Jennifer Prokop 10/16/24 Jennifer Prokop 10/16/24

S07.06: The Everything I Left Unsaid duology

We're starting our Season 7 read alongs off with a bang! M. O'Keefe's Everything I Left Unsaid duology is some of the best contemporary romance out there, and if you need proof, here it is: The first book ends on a cliffhanger and it holds a prime spot on Jen's keeper shelf. We're talking about all the ways this book works, the way O'Keefe wields tension and description and narrative voice and point of view like an absolute master and delivers a series that is not only deeply representative of the contemporary romance of the mid 2010s, but also a near perfect example of how contemporary can fire on all cylinders. Clear your calendar, you're going to want to read all four books in this series back to back.

If you want more romance content, maybe you want to join our Patreon, where you get another episode from us each month, and access to the incredible readers and listeners and brilliant people on the Fated Mates discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Also! We're back on the phonebanking train this election season! Join us Saturdays between now and Election Day to phonebank with fellow romance lovers. Jen & Sarah are joined by special guests who will knock your socks off! Learn more and register at fatedmates.net/fatedstates. If phonebanking isn't your thing, we're also raising money for downticket house and senate races, because state legislatures may not be sexy, but they sure hold all the power. Learn more, and give what you can at fatedmates.net/givingcircle.

Show Notes

Raise a glass to the Old School Romance Book Club on Facebook. Their final zoom was Oct 14, 2024.
Problematic vs. Dated originated with a discussion of Rocky Horror Picture Show on Twitter, a conversation that has been ongoing for a long time.
Just to be clear, when Jen said “it’s 2015 so it’s in past” she’s referencing that although some books were written in present (like 50 Shades, published in 2011), the wholesale shift to present tense that we see in romance now hadn’t happened yet.
Researchers and law enforcement professionals have determined that nonfatal strangulation is a leading indicator of escalating violence in a relationship and an important risk factor for homicide in women, and the fact that choking is on the rise in teenage sexual encounters is especially troubling.

The Everything I Left Unsaid Series

Everything I Left Unsaid

The Truth About Him

Burn Down the Night

Wait for It

S06.40: Siblings in Romance Novels

We’re talking about brothers and sisters as secondary characters in romance today — by popular demand from listeners, it’s our sibling episode! We get to the bottom of why we all love secondary siblings—the overbearing olders, the wild child middles, the delightful youngers, the equally handsome and broad shouldered boys, the snarky, stunning girls, and everyone else who’s ever caught our eye and made us say “now where’s there book?!” We tackled complicated relationships, shared history and the perfect fantasy of family that romance delivers so well.

Next week, we’re reading Joanna Shupe’s The Devil of Downtown, from her Uptown Girls trilogy. There are sisters! Also, it’s Jen’s favorite in the series and an absolute banger. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple or your local indie.

If you wish you had six more days in a week of people talking about romance, may we suggest joining our Patreon? Aside from an additional episode every month you get access to our Discord, where 1000 other romance readers are talking about books they love (and many other things!) all the time. It’s so fun! Learn more about the Patreon and go join those cool people who love romance as much as we do at patreon.com/fatedmates.

Show Notes

We’ve done twins, and we’ve done siblings’s best friend, but this time we’re talking about plain old siblings in romance. We’re definitely not talking about anything Tangled Lies adjacent this time.

If you want the deep dives we mentioned, they are Preferential Treatment, Gentle Rogue and Devil’s Bride.

Illinoise is playing on Broadway if you’re in New York this summer.

They’ll be a meet-up at Steamy Lit Con for us with our listeners, details coming soon!

There’s a dark romance podcast called Trigger Warning you might want to check out, and in case you want to read that romance with mummification but no cheating, it’s Dead Love by Audrey Rush

The Orphan X book with the evil killer siblings is Prodigal Son.

In case you have ever wondered about the provenance of the beloved Fated Mates phrase, “take the finger” this is an episode where Sarah talks about the book that inspired it.