Episodes

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

    07.21: Meet My Vibe Criteria: V.E. Schwab on writing, obsession, and romance outside of Romance
    Feb 4 2025
    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 romance novels™️, about the difference between obsession and love, about the way we can't help but ship characters who will never get together, and about writing in general...and how we tackle character, conflict, and power in storytelling. We had a great time, and you will, too. 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 Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook, and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free audiobook copies of Emma Lord's The Rival. The BooksBury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. SchwabThe Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. SchwabVicious and Vengeful by V.E. SchwabA Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. SchwabThe Fragile Threads of Power by V.E. SchwabThis is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max GladstoneThe Ministry of Time by Kaliane BradleyBabel by RF KuangThe Midnight Line by Lee ChildSix of Crows by Leigh BardugoWhen Among Crows by Veronica Roth A Heart of Blood and Ashes by Milla VaneChaos by Constance FayMurderbot Diaries by Martha WellsThe NotesWelcome V.E. Schwab to the podcast! You can check out her podcast about writing called No Write Way, and you can click her to
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    1 hr and 37 mins
  • A Taste of Craven

    A Taste of Craven
    Feb 4 2025

    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 years' episodes, and a close reading of the first chapter of that classic, Lisa Kleypas's Dreaming of You.

    Read Dreaming of You at: Bookshop, Amazon, B&N, Kobo, Apple Books, or wherever you get your books.

    Learn more about the holiday, and the man who inspired it, and listen to past Derek Craven Day episodes on the Fated Mates website.

    If you want more discussion of Derek Craven 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.
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    23 mins
  • S07.20 Tarot, Astrology, and Psychics in Romance

    S07.20 Tarot, Astrology, and Psychics in Romance
    Jan 27 2025
    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 very very happy. And so, we're reading books this week about people and things that make sense of chaos--that realign the universe. It's tarot, astrology and psychics this week!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 Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.Enter the Macmillan Audio sweepstakes to win one of five free audiobook copies of Jenny Elder Moke's She Doesn't Have a Clue.The BooksTemperance by Cassia Leo Queen of Wands by Suzanne HallidayFive of Cups by TriciaWolf Outsider by Cora BrentThe Lovers by Rebekah FaubianIn on the Action by Elle DiazThe Arcana Chronicles by Kresley ColeLord Lightning by Jenny BrownLunar Love Laura Kung JessenSeducing The Colonel’s Daughter by Amy AndrewsWritten in the Stars by Alexandria BellefleurThe Kismat Connection by Ananya DevarajanBaron by Joanna ShupeThe Wicked Deeds of Daniel Mackenzie by Jennifer AshleyProof by Seduction by Courtney MilanSensing Danger by Wendy VellaCarolina Moon by Nora RobertsThe Third Circle By Amanda QuickThe...
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    1 hr and 37 mins
  • S07:19 Back in Time with Harlequin Blaze

    S07:19 Back in Time with Harlequin Blaze
    Jan 21 2025
    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 become a Blaze. We scoured ebay for boxes and boxes of old Blazes, dug deep into the back catalogues of our Kindles, and are celebrating the OG one-handed read, the Harlequin Blaze. We had a great time, but we knew what to expect -- if you need content warnings, make sure you check them. And let us know if you want us to explore some other category lines!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 Julie Anne Long's What I Did For a Duke, available in print, ebook and audio at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or wherever you get your books.The Books Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany ReiszGetting Physical by Jade Lee Just Watch Me Julie LetoToo Wicked to Keep by Julie LetoAnything Goes by Debbi RawlinsThe Fantasy Factor by Kimberly RayeWhisper by Nancy WarrenShameless by Toni CarringtonWhat a Girl Wants by Jamie SobratoSilent Desires by Julie KennerCertified Male by Kristin HardyHot Island Nights by Sarah MayberryThe NotesSarah is teaching her beginner Start Your Romance Today class virtually on February 23rd at 1pm eastern.What is a category romance? Maybe listen to our episode from season 5.The Blaze line, from 2001-2017, was a spin off from the Harlequin Temptation line.
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    1 hr and 44 mins
  • RERUN: Trailblazer Loretta Chase

    RERUN: Trailblazer Loretta Chase
    Jan 18 2025

    Loretta Chase's Lord of Scoundrels is 30 years old this year, so we're resurfacing her trailblazer episode in the feed. Enjoy!

    You can get Lord of Scoundrels for just $2 through the rest of the month at Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. It's also available Bookshop.org and Libro.fm.

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    1 hr and 18 mins
  • RERUN: Lord of Scoundrels: Reel or be Reeled

    RERUN: Lord of Scoundrels: Reel or be Reeled
    Jan 18 2025

    Loretta Chase's is 30 years old this year, so we thought we'd revisit it by resurfacing this in your feed. Enjoy!

    You can get it for just $2 through the rest of the month at Kobo, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon. It's also available Bookshop.org and Libro.fm.

    Lots of great show notes for this one!

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    1 hr and 36 mins
  • S07:18 Winter 2025 New Releases: The Quarterly Edging Episode

    S07:18 Winter 2025 New Releases: The Quarterly Edging Episode
    Jan 13 2025
    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 novels we're looking forward to, and looking forward to hearing about the ones you're waiting for, too! If you're a romance novelist and have a book coming this year, please head over and fill out this 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.The NotesLos Angeles, we are thinking of you. After our very silly firefighter episode, we chatted with magnificent firebird and wildland firefighter, Emma, who gave us the lay of the land as a woman firefighter. You can listen to that conversation on YouTube. Emma recommends the following resources: the Grassroots Wildland Firefighters account on Instagram, and you can make donations to the Wildland Firefighter Foundation. If you are looking for factual, reliable information, check out the website of the National Interagency Fire Center, inciweb is the national situation report with information from wildland firefighters. If you are looking to make donations to aid those impacted by the fires, we recommend World Central Kitchen, Baby2Baby, the Pasadena Humane Society, and Octavia’s Bookshelf which has details mutual aid collection efforts on their Instagram. The Ripped Bodice has free wifi and period products .If you have a 2025 release you have written or you are a reader looking forward to something this year, please use our handy form to submit books for upcoming episodes in spring, summer, and fall.For more Romantasy recs, follow Jen’s friend Gabriella Guava on Instagram.The BooksJanuary Empire of Temptation by Mila Finelli Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Sarah Adams
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    1 hr and 44 mins
  • S07.17: The Proposition by Judith Ivory

    S07.17: The Proposition by Judith Ivory
    Jan 7 2025
    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 Judith Ivory's The Proposition, featuring that rakish rat catcher, that ferret-loving firebrand, the man himself, Mr. Mick Tremore! We’re talking sexual tension so overwhelming it makes a girl cry, horse-faced ladies who bring men to their knees, kissing on omnibuses and legs! All that, and Sarah and Jen disagree heartily on the issue of mustaches, but agree heartily that lionhearted virility is the energy we want this year. Get the book at your local independent bookseller, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Apple Books or Amazon. 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.The NotesWe did some holiday movie watching, as one does: Moonstruck, Sleepless in Seattle, and some scenes in particular were great to watch with our kids, the bus scene in Almost Famous and the underwear scene in Bridget Jones’s Diary.Lil Romance and Jen also watched When Harry Met Sally. There’s a new book called Nora Ephron at the Movies you might like, and this TikTok is great. Sometimes I just find cool stuff when I’m working on show notes, like this 2014 article from The Cut about the visual storytelling in When Harry Met Sally. A rolodex, including Marie’s portable version. Sarah was wrong about Nightime radio host Delilah, but you know. We aren’t apologizing for anything in 2025. Judith Ivory published 6 historicals, and then another 4 as Judy Cuevas. The Proposition is a Pygmalion/My Fair Lady retelling with a side of Trading Places.Do we think the dormouse is Ravishing the Heiress was inspired by Mick?
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    1 hr and 44 mins