S07.37: Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells
Another deep dive episode, and this one feels like it shouldn't have taken so long! We're reading Run Posy Run, talking about the way Cate C. Wells walks a fine line of mafia romance while keeping the book on the morality chain side of the line from dark romance. We talk about heroines against the wall, heroes who have to suffer, the way violence fits into these romances, and about sex and how it's deployed in these books to enormous effect.
We love this one (as you all know), and we were so excited to go back to it and give it the deep read it deserved. You can find all of our deep dives at the Fated Mates Book Club.
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
Notes
A boat, ship whatever, ran into the Brooklyn Bridge, and here’s a video of a woman who is a mariner explaining what might have happened.
The Chicago River is an engineering marvel. In 1887, they reversed the river and sent it out to the Mississippi rather than having it flow into Lake Michigan. They were moving rivers around in Rhode Island because of Mayor SOMEBODY and his desire to turn Providence into the Venice of the United States. Waterfire is a Providence thing, but it isn’t the same as the water fire[s] in Cleveland. The greatest of the Great Lakes is Lake Superior, to be honest, and it’s not afraid to tell everyone about it. Station Eleven is a great book set in and around the Great Lakes. No one ever talks about Lake Huron except for Jenny Holiday. Great Lakes, Great Times!
The New Jersey mob loved The Sopranos.
There is a short story now available about Dario & Posy’s daughter called Made Man.
You can listen to our previous episodes for more about the difference between morality chain and dark romance.
Sponsors
Patricia Grayhall, author of A Place for Us, available in print and ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Underlined: Where Books Are Life, a place for young readers to explore and find their next book obsession along with quizzes, reading lists, book trailers and more. Visit getunderlined.com.
Darci St. John, author of Racing Heart, available in print, ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Avon Books, publishers of Alexis Daria's Along Came Amor, available in print, ebook or audio from Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or wherever you get your books.
S07.36: Celebrity + Normie Romance
Sarah is over the moon that we're talking about celebrities again, especially because we're keeping it tight this time around and limiting it to celebrity/normal person romance (mostly -- Jen is ungovernable)! Yes, Sarah is going to talk about Perfect, but also we're going to talk about celebrities who fall for stranger normies, for normies they knew before they were celebrities, for normies who work with them, and for normies who protect them. The episode is 1200 books long and honestly, we're not sorry.
In case you wondered why Sarah is breaking her rule about talking about her own books, it's that time of year again! Her next book, These Summer Storms (complete with sexy, silent, deeply competent hero) is out in July and is going on tour, and there is a real deal Fated Mates LIVE planned for July 8th in St. Louis, MO! Get tickets to any of these events (Jen will be at a bunch of them, and other pod friends will be popping up along the way) at sarahmaclean.net/tour! If you can't make the tour, you can preorder These Summer Storms signed with a special romance dust jacket from The Ripped Bodice.
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
Our next read along is Cate C Wells's Run Posy Run, available right now in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited at Amazon, Apple Books, and Libro.fm.
Notes
Pilsen is a great Chicago neighborhood that has historically been home to Mexican-Americans, including stunning murals throughout the neighborhood. But also, that Chicago dust bowl of 2025 was not so great!!
Summer book tour is upon us. Check out Sarah’s book tour, including dates for Fated Mates Live. In Chicago, Jen will be at The Last Chapter with Mia Sosa for her book When Javi Dumped Mari on June 30th and the Books in Bloom Event hosted by the Chicago North Romance Writers in July.
Jen went out for Kennedy Ryan’s tour for her new book, Can’t Get Enough.
We’ve had versions of the celebrity romance in previous seasons: the celebrity romance in season 4, way back in season 1 we did an episode on rock star romance, and sports romance with Jenny Nordbak in season 1, with Farrah Rochon in season 3, and Jessica Luther in season 6. And no, we haven't done a bodyguard episode, but check out Caroline's "I Can Be Your Bodyguard" collection!
The primordial celebrity/normie romance for Jen is the movie Notting Hill with Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts. For Sarah, the primordial celebrity normie book was Perfect by Judith McNaught. As it turns out, Hugh Grant and Hugh Jackman are not the same person.
CELEBRITY+NORMIE BOOKS
SPONSORS
Alice Murphy, author of A Showgirl's Rules for Falling in Love, available in print and ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple or wherever you get your books.
Blue Box Press, publishers of Lexi Blake's Built to Last, available in print, ebook or audiobook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple, Kobo, or wherever you get your books.
Bailey Seaborn, author of All Twerk, No Play, available in print, ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Avery Maxwell, author of Heart Strings and Hotlines, available in print or ebook, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org.
Vedentro, premium leather accessories. Use code FATHER at checkout to get $25 off. If you sign-up on the website you will receive an email with an additional $45 off, for a total savings of $70. Visit vedentro.com for more info.
S07.35: On the Shelf with Spinsters & Wallflowers
One of the OG romance tropes is on the table today -- we're talking about heroines who are on the shelf! It's not quite wallflowers, not quite ruined, not quite spinsters...it's a very particular flavor of unmarried woman, and one we basically only find in historicals (can you tell Sarah is writing?). We're talking about the subtle nuances of heroines on the shelf and honoring some of the classics...but Sarah's got a batch of books we've never talked about before!
Also! It's that time of year again! Sarah has a new book out in July and is going on tour, and there is a real deal Fated Mates LIVE planned for July 8th in St. Louis, MO! Get tickets to any of these events (Jen will be at a bunch of them, and other pod friends will be popping up along the way) at sarahmaclean.net/tour!
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
Our next read along is Cate C Wells's Run Posy Run, available right now in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited at Amazon, Apple Books, and Libro.fm.
Notes
Check out the The Collections Department for fun groups of books, organized by real people.
On the shelf, wallflowers, and spinsters.
What does being a spinster look like now?
Louisa Darling suggested the French Guy who made a TikTok about “dating a girl who is used to being alone.”
A contemporary example (other than Bridget Jones) is Gracie from Heaven, Texas by Susan Elizabeth Phillips.
Author Madeline Hunter died in April and was an important member of the romance community. A professor and historian, for many years, Madeline was chair of the RWA Academic Grant Committee, ensuring that researchers and academics had access to funds to research and write about romance. She wrote this piece about spinsters for USA Today in 2015. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and readers.
on the (Book)shelf
SPONSORS
Ava Rani, author of The Charmer, available in print, ebook, and audio from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Bookshop.org, and Libro.fm.
1001 Dark Nights, publishers of Sparks and Surrender: An Enemies-To-Lovers Collection, available in print or ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited from Amazon.
Susan Lee, author of The Romance Rivalry, available in print, ebook, or audio, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, Bookshop.org, and Libro.fm.
Stephanie Rose, author of A Whole New Ball Game, available in print or ebook, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or Bookshop.org.
S07.34: The Third Act Break-Up (Complimentary)
We're gonna get people excited with this one (it's us. we're the ones who are getting excited). Back by popular demand, we're talking craft this week--digging deep into the third-act breakup, what it really means, why it's misunderstood, and why it really is essential to romance. Sarah suggests that every romance has one whether people like to admit it or not, Jen is, as always, ready to fight. Strap in!
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
3rd act breakup books
Notes
We love Sephora and Ulta, and Sarah has some faves from Dermatology Instagram, like dermangelo and drdrayzday.
Sarah’s on tour for These Summer Storms in July, and Fated Mates Live will be in St. Louis!!
Sarah recommends the audio of The Hero’s 2 Journeys by Michael Hauge
In our discussion, we identified several types of test: Going Home Again, Self-Sacrifice, Who am I?, and You Fucked All the Way Up.
An SD card, for you youths.
Sponsors
Dani Francis, author of Silver Elite, available in print or ebook, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Cara Dion, author of Claim to Fame, available in print or ebook from Amazon.
Rachel Griffiths, author of The Trouble with Anna, available in print, ebook, audio, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Anna Todd, author of The Last Sunrise, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S07.33: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
Today we're headed back in the time machine to before the pandemic when everyone but us read this one m/m hockey book and lost their collective minds! Heated Rivalry is one of those books that romance lovers place high up on their keeper shelf, and we're talking about why, about how it really knocks sports romance out of the park (yes, we're aware that there is no knocking out of parks in hockey), and how it might be one of the books that launched a thousand hockey ships.
We're talking about erotica vs. erotic romance vs. romance, about sexy secrets, about first names and about why it's always sexy when people say "I love you" in a foreign language.
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
NOTES
Visit the Fated Mates Collections Department for great romance recommendations organized by micro tropes, characteristics, subgenres, or things like Virgin Heroes. Check out Jen’s collection Hoop! (There It Is) and listen to the 1993 hit song, Whoomp! (There It Is) by Tag Team. Despite having said her name plenty of times, Sarah decided to omit the p in Alice Murphy when talking about her collection.
Barnes & Noble and Amazon holding sales during Independent Bookstore day felt super icky. If you missed it this year, maybe you can find a great indie to visit next year. It’s always the last Saturday in April.
Alan Ritchson is Jack Reacher, Alan Rickman is not.On the road to the NHL, the World Juniors is pretty important.
Professional sports are notably homophobic, especially the NHL despite its history of hosting pride nights. Luke Prokop is the only openly gay professional hockey player, but he does not play in the NHL at this time. The professional sports league with the most openly queer players is the WNBA, which also has a past history of enforcing certain gender norms and gender presentation for its players.
Leagues create rivalries between players and teams in order to promote their brand and ratings. A WNBA case study is Angel Reese & Caitlin Clark.
Looking for more Sports Romance? We had a great time recommending tons of them with help from Jessica Luther.
BOOKS MENTIONED THIS EPISODE
Sponsors
Measured & Slow, purveyors of unique crafted products for people who love books and whimsy. Visit the shop at measuredandslow.studio.
Jillian David, author of Paging Dr. Breakup, available in print or ebook, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
LaQuette, author of Royal Bride Demand, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
S07.32: Ruination!
We're talking about the worst possible thing that can happen to a romance heroine today (it's always the heroines) -- ruination! Whether the hero did it, another man did it, or society simply decided that she's ruined, there's simply nothing to be done about it...except revenge, a triumphant return, or the crowning of a new reigning queen. We cover all three here, with almost entirely new to the pod books, and even get some contemporaries into the mix!
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
Our next read along is Rachel Reid's Heated Rivalry, which you can get in print, ebook, audiobook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. Find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
show notes
The Space domination of Katy Perry is depressing compared to the space demotion happening to real women scientists.
In terms of plotting and the hero, Anne Stuart’s Breathless (2010) might be a good precursor to what we call dark romance today.
Actually, you say ratafia like this.
Check out the 2025 Lift for Autism auction, sponsored by Kennedy Ryan.
Stay tuned at the end of the episode for a sneak peek of the audiobook of Piper Rayne's The One I Didn't See Coming.
books mentioned this episode
Sponsors
1001 Dark Nights, publishers of Pride and Passion: A LGBTQIA+ Love Collection, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Jess K Hardy, author of Wish You Were Here, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Mara Moody, author of The Reunion Recipe, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble or wherever you get your books.
Piper Rayne, author of The One I Didn't See Coming, available in print, audiobook or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
S07.31: Romance on the Run
Yes, Sarah has a longtime fantasy of being on the lam, but let's be honest, she'd be caught reading a book in the nearest diner as soon as anyone got serious about looking for her. This week, we're talking about books in which characters are much more serious about being on the run! We break the category into people on the move and people in hiding, but also talk about secrets, about lies, and about how love really is about telling something all the truths you've got.
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
books mentioned this episode
notes
Fill out the survey, check out our quests on Pagebound, and the Fated Mates Collections Department.
Thanks @kimonlyreadsromance from Threads for coming up with the name “discoverabilitybuddies” -- and for submitting a Collection for Books with Secret Tattoos!!
We’ve done deep dives of The Master and Dragon Bound. Run Posy Run and Whiteout have both appeared on one of our year end “Best of” Lists.
Mr. and Mrs Smith is a great movie and a great tv show.
Just make some time to read The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell.
Sponsors
Michelle McCraw, author of Conspiracies and Chemistry, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or wherever you get your books.
SE McPherson, author of A King's Trust, available in print or ebook from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo or wherever you get your books.
Lumi Gummies, THC gummies available nationwide. Go to Lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order.
S07.30: Getting Things Done (to them): Romance with Lists
We're crossing off a classic romance novel structure this week -- the list! Whether life changing to-do lists, bucket lists, or lists for kinky exploration, these romances take characters and readers on remarkable rides, reminding us all that sometimes it really does pay to be organized.
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
Our next read along is Rachel Reid's Heated Rivalry, which you can get in print, ebook, audiobook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. Find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Books Mentioned This Episode
Show Notes
We’re excited about these author and listener created lists at the Fated Mates Collections Department. And in case you want to see the one from Competitive Yam about skinny dipping on reddit.
Kelsey Plum’s cigar photos went viral and now she models for a cigar company. We love this for her.
The Bucket List (2007) stars two terminally ill men, Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson. They are out checking items off their list before the “kick the bucket.”
We’ve done deep dives of several of the books on this episode: Nine Rules, Chloe Brown, and Three Little Mistakes.
The Sponsors
1001 Dark Nights, publishers of Vows & Veils: A Celebration of Love, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Elizabeth Bright, author of Wild, Wild Cowboy, available in print, or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Rachel Griffiths, author of The Trouble with Anna, available in print, ebook, audio, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Andrea Jenelle, author of Spine of Steel, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
S07.29: Spring 2025 New Releases: Teasing Your TBR
It's our quarterly discoverabilibuddy episode! Get your TBR piles structurally sound and exercise that preorder clicking finger, because here are nearly 50 books coming out in the next three months that we're excited to read! Eric said next time we have to split it into two if we're going to keep talking about what's coming for hours... In the meantime, we're ungovernable! Tell us about the books you're waiting for...and if you're a romance novelist and have a book coming this year, please head over and fill out our handy Google form to let us know!!
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
Our next read along is Rachel Reid's Heated Rivalry, which you can get in print, ebook, audiobook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited. Find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Bits and Pieces
We’ve collected our 76 (and counting!) deep dives at fatedmates.net/bookclub, making it a fine place to discover your next great romance read.
And if you’re the type of person who’s always believed you deserve a medal for your reading prowess, you can visit our friends at Pagebound.co, where you can join our Fated Mates Book Club Challenge.
Don’t forget to tell us what you think of us in via our annual survey. We’re dying to know what you think.
The Arc browser is almost a religion for Eric, but you should feel comforted by the fact that a normie like Sarah likes, too.
We love these great indie bookstores: Montgomery & Taggert (in our new favorite small town, Chester CT) and Heartleaf Books in Providence, RI.
Nearly all of these titles are available at Bookshop.org. We created a collection to make it easy for you.
We shared the full list at Pagebound, as well.
march new releases
april new releases
may new releases
june new releases
Sponsors
Lotte James, author of A Governess to Redeem Him, available in print, ebook, audio, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Avon Books, publishers of Annie McQuaid's Crash Landing, available in print, ebook, audio, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
Stephanie Rose, author of Just One Favor, available in print, ebook, audio, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
S07.28: Everything We Know About Horses Comes From Romance
This week, for some reason, we're talking about romance novels with horses in them! Do we know anything about horses? Of course not! Do we let that stop us? It never has before! We're talking about the ones where the horse dies, the ones where they do it on a horse, the ones where she's a horse whisperer, and the ones where she just really likes horses. Giddyup!!
If you want more Fated Mates in your life, please join our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! Join other magnificent firebirds to hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com.
Take the Fated Mates Season 7 listener survey at fatedmates.net/survey
Horse Books
Notes
Who Did it Better… on a Horse? In an elevator? In the library? At Thanksgiving? And on a pool table?
“It’s a fun book, there’s no sex in it,” is something Sarah said about Pride and Prejudice, which is just funny. In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the MacFayden/Knightly version of Pride and Prejudice, they are releasing it again in theaters the weekend of April 20th.
Horses get stressed out on movie sets, and that’s why there are so many regulations about how to care for them. There was an HBO show that got cancelled because so many horses died! Why horses have to be put down when they break a leg.
Based on some research, it was clear that Jen’s friend Bridget said that Lou Diamond Phillips DID know how to ride a horse in Young Guns. But, here’s an interview of him talking about a horse accident on the set of Young Guns 2! LDP, still hot, by the way!
We did an episode on A Kingdom of Dreams if you want to listen.
In A Very Private Love, the horse is like Secretariat or some shit like that.
The Budweiser Clydesdales are real horses, and I’m just gonna say, you come across some weird information about the world when you write show notes. Here's an article about them being at the bar near Sarah's house.
The entire first season of Unbound Pod with Adriana Herrera and Nikki Payne is about Western romance.
As Horse_ebooks once wrote, “I will make certain you never buy knives again.”
SPONSORS
Avery Maxwell, author of Cross My Heart, available in print, ebook or audiobook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
1001 Dark Nights, publishers of Crowns and Courtships: A Royal Romance Collection, with novellas by Claire Contreras, Jennifer L. Armentrout, Lexi Blake and Skye Warren, available in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
Piper Rayne, authors of Mr. Swoony, available in print, ebook, audio, from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books. Stay tuned after the podcast for a sneak peek of the audiobook!
