S06.28: HEA or GTFO
The cornerstone of the genre. The one thing that, when thrown into question, is guaranteed to enrage every corner of Romancelandia. We’re talking about Happily Ever After (HEA). Its promise, its importance, its relevance to us as readers, writers and people in the world. We talk about what really makes it hard won and deserved for us — which means yes, we’re talking about grovels and yes, we’re talking about third act break ups, and yes, we’re talking about patriarchy. Because of course we are. You’ve probably heard us talk about all the books we’re mentioning here…greatest hits are hits for a reason, y’all.
There are some minor audio issues with this one. Sorry, folks! It does get better at about 15 minutes in. There are a handful of tickets left for Fated Mates LIVE in Brooklyn, NY, this Saturday, March 23, at the gorgeous William Vale Hotel! Join us, along with Kate Clayborn, Lauren Billings (one-half of Christina Lauren), Nikki Payne, and a roomful of other romance-obsessed listeners for a night of romance shenanigans at a live taping of Fated Mates! While we’re never sure quite how it’s going to go, we can guarantee there will be books, booze and bantr…and you’ll leave full of joy from all the fun. Get Kate’s The Other Side of Disappearing three days early (and books from everyone else!) from The Ripped Bodice—links, tickets and more info are at fatedmates.net/live.
If you just can’t get enough of us, consider joining our Patreon! You get an extra episode of banter every month and access to the Fated Mates discord, full of people who love romance as much as we do. It’s pretty great, we have to say. Learn more at patreon.com/fatedmates.
Our next read along is Heather Guerre’s Preferential Treatment, one of Sarah’s favorite romances of 2022. Get it at Amazon, or with your monthly subsc
Show Notes
Ope! Jen’s mic wasn’t fully connected for the first 10 minutes of the episode, so that’s why it sounds terrible. User error on her part, Eric would never. Hang in there, she figures it out!
Let John Green and the good folks at Crash Course teach you about European History and The Hundred Years’ War.
The 2024 Audie Award winners included The True Love Experiment for best romance.
Three more days until Fated Mates Live… a handful of tickets are left! Join us!
Looking for all kinds of perfect HEA stickers, check out the Romancelandia Shop!
UPDATE: The book Sarah was looking for when she was talking about Enemies to Lovers was Johanna Lindsey’s Prisoner of My Desire. All the content warnings, friends…but if you do wade in, don’t miss our chat with Joanna Shupe where we talk about it from Season 1.
Books Mentioned This Episode
Sponsors
Lorraine Heath, author of In Want of a Viscount,
available in print, ebook and audiobook, wherever books are sold
Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and your local indie.
and
P. Rayne, author of Moonlit Thorns,
available in print, ebook and audio,
at Amazon, or with your subscription to Kindle Unlimited
and
Avery Maxwell, author of Falling into Forever,
available in print, ebook and with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited
S05.38: Prologues & Epilogues in Romance
It’s hard to believe it’s taken us this long to do a prologue and epilogue episode! We talk about beginnings and endings and why they exist and why writers should ignore every piece of broad strokes nonsense advice people want to throw at them. Jen says “Prologues are plot and epilogues are character,” and blows Sarah’s mind with her genius (jk, Sarah already knew she was a genius). And yes, we talk about babies. Fair warning!
This interstitial idea came from the Fated Mates Discord, which all of our patrons have access to. 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
You know, Animal Farm is a good book and King Lear is a good play.
There is a very cute family of foxes living in Chicago’s Millennium Park
Apparently this dogs and rosetone thing is a known issue.
Here is an example of the hardline “Prologues are Bad” stance. || ed note: I’m not mad about it, since I have some known hardline stances myself. Ahem. ||
Our list of things good romance prologues do: provide needed backstory, historical information, an inciting incident in the past, an unusual set-up, and showcasing the relationship between the primary characters.
Our list of things romance epilogues do: fan service, bringing the whole gang back together in a series,providing a glimpse into the other character’s POV, The HEA fulfilled, the babylogue, and surprise motherfuckers!
A link to a folder with PDFs of links in show notes.
Books Mentioned this Episode
Sponsors
Adriana Herrera, author of An Island Princess Starts a Scandal,
available now from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo
and your local independent bookseller.
and
Juniper Butterworth, author of Bewitched,
available now from Amazon, or with a monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
and
The Noveltea Shelf Assured Book Box,
available at novelteabooks.co
S02.14: Indigo: Ride the Beverly Jenkins Train
Get ready for Hester, one of Sarah’s favorite heroines of all time — and Beverly Jenkins’s Indigo, which Jen just read for the first time! We’re talking historical romance, the way romances feel important, sex and intimacy, and all the reasons why everyone should read Beverly Jenkins right now.
Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in your favorite podcasting platform — and while you’re there, please leave us a like or a review!
Next week, it’s the second half of our book recommendation, stump Sarah & Jen AMA. The following week we’ll release a tiny little stocking stuffer for our Christmas Day episode, but we’re back in business on January 1, with the seasonally appropriate (at least in title) Born in Ice, by none other than the queen herself, Nora Roberts. Read Born in Ice at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.
Show Notes
Jen now has critic crushes on Diego Baez and Walton Muyumba. Liz Taylor who is kind of a big deal in the book world wrote an amazing book about Chicago's first Mayor Daley called American Pharaoh.
Thanks to the Lincoln RI public library for being awesome.
There's actually a lot of great resources for how to teach slavery to kids, so do better white teachers.
Here at Fated Mates, we are LaQuette stans. Listen to her talk about discomfort and how important it is in her RITA speech last year.
Colson Whitehead's Underground Railroad is an absolute tour de force. Here is a cool site mapping the world of the novel.
If you don't know about America's history of lynching, you should learn all about Bryan Stevenson, who spearheaded the effort to create a Lynching Museum. The site Without Sanctuary preserves the history of these postcards (Content warning on that site for obvious reasons.)
Gone with the Wind is an example of the pervasive and terrible "happy slave" narrative, which appears over and over again. Know and reject this narrative, not just in adult books, but in those written for kids. And while I'm on the subject, that goes for picture books about monkeys, too.
This amazing One Dot One Person map is a stark look at how the legacy of slavery and segregation still impacts where Americans live today.
So you want to read all the books about the LeVeq clan? Start with Through the Storm. and although Sarah said "kids" she meant that Hester and Galen's descendents are the main characters in the Edge of Midnight series. One of our favorite romance people is When Fumni Met Romance, and you should definitley read her talking about her love for Indigo and Beverly Jenkins.
The internet makes it so much easier to read the stories of enslaved people. Along with the rather amazing (but imperfect) WPA interviews, you can read any number of slave narratives. Remember it was illegal to teach slaves to read, so it's an especailly powerful experience to read slave narratives. If you've never read Frederick Douglass, you should, but Jen also recommends Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl by Harriet Jacobs.
If you are looking for more resources to learn about American slavery, the New York times 1619 Project is amazing. If you are a listener, Jen recommends you listen the Yale open course about The Civil War with professor David Blight.
Jen liked an early 80s novel called The Chaneysville Incident, which is about a historian trying to discover the truth about how his family's past intersects with a local legend about the Underground Railroad. Here's a recent interview with author David Bradley when the book was converted to an eBook.
The history of the Underground Railroad is part legend, part myth, and part fact. This site talks specifically about the route people fleeing took north through Michigan on the way to Canada.
Night Song was the first novel by Beverly Jenkins.
All about the Fugitive Slave Act, why it was so terrible, and how we are seeing echoes of it today.
Some interesting sites that talk about indigo cultivation and the role of enslaved people in making the dye. A 2013 book called Red, White, and Black Make Blue discusses the relationship of slavery and indigo production in South Carolina.
A thread from Adriana Herrera about why historical romance must grapple with how problematic white women upheld slavery.
Colorism is an issue that Beverly Jenkins weaves into Indigo.
Looking for more romances with carriage sex? Of course you are.
The Blessings series is a contemporary series by Beverly Jenkins that takes place in the town of Henry Adams, KS.
The Biblical story of Daniel and the Lion's Den is why Galen's nickname is The Black Daniel.
Sex euphamisms, anyone?
Robert E. Lee was pretty terrible.
Jen's favorite novel by Beverly Jenkins is Forbidden, which was recently optioned for TV! Sarah reviewed it for the Washington Post in 2016. Jen has no idea what movie she saw with a character who was passing, but Sarah recommends Nella Larsen's 1929 Passing.
In 2018, they made a movie of Deadly/Sexy. Fun fact, the actor in the movie, Travis Cure, was then the cover model for her next book, Rebel.
The book recommended by Walton Muyumba is called Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments.
Buy Fated Mates buttons from Kelly at the shop on Jen's site, and Sarah's t-shirts and other swag here.
Jan 1, 2020, we'll be discussing Born in Ice by Nora Roberts.
8.5: Gateways to Romance
You’re new to romance, where should you begin?! This week, Jen and Sarah are talking about good gateway romances, and we’ve got four that we think work for readers who’ve never dipped a toe, but are open to things from dukes to magic, the America West to kinky London and everything in between.
Next week, it’s Jen’s favorite IAD book, Demon from the Dark! Malkom Slaine is a demon living alone on another plane…until witch Carrow Graie comes to fetch him. Get DFTD at Amazon, B&N, Apple Books, Kobo, or from your local Indie. Don’t forget that the Audible versions of IAD are on sale right now -- and WORTH EVERY PENNY! Listen on Audio!
Show Notes
Next week, it's Demon from the Dark since we already talked about Pleasure of a Dark Prince!
Derek Craven is our favorite and since it's our podcast, we don't have to listen to anyone talk about St. Vincent.
A librarian who excels at reader's advisory is a wonderful thing to have in your life.
Check out Jen's website for targeted romance recommendations.
John Warner is the biblioracle, and he's an amazing advocate for educators and the teaching of writing. He's also one of the key players in The Morning News Tournament of Books, which is literary blood sport par excellence.
An explainer about American-style universtiy course numbering. Jaime Green is the New York Times romance reviewer and we love her.
One of the most hilarious twitter accounts is all about the smells of romance.
The Georgette Heyer chronotope and its limits explained.
If you are interested in knowing the "beat for beat" way a romance is built, you should check out this book by Gwen Hayes.
The ton, the modiste, and Bond Street.
Everyone loves a read-alike, but the problem is finding them.
The Governess and rake tropes are beloved by romance readers, and Tessa Dare's The Governess Game is an excellent example of the trope in action.
Lol, you can't fool Jen. She is absolutely not googling "sex swing."
Hillary Clinton said some things about romance novels, and Romancelandia wasn't having it.
NPR's Codeswitch wrote about Passing in America.
Sarah isn't the only one who learned about history from romance novels.
Jen described her angst vs. stakes theory in this post.
Alexander Chee is a delight, but Jen hated A Little Life more than any other book she's ever read, so just enjoy this Nicole Cliffe thread where a million people dunk on it.
The Sex House for sale in PA was the best 2019 story. Don't believe us? Read this interview with the realtor.
Epistolary novels are interesting; but Jen, Melinda, and Kat talked in this review about Thrall by Roan Parrish & Avon Gale and whether or not epistolary novels work in the age of the internet. (Edited by Sarah to add: Epistolary novels are the tits and anyone who says otherwise is F- wrong.)
The bass line in question.
Jen and Sarah really hate cliffhangers.
Andrew and Illona Gordon are a husband and wife writing team and Jen would probably read anything they wrote (as long as there were no cliffhangers.)
Tom Hardy as Mad Max and fancast as Derek Craven, Mad Rogan, Rune, etc.
