S03.10: Mafia Romance Novels with Nisha Sharma

This week, as part of joy month, we’re joined by Nisha Sharma, author of The Takeover Effect and The Legal Affair, to talk about her favorite trope — Mafia Romances! We talk about why organized crime works in romance, fill your TBR to the brim…and share some real life mafia stories. Or, at least, Sarah does. It’s a lot.

We’re putting read alongs on hold for a bit to spend the next few weeks hanging out with some of our favorite people and talking about books and tropes that give us joy, so we hope you’ll join us and keep a pen handy so you can add to your TBR list as needed!

Also! please join us for a Fated States phonebanking session with Indivisible.org on Saturday — it’s so fun! We love seeing so many of your amazing faces there, hanging out, and lifting each other up through absolute anxiety! Please join us, fellow Fated Maters, and special guests for Fated States Phonebanking Part 4 this Saturday, October 17th at 3pm Eastern to call Iowa! It’s easy, not scary, and there will be prizes!

Thank you, as always, for listening! If you are up for leaving a rating or review for the podcast on your podcasting app, we would be very grateful!

Fated States!

Join us this Saturday, October 17th at 3pm Eastern to call Iowa and make sure it turns up blue! It’s easy, not scary, and there will be prizes! Sign up at the link, watch the video, and come hang out!

Remember: "Despair is not a strategy."

**Call Your Senators. Tell them you want "the McConnell Rule" enforced.

**Donate Donate Donate (if you can). We're thrilled to support "Get Mitch or Die Trying" via ActBlue -- donations to this are immediately split evenly between Senate candidates in elections

**Text bank

**Phone bank

**Write postcards

**Vote early by mail if you are planning to vote by mail. Be sure to check that your ballot has all the correct information, and is returned accorting to the instructions (this goes double for people in NYCand Pennsylvania).

**Vote early in person if your state has early voting.

**Stay fired up!

Show Notes

Welcome Nisha Sharma! She is the author of some of favorites: the YA romance My So Called Bollywood Life, and the Singh family trilogy.

The Fifty Shades movies are lying about lipstick.

Maybe you’d like to learn more about organized crime in Rhode Island, Cleveland, and Scranton. Sarah grew up in Rhode Island and recommends you listen to Crimetown if you're interested in learning more about how far-reaching the mob is there.

How car crushers work.

When it comes to Capone, we recommend the Chicago tour (if life ever returns to normal) but not the movie with Tom Hardy.

Nisha mentioned a 1970s Bollywood movie. It’s called Sholay, and Nisha said, “Technically it was like this small village bad guy...think old westerns but he had like a gang of hoodlums.”

The big Western movies seem to pop up every ten years, and Brokeback Mountain was 2005!

The list of mafia romance from Goodreads is here, and the queer mafia romance list is here.

Does your gender determine how you relate to mafia movies, books, and TV shows? Or if you participate in real life?

Maybe you want to watch Weeds or Traffic and see some kickass women who are antiheroes?

Erin from Learning the Tropes is on the hunt for books that have heroines that are named Erin, so let her know if you’ve read any. Jen’s list is Ivan and an old Loveswept by Barbara Boswell called Sharing Secrets -- the hero’s name is Rad Ramsey!

Speaking of Ivan and Erin, while working on show notes for this episode, Jen discovered that a second story with these two is coming out in a few weeks!

It is MMA fighting, which stands for Mixed Martial Arts.

We did a deep dive episode on Kresley Cole's The Master in Season 1. Listen to it here.

Jen’s love of Russian mobsters started with Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises.

Sons of Anarchy actually does predate the MC romance. The TV show aired from 2008 - 2014, and one of the first MC romances was Motorcycle Man (2012) by Kristen Ashley. After Sons of Anarchy ended, the MC romance genre did grow exponentially, including books like Reaper’s Property by Joanna Wylde (2016).

Jen said the Molly O’Keefe book with the mafia guy and the secret baby was Bad Neighbor, but it’s actually Baby Come Back. You should just go ahead and read them both.

All about the myth of the minotaur.

The Oscars released a diversity rubric.

The big, bad Russians influenced American media for decades.

Online Advertising is the new cement shoes.

Sarah learned about money laundering because of pinball machines. Today's kids get to learn about it because of the President. Sure.

Books Mentioned in the Podcast

My So Called Bollywood Life by Nisha Sharma

The Singh Family Trilogy by Nisha Sharma

The Professional by Kresley Cole

The Master by Kresley Cole

The Player by Kresley Cole

The Bastard’s Bargain by Katee Robert

The Marriage Contract by Katee Robert

The Corruption Series by CD Reiss

Ivan by Roxie Riveria

Lies You Tell by LaQuette

The Fighter’s Prize by Jessa Kane

Baby Come Back by Molly O’Keefe

The Devil of Downtown by Joanna Shupe

Dark Mafia Prince by Annika Martin

Luca by Theodora Taylor

Judgment Road by Christine Feehan

Turbulent Sea by Christine Feehan