S04.23: Fake Dating Romance
You can’t throw a stone in romance in 2022 without hitting a fake dating story, so we figure it’s time to do an interstitial on it! We’re talking about when it works, why it works, how it works, and by whom it works, so get your library cards ready because this one will topple your TBR! While this one is, as always, for the readers, there’s lots of goal/motivation/conflict here for the writers, too. Thanks for listening!
This episode is sponsored by Isla Moore, author of The Jennifer Files, and BetterHelp Online Therapy.
Our next read along will feature some of Sarah’s favorite quick & dirty books by London Hale, the pen name of authors Ellis Leigh and Brighton Walsh. Their Temperance Falls series is full of kinks and tropes and HEAs and while we won’t be talking about all ten books, we’ll definitely be talking about a few of them, including Nanny With Benefits, Reunion, Daddy’s Best Friend and Sarah’s favorite, Talk Dirty to Me. The whole series is free in KU.
Show Notes
Hey, dating during the pandemic was, and still is, hard!
Sarah suggest that there are 3 questions an author must address for each character in order to make the fake dating plot work:
- Why is this happening/why a fake relationship the only option?
- Why this person and not some other person?
- What happens if it all goes south?
In other words, what is the the stake, the thing the reader has to care about? In other words: goal, motivation, conflict.
One of our very earliest interstitials was on Escort romances, and another was on fake engagement/marriage of convenience, tropes that has a lot in common with fake dating.
#RomanceClass is the name for a group of authors from the Phillipines writing in English. You can learn more about the romance class authors and their story, which is strongly influenced by the fact that divorce is illegal in the Phillipines.
Fuck Me Gently with a Chainsaw is something from a very dark 80s teen movie called Heathers.
There is a Canadian equivalent to the Navy SEALs, it's called Joint Task Force 2. The Mounties (which stands for Royal Canadian Mounted Police) definitely do not have that same vibe, but here is a nice video of a gentleman talking about his the training of the RCMP dogs.
Fake Dating Romance Novels
*The Fix Her Up audiobook is currently on sale for $5 at Chirp. Visit our Audiobook Deals page for more.
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
Isla Moore, author of The Jennifer Files, available free in KU.
Visit Isla at islamoore.com, or follow her on
Instagram at @islamoorebooks or Twitter at @islabooks.
S03.53: Sports Romance with Farrah Rochon
Today we’re joined by Farrah Rochon, author of The Dating Playbook, to talk sports romances! We talked sports way back in season 1 (links below), but this is one of those tropes we’re always happy to dig into! We get to the bottom of Farrah’s love of football, we talk about competence porn and the human body as a superior tool, and we recommend a LOT of B O O K S!
Don’t miss Fated Mates LIVE! to celebrate the release of Sarah’s next book, BOMBSHELL! Join us and some of our very favorite people on August 24th! Tickets are a copy of the book, and available at five participating romance friendly bookstores. Get them here!
NEXT WEEK IS BOMBSHELL WEEK! Get it at Amazon, Apple Books, B&N, Kobo, or Bookshop.org, or at one of the participating romance-friendly bookstores hosting the Fated Mates Live/Virtual Bombshell Launch! Orders will come with a Fated Mates Sticker!
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
Welcome Farrah Rochon! Her newest book, The Dating Playbook just came out yesterday. She has another football series, the New York Sabres.
The 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing begin on February 4th, 2022.
Here’s an explainer for dressage, an Olympic equestrian event. The horse at the club dressage video on twitter, Snoop Dogg and Kevin Hart watching the same video.
The 1984 category romance about a woman competing in Equestrian events at the Olympics was originally called Summer Games and later changed to Remember Summer (which is available as an eBook), and it was by Elizabeth Lowell not Iris Johansen.
How the horses travel to Tokyo, how the ice is made, and other articles about new sports at this year’s Olympics.
All about Rune, the Danish Destroyer.
In season one, we did a fake engagement interstitial, but it’s a very popular trope in 2021.
Texas football culture is legendary, just look at some Texas high school football stadiums, including the one in Katy. If you’re ever in Katy, we highly recommend a trip to Katy Budget Books.
You might be interested in this article with statistics breaking down the average age of professional athletes by sport, and this list of oldest professional athletes by sport. The question of which Olympics sports have the oldest and youngest athletes is always a fascinating one. This year, the youngest athletes were 12: Syrian tennis table player Hend Zaza and Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki. The oldest athlete is Australian equestrian Mary Hanna, who is 66.
We interviewed Susan Elizabeth Phillips and also did a deep dive on the third book in the Chicago Stars series, Nobody’s Baby But Mine.
Pitch was a Fox show that was cancelled before its time.
It turns out there are two real life ex-NFL players, Brian Orakpo and Michale Griffin who opened Gigi’s Cupcake shop in Texas. So just read this article over and over again until we get all the deets on Jamie Wesley’s forthcoming series.
10.5: Fake Engagement Romance
This one has to be a top-ten universal trope…were talking fake engagements! Listen to us chat about why ladies love a fantasy, the royal wedding, marriages of convenience, and books by Elle Kennedy, Talia Hibbert, Chelsea M. Cameron and Kate Clayborn!
GIRD THY LOINS, LOTHAIRE IS NEXT!
A jumbo episode with this jumbo jerk face dreamboat! Get Lothaire at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie…and if you’re an audio lover, you are not going to want to miss Robert Petkoff on this one — Jen hearts it baaad.
Show Notes
Ana Coqui is the force behind #RomBkLove.
The twitter thread where Mary Lynn Nielsen perfectly described the fake engagement trope.
In historicals, the trope is usually called marriage of convenience.
Garrets are empirically great romance heroes.
Kate Clayborn joined us for our Best Friend's Sibling episode.
The royal wedding of Harry & Meghan was so delightful. We wish them many years of happiness.
New adult is a genre descriptor that not everyone loves, but there are lots of wonderful NA romances.
She's All That is a 90s teen romance starring Freddie Prinz Jr. and Rachel Leigh Cook.
"That Six Pence None the Richer" song is called Kiss Me.
2 historicals that Sarah mentioned this week are His at Night by Sherry Thomas and Pleasure for Pleasure by Eloisa James.
Lothaire is next. We can't even.
