S03.23: Curvy Heroines Redux

Nearly two years since our first Curvy Heroines interstitial, which was short and sweet, we’re back with another that is longer and more meandering, but absolutely chock full of recs! We love a curvy heroine, and so do you all, apparently, as our original Curvy Interstitial is our most popular episode of all time!

Next week, we’ve got a special crossover episode with Erin and Clayton from Learning the Tropes, and the week after, we’re back to the deep dives with Naima Simone’s Blackout Billionaires series (With a little Derek Craven Day excitement in there, too!) In order, the books are: The Billionaire's Bargain, Black Tie Billionaire, and Blame It on the Billionaire. Find them at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or Apple Books.


Show Notes

This piece in Book Riot by Carole Bell argues that fat representation is different than fat acceptance, which is something we grapple with as we’re talking. She also wrote this list of romances with fat representation.

If you haven’t read books by Charlotte Stein, you should. Which ones? ALL OF THEM. Fat Monica, if you don’t know, is a reference to the TV show Friends.

Watch Olivia Dade talk about where we are now with fat representation in romance.

Cult of Glory, a 2020 book about the true history of the Texas Rangers paints a grim picture of the storied law enforcement agents.

In case you’re interested, last week Jen was googling “anal hook” and this week she landed on a bunch of Christian websites when she googled the Magi, so she got freaked out and just used a wikipedia link. It's fine. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thea de Salle is one of author Hillary Monahan's pseudonyms. Back in the day, Jen wrote about Catholicism in romance based on a later book in the series, The Lady of Royale Street.

Luciana Barroso is married to Matt Damon, and she’s a regular person.

In Get a Life, Chloe Brown, the heroine suffers from fibromyalgia., and so does the author, Talia Hibbert.

We did a whole episode on Alisha Rai’s Serving Pleasure in season two.

Jen recently read The Ravenels series by Lisa Kleypas. She’s obsessed with Rhys Winterborne, and West Ravenel is pretty great, too. Don’t worry, Derek Craven is still her favorite, and if you haven’t ordered your merch for our upcoming Derek Craven holiday, what are you waiting for?

On the show Bridgerton, Penelope Featherington is a curvy girl; however, in the books, she loses weight in the 10 years between when she comes out and when she finally gets her HEA with Colin.

Iman is one of the most famously beautiful supermodels in the world, and she married David Bowie in 1992.

“That’s what he said” is a long running joke from the sitcom The Office.

The Queen’s Gambit is a Netflix show about chess, and Crash Landing on You is a K-Drama about a woman who accidentally paraglides into the DMZ in a tornado.

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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
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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

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