Jennifer Prokop 6/1/22 Jennifer Prokop 6/1/22

S04.37: Groveling

If there isn’t a grovel, is it even a romance? This week, we’re getting to the bottom of one of our favorite moments in a romance novel — the grovel. Love it or hate it, some of the best loved books of the genre go all in on hero (because let’s face it, it’s almost always the hero) on his knees…and we are here. for. it. We talk about the hows and whys of the grovel, about the reasons we love it, about the difference between a grovel and a grand gesture, and about the books that installed this particular button for us.

Groveling Romance Recs

The Day of the Duchess by Sarah MacLean

Ten Ways to be Adored When Landing a Lord

Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

Lady Luck by Kristen Ashley

Untamed by Elizabeth Lowell

A Woman Without Lies by Elizabeth Lowell

The Prince of Broadway by Joanna Shupe

A Heart of Blood & Ashes by Milla Vane

Lothaire by Kresley Cole

Sweet Ruin by Kresley Cole

The Master by Kresley Cole

Where You Least Expect by Kaye Blue

When Beauty Tamed the Beast by Eloisa James

After the Billionaire's Wedding Vows

The Unwanted Wife by Natasha Anders

Again the Magic by Lisa Kleypas

Playing it Cool by Amy Andrews

Heaven Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

The Doctor by Nikki Sloane

The Duke by Gaelen Foley

Notes

We love a good grovel here at Fated Mates, and back in 2018, Jen wrote an essay on groveling for #RomBkLove
Merriam Webster is the world’s greatest dictionary.
We don’t come from chimpanzees, but we do have a common ancestor.
If you think a character hasn’t suffered enough, you can leave them in cold storage. You have the power!
Jen did the entire breakdown on Kiss an Angel with Erin & Clayton from Learning the Tropes
We did a deep dive on Milla Vane's A Heart of Blood and Ashes because we love it so much. We also did episodes on Lothaire, Sweet Ruin and The Master. The first five seconds of the Sweet Ruin epsiode are a straight shot of Sarah's joy, if you are looking for that sort of thing.
More about the problem of captive (and presumably lacking telepathic prowess) Tigers in America.
Molly Bloom totally would love a good romance novel, btw.
The American President is a pretty great movie, but it also came out back in 1995 when we some of us were still capable of positive feelings about politicians.
Our next read along is The Dragon and the Jewel by Virginia Henley.

S04.30: Her Night With the Duke by Diana Quincy

This week, we’re talking about one of Sarah’s favorite recent historicals, Diana Quincy’s beautiful Her Night With the Duke, which was on our 2020 Best Romance of the Year list. This one fires on many cylinders, and the conversation it inspired covers a lot of ground. We talk about how you won’t get a better Bridgerton read-alike than this one, about the third-act breakup, why it works and the work it does in a romance, about why widows are allowed to be sexy, about responsibility and aristocracy, about hot golf, and about how modern historicals are really doing the business.

Thanks to Avon Books, publisher of Eva Leigh’s The Good Girl’s Guide to Rakes, and Kelly Cain, author of An Acquired Taste, for sponsoring the episode.

Our next read along is Julie James’s Something About You. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local bookstore.

Show Notes

Diana Quincy has written many romance novels, and she also published Regency era mysteries under the name D.M. Quincy. You can find information about her books on her website, on twitter, or on Instagram.

Her Night with the Duke was one of our best of 2020 romances.
Leela taking her knife to her evil brother-in-law's face was just as satisfying as this great scene with Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride.
Here's a brief overview of the history of the Arab community in Manchester, England.
Craft in the Real World by Matthew Salesses dives into storytelling around the world, makes the case that conflict-driven plots are not universal and advocates for making diverse storytelling traditions welcome in literary spaces. This essay from LitHub is a good primer to his argument.