S06.45: Our Favorite Episodes, Tropes we Love, and Books that Take the Finger

Jen and Sarah are together at last (again), and we’re taking your questions! Listen as we revisit some of our favorite past episodes of the podcast, as we discuss our favorite books with our least favorite tropes, and recommend a bunch of books that take the finger. We’re also talking about historical romance, and why it remains an absolute bop.

We're coming up on the end of Season 6 (what?! how!?), which means a deep dive of one of Sarah's books, even though she doesn't have a new one this year! We're talking Wicked & the Wallflower, the first of her Bareknuckle Bastards series. Get it at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Kobo, or wherever you get your books.

The Books

• The Next Best Fling by Gabby Gamez
• Chef’s Kiss by TJ alexander
• Unmasked by the Marquess by Cat Sebastian
• Something Spectacular by Alexis Hall
• The Perks of Loving a Wallflower  by Erica Ridley
• Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly
• An unsuitable Heir by KJ Charles
• The Ghost Town East Series by Amelia Shea
• Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera
• The Duchess Hunt by Lorriane Heath
• Morning Glory Milking Farm by CM Nacosta
• Just Playing House by Farah Heron
• The Duke Gets Even by Joanna Shupe
• Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley
• Preacher Man by Jessa Kane

The Show Notes

• Jen went to go see Illinoise when she was in New York, and the Fated Mates team ate at Claro in Brooklyn.
• Some of our favorite episodes of the podcast: the Derek Craven episode with Kate, the first category romance interstitial, and trailblazers Vincent Virga, Elda Minger, and Nora Roberts. 
• Our walk up songs are Too Funky by George Michael for Sarah, and Every Day I Write the Book or Town Crier by Elvis Costello. 
• The Comstock Laws were bad and they are still on the books, which is gonna turn out to be a bad thing. 
• Alexa Riley also writes as AR Taboo, for the truly dirty stuff. Check your content warnings.

The Sponsors

• Blue Box Press, publishers of Audrey Carlan's The Marriage Auction, Season 2, available in print or ebook from Amazon.
• Lucy Score, author of The Body in the Backyard: A Riley Thorn Novel, available in print, ebook or audiobook, from Amazon.
• Jess K. Hardy, author of Lips Like Sugar, available in print or ebook from Amazon.
• Liana De la Rosa, author of Isabel and the Rogue, available in print, ebook or audiobook from Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, or wherever you get your books.

The Rest

• For even more info about this episode, and to explore everything Fated Mates has to offer, visit: https://fatedmates.net/episodes/2024/7/16/s0645-ama-jen-and-sarah-are-taking-your-questions
• 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.