S02.20: Managed by Kristen Callihan: Scottie!!!
Scottie!!!!!!! It’s Managed week here at Fated Mates — this is one of Jen’s favorite romances, and we’re talking about it and the next book in Kristen Callihan’s VIP series, Fall. We’re revisiting the rockstar romance and the found family trope, talking about the slow burn, and Jen’s talking about first person present tense narration and not yelling…so it’s a banner episode!
Don’t miss a single moment of our 2020 episodes — subscribe on your favorite podcasting platform and like/review the podcast if you’re so inclined!
In two weeks, we’re reading one of Sarah’s picks, Lorraine Heath’s Waking Up With the Duke, which was a tough choice because Lorraine is amazing and Sarah wants you to read all of her books. Read Waking Up With the Duke at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, or Kobo.
Show Notes
Jen's disappointed with the iHeartRadio Podscast awards. It's an honor just to be nominated, and that didn't even happen! For your consideration: Best Pop Culture Podcast and Best Fiction Podcast! Come on! Literary Disco wasn't even nominated!
Everyone loved The Pegging episode! Jen found this really interesting article too late for those show notes, but why not drop them here? We don't really think that we jumped the shark. Oh, and any chance to drop the "smashing from the back" rap.
The 20 minutes Eric cut were about RWA. So just read Jen's article for Kirkus instead. Just kidding. We don't really need D & O insurance. Do we? Either way, Eric should stop harshing our dream mellow.
Our Kristen Callihan origin stories: Sarah recommends Evernight in the Darkest London series, but Jen can't help but think of Tony Stark. Jen wrote about Kristen's book The Hook Up in the Who Did it Better in the Library post.
Slumpbusters from this week: The Player and Sweet Ruin for Sarah, and two Sophie Jordan books, While the Duke was Sleeping and The Scandal of it All, for Jen. And the shipbuilder book by Holley Trent is called Lowdown Dirty.
If you're trying to find the sex scenes in books, Jenny Nordbak from the Wicked Wallflowers Podcast has the sure-fire keyword search word: thrust.
The kind of super fancy first class where the seats turn into beds looks pretty great. Recently, we saw this happen in the movie Crazy Rich Asians.
Unbuttoning a glove is a huge romantic moment in Lord of Scoundrels and The Age of Innocence.
In case you have to travel with a rock band on a bus, the internet provides useful tips, of course! Jen loves this famous tour bus scene from the movie Almost Famous. Also, read Daisy Jones and the Six, which uses interview format to tell the story of the rise and fall of a 70s rock band.
Our Rock Star Romance interstitial was our very first interstitial. It's 20 minutes long, and you can listen to it here.
Revision is everything, but it is also very hard.
Interested in more slow burn romances? Goodreads has you covered.
Kerrelyn Sparks is the one who told Sarah romance is like a football game.
If you're worried you have an STI like Chlamydia, please see a doctor. Also, if you have kids, make sure they get the HPV vaccination.
Being a professional friend is a real job.
More about the A in the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
If you're ever in Chicago, you should go to the dining room of the Chicago Athletic Association, check out the trophies, and play some bocce ball.
Looking to hang out with us in April? We'll be at KissCon and Spring Fling.
Buy buttons and stickers from Kelly and t-shirts from Jordan.
Next up, Waking Up With the Duke by Lorraine Heath, a book that blooded Sarah.
other books we mentioned
S02.09: Sierra Simone's Midwest: Priest
It’s Priest week! Sarah put Sierra Simone’s Priest on her Books that Blooded Her list, and this episode is a ride! Jen’s reading first person narrative, we’re both escaped catholics, Sarah imprinted on The Thornbirds, we’ll get to the bottom of anal sex in church (see what we did there?), and fully disagree about how much guilt is too much guilt for a hero. Plus, you’ll hear us tell you how brilliant we think Sierra is.
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!
In two weeks, we’re going to a classic of classics! The read was on both Jen & Sarah’s list—Loretta Chase’s Lord of Scoundrels, which is on the lions’ share of Best Romance Novels Ever lists. We’ll get into why. Read Lord of Scoundrels at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local indie.
Show Notes
We love Sierra Simone! Sarah talked about Sinner on the Best Friend's Sibling episode, and Sierra was a special guest on our MacRieve episode. She'll also be joining us on a very special future interstitial.
Will Kresley drop Munro like Beyonce? One can only hope.
If you want to join Sarah's FB Old School Romance Book Club group, click here and wait for moderator approval. We (try to remember but sometimes have to be reminded to) post a discussion post for each week's episode there.
Have you listened to what we consider to be our sister podcasts: The Wicked Wallflowers, Heaving Bosoms, and Black Chick Lit? We also love Learning the Tropes and RomBkPod. Check them out for all your listening needs.
Facebook is garbage and Zuckerberg is aiming for Bond Villain.
The modern day dirty priest fantasy is Fleabag, the old school one is The Thornbirds.
If you're not following Jen Porter on Twitter, what are you doing with your life?
Sierra's Markham Hall series is an erotic retelling of Jane Eyre.
What does it even mean to be star-crossed?
More about reader response theory.
A defintion of "framing device" and how they work in fiction.
In the Catholic Church, penance is one of seven sacraments.
In case you want to know more about hairshirts as a thing, but please don't wear one.
In the Ice Planet Barbarians series, the khui is a mystical thing on the ice planet. That's really all you need to know.
More about the history of Rhode Island as a haven for escaped Catholics. No not that kind of escaped Catholic.
The 2015 movie Spotlight is about the investigative journalists who broke the story of priest sexual abuse in Boston. In one famous scene, a reporter knock on the door of a retired priest who answers her questions in a shocking way. (All the trigger warnings on that scene, by the way.)
Mark Ruffalo the hulk vs Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight.
Sarah recommends the audio of Priest.
This summer, the Catholic Diocese of Providence released the names of 50 priests who were credibly accused of abuse.
Celibacy is a core tenent of Catholic priesthood, but as less and less men enter the priesthood, that might be changing in some interesting ways. Please note that the Vatican is more likely to lift celibacy requirements before they'd allow the ordination of women.
If this is the defintiion of an inspirational romance, then Priest qualifies.
The Tessa Bailey book with "baby girl" is Fix Her Up. It's hot if you don't mind that sort of thing.
Hot Cop is a book by Sierra Simone and Laurelin Page.
In season 2 of Fleabag, the therapist who asks if she wants to "fuck the priest or fuck God" was played by Fiona Shaw. Kristen Scott Thomas gives a barn burner of a speech after the "people are all we have" moment.
All about Saint Anselm.
In case you don't know, the home at the parish for the priest is called the rectory.
Sarah refers to the book of the Bible as Song of Songs, but it's also called the Song of Solomon.
Jenny Nordbak was a guest host on Heaving Bosoms talking about Priest, and it's a great episode if you just need more. Sierra Simone was also on a delicious episode of Wicked Wallflowers!
The sequel to Priest is called Midnight Mass.
Why is a nun's outfit called a habit?
Erin from Heaving Bosoms famously does not read prologues or epilogues. We love her even though we don't really understand.
Shop for buttons from Best Friend Kelly and t-shirts and totes from Sarah.
Christina called in today to talk about Colleen McCullough's The Thornbirds, and we hope she enjoyed Sarah's shout out to it this week!
Coming up: Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase on Nov 20, 2019; Indigo by Beverly Jenkins on Dec 4, 2019; Born in Ice by Nora Roberts on Dec 18, 2019; and A Kingdom of Dreams by Judith McNaught on Jan 8, 2020.