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PODCAST

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People

The most listened to romance novel podcast, Fated Mates is co-hosted by bestselling author Sarah MacLean and romance critic Jen Prokop. Weekly episodes include romance novel read-alongs and lively discussions of the work of the genre, highlighting the romance novel as a powerful tool in fighting the patriarchy…with absolutely no kink shaming.

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All Episodes

01:36:44

07.43: Trailblazer Pamela Sanderson

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/07/15

Our Trailblazer series continues with Pamela Sanderson, the first Native American author to write contemporary romance about Native characters in Native community. Pamela joins us to talk about her writing journey, about her decision to write and independently publish romance, about the need for more Native American romance in the world. We so enjoyed this conversation, and we’re grateful to Pamela for joining us to tell her story.Listen to all the Trailblazer episodes.If you want more Fated Mates

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02:01:44

S07.42: Jen & Sarah and These Summer Storms

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/07/06

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 no spoilers!). As per tradition, Jen asks Sarah a bunch of fun questions and forces Sarah to talk about her book. And it all ends with Julia Whalen reading two chapters of These Summer Storms! It was a delight to see so many of you in St. Louis yesterday, and to everyone else, we’re just as glad you’re here with us today. NotesIt’s finally time for These

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02:18:10

S07.41: Audiobooks with Julia Whelan

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/07/01

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, Taylor Jenkins Reid, VE Schwab and Kristen Hannah, she's also an author of her own delicious books and the founder of Audiobrary, an audio book company that pays narrators on a royalty structure. She's here to talk about her journey to writing and to narrating, about the way she thinks about her work, her advocacy, and the world of audiobooks. We are so

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01:59:36

S07.40: Hot 2025 Summer Reads

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/06/22

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! We're teeing up your piles of summer reads this week with our quarterly romance roundup! As a reminder, we haven't read most of these books -- but they're the ones toppling our TBR! As a reminder, preorders mean a lot more than they should these days, so if there's anything on this list that makes you go "oh, yes. that's for me," and you're able to

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01:25:27

07.39: Dysfunctional Families (The Fun Kind)

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/06/17

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 them special to romance, and what sets the romantic dysfunctional family apart from the ones that live outside of the genre. Jen has five categories. There's a game involved. You can play along at home! If you love this one, you can listen to our Daddy Issues (not the fun kind) episode with C. Travis Rice. And if you just want to listen to an episode

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01:39:09

07.38: Second Chance Romance Redux

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/06/11

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02:42:26

07.37: Run Posy Run by Cate C. Wells

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/06/04

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

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01:56:20

07.35: Celebrity + Normie Romance

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/05/28

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

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01:06:52

RERUN: S04.43: [Sex on the] Beach Reads

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/05/21

We're on hiatus this week. We planned this long ago, but forgot to tell you about it. Honest! Please visit the original season four episode page for more info.

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01:20:10

S07.35: On the Shelf with Spinsters and Wallflowers

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/05/14

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

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01:28:12

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

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/05/07

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! Also! It's that time of year again! Sarah has a new book out in July and is going on tour, and

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01:34:10

S07.33: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/04/30

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

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01:53:23

S07.32: Ruination!

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/04/23

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,

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01:34:38

07.31: Romance on the Run

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/04/16

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

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01:17:12

RERUN: S04.38: These Books Bang: The Sexiest Romance...

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/04/12

Headphones in, y’all. We have sixty-nine (that’s right, 69, by pure unplanned luck!) recommendations for you this week — everything from bonkers to bloody to blazing hot…naughty bits that we believe deliver the whole banana (and sometimes no banana at all, if you know what we mean). Pencils ready…your time starts…now.This week’s episode is thanks to Julie Block, the Fated Mates listener who won an episode of the podcast in the Romance for Reproductive Justice auction sponsored by The Meet Cute

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01:32:42

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

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/04/09

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

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01:56:44

07.29: Spring 2025 New Releases: Teasing Your TBR

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/04/02

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

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01:30:20

RERUN: S04.26: Jeannie Lin: Trailblazer

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/03/30

Our Trailblazer episodes continue this week with Jeannie Lin, one of the first authors to write historical romance featuring Asian characters set in Asia. Her debut romance, Butterfly Swords, is set in Tang Dynasty China. In this episode, we talk about the craft of romance, about preparing for and resisting rejection while finding her own path to publication, about how she honed her storytelling, and about the way cultural archetypes find their way to the page. We also talk about the lightning fast

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01:21:32

RERUN: S04.35: Butterfly Swords by Jeannie Lin: Some...

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/03/30

This week, we’re talking about one of our favorite historical romances, Jeannie Lin’s Butterfly Swords. This is one we’ve mentioned on previous episodes, and discussed at length during Jeannie’s Trailblazer episode, as it is the first own voices Asian-set historical romance. Aside from setting the standard for adventure romance, it’s also a near-perfect road trip romance with one of the hottest slow burns you’ll ever read. We talk about all of it, including the absolutely devastating first kiss—one

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02:16:59

07.28: Everything We Know About Horses Comes From...

Fated Mates - Romance Books for Novel People ·

2025/03/25

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

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