interstitial, guest host, S03 - Interstitials Jennifer Prokop interstitial, guest host, S03 - Interstitials Jennifer Prokop

S03.10: Mafia Romance Novels with Nisha Sharma

This week, as part of joy month, we’re joined by Nisha Sharma, author of The Takeover Effect and The Legal Affair, to talk about her favorite trope — Mafia Romances! We talk about why organized crime works in romance, fill your TBR to the brim…and share some real life mafia stories. Or, at least, Sarah does. It’s a lot.

We’re putting read alongs on hold for a bit to spend the next few weeks hanging out with some of our favorite people and talking about books and tropes that give us joy, so we hope you’ll join us and keep a pen handy so you can add to your TBR list as needed!

Also! please join us for a Fated States phonebanking session with Indivisible.org on Saturday — it’s so fun! We love seeing so many of your amazing faces there, hanging out, and lifting each other up through absolute anxiety! Please join us, fellow Fated Maters, and special guests for Fated States Phonebanking Part 4 this Saturday, October 17th at 3pm Eastern to call Iowa! It’s easy, not scary, and there will be prizes!

Thank you, as always, for listening! If you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Fated States!

Join us this Saturday, October 17th at 3pm Eastern to call Iowa and make sure it turns up blue! It’s easy, not scary, and there will be prizes! Sign up at the link, watch the video, and come hang out!

Remember: "Despair is not a strategy."

Show Notes

Welcome Nisha Sharma! She is the author of some of favorites: the YA romance My So Called Bollywood Life, and the Singh family trilogy.

The Fifty Shades movies are lying about lipstick.

Maybe you’d like to learn more about organized crime in Rhode Island, Cleveland, and Scranton. Sarah grew up in Rhode Island and recommends you listen to Crimetown if you're interested in learning more about how far-reaching the mob is there.

How car crushers work.

When it comes to Capone, we recommend the Chicago tour (if life ever returns to normal) but not the movie with Tom Hardy.

Nisha mentioned a 1970s Bollywood movie. It’s called Sholay, and Nisha said, “Technically it was like this small village bad guy...think old westerns but he had like a gang of hoodlums.”

The big Western movies seem to pop up every ten years, and Brokeback Mountain was 2005!

The list of mafia romance from Goodreads is here, and the queer mafia romance list is here.

Does your gender determine how you relate to mafia movies, books, and TV shows? Or if you participate in real life?

Maybe you want to watch Weeds or Traffic and see some kickass women who are antiheroes?

Erin from Learning the Tropes is on the hunt for books that have heroines that are named Erin, so let her know if you’ve read any. Jen’s list is Ivan and an old Loveswept by Barbara Boswell called Sharing Secrets -- the hero’s name is Rad Ramsey!

Speaking of Ivan and Erin, while working on show notes for this episode, Jen discovered that a second story with these two is coming out in a few weeks!

It is MMA fighting, which stands for Mixed Martial Arts.

We did a deep dive episode on Kresley Cole's The Master in Season 1. Listen to it here.

Jen’s love of Russian mobsters started with Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises.

Sons of Anarchy actually does predate the MC romance. The TV show aired from 2008 - 2014, and one of the first MC romances was Motorcycle Man (2012) by Kristen Ashley. After Sons of Anarchy ended, the MC romance genre did grow exponentially, including books like Reaper’s Property by Joanna Wylde (2016).

Jen said the Molly O’Keefe book with the mafia guy and the secret baby was Bad Neighbor, but it’s actually Baby Come Back. You should just go ahead and read them both.

All about the myth of the minotaur.

The Oscars released a diversity rubric.

The big, bad Russians influenced American media for decades.

Online Advertising is the new cement shoes.

Sarah learned about money laundering because of pinball machines. Today's kids get to learn about it because of the President. Sure.

Books Mentioned in the Podcast

  • My So Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma
  • The Singh Family Trilogy by Nisha Sharma
  • The Professional by Kresley Cole
  • The Master by Kresley Cole
  • The Player by Kresley Cole
  • The Bastard’s Bargain by Katee Robert
  • The Marriage Contract by Katee Robert
  • The Corruption Series by CD Reiss
  • Ivan by Roxie Riveria
  • Lies You Tell by LaQuette
  • The Fighter’s Prize by Jessa Kane
  • Baby Come Back by Molly O’Keefe
  • The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe
  • Dark Mafia Prince by Annika Martin
  • Luca by Theodora Taylor
  • Judgment Road by Christine Feehan
  • Turbulent Sea by Christine Feehan
Read More
S02 - Interstitials, full-length episode, interstitial Jennifer Prokop S02 - Interstitials, full-length episode, interstitial Jennifer Prokop

S02.37: Partner in Danger romance

It’s one of our favorite tropes this week — get your pens out, because we’re talking about about a thousand books that tackle Partner in Danger! You know what we’re talking about: “Oh no! This person I sometimes bone is in danger! WAIT! I am feeling feelings!!!” It’s great. We’re going to talk about why. Sarah would like to apologize in advance, because it was really hot in her house when we recorded, and it scrambled her brain.

We love having you with us! — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast, please!

Next week, it’s erotica week! We’re reading a book that Sarah loves, Nikki Sloane’s Three Little Mistakes, which we’ve talked about before on the podcast, but we want to deep dive on. Get Three Little Mistakes from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo … and don’t forget your favorite indie, which is probably shipping books right now and definitely needs your patronage!

Also, if you love the music in this or any of our episodes, check out our Spotify playlist, which includes it all!

Show Notes

As of last week, going outside looks like a pretty safe thing to do.

In fact, there is less central A/C in New York City. So watch out for the window units.

Zoom fatigue is real.

You know, there is quite a large assortment of "Dorothy in the Sheets, Blanche in the Sheets" merch on Etsy. In case you need to talk a call from your editor.

We all struggle with the illusion of control.

The trope of the damsel in distress has been around for a long, long time. So let's not fridge more women, mm'kay.

Friend of the pod Adriana Herrera has some words of wisdom about writing trauma in romance. And also Jen and Adriana did a Facebook Live chat on the topic. (link & audio forthcoming).

Pour one out for planes. And cars. And alcohol from mysterious European lands.

In case you missed Blood Blow Jobs: please refer to Fated Mates Season One, Lothaire and Rune.

Jen looked it up a map. In Reborn Yesterday, the heroine is dropped onto the Belt Parkway, not the Long Island Expressway. Still seems bad.

Edward saved Bella from a careening van in the school parking lot. And from a bunch of drunk guys.

The Most Dangerous Game is a pretty great short story, classically used to teach person v. person conflict.

Morality Chain is a great trope. Look for an upcoming interstitial on this topic soon!

In Pretty Woman, she rescues him right back.

Preorder signed copies of Daring and the Duke from WORD bookstore in Brooklyn and you'll get swag from Sarah and this special yellow Fated Mates sticker.

Books referenced this week:

Read More