S05.13: Here Comes Santa Claus
For some reason this Holiday Season has brought romance a sleigh full of Santa romance, which may or may not be a thing you’re into…but either way, here we are! Santa is doing all sorts of naughty business in these romances, and this one is definitely not for the kids. So headphones in, MFers!
Thank you, as always, for listening. If you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your favorite podcasting app, we would be very grateful.
Notes
According to Snopes, Coca-Cola didn’t invent our modern image of Santa, but they definitely capitalized on it.
Book Riot also noticed that santa erotica is on the rise, including a link to last year’s Caressed by Ice episode where we briefly discussed the phenomenon.
All about the krampus, Lapland, and why Elf on the Shelf is a cop.
Jen can't take credit for calling Romance "the final boss" because it was Mikki Kendall who said it first:"Romancelandia is the final form of the final boss in the game no one can beat." Am I trying to actually write out the tweets now isntead of just linking in case twitter dies and everything gets deleted? yes.
Eric wants to remind you about the Fated Xmas playlists on both Spotify and Apple Music.
Sponsors
Pocket Books Book Shop, a queer, feminist, anti-racist indie bookshop online and in Lancaster, PA. Shop online at pocketbooksshop.com. Get their “Sapphic Surprise” romance box today!
and
Nikki Sloane, author of The Frat Boy. Get it at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or your local indie. Visit Nikki at nikkisloane.com
S04.24: The London Hale Oeuvre
Welp, we’re back in a doom scrolling spiral this week, so why not take a visit to a small town full of hot single dads and firemen? We’re reading London Hale this week, and talking about the appeal of the quick and dirty romance! We’ll also talk about the value of a genuinely hot read and where all the stops are on the romance-to-erotica spectrum. We’re also talking about kinks and why daddies are installed in so many of us. Basically, we’re telling y’all to read these London Hale books so they’ll write more of them for us. Thanks for listening!
The Books We Discussed
Notes
Authors Ellis Leigh and Brighton Walsh are the two authors who write as London Hale. Sarah talked about their books back on the Quick and Dirty interstitial in Season 2.
You should read Circe. And Jack Reacher.
If you've run out of Jessa Kane books, try Chloe Maine.
There is not a Harlequin Presents called The Pregnant Billionaire’s Italian Mistress, but you can find The Italian’s Pregnant Mistress, The Italian Billionaire's Pregnant Bride, The Italian’s Pregnant Cinderella, The Italian’s Pregnant Virgin, The Italian’s Pregnancy Proposal, and The Italian’s Pregnant Prisoner.
Robert Redford was a snack. So was Richard Gere both in Pretty Woman and in “the one where he’s an Air Force pilot.” (An Officer and a Gentleman, and it was the Navy. Fine.) We also admire the silver fox good looks of Benecio del Toro, Idris Elba, and George Clooney.
Andie J. Christopher coined the phrase “stern brunch daddy” and we’re all better off for it. Unfortunately, she’s the kind of person who deletes old tweets so you can't see that picture of Oscar Isaac with an eating utensil that inspired it, but luckily they talked about it on Reddit and Andie talked about it on the Wicked Wallflowers Podcast.
We’re constantly trying to explain the difference between Romance vs erotic romance vs erotica.
The Great Stepbrother Explosion was mostly 2015-2016, but I’m willing to talk some more about it or cite sources if you have them.
The 2020 Netflix movie 365 Days was originally released in Poland under the name 365 dni and was based on a book by Blanka Lipinska. Apparently, there will be a sequel. It doesn’t have a release date, but we’ll keep you updated, baby girl.
Jo Brenner and her friends have a gray scale for dark romance, and I hope she’ll explain it all on twitter so I can link to it.
Does calling a stranger for phone sex still exist–I bet you’re shocked to find out that there was an uptick in demand during the pandemic.
In editing, TK means “to come” as in I’ll fill it in later. In Fumbled by Alexa Martin, it stands for Trevor Kyle.
Eucalyptus is native to Australia and was introduced to England in 1774.
You should follow the Male scent catalog on twitter, and if you want to read more about it, check out the book Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells.
Sponsors
This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:
BetterHelp online therapy.
Fated Mates listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/fatedmates.
and
Kennedy Ryan, author of Reel, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
Kobo, Apple Books or your local indie.
Continue listening to the audiobook at Audible or Apple.
Visit Kennedy at kennedyryanwrites.com, or follow her on
Instagram at @kennedyryan1 or Twitter at @kennedyrwrites
