.