Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People

RERUN: Here Comes Santa Claus

24 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

As per tradition, Eric's here to introduce a holiday episode rerun. Cheers! 🎅The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everythi...

S08.14: Terrific 2025 Romance Debuts

17 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's that time of year, when we highlight some of our favorite new voices in romance! This week, we're talking about eight new writers who are making ...

S08:13 KJ Charles’s the Magpie Lord: We’re Gonna Get to the Tattoos

10 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re so excited for our deep dive of KJ Charles’s The Magpie Lord, first in her magical, gothic series, A Charm of Magpies. We talk about the cle...

S08.12: Fantastic Romance Series

03 Dec 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's winter, which means that it's time to get cozy, build a blanket nest on the couch, and read a million books one right after the other in the grea...

RERUN: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

28 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

S07.33, originally released on April 29, 2025.The RestFor even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit...

S08.11: Holiday Romance 2025

26 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

The end of the year is nigh, and it's our holiday romance novel episode! We're talking about a collection of romances that are entirely new to us (exc...

S08.10: The Best Romance Novels of 2025

19 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's that time of year! We're talking about the Best Romance Novels of 2025. We've chosen ten books that we love and that cover a range of historical,...

S08.09: Our Favorite Romance Microtropes

12 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We had a great week, and so we decided we all need nice things, which means it's time to just talk about the stuff we love in romance. We're talking a...

S08.08: Romance Short Stories and the Ladies in Waiting Anthology

05 Nov 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We definitely have a hope became reality hangover this morning, but we also have a very fun episode for you today! We're talking romance shorts -- not...

RERUN: Spooky Stuff! Halloween Romance

31 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy Halloween! Please enjoy this episode from October 26, 2022. For more info, including all the books we mentioned, visit fatedmates.net.

S08.07: Romance Demons: Problématique (Italics)

29 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's Halloween which means we're talking about monsters (complimentary)! We've done devils and witches and an entire season on monsters of all ilk, bu...

S08.06: Gorilla Twins! The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath

22 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's Gorilla Twins Week! We couldn't be happier to be talking about The Earl Takes All, a book we love so much we gave it a nickname that all of Roman...

S08.05: Governesses with Louisa Darling

15 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

How is it possible we've never done a governess episode? And how is it possible Louisa Darling hasn't been a guest on the pod yet? We're rectifying bo...

S08.04 We love you Chicago, DC and LA

08 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're thinking about Chicago, DC, and LA this week, and standing in solidarity with the people living and resisting in those cities. While reading isn...

08.03: Fall 2025 Preview

01 Oct 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's October, which means we're thinking about fall, which comes with spice, heat and hanging out under the blankets! Today, our Fall 2025 romance nov...

S08.02: Feminism in Romance with Adriana Herrera

24 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our fave, Adriana Herrera, is with us this week to talk about feminism, romance, and how the two intersect. We talk about the history of the genre, ab...

S08.01: Cold Open: Craft, Criticism, and Summer Vacation

17 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Season Eight! How is it possible you're all still here?! We're so incredibly thrilled to have you all with us for another season. We've got big plans ...

Between Seasons Palate Cleanser: Fated Mates Live St. Louis!

03 Sep 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This year's Fated Mates Live was a little different than those we've hosted before, as it was also launch day for Sarah's These Summer Storms! We cele...

07.49: Season Seven Ends Not With a Bang, but With a Kombucha Girl

27 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We’re wrapping up season seven by asking ourselves a simple question. Do we like this stuff? Yes? No? Maybe so? We’ll be back in two weeks fo...

S07.48: Con Artists & Criminals With Joanna Shupe

20 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Joanna Shupe joins us this week to celebrate her new book, The Gilded Heiress, and talk about one of our favorite things—baddies with a heart of gol...

S07.47: Bodyguards

13 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It’s Bodyguard Romance week, which feels impossible, honestly, considering we’ve definitely done this before, haven’t we? According to Eric and ...

07.46: Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

06 Aug 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're back with a deep dive episode on one of our favorite Susan Elizabeth Phillips books, Natural Born Charmer. Jen thinks this one marks SEP's Imper...

S07.45: Reading Down Under: Australian Romance Novelists

29 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

By request (and because Sarah needed books for her upcoming trip), we're talking about romance novels by Australian authors this week, with a nod to s...

S07.44: Relentless Competence & Fixers in Romance

22 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's been several years since the last time we talked about the allure of competency in romance, but it's a topic we adore, so here we are again, talk...

07.43: Trailblazer Pamela Sanderson

15 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Our Trailblazer series continues with Pamela Sanderson, the first Native American author to write contemporary romance about Native characters in Nati...

S07.42: Jen & Sarah and These Summer Storms

09 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Last night’s Fated Mates Live was so much fun, but now we’re back in your earholes. It’s time again for our annual Sarah MacLean deep dive (with...

S07.41: Audiobooks with Julia Whelan

02 Jul 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're thrilled to have audiobook queen and Voice of the Summer (USA Today), Julia Whelan with us today! Aside from being the voice of Emily Henry, Tay...

S07.40: Hot 2025 Summer Reads

26 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're both staying very still in front of air conditioners this week, so that means we're very very happy to have a pile of summer reads at the ready!...

S07.39: Dysfunctional Families (The Fun Kind)

17 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're talking about romance's most common family: the dysfunctional one! Sarah wrote a book about one, so we're thinking about what makes t...

S07.38: Second Chance Romance Redux

11 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

...

S07.37: Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

04 Jun 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 wa...

S07.36: Celebrity + Normie Romance

28 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 celeb...

S07.35: On the Shelf with Spinsters and Wallflowers

14 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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,...

S07.34: The Third Act Break-Up (Complimentary)

07 May 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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-...

S07.33: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

30 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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!...

S07.32: Ruination!

23 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

S07.31: Romance on the Run

16 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 ...

S07.30: Getting Things Done (to them): Romance with Lists

09 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 explor...

S07.29: Spring 2025 New Releases: Teasing Your TBR

02 Apr 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's our quarterly discoverabilibuddy episode! Get your TBR piles structurally sound and exercise that preorder clicking finger, because here are near...

S07.28: Everything We Know About Horses Comes From Romance

25 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

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 st...

S07.27: What I Did for a Duke: This Gentleman is Completely Composed of Revenge Molecules

19 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's deep dive day here at Fated Mates and we're reading an absolute banger of a historical -- Julie Anne Long's fifth Pennyroyal Green book, What I D...

S07.26: Romance Novels With a Ticking Clock

12 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

This one's for those of you who've been asking us to talk more about craft on the podcast! We're talking romances with ticking clocks and clear time f...

S07.25: Sci-Fi Romance: There's No Book Banning in Space

05 Mar 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Maybe you're rooting for the asteroid, but you gotta have a plan! To help, this week, we're keeping track of what romance is looking like off-planet--...

S07.24: He's *NOT* a Billionaire

25 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's been the longest month of our lives and as self-care, we're not thinking about billionaires this week (or at least for the duration of this episo...

S07.23: Long Live Historicals!

16 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Historicals are dead! Long live historicals! This week, we're talking about fourteen (and change) historical romances that we've never talked about be...

S07.22: Adriana Herrera on the Power of Historical Romance: When We’re Up Against a Corner, Baby, Let’s Fight.

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

There's a new Adriana Herrera book out this month, so that means we get to have one of our very favorites back on the pod to talk about not only her b...

New York Public Library Best New Romance List

11 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Jen had a great time chatting with the New York Public Library's Best New Romance List Committee Co-Chairs Kate Fais and Grace Loiacono this week...

S07.21: Meet My Vibe Criteria: V.E. Schwab on writing, obsession, and romance outside of Romance

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're mixing it up today with a fabulous special guest! The brilliant V.E. Schwab joins us for a far-reaching chat about writing romance outside of ro...

A Taste of Craven

04 Feb 2025

Contributed by Lukas

It's February 4th, the most important romance holiday in February: Derek Craven Day! We're celebrating this year with a little reminiscing of the past...

S07.20 Tarot, Astrology, and Psychics in Romance

27 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We'll be honest, we don't know what the heck is going on, either. If we could find someone or something to make all this chaos make sense, we'd be ver...

S07:19 Back in Time with Harlequin Blaze

21 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're getting into the romance time machine and setting the course for 2001, when Harlequin decided that those Temptations could get scorching hot and...

S07:18 Winter 2025 New Releases: The Quarterly Edging Episode

13 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

We're toppling TBR piles and preorder lists today with our quarterly "Books we're excited to read" list! We're name-checking more than 50 romance nove...

S07.17: The Proposition by Judith Ivory

07 Jan 2025

Contributed by Lukas

Happy New Year, Magnificent Firebirds! We don’t know what 2025 is going to bring, so we’re starting with a bang—the long awaited deep-dive of Ju...

S07.16: Hear Me Out: New Year's Eve 2024

31 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's New Year's Eve, and we're ringing it in with our standard silliness, this year with brilliantly funny duo Adriana Herrera and Nikki Payne, playin...

07.15: Holiday Romances for 2024: Put It in the Lilly Library

18 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's the holiday season, which means holiday romance! This year, we're talking about Princes of Christmas falling for heirs to Halloween, Hanukkah tre...

S07:14 Excellent 2024 Debut Romance Novels

10 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're so excited to be talking about some of the bright new voices in romance this week -- every book we talk about in this episode is a debut romance...

S07:13 Getting Pearl Jammed: Romance After 40

03 Dec 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Let's talk about the over 40s and how they deserve love, too! This week, we're diving into what the industry calls "seasoned" romance, though we're no...

S07:12 Bookstores and Booksellers

24 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's Thanksgiving week in the United States, which means capitalism! We're skipping (mainly) the talk of the midnight electronics runs, and heading st...

S07:11 Best Romance Novels of 2024

19 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The Best Romance Novels of 2024! This is our favorite episode of the year, where we get to shout at you about the terrific books we read this year, an...

S07:10 Comfort Reads and Finding Solace in Romance

12 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Like many people, we don't have much to say this week, and whatever we might have said probably wouldn't have been very eloquent, so we've decided to ...

November 2024 Bantr+

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It’s just a very normal first Tuesday in November, and you need — and deserve — a distraction! We’re here to help with an episode that not onl...

S07:09 Mermaid Romance with Zoraida Córdova/Zoey Castile

05 Nov 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Today we're talking mermaids with our friend, Zóraida Cordova, an author of many genres who also writes romance under the name Zoey Castile. We talk ...

S07:08 I Read Dead People: Ghosts, Morticians, and the Dead in Romance

27 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is a bit different than our usual Halloween adjacent episodes -- we're talking about the rise of romance centered around ghostly secondary charac...

S07:07 The Seven Deadly Sins: Let's Fire Up Wikipedia

23 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Happy anniversary, Firebirds! Seven years ago this week, we launched Fated Mates with our first Episode, "A Wolf Without a Foot," in which we planned ...

S07:06 The Everything I Left Unsaid duology

16 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

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 th...

S07.05: Some Light Kidnapping: Restraints are for Amateurs

07 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An episode for the old school romance readers in the audience, we're talking about kidnapping this week! A trope that either absolutely works for read...

S07.04 Trailblazer Meg Cabot

01 Oct 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are so thrilled to have thee Meg Cabot with us, one of the original queens of YA romance. We talk about her longstanding writing career, about the ...

S07.03 Wife Guys in Romance: Just Look at Her!

23 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

There's a particular kind of romance hero who makes us feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy, because all he wants to do is stare in awe at his partner and...

S07.02 Fall 2024 New Releases

18 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Everything is new and crisp in the fall, as F. Scott Fitzgerald likes to say, and the romance novels are no different! We're starting to think about c...

S07.01 The Magnificent (Season) Seven with Kate Clayborn and Adriana Herrera

11 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Seven is heaven! Today, we are celebrating seven seasons of Fated Mates and this genre that we just can't get enough of with two people we just can't ...

Stop Book Banning 2024

04 Sep 2024

Contributed by Lukas

While we're off this week, we're encouraging everyone to listen to our Stop Book Banning episode, rereleased with new content! This week, we're talkin...

S06.51: College Bound: New Adult Romance

27 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Everything old is new again...or young again? We're talking about New Adult romance today, that is, romance novels where the love story is set at or d...

S06.50: Daddy Issues (not the fun kind) with Christopher Rice

20 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're back with Christopher Rice celebrating one of the longest running themes in romance: Daddy Issues (not the good kind)! Christopher writes romanc...

S06.49 Mafia Romance Reasons

14 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we're back to Mafia books, because it's been a few years since we've tackled this one and the landscape has changed drastically. We're talk...

S06.48: Wicked and the Wallflower: The Bareknuckle Bastards Begin

07 Aug 2024

Contributed by Lukas

It's coming up on the end of Season 6, and that means we're talking about one of Sarah's books! We're finishing up (or beginning?) the Bareknuckle Bas...

S06.47: Romance Novels with Paris 2024 Olympics Vibes

30 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're back this week living Olympic vibes and recommending books with big Olympic vibes! Whether you're drawn to the sports of it all or the France of...

S06.46: Romance and The New York Times Best 100 Books List

24 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we are doing something a little different, talking about the New York Times's Best 100 Books of the 21st Century, a list that Sarah was ask...

S06.45: Our Favorite Episodes, Tropes we Love, and Books that Take the Finger

17 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Jen and Sarah are together at last (again), and we’re taking your questions! Listen as we revisit some of our favorite past episodes of the podcast,...

S06:44 Summer Romance Bingo Recommendations 2024

08 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For the last few years, The Ripped Bodice bookstore has published a Summer Romance Bingo Card and this year, we're helping you win! With absolutely no...

S06.43: Even Our Hiatus Is a 20 Minute Episode

03 Jul 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We're taking a break this week, but we forgot to tell anyone about it. We’ll be back next week. In the meantime, check out Romancing the Vote 2024!

S06.42: Witch Romances (are not just for Halloween)

26 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Who says it has to be Halloween to celebrate witches? It’s 2024 and frankly, we could do with a few more powerful, spell-casting women around here. ...

S06:41: The Devil of Downtown (Yeah, He Is) by Joanna Shupe

19 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We are talking about a full on banger this week — Joanna Shupe’s The Devil of Downtown, which is Sarah’s favorite of the Uptown Girls series (Je...

S06.40: Siblings in Romance Novels

12 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re talking about brothers and sisters as secondary characters in romance today — by popular demand from listeners, it’s our sibling episode! ...

S06.39: Summer 2024 Reads

05 Jun 2024

Contributed by Lukas

School’s out for Jen’s summer and Sarah’s in the final stretch so we’re dreaming of romance beach reads and talking about our massive summer T...

S06.38: Curvy Heroines #3: Curvy Girls Get Railed in Carriages, Too

29 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

One of our most popular interstitial topics, we had to come back for a third run at Curvy Heroines this month in celebration of Bridgerton-mania onlin...

S06.37: Weddings in Romance

22 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Gather together your bouquets and boutonnières, wedding season is here! But, in typical Fated Mates fashion, we spend the first 20 minutes talking ab...

S06.36: The Romance Matriarchy: Moms, Grandmothers, and Aunties

15 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We don’t often talk about secondary characters in romance, but this week, we’re talking about the women who provide wisdom, council and laughs in ...

S06.35: All About Dukes (in Romance)

08 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This one is for our historical lovers! We’re talking about everyone’s favorite title — Dukes! We get to the bottom of many duke questions, inclu...

S06.34: Marriage in Trouble, the Mercury Retrograde of Romance Novels

01 May 2024

Contributed by Lukas

For our forever favorite, Kate Clayborn, our third Fated Mates Live episode! During the absolutely delightful event (we had so much fun!), Kate select...

S06.33: A Mug is a Mug until it's your Boyfriend: Sentient Object Romances

24 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Headphones in! This is not for beginners. Our second Fated Mates Live episode is live! During the event (which was so so fun we love every single one ...

06.32: Secret Babies, Friends-to-Lovers and More — Books we love with tropes we don’t

17 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This is the first of three episodes inspired by the incredible time we had at Fated Mates Live in Brooklyn. During the event (which was so so fun we l...

06.31: Romance Novels and Film Adaptation with Yulin Kuang

10 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

This week, we’re talking about film adaptation and romance novels with Yulin Kuang, filmmaker and romance novelist. We discuss her work as both a sc...

S06:30: Preferential Treatment by Heather Guerre & Alpha Submissive Romance

03 Apr 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re finally diving into alpha submissive romance novels during this deep dive of Heather Guerre’s Preferential Treatment, one of Sarah’s best ...

S06.29: Beauty and the Beast Romance Retellings

27 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

An absolute classic for a reason, we’re talking about Beauty & the Beast today — about the trope itself, about how the 1991 Disney movie broug...

S06.28: HEA or GTFO

20 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

The cornerstone of the genre. The one thing that, when thrown into question, is guaranteed to enrage every corner of Romancelandia. We’re talking ab...

S06.27: Enemies to Lovers

13 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

A classic among classics, we’re talking enemies to lovers this week! We get to the bottom of what we think of as “enemies,” and how it differs f...

S06.26: Himbos in Romance: The Chris Hemsworth Prototype

06 Mar 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Sometimes you just have to get to the bottom of something, and that’s what we’re here for. Today, we’re taking an unexpected, unexpectedly thoro...

S06.25: It's Romance Law!

28 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

Y’all enjoyed Romance Science so much, we figured, why not tackle romance law next! This week, we’re discussing wills and trusts, inheritances, gu...

S06.24: All Dukes are Roofers: Renovation Romance with Nikki Payne

21 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re joined this week by the fabulous Nikki Payne, author of Pride & Protest and this month’s new release Sex, Lies & Sensibility to talk...

S06.23: Casinos, Gaming Hells, and Clubs in Romance Novels

14 Feb 2024

Contributed by Lukas

We’re talking about gaming hells! Is it residual Derek Craven love? Probably. Why does Sarah love a casino so much? Why are we so into ladies being ...