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 us excited about what's to come in historical, contemporary, cozy fantasy and more. Here's to reading them all for years to come!

From horse girls to divorcees, hair stylists to magical tea shop owners, basketball coaches to jewel thieves, there's something in here for everyone. It's going to be great for you!

Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.

If you want other people to discuss brand new romance authors with, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon. You can also ask for it as a gift, or give it as one at fatedmates.net/gift.

Our next read along will be Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians (you’re welcome). Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, from your local indie, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

The Books

• The Best Worst Thing by Lauren Okie
• Once Upon a Time in Dollywood by Ashley Jordan
• Cosmic Love at the Multiverse Hair Salon by Annie Mare
• Hopelessly Teavoted by Audrey Goldberg Ruoff
• Savannah Royals by Lindsay Barrett
• Play You For It by Samantha Saldivar
• The Trouble with Anna by Rachel Griffiths
• Celebrity Crush by Christy Swift

Notes

• Check out our Debuts of 2024 episode here.
• It’s not frod (Friend + rod), it’s frotting. Here’s the wikipedia page. Sarah apologizes for not knowing the proper spelling.
• Jenny Hamilton wrote a terrific piece about sex in Heated Rivalry in this recurring feature on her blog called Anatomy of sex scene.
• The non-romance time travel book Jen mentioned was Version Control by Dexter Palmer.

Sponsors

• Atria Books, publishers of Ellis Hunter's Blood Bound, available for preorder in print, ebook, and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• The Scandals & Swoons Festival, a new historical romance signing event in Orlando, Florida on January 18, 2026, learn more at swoonsfest.com. 
• Mariah Scarpellini, author of The Titan's Rose, the first book in the Olympian’s Curse Saga. Learn more about the book and help Mariah build a world before her launch.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/S2025/12/15/0814-2025-romance-debuts
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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 clear chops displayed in this romance --strong plotting, complex characterization, and a beautiful understanding of what happily ever after looks like. And yes, we get to the tattoos. Obviously.

Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.

If you want other people to discuss great romance series, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon. You can also ask for it as a gift, or give it as one at fatedmates.net/gift.

Our next read along will be Ruby Dixon's Ice Planet Barbarians. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, from your local indie, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

Notes

• This is our second KJ Charles deep dive. The first was Band Sinister.
• We were lucky enough to speak to KJ Charles about her work and her pathway through romance as part of our Trailblazers series. Listen to that interview here.
• It’s been the snowiest start to winter in Chicago since 1978! The Great Lakes can freeze, kind of. Here’s what the Great Lakes ice prediction for this year. 
• The Ice Fishing town hall meeting, as promised. 
• Heated Rivalry is great and Jen (and everyone else) thinks you should watch it. 
• The Magpie Lord was published in 2013 by Samhain Publishing, which shut down in 2016.
• You can find all of our 80+ deep dive episodes in the Fated Mates Book Club.

Sponsors

• Zara Doyle, author of Bianca and Her Wolf, available in print, ebook, audio or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order.
• Alexandra Cait, author of Storm of Fire, available in ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• 1001 Dark Nights, publishers of years of delicious romance novellas and collections. The imprint will shutter in 2026, so head over and load up on print versions of all your favorites right now.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/12/2/0813-the-magpie-lord
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

00:00 Wintr Bantr

08:17 Discor Bantr

14:40 AD: BIANCA AND HER WOLF

16:43 Best of 2025 Book Box

20:25 KJ Charles

28:36 The Samhain Publishing Story

32:10 AD: STORM OF FIRE

34:17 The Samhain Publishing Story

36:24 The Magpie Lord

43:19 It's Bad Magic

48:06 AD: 1001 DARK NIGHTS

50:19 Two For Joy

59:28 AD: LUMI GUMMIES

1:01:05 Curses & [in]Fluences

1:10:53 The Romance Pacing

1:19:51 Sex and the Ether

1:31:01 The End

1:40:42 Outro

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 great tradition of our ancient forbears. Today, we're talking about series that deliver one banger after another and, yes, that also bang. We'll talk historicals, contemporaries, and of course, the paranormal series that started it all for us.

Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.

If you want other people to discuss great romance series, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon. You can also ask for it as a gift, or give it as one at fatedmates.net/gift.

Our next read along will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Notes

• Go to Sarah’s site to sign up for her newsletter. Apparently, it’s going to be a snowy winter because of squirrels, the Farmer’s Almanac is over, and social media is ruining your life and your brain, or maybe it’s just your whole damn phone. 
• Heated Rivalry, baby. Also this fall, the CW has unveiled a bunch of movies based on Harlequin books, including Savvy Sheldon Feels Good as Hell, Mason Deaver’s YA romance I Wish You All the Best and in January we get Season 4 of Bridgerton, and Netflix's adaptation of Emily Henry's People We Meet on Vacation. 
• Graphic Audio has adapted a bunch of your favorite books, not just Kate Daniels.
• A graphic of the Beverly Jenkins universe.
• Here’s a cool way to look at the connections from Lorraine Heath’s Scoundrels of St. James series.
• Sarah misses Romantic Times magazine.

Books

• Immortals After Dark by Kresley Cole
• The Game Maker Series by Kresley Cole
• Kate Daniels by Ilona Andrews
• The Cynster Family by Stephanie Laurens
• Pennyroyal Green by Julie Anne Long
• The Beverly Jenkins Universe
• The Game Changer Series by Rachel Reid
• The Irish Shifters by Theodora Taylor
• Temperance Falls by London Hale
• His Duchess’s Lovers by Elizabeth Roubaix
• Scoundrels of St. James by Lorraine Heath
• The Toronto Series by Farrah Heron
• Ice Planet Barbarians by Ruby Dixon
• The Undone series by Payton Corinne
• Fast Track Billionaires by Amanda Cinelli
• Bourbon Brothers by Reese Ryan
• The Shieldmaiden Sisters by Lucy Morris

Sponsors

• Zara Doyle, author of Tanya and Her Wolf, available in print, ebook, audio or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Jenny Alexandra, authors of Santa Cutie, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Bailey Seaborn, author of Peppermint Bark, No Bite, available in ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Blue Box Press, publishers of JR Ward's Black Dagger Brotherhood: 20th Anniversary Insider's Guide, available in hardcover, ebook and audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/12/1/0812-bingeable-romance-series-update
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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 (except for the one moment where Sarah talks about that old McNaught short story that installed all her cold-weather romance buttons). We've got Austen retellings, Regency cats, characters playing with holiday toys, CIA agents and, of course, some sexy Santas. You deserve nice things.

Don't forget--you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not in the box. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.

If you want other people to discuss holiday (or other) romances, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Our next read along will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Notes

• There are several accounts as to where Irving Berlin wrote White Christmas. Sarah stayed at the Arizona Biltmore Hotel, which claims it inspired the song (by being the opposite of snowy), but there's also an account that he wrote it in La Quinta, CA at the La Quinta Hotel (not to be confused with just any LaQuinta).
• Check out our prior holiday romance episodes:
• 2024, including Sara Raasch, Vivian Mae, Evie Rose, Timothy Janovsky & more
• 2023, including Holly June Smith, Oona Grace, Kayla Grosse, Tracey Livesay & more
• 2022: Here Comes Santa Claus
• 2021: Short & Sexy Christmas Recs
• 2019, including Adriana Herrera, Delilah Peters, and several anthologies
• 2018, including Therese Beharrie, a Chanukah anthology, Cecilia Grant, Tiffany Reisz & more

Books

• Anne of Avenue A by Audrey Bellezza and Emily Harding
• Christmas in Coconut Creek by Karissa Kinword
• Mistletoe and Mishigas by MA Wardell
• Yours for the Season by Uzma Jalaluddin
• The Holiday Hookup List by Alexis Daria
• Make My Wish Come True by Caroline Linden
• Claiming His Christmas Wife by Dani Collins
• An Heir for Christmas by Caitlin Crews
• The Rescue by Julie Weaver
• Christmas in Spite of You by KC Mills
• Saint and the Queen by Desiree
• Date Night in December by Jaqueline Snowe
• Santa’s Baby by Lacey Hawthorne

Sponsors

• Jenny Alexandra, authors of Santa Cutie, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• LaQuette, author of The King's Pregnancy Proposition, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Ginny B Moore, author of How the Rogue Stole Christmas, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• William Morrow Books, publishers of Olivia Dade's Second Chance Romance, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/11/23/0811-holiday-romances
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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, contemporary and paranormal, featuring romance with werewolves and cowboys, vaudeville actresses and vikings, Dukes and the actual Devil.

This year, you can buy the Fated Mates Best of 2025 Book Pack from our friends at Pocket Books Shop in Lancaster, PA, and get eight of the books on the list! Scoundrel Take Me Away and Lazarus, Home from War (independently published) are not available. As always, you can add additional romances, or one of Sarah's books to your box.

We love the idea of you gifting yourself this box (you deserve it!), but maybe you’d like to slide into someone’s text messages with the link as a very excellent gift for you! Or…you can do what Sarah does, and buy the box and spread the love around—sending each of the books to someone on your list or wrapping them up and popping them in your local Little Free Library. Let us know what you end up doing with these fabulous books, and don’t forget to tag us on Instagram or Threads or Bluesky when you unbox!

Check out our “Best Romance Novels” lists from previous years: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, and 2019. (We were 5 minutes old in 2018 and didn’t do a list that year), and please tell us what your favorite books of 2025 were!

If you want other people to discuss this list with, maybe you want to join our Patreon? You get an extra monthly episode from us and access to the incredible readers and brilliant people on the Fated Mates Discord! Support us and learn more at fatedmates.net/patreon.

Our next read along will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Books

• Fan Service by Rosie Danan  
• Scoundrel, Take Me Away by Louisa Darling
• Son Of The Morning by Akwaeke Emezi 
• Tempest Of Desire by Lorraine Heath
• Into The Woods by Jenny Holiday  
• Lazarus, Home from the War by E.H. Lupton  
• A Showgirl’s Rules For Falling In Love by Alice Murphy  
• The Bone King And The Starling by Elisabeth Stephens  
• Some Kind Of Famous by Ava Wilder 
•  Cowboy It’s Cold Outside by Maisey Yates

Sponsors

• Lyx Books, publishers of Selina Mae's Lessons in Faking, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books. (We mistakenly called this YA in the ad read. It is New Adult.)
• Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order.
• Darcy Green, author of After the Siren, available in print or ebook at Amazon, Kobo, and Apple Books.
• Zara Doyle, author of Emma and Her Wolf, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/11/17/best-romance-novels-of-2025
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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 about our favorite microtropes in romance novels--the things that give us pure shots of joy. There's all sorts of stuff in here: contemporaries, historicals, paranormals, mafia, hockey, tattoos, piercings, kilts, families getting their comeuppance, and much much more.

If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds 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 will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Notes

• It’s not too early to donate to our Fated States Giving Circle, or maybe you want to Run for Something. 
• You can check out the Collections page for more great book lists (made by humans!), and we also talked about the breeding kink episode in case you want to see just how unhinged we get on New Year’s Eve.
• The Mandela Effect is in fact named after Nelson Mandela.  
• Jennifer Lynn Barnes is a researcher who has described universal pleasure centers.
• Monkey Island is a real place called Cayo off the coast of Puerto Rico  or a video game. 
• Here’s an amazing dissection of a microtrope beloved by Mary Balogh: stern men who can’t stop skinny dipping.
• If you are in Brooklyn this week, stop by on Thursday November 13, 2025 to see Sarah and several other authors from the Ladies in Waiting collection. 

Books

• Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz
• The Billionaire’s Bargain by Naima Simone
• The Beast Prince by Marian Perera
• Lothaire by Kresley Cole
• Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase
• The Bride by Julie Garwood
• Mafia Mistress by Mila Finelli
• Mister O by Lauren Blakeley
• Son of the Morning by Akwaeke Emezi
• Gentle Rogue by Johanna Lindsey
• Redemption by Nikki Sloane
• Funny Feelings by Tarah DeWitt
• Hellfire Riders: Jack and Lily by Kati Wilde
• Tempest by Beverly Jenkins
• Mountain Boss by SJ Tilly
• Beautiful Sinner by Sophie Jordan
• The Hostage Bargain by Annika Martin
• Hans by SJ Tilly
• Streams and Schemes by Rebecca Kinkade
• Puck Me Secretly by Odette Stone
• Kiss an Angel by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
• Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
• Lead by Kylie Scott
• Oops Baby for the Mafia Boss by Evie Rose

Sponsors

• Lily Riley, author of Phoenix's Last Heist, available in print and ebook at Amazon or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order.
• Kylie Scott, author of So My Ex-Boyfriend is a Serial Killer, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/11/10/s0809-our-favorite-romance-microtropes
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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 novellas, not short novels, but actual short stories under 15,000 words (or about 50 pages). We talk about why this is such a difficult goal to hit, about why romance lends itself to longer formats, and about why short fiction is a really great way to keep reading when things feel chaotic.

We also chat about Sarah's new short story, a part of the Ladies in Waiting anthology, out this week and providing minor characters from Jane Austen their own happily ever afters. Sarah is joined by romance greats Diana Quincy, Nikki Payne and Eloisa James, among others. Get the collection at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Also, we want to take a moment to send enormous thanks to everyone who donated to the Fated States Giving Circle at The States Project this year — those donations were gamechangers — last night we expanded our majority in the VA House, and secured a Democratic Trifecta in Virginia! As ever, we’re so proud to stand and fight with you!

If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds 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 will be KJ Charles's The Magpie Lord. Get it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

Notes

• The Ladies in Waiting anthology was released this week, and in the anthology, authors wrote HEAs for minor Austen characters. Sarah wrote about Miss Bates from Emma. Sarah has a few short stories: The Bladesmith Queen, a Medieval short available with her newsletter signup; "Fire That Lasts," and a YA short in the Generation Wonder anthology. The duke who has a sheep is in a novella called A Duke Worth Falling For. 
• Sarah asked Threads for recs of romance short stories and that’s where many of these stories came from, but there are many more we didn’t get to. So check it out.
• There are lots of news articles and independent essays about why people are reading less, college kids are reading less, and children are reading less, But also, the decline of reading has been something we’ve been talking about for years.
• Check out the Read Me Romance podcast and Audible Originals for other pieces of original short fiction.

Books

• Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen’s Unsung Characters
• No Taste Like Home by Nisha Sharma 
• Falling for Nola by Katie Reus
• His Duchess’s Lovers series by Elizabeth Roubaix
• Give it To Me by Angelina M Lopez
• Hands on Learning by Maggie Eliot 
• Remedy for a Rake by Ginny Moore
• The Worst Possible Thing by Melissa Kendall
• While it Was Storming by Cara Dion
• The Greymere Cliffs by Anne Knight
• Books & Broadswords by Jessie Mihalik
• Cynders & Ashe by Elizabeth Boyle 
• Splash Me by Laura Lovely
• Whispers of Love by Jayashree Gopal
• Ten Things I Loathe About You by Leslie Vollard
• The Spicy Bites anthologies
• The Bladesmith Queen by Sarah MacLean
• Fire that Lasts by Sarah MacLean

Sponsors

• Blue Box Press, publishers of Jennifer L. Armentrout's Official Blood and Ash Coloring Book, available in print at Amazon, B&N, or wherever you get your books.
• Avon Books, publishers of Sasha Laurens's When I Picture You, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
• William Morrow, publishers of Akwaeke Emezi's Son of the Morning, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited, or wherever you get your books.
• The What in the Smut Podcast, available wherever you get your podcasts.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/11/4/0808-the-ladies-in-waiting-anthology-and-other-romance-short-stories
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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, but we haven't done demons yet, and so here we are! Come one come all as Sarah confesses one of her weirdest (charming) kinks and we discuss the age-old adage: "If a demon's horns aren't sexual organs, why are they even there?" We're heading back to the early 00s on this one, so headphones in because who knows what we're going to talk about?! Definitely not us!

This week also marks our 7th anniversary, so we're feeling just a little emotional (grateful). Thank you for being with us, whether this is your first episode or your almost four hundredth. We love you.

If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com. 

Notes

• We’ve done some serious Halloween episodes and also some silly ones. And all of season one was the Immortals After Dark series. 
• The devil is just the most powerful demon in Christian mythology, and apparently so are incubi and succubi. 
• Tim Curry in Legend is actually nothing at all like David Bowie in Labyrinth.

Books

• Sweet Ruin by Kresley Cole
• Hot as Hades by Alisha Rai
• Succubus Blues by Richelle Meade
• Dealing with a Desperate Demon by Charlotte Stein
• Pleasure Unbound by Larissa Ione
• I Accidentally Summoned a Demon Boyfriend by Jessica Cage
• Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole
• MacRieve by Kresley Cole
• Demon from the Dark by Kresley Cole
• A Rogue’s Proposal by Stephanie Laurens
• A Witch’s Guide to Fake Dating a Demon by Sarah Hawley
• The Devil She Knows by Alexandria Bellefleur
• Demon Lover by Heather Guerre
• Dionysus in Wisconsin by EH Lupton

Sponsors

• HarperCollins, publishers of N.E. Davenport's Our Vicious Oaths, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited, or wherever you get your books.
• Rachel Runya Katz, author of Isn't it Obvious, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.
• Zara Doyle, author of Tori and her Wolf, available in print, ebook, audiobook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Jessica Thomas, author of Dare Me, Ellie, available in print, ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.

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 Romancelandia uses now. Whether you're reading it for the first time or the fiftieth, we're so happy to have you. We talk about Jane Goodall, Romance Gorillas, Lorraine Heath's brilliant mind, how she's easily a top-five romance novelist and possibly the best of them when it comes to writing conflict, and just how much we love a bonkers historical.

If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com. 

Notes

• It’s not too late to join the The Fated States Giving Circle, 25 people who give in October will receive a copy of Ladies in Waiting: Jane Austen's Unsung Characters, featuring Sarah's novella about Emma's Miss Bates.
• This is our second Lorraine Heath deep dive episode, because she writes a banger. Listen to our deep dive of Waking Up With the Duke. According to search, we’ve mentioned Gorilla Twins (aka The Earl Takes All) at least 34 times on the podcast. Sorry not sorry.
• The hallmark movie Adventures in Love & Birding is based on Birding with Benefits by Sarah Dubb. Apparently the birding community has some feedback on the bird situation of the movie. 
• It’s Romance Bird! It’s Romance dormouse! It’s Romance Pig! 
• Rest in Peace Jane Goodall. Famous Last Words is a show where you get to leave your burn book, and Jane Goodall’s was the first episode. Our episodes will be 100 hours each, so plan accordingly. 
• The history of influenza. Vaccines work. Go get a flu shot. 
• Some more information about mountain gorillas. JK. 
• It’s Rune Week!

Sponsors

• Charis Michaels, author of Claiming the Princess, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Elizabeth Roubaix, author of the His Duchess's Lovers collection, available in ebook or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Sotto Voce Scents. Go to sottovocescents.com and use code FATEDMATES2025 for 25% off your order.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/10/21/0806-the-earl-takes-all-by-lorraine-heath-gorilla-twins
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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 both of these injustices this week. We talk about Jane Eyre, The Sound of Music and other primordial governesses, and discuss exactly what kind of buttons these books installed--almost entirely thanks to old school historicals. We also talk about how governess books are some of the only books in which we will suffer a child, and yes, we shout out the nannies, too!

Louisa Darling is the pen name of Louisa Edwards and Lily Everett, and the author of Don’t Let Your Dukes Grow Up to be Scoundrels, Where Have All the Scoundrels Gone, and Scoundrel, Take Me Away.

Our next read along is Gorilla Twins, AKA Lorraine Heath's The Earl Takes All. Find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com. 

(Apologies for the subpar audio quality.)

Notes

• Learn more about The States Project and donate to the Fated States Giving Circle to keep Virginia blue this November.
• Welcome historical author Louisa Darling. She’s written contemporary romance as Louisa Edwards and women’s fiction as Lily Everett. She imprinted on Jayne Eyre and worked as an editorial assistant for Leslie Gelbman at Berkley, who edited Nora Roberts and Jayne Ann Krentz.
• Maybe all those early governess books were really about The Sound of Music. 
• We talked about the Molly O’Keefe series that included Wait For It in season 7, and about Vanessa Riley and wet nurses when we had Kennedy Ryan on in season 2. 
• Finally, our next deep dive will be Gorilla Twins. The actual title, of course, is The Earl Takes All by Lorraine Heath.

The Books

• Don’t Let Your Dukes Grow Up to be Scoundrels by Louisa Darling
• Where Have All the Scoundrels Gone by Louisa Darling
• Scoundrel, Take Me Away by Louisa Darling
• Rules for a Proper Governess by Jennifer Ashley
• A Duke, the Lady, and a Baby by Vanessa Riley
• The Duke Who Ravished Me by Diana Quincy
• Deception by Amanda Quick
• Snowed In with the Viking by Lucy Morris
• Sins of a Wicked Duke by Sophie Jordan
• The Game and the Governess By Kate Noble
• The Lie and the Lady by Kate Noble
• The Shadow and the Star by Laura Kinsale 
• Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas
• It Takes Two to Tumble by Cat Sebastian
• The Nanny is Off Limits by QB Tyler
• Rafe by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Sponsors

• Harpercollins, publishers of Lindsay Kelk's Christmas Fling, available in print, ebook or audiobook at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.
• Andie J. Christopher, author of Faster, available in print, ebook, audiobook, with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited, or wherever you get your books.
• Lumi Labs, creators of Lumi Gummies. Go to lumigummies.com and use code FATEDMATES for 30% off your order.
• Katherine Grant, author of The Widower Without a Will, available at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/10/14/s0805-governesses-with-louisa-darling
• 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
• Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
• If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.

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't action, it can supplement it, and keep us joyful as we do the hard work of standing up. To that end, this week, we're recommending books that feature Chicago, Washington, DC & Los Angeles as settings. We're also sharing resources and ways you can stay informed, help communities of immigrants, and get involved in whatever way possible.

Note: We recorded this episode just as the National Guard was sent to Portland, Oregon, which is why Portland-set romances are not included in this episode. Please feel free to share your favorite romances set there in comments or on social media. Tag us so we can share!

Our next read along is Gorilla Twins, AKA Lorraine Heath's The Earl Takes All. Find it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.

If you'd like more romance chat in your life, please consider joining our Patreon, which comes with an extremely busy and fun Discord community! There, magnificent firebirds hang out, talk romance, and be cool together in a private group full of excellent people. Learn more at patreon.com. 

The Notes

• Learn more about Ramón Ayala, the King of the Accordion.
• There goes your social life. 
• It's too late to go to The Gothenburg Book Festival this year, but there’s always next year. One of the first internationally known Swedish romance writers is Simona Ahrnstedt. Crime fiction is a big deal in Sweden, and Sarah met Camilla Läckberg and Anders de la Motte.
• Terrible awful things happening in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington DC, and Portland. Many of these raids are apparently being filmed to make propaganda for the regime. 
• Support local, independent news organizations in your town. This is how you can find out information about what is going on across the country. You might start by checking out: Unraveled Press, Block Club Chicago, The Triibe, LA Taco, WBEZ chicago or your local NPR station, The Chicago Sun-Times.
• You should also find local organizations that do work you care about and find a way to support them. In Chicago, for example, two vital organizations are The Brave Space Alliance and The Love Fridge. And, find out who is supporting immigrants where you live and find out what they need and how you can support their work. For example, The Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Illinois, and CHIRLA, The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights in LA.
• Find a local Latinx-owned bookstore near you by using this list from the Latinos In Publishing account.  Here's a list of Latinx bookstores in LA if you're looking there.
• The Chicago North Romance Writers hosts a writing conference called Spring Fling, it’s happening in April of 2026. Some of the great people Jen has met from the group or around town at local romance events: Pamala Knight, Shannyn Schroeder, Kelly Farmer, Victoria Hamel, Kathy Douglass, and Chandra Blumberg. 
• Find other people in your community who are working to fight authoritarianism and tyranny at Mobilize.
• Not sure how to contact your reps? Try using 5 Calls and Resistbot. You, too, can Run for Something. It’s not too late to donate money to our Giving Circle for the upcoming election in Virginia.
• Listen to Amanda Litman from Run For Something on Fated Mates
• Listen to Melissa Walker from The States Project on Fated Mates

Books

• Noelle the First by Nicole Falls
• I’ll Get Back to You by Becca Grischow
• The Matched to Perfection Series by Priscilla Oliveras
• The Vega Family Love Stories by Natalie Caña
• The Crowne Legacy Series by Sherelle Green
• The Bollywood Bride by Sonali Dev
• The Curse Bearer Series by Veronica Roth
• Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender
• The Eastside Brewery Series by Mia Hopkins
• The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo
• The Girl Who Knew Too Much by Jayne Ann Krentz
• His Girl Hollywood by Maureen Lee Lenker
• The Sapphire Cove Series by C. Travis Rice
• Love Will Always Remember by Tracey Livesay
• Something Cheeky by Thien-Kim Lam
• Streams and Schemes by Rebecca Kincade

• The Rest

  • For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2025/10/6/0804-we-love-you-chicago-dc-and-la
  • 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 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 you do at patreon.com/fatedmates.
  • Beyond your favorite podcast app, you can find us on Instagram, Threads, Blue Sky, Tumblr, and probably some other places, too, if you look hard enough.
  • If you've never listened to our Stop Book Banning episode, there's no better time than now.
  
  Feral Warriors Series by Pamela Palmer
• Pride & Protest by Nikki Payne
• The Worst Best Man by Mia Sosa
• The Blackout Billionaire Series by Naima Simone

Sponsors

• Lindsay Barrett, author of Savannah Royals series, available at in print or ebook, or with your monthly subscription to Kindle Unlimited.
• Vedentro, premium leather accessories. Use code FATED at checkout to get 30% off.
• Jamie Varon, author of Charlie Quinn Lets Go, available at Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.