full-length episode, read along, Sarah's Books, S06 Jennifer Prokop full-length episode, read along, Sarah's Books, S06 Jennifer Prokop

S06.48: Wicked and the Wallflower

It's coming up on the end of Season 6, and that means we're talking about one of Sarah's books! We're finishing up (or beginning?) the Bareknuckle Bastards series today with a deep dive of Sarah's Wicked and the Wallflower, the first in her Bareknuckle Bastards series--part Rumplestiltskin retelling, part Peaky Blinders fic, all justifiable face punching and ode to the darkness. This is the series she loves the best, and Jen just might agree.

You can get Wicked and the Wallflower in print, ebook and audiobook at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or wherever you get your books. It's also currently free with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where 1000 other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as we do at patreon.com/fatedmates.

The Books

The Notes

Wicked and the Wallflower was so early in the life of the podcast that we didn’t do a deep dive, so here you go! You can follow up by listening to deep dives of Brazen and the Beast and Daring and the Duke, both available wherever you get your books, and free with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

Last week, Sarah and Jen were at Steamy Lit Con in Anaheim. There was a terrific panel on the 30th anniversary of the publication of Beverly Jenkins's Night Song. Artist Shannon Donahue made a very cool sketch of the panel, which along with Beverly Jenkins included Jeanne Lin, Adriana Herrera, Diana Quincy, and Alyssa Cole.  

Some of the influences on Wicked and the Wallflower include the fairy tale of Rumpelstiltskin, Tommy Shelby from Peaky Blinders, the 99% Invisible podcast about Perfect Security, the Disney movie Frozen, and Gavin Weightman's The Frozen Water Trade. 

This is only the most recent dive into the the MacLeaniverse. See below for all seven episodes.

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The Sponsors

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S05.49: Knockout: #TommyGoBoom

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, fantasy world. Jen talks about how Bruce Springsteen understands romance novels better than most people.

It’s mostly a spoiler free episode, but you might prefer to finish your read before listening. Enjoy! And don’t miss the first two chapters of the magnificent Knockout audiobook, narrated by the incomparable Mary Jane Wells, at the end of the episode!

If you still haven’t got a copy of Knockout, you can get it signed, with exclusive FM swag, from Book Club Bar in NYC, or at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or Apple Books, or in print from your local independent bookseller.

If you want more Fated Mates in your life, you are welcome at our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! 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.

Show Notes

Lil Romance is in Europe, and apparently will become very familiar with Eurail. Why because Europe is so small compared to the US, for example, check out this map of the Great Lakes basin compared to the continent of Europe.

Imposter syndrome explained.

Join us in New Haven CT at the Yale Romance Conference Sept 8-9, 2023. We are both very excited to meet Carole Bell, a romance advocate and a crackerjack reviewer. If you are listening to this the day it released, you can tune into Likewise tonight and hear us chatting about Knockout and recommending books.

Read Adriana's An Island Princess Starts a Scandal.

Sounds like if you need to learn more about explosions, gunpowder, nitroglycerine, and TNT, the person to call is Elena Armas. Preorder The Long Game, which comes out on Sept 5, 2023.

Other pirate ship desks include: Chase's desk in Never Judge a Lady By Her Cover, Whit's desk in Brazen & the Beast, and Max's desk in A Duke Worth Falling For.

In 2005, Bruce Springsteen was on VH1’s Storytellers, and his description of the work of Thunder Road is exactly how we think of the work of romance. Watch all the way until the end, when he says, “Nothing left but the ride. So this was my big invitation to my audience, to myself, to anybody that was interested. My invitation to a long and earthly, very earthly journey, hopefully in the company of someone you love, people you love, and in search of a home that you can feel a part of.” A perfect description of the romance genre, Bruce!

The Hell's Belles playlist got a major Knockout update. Listen on Spotify and Apple Music.

Sponsors

Jess Bryant, author of Unbreakable Bond,
available at Amazon, or with a monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited

and

Nikki Sloane, author of The Good Girl,
available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or Apple Books.

and

Austen Tea Party A Historical Romance Collection
for Charity, Inspired by Jane Austen
available at Amazon, or with a monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited
all proceeds go to breast cancer research

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S04.49: Heartbreaker: Meet the Hell's Belles

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 journeys vs. quests, how being a romance heroine is political, and why Heartbreaker just might be Sarah’s most romantic book. It’s mostly a spoiler free episode, but you might prefer to finish your read before listening. Enjoy! And don’t miss the first two chapters of the magnificent Heartbreaker audiobook, narrated by the incomparable Mary Jane Wells, at the end of the episode!

If you haven’t purchased Heartbreaker yet, you can get it at Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, at your local indie, or signed and with special swag (and a Fated Mates sticker!) from Sarah’s local indie, WORD in Brooklyn!

Thanks to Alyxandra Harvey, author of How to Marry a Duke; to Amazon’s Kindle Vella, publishers of Rebecca Zanetti’s Knife’s Edge, Alaska series; and to Lumi Labs, creators of Microdose Gummies, for sponsoring the episode. Use the code FATEDMATES for free shipping and 30% off your first order at microdose.com.

This episode wraps up Season 4 of Fated Mates! Jen’s returning Lil’Romance to college, Sarah’s taking a break from social media, and we’ll be back in September with Season 5, which will look similar to Season 4, with read alongs, interstitials, trailblazer episodes and some other fun things we’ve got cooking.

Thank you, as always, for listening! Please follow us on your favorite podcasting app, and if you are up for leaving a rating or review there, we would be very grateful.

Show Notes

Next time you’re in Brooklyn, check out The Center for Fiction.

You can register (it’s free!) to see Sarah and Adriana Herrera in conversation with Greta Johnson from the Nerdette Podcast at the Printer’s Row Lit Fest in Chicago. The panel is at 11:30am on Saturday, Sept 10, 2022.

If you’re in MA, check out the Rom-Con, a full day celebration of “rom”ance at the “Con”cord free public library on Sept 24.

Jen’s planning a pilgrimage to The Book Barn in Niantic CT on Labor Day Weekend.

Pick your local gathering spot: The Peach Pit, Central Perk, Luke’s Diner, or in the MacLeaniverse, The Place.

Every book in the Hell’s Belles series has a cold open.

Adelaide stole the tesseract!

On TikTok, check out this amazing video by emmkick that compares MacLean to Kleypas, and friend of the pod Brittney has an entire TikTok series about the MacLeaniverse. Start with the first one here.

What’s a Himbo? I bet you’re glad you asked.

Speaking of Kleypas, our first read along for Season Five (what!) will be Marrying Winterborne, but we recommend that you read Cold-Hearted Rake first to get “the full Winterborne.”

Sponsors

This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:

Alyxandra Harvey, author of How to Marry a Duke,
available at Amazon.
Visit alyxandraharvey.com

and

Amazon Kindle Vella
Publishers of Rebecca Zanetti’s Knife’s Edge, Alaska series

and

Lumi Labs, creators of Microdose Gummies
Visit microdose.com and use the code FATEDMATES
for 30% off and free shipping on your order

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