S03.51: Mistresses, Courtesans, and Cheating in Romance with Adriana Herrera

Adriana Herrera, a FIVE-TIMER, joins us this week to talk about the third-rail of romance…infidelity! We’re talking about cheating, and about all the other bits related to it: mistresses, courtesans, illegitimate children, sex work…and get your pencils ready because (of course) we’re toppling TBRs with this one.

Don’t miss Fated Mates LIVE! to celebrate the release of Sarah’s next book, BOMBSHELL! Join us and some of our very favorite people on August 24th! Tickets are a copy of the book, and available at five participating romance friendly bookstores. Get them here!

Speaking of BOMBSHELL, it is our next read along! Get it at Amazon, Apple Books, B&N, Kobo, or Bookshop.org, or at one of the participating romance-friendly bookstores hosting the Fated Mates Live/Virtual Bombshell Launch! Orders will come with a Fated Mates Sticker!

Thank you, as always, for listening! Please follow us on your favorite podcasting app, and if you are up for leaving a rating or review there, we would be very grateful.

Show Notes

Welcome to five-timer Adriana Herrera, our very own Rizzo, and her Pink Lady jacket is on the way. PS. It was only in working on these show notes that Jen realized that Rizzo’s first name is Betty. 

The phrase “safe romance” is used in online spaces to describe books without a single molecule of infidelity energy. 

Infidelity in evangelical christianity (and everywhere, honestly) often places the blame on the wife if her husband strays and also on  “the evil other woman” -- in this model, you know who’s not to blame? Men.And that’s pure patriarchy. 

Lavender wasn’t invented because it’s a plant and its known history dates back 2500 years. 

Courtesan culture was inextricably tied to colonialism in India, in China, and in the USA.

Summer Brennan’s patreon about The Book of Courtesans. Hallie Rubenhold's Covent Garden Ladies, which is the book that inspired the Hulu TV show Harlots, is about Harris's List of London "working girls." 

The Spanish word for wife is esposa, which means handcuffs or manacles, while the word for mistress is amante, which means beloved.

We have had some deep dive episodes where there is infidelity: Waking Up with the Duke by Lorraine Heath and Ravishing the Heiress by Sherry Thomas

There are so many bastards in historical romance, partly because it’s an easy on-ramp for creating a character who is an outsider.

Ethical non-monogamy is the practice of talking to your partner(s) about the boundaries of your relationship. Polyamorous and Open relationships would fall into this category. 

On Maryse’s Book Blog, there was a 2015 post about cheating in romance, and most of the titles are self-published and indie.

Sarah talked about Lorenzo Lamas and Dynasty and Jen and her brother Mike talked about Santa Barbaraon Adriana’s Instagram Live conversations about telenovelas and soap operas. 

We are having a live episode of Fated Mates to celebrate the launch of Bombshell on August 24th at 7 eastern, to get a ticket, you'll need to buy a copy from one of these indie bookstores. (If you already pre-ordered from WORD in Brooklyn, you'll get log in details in an email.)