S04.35: Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin: Some Real Hero Sh*t
This week, we’re talking about one of our favorite historical romances, Jeannie Lin’s Butterfly Swords. This is one we’ve mentioned on previous episodes, and discussed at length during Jeannie’s Trailblazer episode, as it is the first own voices Asian-set historical romance.
Aside from setting the standard for adventure romance, it’s also a near-perfect road trip romance with one of the hottest slow burns you’ll ever read. We talk about all of it, including the absolutely devastating first kiss—one that should go down in romance history. TL;DR: We love this book hard.
Notes
This week, we’re reading the debut novel Butterfly Swords by romance trailblazer Jeannie Lin. This is the first book in her Tang Dynasty series.
It’s not too late to see Sarah with Christina and Lauren in Connecticut on May 18th, 2022, or Jen with Christina, Lauren, and Sonali Dev in Naperville on May 19th, 2022.
We’re looking for an artist to draw us a magnificent firebird. Maybe it’s you?
So, it’s classic Jen to get titles wrong. Farewell, my Concubine is a movie, and the third book in the Tang Dynasty series is called My Fair Concubine. But, that’s not Li Tao’s book, either–it’s The Dragon and the Pearl.
We talked about Road Trip romance back in season 1.
Time for an interlude from The Princess Bride.
Our next read along is The Dragon and the Jewel by Virginia Henley, first published in 1991.
Sponsors
This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:
Charlotte Howard, author of Secret Verses, available in Kindle Unlimited .
and
Mila Finelli, author of the Kings of Italy Duet
Read Mafia Mistress in Kindle Unlimited or listen wherever audiobooks are sold
S04.33: Something About You by Julie James: Jack’s A Good Name For A Hero
This week, we’re talking about a beloved contemporary romance, the first in Julie James’s FBI/US Attorney series — Something About You. This one is a fascinating look at a series connected by not the romance standard of friends or families, but by work. Set in Chicago, it contains all the mystery of a romantic suspense without ever straying from the contemporary romance path. The characters are sharp, the writing is clever, the structure is fascinating, and it will likely make you read the rest of the series almost immediately.
Thanks to Avon Books, publisher of Lynsay Sands’s Immortal Rising, and Kelly Cain, author of An Acquired Taste, for sponsoring the episode.
Notes
Julie James is the author of 9 books in the FBI/US Attorney series. They are stand alone novels in the world of the Chicago criminal justice system.
The Hyatt Lodge in Oak Brook has a lap pool with lane lines in case you’re into that sort of thing.
The U.S. Attorneys are federal prosecutors and there are 94 districts. Saying out each letter separately “A-U-S-A” is in fact the right way to shorten this title. Jen confirmed it with Erin.
The Peninsula is a fancy hotel in Chicago. Jen is unsure of whether or not it has a lap pool.
After refinishing hardwood floors, you really do need to wait a while before walking on them!
“Taste her blood in her throat” as someone (ahem, Nora Roberts) might say.
You definitely want to see that scene Jen referenced from The Old Guard with Nicky & Joe. Unfortunately, Channing Tatum’s stirring defense of romance in The Lost City is not yet available on YouTube. Watch thisas a placeholder. Or this. You’re welcome.
Christina Lauren is going on a book tour! You can see them with Sarah in Connecticut on May 18th, or in the Chicago suburbs with Jen on May 19th. Join us!
Spiaggia has closed, but it was very fancy in its heyday.
It’s not weird pizza, okay.
Books & Movies Mentioned This Episode
Sponsors
This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:
Avon Books, publisher of Lynsay Sands’s Immortal Rising, available at
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local independent bookseller.
Visit avonbooks.com
and
Kelly Cain, author of An Acquired Taste,
available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or wherever you get your ebooks.
Visit kellycainauthor.com
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.
The Clandestine Affairs Series by Diana Quincy
Sponsors
This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:
Avon Books, publisher of Eva Leigh’s The Good Girls Guide to Rakes, available at
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or your local independent bookseller.
Visit avonbooks.com
and
Kelly Cain, author of An Acquired Taste,
available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or wherever you get your ebooks.
Visit kellycainauthor.com
S04.27: Nine Questions about Nine Rules
It’s a Very Special Episode™️ of Fated Mates today, celebrating the rerelease of Sarah’s first book, Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake! We talk about the book that started Sarah’s romance career, about why it still resonates, about new covers during a pandemic, and yes…we get to the bottom of the age old question: Will Benedick Ever Get a Book?
You can buy the new Nine Rules at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop, and get signed copies at WORD.
This episode is sponsored by Adriana Herrera, author of The Duke Makes Me Feel and The Romancelandia Shop.
Our read along next week is Diana Quincy’s Her Night With the Duke, which was on our Best of 2020 year-end list! Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local bookstore. You can also get it in audio from Chirp Books!
Show Notes
This tweet about Car Talk made Jen laugh. It really was the greatest NPR show of all time, and since they are no dummies, they have in fact made it into a podcast.
Buy the books with stepbacks now, because we aren’t sure how long they are going to last. Lots of folks participate in #StepbackSaturday on Twitter and Instagram to share their favorites.
Sarah's agent at the time was Alyssa Eisner-Henkin, who is still a great YA and children's agent!
Sarah's editor is still Carrie Feron, who has edited romance for her entire career. Authors she has edited include Lisa Kleypas, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Sally Thorne, Jude Deveraux, Elizabeth Lowell and Eloisa James.
The name of the documentary about romance is called Love Beneath the Covers (2016), which is a fascinating look at the romance genre.
Where's My Hero is a romance anthology that featured some of the good guys, and it's available in eBook and print.
Sponsors
This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:
Adriana Herrera, author of The Duke Makes Me Feel, available at
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Kobo
Visit Adriana at adrianaherreraromance.com
and
The Romancelandia Shop, where romance lovers can find stickers, pins, notecards and more.
Use the code FATEDMATES at checkout for a free Fated Mates sticker!
S04.24: The London Hale Oeuvre
Welp, we’re back in a doom scrolling spiral this week, so why not take a visit to a small town full of hot single dads and firemen? We’re reading London Hale this week, and talking about the appeal of the quick and dirty romance! We’ll also talk about the value of a genuinely hot read and where all the stops are on the romance-to-erotica spectrum. We’re also talking about kinks and why daddies are installed in so many of us. Basically, we’re telling y’all to read these London Hale books so they’ll write more of them for us. Thanks for listening!
The Books We Discussed
Notes
Authors Ellis Leigh and Brighton Walsh are the two authors who write as London Hale. Sarah talked about their books back on the Quick and Dirty interstitial in Season 2.
You should read Circe. And Jack Reacher.
If you've run out of Jessa Kane books, try Chloe Maine.
There is not a Harlequin Presents called The Pregnant Billionaire’s Italian Mistress, but you can find The Italian’s Pregnant Mistress, The Italian Billionaire's Pregnant Bride, The Italian’s Pregnant Cinderella, The Italian’s Pregnant Virgin, The Italian’s Pregnancy Proposal, and The Italian’s Pregnant Prisoner.
Robert Redford was a snack. So was Richard Gere both in Pretty Woman and in “the one where he’s an Air Force pilot.” (An Officer and a Gentleman, and it was the Navy. Fine.) We also admire the silver fox good looks of Benecio del Toro, Idris Elba, and George Clooney.
Andie J. Christopher coined the phrase “stern brunch daddy” and we’re all better off for it. Unfortunately, she’s the kind of person who deletes old tweets so you can't see that picture of Oscar Isaac with an eating utensil that inspired it, but luckily they talked about it on Reddit and Andie talked about it on the Wicked Wallflowers Podcast.
We’re constantly trying to explain the difference between Romance vs erotic romance vs erotica.
The Great Stepbrother Explosion was mostly 2015-2016, but I’m willing to talk some more about it or cite sources if you have them.
The 2020 Netflix movie 365 Days was originally released in Poland under the name 365 dni and was based on a book by Blanka Lipinska. Apparently, there will be a sequel. It doesn’t have a release date, but we’ll keep you updated, baby girl.
Jo Brenner and her friends have a gray scale for dark romance, and I hope she’ll explain it all on twitter so I can link to it.
Does calling a stranger for phone sex still exist–I bet you’re shocked to find out that there was an uptick in demand during the pandemic.
In editing, TK means “to come” as in I’ll fill it in later. In Fumbled by Alexa Martin, it stands for Trevor Kyle.
Eucalyptus is native to Australia and was introduced to England in 1774.
You should follow the Male scent catalog on twitter, and if you want to read more about it, check out the book Nose Dive: A Field Guide to the World’s Smells.
Sponsors
This week’s episode of Fated Mates is sponsored by:
BetterHelp online therapy.
Fated Mates listeners get 10% off their first month at betterhelp.com/fatedmates.
and
Kennedy Ryan, author of Reel, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
Kobo, Apple Books or your local indie.
Continue listening to the audiobook at Audible or Apple.
Visit Kennedy at kennedyryanwrites.com, or follow her on
Instagram at @kennedyryan1 or Twitter at @kennedyrwrites
S04.19: Passion by Lisa Valdez: The Romance Equivalent of "I Have an Extra Stomach for Dessert"
On this episode, we’re talking about a historical that we like to think of as the full banana. A descriptor which, now that we’re typing it, really covers a lot of ground. It’s Passion week — we’re talking about how Lisa Valdez shook up the traditional historical world in 2005 when she released this erotic historical featuring a widow and a dude who has an extremely large…you know. We talk about what it means for a romance to be erotic and about how this might also be inspirational. We also talk about this as a marker of a significant shift in the content of romance novels, and ask some questions about basic anatomy. Headphones on for this one, y’all!
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!
Show Notes
Passion by Lisa Valdez was the first book in a series named the Passion Quartet, but only two were published. Passion in 2005 and Patience in 2010.
Passion takes place during Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, commonly called the Crystal Palace Exhibition. The Great Exhibition was well-documented in the book Dickinson's Comprehensive Pictures of the Great Exhibition, which is available in its entirety online. Charlotte Bronte was a visitor and wrote about her impression of the exhibits.
Lisa Valdez wrote about sex in romance on Jess Michaels's blog back in 2014.
America is full of weird controlling shit about sex, like abstinence only education, and the fact that people don't know where the hymen is. You should follow Dr. Jen Gunter and tell your kids about Scarleteen.
Sarah mentioned that Marc is a hero very much in the model of Dain from Lord of Scoundrels.
Up next, Munro. Stay tuned for more details.
S04.15: Caressed by Ice by Nalini Singh
We’re back to paranormal romance this week — and so excited! It’s been literal years since we’ve done a deep dive like this one, talking about a beloved, long-standing, many booked, series — Nalini Singh’s Psy Changeling series. We’re deep diving on Caressed by Ice, which features a hero who literally experiences physical pain whenever he feels a feeling, so…of course he’s Jen’s favorite. We talk paranormal world building, patriarchy, hero’s feeling feelings, and try to explain the universe of this book. We’re not great at it, but there is about 20 minutes of bantr, so you’ll be fine!
There’s still time to buy the Fated Mates Best of 2021 Book Pack from our friends at Old Town Books in Alexandria, VA, and get eight of the books on the list, a Fated Mates sticker and other swag!
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!
We are going to set some wild intentions for 2022 with our first read-along of the year, Lisa Valdez’s Passion, an erotic historical published in 2005 that is W-I-L-D. There is a lot of biblical stuff at the world’s fair. Also some truly bananas stuff that…sticks with you. We haven’t read it in a while, so we’re telling you to be careful because…honestly, it’s just good sense with this one. Get it at Amazon, Apple, Kobo, or B&N.
Show Notes
Caressed by Ice is the third book in the Psy/Changling series by Nalini Singh. If you want more read-alongs and critiques, check out Melinda and Melanie’s write ups on the Psy/Changling channel at Smexy Books, and the Changeling Cast by Mara/BooksLikeWhoa on YouTube.
Johnnie Walker Blue is pretty fancy, and definitely wants to be served over an ice ball.
If there is a GBBO (which stands for Great British Bake Off, so no need to google it) and Ted Lasso crossover, they better bake biscuits with the boss.
Speaking of GBBO, one of the hosts dressed up as Santa and that's nice.
We talked about the paranormal explosion of 2006 when we recorded our first IAD episodes, so just listen to season 1 again because Munro is coming. You might also want to listen to our fantasy romance episode with Zoriada Cordova.
More about the monster of the week model.
If you're having sexytimes with a telekinetic, the promise of the premise is that they're gonna use those powers during sex! Mad Rogan in the Hidden Legacy series knows his job.
Do you know how powerful serging is? If not, check out this story from Talia Hibbert about the time she did some [VERY IMPORTANT romance research.][14]
Shadow Dancing is actually a song by Andy Gibb, younger brother of the other Bee Gees. You might want to watch the Bee Gees documentary. You can watch 6 hours about the Beatles, or this three minute clip. Your call!
S04.12: The Men at Work Trilogy by Tiffany Reisz: Thanksgiving is a lot
It’s autumn which means it’s time to start talking holiday seasons and holiday romances here at Fated Mates, so this week, we’re talking about one of Jen’s favorite category trilogies—Tiffany Reisz’s Men At Work series from Harlequin Blaze. These are sexy, subversive romances that turn tropes on their head while delivering delight.
Notes
Tiffany Reisz is the author of the Original Sinners series and several category length romances. The Men at Work series was a Harlequin Blaze, a line that ran between 2001-2017. The ghost story one is called The Headmaster, part of a tiny stand alone Harlequin eBook series called Shivers.
We’ve talked about the history of category romance on many episodes: our favorite bonkers old categories from the 80s/90s, with Steve Ammidown on the first acquisitions of Vivian Stephens, and with rare book dealer Rebecca Romney.
Harlequin at the end of 2021 has 11 different lines: Desire, Heartwarming, Historical, Intrigue, Medical Romance, Presents, Romance, Romantic Suspense, Special Edition, Love Inspired, and Love Inspired Suspense.
The Romance Wars section of Rebecca Romney’s romance catalog starts on page 125, and it’s fascinating. Amazon began in 1994, it had 180 thousand accounts in 1996 and a million accounts by the end of 1997. The Sony Reader was on the market starting in 2004, and the first Kindle was in 2007. Kindle Unlimited started in 2014.
The Invention of Thanksgiving is a video from The Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, it features an interview with Paul Chaat Smith, a member of the Comanche tribe. Debbie Reese has a great thread with resources for children’s books with Native American characters to read or avoid.
Sarah recommends the TV show Happy Endings, and Flashdance is has a music video vibe rather than a movie with a plot.
Compare and contrast original Loveswept back cover copy to the updated version for Sunny Chandler’s Return by Sandra Brown.
Here is an explainer about how there was a traditional belief that Judaism is matrilineal, it is not a belief held by all Jewish people. This essay explains how a 1983 decision from Reform rabbis made room for children of mixed marriages to claim patrilineal descent.
Order soon if you want to make sure your Fated Mates Book Pack— 8 of our 10 Best Romance Novels of 2021— from Old Town Books in Alexandria, VA.
S04.08: Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin
2021 has been kind of a mess, honestly, and Sarah hasn’t been reading as much as usual, because *waves hands at the world.* But Hana Khan Carries On is a total delight and exactly the book she needed this year, so we’re reading it with you! We’ll talk about romcoms, authorial voice, podcasting heroines, about how much we enjoy heroes who deserve a bit of cold storage, about writing contemporaries that reflect the time we live in, and about first person narration and why it works really well when it works really well.
Also, Sarah tries to get herself invited to hang out with Uzma Jalaluddin and tries to trademark a Ted Lasso reference all in one episode. It’s rough out here. Leave her alone.
Get ready for more trailblazers and our Best of 2021 episode this month! Our next read-alongs will be the Tiffany Reisz Men at Work series, which is three holiday themed category romances. Read one or all of them: Her Halloween Treat, Her Naughty Holiday and One Hot December.
Show Notes
This week’s book is Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin. Her first novel was Ayesha At Last, which was a Pride & Prejudice retelling. Mindy Kaling is adapting Hana Khan for Amazon.
The Folio Society has a new version of Georgette Heyer’s Venetia. The introduction is by Stephen Fry, who is a real champion of poetry, including a great book about the joys of reading and writing poetry called The Ode Less Travelled.
The dating app invented for Ted Lasso is called Bantr.
If you can’t identify different voices, maybe it’s because we all have podcast voice.
In the ReadsRomance family, we call Toronto Clean Chicago….because well, I think it explains itself.
The Golden Crescent might be an invented neighborhood for this book, but it seems similar to Toronto’s Crescent Town. If you’d like more information about what it means when food or a restaurant is Halal. Perhaps you do not know about biryani, an Indian delicacy, or poutine, a Canadian one.
Jen was right about the meaning of the word pillory.
This book has aspects of the 1998 movie You’ve Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, which had a terrible ending.
From what we can tell, the NPR of Canada is CBC radio.
In some recent books, we get an unflinching portrayals of toxic white women on page---characters like Marissa in this book, or Misty in American Dreamer. Adriana Herrera was a guest on last year for an interstitial about the immigrant experience.
Our next read-alongs will be the Tiffany Reisz Men at Work series, which is three books. Read one or read them all: Her Halloween Treat, Her Naughty Holiday, and One Hot December.
S04.04: Ravished by Amanda Quick: The difference between fossils and Fossils
At some point, we were going to have to talk about fossils, right? Ravished is the bluestocking book that started it all for Sarah, and an absolute classic for Jen. On the reread, we absolutely loved it, which just goes to show that Amanda Quick (aka Jayne Ann Krentz) is a total legend. We’ll talk about the appeal of big heroes who know what they want and just go for it, about how difficult it is to write two people who genuinely enjoy each other’s company from the jump, about how awesome it is when a heroine is totally down with doing it in a cave, and about the broad appeal of greatcoats.
Our next read along is Uzma Jalaluddin’s Hana Kahn Carries On. Find it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local indie.
Sponsored by Radish: Bottomless content; one cute app. Visit radish.social/fatedmates for 24 free coins and to read your first Radish story.
Show Notes
Ravished was originally published in 1992 by Jayne Ann Krenz, who has a lot of pen names, including Jayne Taylor, Jayne Bentley, Stephanie James and Amanda Glass. Now she publishes under 3 names: Jayne Ann Krenz (contemporary), Jayne Castle (PNR), and Amanda Quick (historical). She has said, “I am often asked why I use a variety of pen names. The answer is that this way readers always know which of my three worlds they will be entering when they pick up one of my books.”
The Bluestocking archetype is about a woman who is interested in science and learning in her own right, and is a reference to the Bluestocking Society, which was founded in the 1750s by Elizabeth Montagu and Elizabeth Vesey.
Some hallmarks of a gothic novel are “the discovery of mysterious elements of antiquity” and also handsome men in great coats.
All about the waltz and why it was so scandalous.
Jen’s thread about fossils, which are just a McGuffin.
Maybe you are more interested than Jen and would like to learn about how to fake a fossil.
Author Vanessa Riley is committed to reviving bananas regency names for men. In A Duke, The Lady, and a Baby, the hero’s name is Busick.
