S02.02: The Alpha in Romance Novels

As we lead into Season Two, and consider the fact that some of our faves are definitely going to be problematic, we’re talking about the alpha hero this week — we’re also tackling the beta hero and the cinnamon roll, and why these archetypes largely don’t work for us. We’re talking romance heroes who changed the game for us and the genre, about how hard it is to turn the alphahole around, and how satisfying it is to watch it happen. We’re also talking the female gaze (of course) and the patriarchy (like always).

Next week, we’re digging into one of our original alphas, Derek Craven! You can find Lisa Kleypas’s Dreaming of You at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or at your local indie. It's currently $2.99 in digital everywhere, so snatch it up!

Show Notes

• The alpha, the beta, and the cinnamon roll.
• You should all follow Cora Harrington (lingerie addict) on twitter. It's all so beautiful.
• Jen screams about first person a lot, but MOSTLY about first person present.
• It was Demon Rumm by Sandra Brown that was all in the male POV, and this review is so great. Jen's going to follow Alaina, the author, on twitter. UPDATE: The Browne Pop Culture Library was able to find the descriptions of Demon Rumm, and as Jen predicted, they were in the back matter of the previous month's books! Thanks, Steve!
• Alec Kinkaid, The Montgomerys, James Mallory, and the Westmoreland heroes.
• Did you somehow miss us talking about The Professional?
• It the Movie may or may not be your cup of tea, but this discussion of Jane Doe with Victoria Helen Stone has some really interesting points about horror and romance.
• Bourne from A Rogue by Any Other Name is "Sarah's worst hero" by which she means it was just reall satisfying to break him.
• You have to listen to our antiheroes episode if you want to know what it means to "take the finger."
• P in V is great, but 2Ps in V is even better.
• Hillary Clinton was wrong about romance novels, and Lisa Kleypas explains why.
• Adriana Herrera's American Dreamers series is one of our faves.
• What it means to be a Kinsey 2.
• Romance for Raices has a few more days. Spend enough money and you can pick an upcoming interstitial topic!

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2019/9/17/s022-the-alpha-in-romance-novels-interstitial
• 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.